Post Falls mulls new urban renewal district

By BRIAN WALKER

Staff writer

POST FALLS — A peak in interest in the Post Falls city center has planners warming up to creating an urban renewal district to prime the economic development pump.

The existing 231-acre City Center District, one of five open URDs in Post Falls, will close next year.

The new district in that area would be expanded to as much as 493 acres and include areas such as the Idaho Veneer site, Red Lion Templin's Hotel and the Seltice Way-Mullan Avenue corridor.

While no decisions were made during Tuesday's joint meeting between the Post Falls Urban Renewal Commission and City Council to discuss the idea, no one spoke in opposition to the concept.

"We've heard comments from citizens that they'd like to see both the transportation and aesthetics improved in the city center," said Russ Connole, city public services director. "We're also in the process of finalizing a parking evaluation project for the neighborhood east of Spokane Street to Idaho Street."

Post Falls has five open urban renewal districts, including West Seltice II, East Post Falls, Center Point, Expo and City Center. It has closed two districts — West Seltice in 2001 and Riverbend in 2012.

Urban renewal districts have a base tax rate when the district is created. That base tax rate continues to be collected by the county and remitted to taxing entities over the life of the district. As a district is improved, with new construction and increases in value due to improvements, the incremental tax created by those improvements in excess of the base tax is allocated to the urban renewal agency to pay for the public improvements made within the district.

After the district closes, the increased revenues are returned to the taxing entities and taxpayers.

Shelly Enderud, Post Falls city administrator, said business interest has increased in the city center and an urban renewal district could assist with the infrastructure of those projects and create jobs.

She said a medical facility is being planned for the Post Falls Landing site and a Mexican sports bar at Second and Spokane. A 330-unit multi-family project will also be proposed on unused land formerly owned by Idaho Veneer, she said.

Bill Melvin, city engineer, said pedestrian facilities in much of the city center are "limited at best" and therefore tax-increment financing could assist with such improvements.

Len Crosby, a member of the urban renewal board, said a key driver behind any new district is a specific plan for improvements with the possibility of closing it out as soon as possible.

"When you gather increment but can't say what it's for, that opens you to criticism," he said, adding he doesn't foresee much opposition from other taxing entities over the idea.

If a new district is created, it would likely open in roughly a year.

"There could be a lot of nice improvements in the majority of this district that would feed economic development," Connole said. "It would add value to the city of Post Falls."

The current district boundaries may be included in a new district once the current district is closed.

"This would reset the values of those properties to the value at the time the new district is created," Enderud said.

- In other business, the urban renewal board decided to hold a workshop on the city's request to have urban renewal seek business interest in buying a small lot on Spokane Street the city recently acquired through a land swap with Kootenai County.

By having urban renewal seek potential buyers, the city can be more specific on the types of businesses that would build there. City officials say they would reimburse urban renewal for any expenses associated with the partnership.