Garden Grove plat approved

COEUR d'ALENE — Linda Swenson said she wants to put a sign on her property with a line from a Montgomery Gentry song.

“...in the eye of an urban storm, Daddy won’t sell the farm,” Swenson sang with a chuckle.

In 2001, Swenson and her husband purchased the Prairie Home Farm near the intersection of Atlas Road and Prairie Avenue. Just a year later, Swenson said housing developments started popping up around the farm, which was originally constructed in the 1920s and now operates as a pumpkin patch during the fall.

The Swensons could soon see a new housing development in their backyard, with the approval Tuesday by the Coeur d’Alene City Council of the final plat — a map for how a 19.3-acre piece of land can be divided — for the Garden Grove development. According to information from the city, the 94-unit development will be a mix of single family residences and townhomes.

“We’re going to be completely surrounded,” Swenson said. “I’m kind of a hobby farm that meets the needs of kids and families — it won’t impact business at all. We’ve gotten used to this process and I get it. If anything, it makes our farm more quaint I think.”

Garden Grove is being developed by Coeur d’Alene-based LLC Harmony Homes. Entrances to the development, according to information provided by the city, will be off Prairie Avenue and Rocket Street.

Currently, the plan is for 86 single family lots and eight townhome lots. The development will also provide community garden space and recreational areas, which will be owned and managed by a homeowners association.

Deputy City Administrator Sam Taylor said the next step in the process for the Garden Grove development is to go through the building permitting process with the city.

“It’s still very early in the process,” Taylor added.

The final plat approval was voted on by the council as part of its consent agenda, a grouping of items considered routine business that are voted on as one, with a 4-0 vote. Councilmen Ron Edinger and Woody McEvers were absent.