Early Dawn a wake-up call for Post Falls
On April 10 the Post Falls Planning and Zoning Commission held a public hearing at City Hall in regards to Early Dawn Special Use Permit (SUP). This permit allows a 300-unit apartment complex to be developed on 17.5 acres. The location will be on Poleline Avenue east of Highway 41 and bordering the west side of the Foxtail subdivision. The new complex would add approximately 550 additional cars into the neighborhood.
Foxtail currently has 112 homes with 66 new homes in progress. The new St. Joan of Arc parish will be breaking ground this year and will be located across from Foxtail on Poleline. The parish will occupy 9 acres and estimates over 600 worshippers will be attending Mass on Sundays with daily Mass throughout the week.
Why do these numbers matter? Because beleaguered Highway 41 is the only road available for residents traveling north to south. To access schools, grocery stores or I-90, you only have one lane heading west on Poleline. In the early ’70s this road became a paved country road and will not be modernized until 2025. (PF Traffic Master Plan)
This two-lane road has no shoulders, sidewalks or bike lanes. Children with backpacks walk in ditches alongside the road to get to school. Bikers hug the edge of the pavement as cars line up and slowly pass into the oncoming lane. Traveling Poleline is frustrating, unpredictable and inadequate to handle another new development.
By law this developer is not required to perform a traffic study. Knowing this, due diligence would have suggested this commission drive the area in question.
Four specific criteria must be met for approval. The third criteria states, “Whether the proposed use will/will not be compatible with the health, safety and welfare of the public.”
Apparently, Planning and Zoning thought this criteria was met because the SUP was approved 4 to 2. How is that possible? A short drive would have revealed profound limitations and a lack of infrastructure. This 17.5-acre development is premature!
On a final note, the gentleman presenting for the developer is also a member of the Planning and Zoning commission and a professional who actively worked on this SUP. There was no disclosure of this at the hearing. (Idaho statute 67-6506) Transparency is the government’s obligation to share information with the citizens and keeps the government accountable. An important concept in a democratic republic.
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Molly Robbins is a Post Falls resident.