Public hearing tonight on 5-acre annexation in Hayden

HAYDEN — A high-end coffee stand to serve motorists on U.S. 95 in Hayden is among the businesses that would inhabit a mini mall at the Lancaster Road intersection if the City Council approves a zoning change and an annexation proposal tonight.

Mountain Ridge Holdings, the owners of the rectangular chunk of land with 5 acres of buildable property on the northeast side of the intersection, will make a pitch to be annexed into Hayden at a 5 p.m. public hearing at Hayden City Hall.

The City Council at an earlier hearing told Mountain Ridge it would be interested in annexing the parcel, which lies within the city’s impact area between the Government Way and the U.S. 95 rights of way.

The annexation plan and the approval of a commercial zone for the parcel was unanimously approved by the Hayden Planning and Zoning Commission early this month.

Because of its location, the land — assessed at $603,000 by the county — is best suited for the service industry, Mountain Ridge manager Eric Smith said in a letter to the city.

“Our ultimate plan is to develop the site into a small commercial park,” Smith said. “Bringing jobs and significant economic benefit to the city.”

Annexation seems logical for both parties, he said.

Hayden’s city boundaries lie on both sides of U.S. 95, including the area along Vernon Baker Lane to the west and a wooded area east of Government Way known as Hayden Canyon, but for the time being Kootenai County has jurisdiction over the Mountain Ridge parcel wedged in between.

The land — it is 7.4 acres with the rights of way, and 4.9 buildable acres — is a logical extension to the city of Hayden, Smith said.

He didn’t know what businesses will sprout there, but Smith said, “There has been interest from banks and other regional destination-type business.”

If the City Council approves annexation tonight, owners would move ahead with construction of the coffee kiosk, but subdividing and developing the rest of the grassy field along the highway, which includes hooking into city sewer on the west side of U.S. 95, could take two years.

The move would not require cutting into the roadway, Hayden engineer Melissa Cleveland said.