Underground or above board?

COEUR d'ALENE - At least one downtown property owner is asking permission for its own access point into the Front Avenue parking garage tied to a redeveloped McEuen Park.

Blackridge Properties LLC. wants to construct a pedestrian tunnel into the parking garage from the property it owns, 401 Front Ave., where the Bank of America building sits.

The company would pay for the tunnel, and it would make for easier connection into the $20 million redeveloped McEuen Park and the garage, it says.

"There's no reason to have the tunnel, (but) we thought it would be a worthwhile investment for potential future interconnections as well as convenience of the users," said Chris Meyer, of Blackridge Properties.

The company is seeking an easement from the city to allow access.

The General Services Committee isn't recommending the idea, which is headed to the City Council for a decision at 6 p.m. Tuesday. If it's like nearly every other issue tied to McEuen Park - and Monday's GSC meeting suggests it will be - the topic will divide the City Council.

Opponents of the idea say it's giving special privileges to specific property owners tied to a public project. City Councilman Steve Adams said the idea even smacks of conspiracy.

Chris Meyer is the son of property owner Steve Meyer, who is business partners with Charlie Nipp. Nipp is the former chairman of Lake City Development Corp., the city's urban renewal agency. Nipp stepped away from the board before McEuen Field's redevelopment plan got under way and before LCDC agreed to fund a bulk of the project.

That, Adams said, is too close for comfort.

"I guess I just feel a little insulted here that I'm supposed to believe that tunnels weren't a part of the original plan," he said, echoing concerns City Hall critic Mary Souza listed in her online newsletter a week before the GSC meeting.

Souza speculated in the newsletter that the Bank of America building would go away, and "everyone believes a highrise building is planned for this property."

Meyer said it wasn't planned as an access point into a specific future building.

"This is simply a tunnel to the private property side for future potential use," he said, adding that the public would have access to the tunnel at least during business hours.

Deputy City Attorney Warren Wilson said it wouldn't cost the city anything if businesses created their own access. Other Front Avenue property owners, such as Hagadone Corp., have inquired about the same thing.

John Barlow, consultant to Hagadone Realty, said his company is also interested in an encroachment for the Quicksilver building near the parking structure and will also make a request to the city.

The easement failed to get out of the three-person subcommittee with a recommendation. Councilman Ron Edinger didn't favor granting an access point to a private business. Adams and Edinger didn't support the McEuen Park project, and nearly every issue tied to the project ends up passing or failing 4 votes to 3.

City Councilman and GSC Chairman Mike Kennedy supported the idea, saying it made sense to allow access points because Front Avenue property owners are paying roughly a $1 million Local Improvement District fee for the street project.

"I think the word 'tunnel' is actually overblown," he said, describing the entry point more like a stairwell and door than tunnel. "We're not talking about a big deal."

Kennedy is business partners with Steve Meyer in an unrelated business. He said he will not recuse himself at Tuesday's council meeting, per city legal advice, because he would not benefit financially from an outcome. He dismissed conspiracy theories, including that tunnels had been a part of the plan all along to increase property values for select Front Avenue property owners.

"I think Steve sees conspiracies under the bed, a lot," he said of Adams' remark. "Just making accusations about people, I think it's unfair. But this is politics - that's what you get."

Years ago, the city granted a tunnel under Ironwood Drive to connect Kootenai Health and the cancer center.