Sites for schools are hard to buy

COEUR d’ALENE — A recent request to bring more students into Coeur d’Alene schools highlighted the district’s struggles with finding land for a new school building.

Allen Dykes, of Architerra Homes, presented an annexation request to district trustees this week on behalf of The Trails development in northwest Coeur d’Alene. The request mentioned the development will include a large public park, as required by the city’s open-space rules for developers.

That information prompted some trustees to ask why developers aren’t asked to provide land to the school district.

“We have something like 46 public parks in the city and only 16 schools,” said Trustee Dave Eubanks. “Maybe it’s time we get those two numbers closer to even.”

Board Chair Casey Morrisroe said while the district would be prohibited from purchasing the planned park space in The Trails development since it lies outside of its boundaries, the idea was worth exploring. On Tuesday, Morrisroe told The Press a community effort needs to be made to address the district’s challenge in securing land for a new school.

Many of the large tracts available for purchase, Morrisroe said, sit just outside district boundaries.

“The sheer number of available 5- to 10-acre parcels in the northwest portion of our district is limited and with the robust housing market the demand is up,” he added. “When we have approached private landowners we have found that many are already under contract with developers and unable or unwilling to sell.”

Landowners who aren’t already under contract, according to Morrisroe, are either uninterested in selling or unwilling to sell at current market values.

“In one such instance, the district found a suitable site and made an offer at a mutually agreed price only to have the property owner double their asking price,” he said. “An appraisal for the property came in at one-third of the ‘new’ asking price and we had no choice but to walk away.”

Although Morrisroe said the district has yet to talk with city officials on the topic, he believes the idea of working with the city to get land that would otherwise be used for a public park is worth exploring.

Coeur d’Alene Mayor Steve Widmyer told The Press the city’s open space requirements already ask a lot of those wishing to develop in the area. However, Widmyer said, there have been times in the past when the city has worked with both the district and developers to secure land for future schools.

“It’s something we can certainly look at,” Widmyer added. “It’s got to be an agreement that works for all three parties, though.”

During Dykes’ presentation on the annexation request, he said the development will have 470 lots, with an estimated 20 percent of those homes housing families with school-aged children. The development, located in the northwest corner of Coeur d’Alene near Huetter Road, is currently zoned for both the Post Falls and Coeur d’Alene School Districts, depending on the home in question.

The school board voted against supporting the annexation. However, the request will proceed to the Idaho State Department of Education, which is tasked with making a final determination on annexation.

Notation of the trustees’ lack of support for the annexation will be among information the state receives.

“I certainly sympathize with the homeowners who fall just outside our boundaries and appreciate that they want to be part of the Coeur d'Alene School District, but to me it would be irresponsible to recommend annexation of additional developments until we solve our building site shortages,” Morrisroe said.

Once the issue of acquiring land is addressed, Morrisroe said he’ll be willing to support additional boundary adjustments in the district, particularly in the northwest where current district boundaries do not mirror city boundaries.