Turn on a yellow light for growth

I’ve been reading all the recent articles about the housing boom. My city, Post Falls, issued 537 housing permits in 2018, the largest in the county and “rivaled the record of 596 in 2004.” The writer also referenced a city memo on growth which states, “the future identity of Post Falls will be prospectively shaped by a growing population base, continued demand for housing, economic development and our abundant community assets. It is likely that with continued growth Post Falls may see continued development pressure within the multi-family housing sector.”

The Press writer then added, “Post Falls’ average annual growth rate from 1950 to 2010 was 5.12 percent, but planners believe that rate is unrealistic for the future due to diminishing land around the city’s outer edge.”

I have four choice words for the city planners and council members in Post Falls: PLEASE SLOW THE GROWTH!

Have you ever heard of unintended consequences? It focuses on outcomes that are not the ones foreseen and intended by a purposeful action. These outcomes instead create a drawback in addition to the desired effect of the policy or decision. I think unintended consequences are alive and well in Post Falls.

To begin, the starting prices on new homes have already jumped beyond $300,000. My friend bought a new home in Post Falls just 18 months ago for $212,000. We’ll never see that price again. Will resale prices reflect this same trend? Or will they sit empty because newer, more stylish homes keep popping up? And let’s not forget rising mortgage interest rates. What about vacancy rates? I drive around and see a lot of homes built on spec, sitting unsold and yes I know the winter weather can impact home sales. Plus Zillow reports there are already 380+ homes on the market in just Post Falls.

Next developers always plan for two, maybe three drivers per household (the number of garages are a dead giveaway) but many properties take on renters, roommates or extended families to offset the mortgage, which means they have more than two drivers per household, while many families use garages for storage, not for cars. Crowded properties mean a greater demand for street parking. Our residential streets are already car farms, which impacts efficiency of snow removal. And additional, official multi-family housing sectors never have enough parking spaces. I don’t even want to imagine the parking for Octoberfest, Post Falls Days or any social event around the lake. We already compete for parking with our Washington neighbors.

Rest assured the city’s infrastructure will be addressed with all the new growth. But here’s the fly in the ointment: The city needs the extra property tax revenue to fund the improvements but can’t collect the taxes until the homes are sold. By definition this means roads that need building or widening or rerouting will not occur until the population from 537 housing permits have taken residence and taxes are collected. This is compounded by the fact this type of work can only happen during fair weather months. Yikes — and I thought all the recent road work on Seltice was a pain. Don’t forget with more streets come more traffic lights for safety and traffic control, and my goodness, how many more warning/caution signs will be required?

There are studies that show the search for compatible housing drives home buyers farther afield. Making it farther to commute to work, to school, to shopping and to social events. Not only will 90 and 95 get busier but so will the side streets every day, not just weekends. I already stay away from downtown areas from 11 – 1:30 because of the lunchtime increase in traffic. And I shudder to think how bad the traffic will be once the city starts improving the roadways. Didn’t the Press just run a story about the busy Ramsey/Kathleen intersection?

We should also give some thought to economic unintended consequences. Yes, Post Falls is working to attract and build more industry and businesses so the new influx of population will have jobs. This is great but many of these businesses will need to build facilities/offices and that cycle can take 2-4 years to accomplish and who knows how long it will take to attract and employ qualified staff.

And what happens to the existing businesses that move from their current buildings or stores into bright, shiny new ones? Nothing shows enterprise success for a community more than a lot of empty, older buildings with “For Lease” signs.

Plus the Kootenai County Assessor’s Office bases our property taxes on fair market value. Fair market value is based on sale prices of comparable homes in the area influenced by home size, land size, quality, age, condition and location. Our assessor’s website even states that “hot real estate market cities” such as Post Falls “generally experience greater levels of appreciation.” Oh wait — this is clearly an intended consequence by the city but still a good example as it is an unintended consequence for my wallet.

What about crime? Crime also has a tendency to climb with more residents, especially transient residents. As does the need for more emergency services, this means more staff, which means another cycle of waiting for tax revenues. More people also means the need for medical professionals. They are not always easy to attract in rural communities. It already takes 3-4 months to get an appointment with a doctor as a new patient. Wonder if they will include that in a “Welcome to Post Falls” new homeowner kit?

Finally, there are also intangible unintended outcomes such as loss of town character, loss of community, loss of city pride and, sadly, loss of civility. Growth is inevitable and important to the livelihood of any great city but there’s nothing wrong with taking a break to assess then act/react to the impact of the growth before approving more housing permits.

Good people, I suggest you insert the great cities of Coeur d’Alene, Hayden or Rathdrum instead of Post Falls when reading this as I fear we’ll all feel the power of unintended consequences. I encourage you to reach out to your city councils and planning commissions and ask them to please, please slow the growth.

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Geri Wile is a Post Falls resident.