Post Falls trail project clears final hurdle

POST FALLS - When it came to finally getting the bike and pedestrian trail project along Highway 41 to move forward, money talked.

With a $500,000 grant from the state's Community Choices program secured, the Post Falls City Council unanimously drove home the final nail to the project Tuesday night, modifying the East Post Falls Urban Renewal District plan to include the trail.

Urban renewal funding will match as much as $300,000 in funds for the project. That and the grant will pay for the 8.5-foot-wide trail on the east side of Highway 41 from Seltice Way to Mullan Avenue.

The trail will be constructed in 2015 and is expected to be maintained by the city.

The grant will come from the state's Community Choices program.

Trail project proponents believe the trail will improve safety along the busy half-mile corridor. Currently, pedestrians and bicyclists use a small dirt trail along the stretch.

The trail has been discussed for several years, but the cost, estimated early on to be about $1 million before being reduced to $750,000 more recently, was a concern.

Urban renewal funded $75,000 worth of engineering costs for the project earlier.

* In other business, the council, on a 5-1 vote, approved a 16-acre annexation request at the northwest corner of Chase Road and Poleline Avenue.

The northern three-quarters of the site will be residential, while the southern quarter will be mixed uses, including possibly a senior care facility and convenience store. Advanced Technology Surveying and Engineering made the request on behalf of landowners Jeff Lawson, Sandra Runcorn and Joe Dobson.

Some council members didn't believe retail uses will fit in well with the residential area, while others believed a convenience store would be handy so residents wouldn't have to drive as far to pick up necessities.

Council member Alan Wolfe cast the lone "no" vote on the annex request. He said children living in the subdivision would have to walk too far to the closest parks under the city's guidelines and crossing busy Chase would be dangerous.

"(Families) would live outside the distance we believe is adequate to get to a park," Wolfe said.

Wolfe also cautioned the board that, just because the council believes the site should be developed a certain way today, doesn't mean it will automatically end up that way because of flexibility with zoning.

But council member Joe Malloy said as long as the developers meet the guidelines that have been passed, the council should not dictate further.

"We didn't pay for the property," Malloy said. "I think if we have people who are willing to make an investment, it's not our place to nitpick. They already have numerous guidelines before them."

The council said its desire is for the residential portion to be single-family homes and not apartments. It supported the idea of a senior care facility on the southern part.

During the Planning and Zoning Commission hearing, a few neighbors said they had concerns about commercial and high-density uses. However, no one testified during Tuesday's hearing.