County, cities sign agreement on future prairie growth

Development on the Rathdrum Prairie has the potential to serve Kootenai County’s growing population, but planners warn it could threaten water resources and create traffic gridlock if it is not properly managed.

Local officials have agreed in principle that they need to work together to plan for future development on the Rathdrum Prairie, but it will be up to city and county staffs to iron out the details about how to codify that cooperation.

“The Rathdrum Prairie Aquifer and its recharge areas are very important to North Idaho. Wastewater is a critical issue,” said Kootenai County Commissioner Rick Currie. “We’re all in this together.”

Officials from Kootenai County, Post Falls, Coeur d’Alene, Rathdrum, Hayden, Hauser and Dalton Gardens last week signed an “endorsement of shared principles and common goals.”

The agreement calls for protecting the aquifer and open space, preserving cities’ unique characteristics and collaborative planning for infrastructure.

City and county planning staffs have been charged with coming up with the agreements needed to make that happen by the end of the year.

“We want to come up with some policies and standards on open space and connectivity as we move forward with the process,” said Hayden Community Development Director Lisa Key.

As it stands now, development policy on the prairie has been inconsistent. Each city and the county have their own rules in place. At times developers have applied for annexation into a city only to later submit their development plans to Kootenai County when their annexation requests were denied.

“As cities expand they will absorb these areas. We need to make sure what we’re doing is compatible,” Currie said.

Certain areas have already been identified as areas of impact for Kootenai County cities, which are supposed to be involved in planning efforts for those areas that they will likely annex at a future date.

But local planners say that process hasn’t always worked perfectly.

“If things happen in a more orderly format, everybody benefits,” said Kootenai County planner Jack Gunderman.

Key said that each city must acknowledge that it is not an island onto itself, and actions taken by each municipality affect the others.

This agreement is a key moment in that awareness, said Kootenai County Planning Director Scott Clark.

“It’s a huge step,” he said.

Post Falls Mayor Clay Larkin said that each municipality must be mindful of the others.

“I have to really take my hat off to the other five mayors and the three county commissioners for acknowledging we all have to work together, if we all want to succeed.”