State surplus land sale bill fails to clear Senate panel

BOISE – A North Idaho lawmaker’s bill to give owners of property adjacent to some surplus state transportation land first shot at buying the parcels died in a Senate committee Wednesday.

The Senate State Affairs Committee declined to act on House Bill 144, a measure proposed partly to aid a Coeur d’Alene developer acquire land to build a commercial center at an Interstate 90 off-ramp west of the city.

The Idaho Transportation Department currently offers surplus land, such as old highway rights of way, to other government agencies, which can purchase it at a reduced price for public use. For parcels valued at less than $10,000, ITD then offers adjacent property owners a chance to buy the land for its appraised value before putting it up for public auction.

HB 144 would have given contiguous owners first crack at land worth less than $50,000 or measuring less than one acre.

The bill could have helped North River LLC, which owns land along the intersection of North Ramsey Road and West Appleway Avenue, to buy a nearby sliver of ITD surplus land by giving the company first crack. North River has revealed plans to create a “front door to the city of Coeur d’Alene,” including an office building and national chain restaurants, using the combined property.

The company can still negotiate with ITD under the old rules, said lead sponsor Rep. Phil Hart, R-Athol.

But Hart said the current law treats landowners as “second-class citizens.” He will advance similar legislation next year, he said.