Hayden feels small but is a big player

HAYDEN — The city is streamlining to make it easier to live and do business there.

Striving for efficiency was among points highlighted by Hayden Mayor Steve Griffitts during the state of the city address presented to more than 120 people Thursday morning at the Coeur d’Alene Salvation Army Kroc Center.

“We have 35 employees for a city of 15,000,” Griffitts said. “That to me sends the right message.”

And it reflects the city’s model of cost-effectiveness, because all of the city’s employees wear multiple hats, providing efficiency at less cost.

In addition, the city got rid of its annual $25 business license fee.

“It was not necessary and not effective, so we did away with it,” Griffitts said.

Officials also cut or amended more than 500 city code sections. Some of the code section improvements meant combining or rewording city codes to make them more user-friendly, while other sections such as modifying front yard setbacks, loosened building rules.

“It allows construction closer to the property,” the mayor said.

The amendments, reductions and eliminations all fall in line with a philosophy shared by Griffitts and city administrator Brett Boyer.

“The message we’re trying to convey,” Griffitts said: “We want to use common sense and hard work to achieve excellence.”

It’s a model that has been applied successfully here.

“We don’t want to encumber needlessly,” Griffitts said.

So far, and for many years, the model has worked to lure businesses, companies and homeowners to the once-rural town up there north of the much bigger Coeur d’Alene.

Almost three decades ago, when Hayden was still considered a semi-rural burg somewhere out beyond the mall, city administrators were aware of its potential for growth and planned for it.

When the growth hit, it came in a surge, registering an annual growth rate of 9 percent in 2000 after the city’s population had tripled from 3,700 just 10 years earlier to 9,200.

It has slowed since then, climbing at an average rate of 1.5 percent over a decade. Last year saw an even 2 percent growth with the population sitting at 15,308, according to the city.

Along with the modest growth has been an incremental rise in construction valuation, from $20 million in 2012 to $54 million last year. Residential permits increased from 35 in 2010 to a high of 208 in 2017 before settling at 114 last year.

At Thursday’s address, Griffitts ran down a list of businesses that chose Hayden last year to start up, or relocate — 12 in all — including Fu-Ki Steakhouse, Roger’s Ice Cream and Burgers, Human Bean and the North Idaho Eye Institute on the Government Way corridor. Also, 14 businesses are expanding, including retailers, a bank and manufacturers.

The businesses added almost 200,000 square feet to the city’s commercial and industrial footprint.

The city partners with Coeur d’Alene Airport, which lies within its limits, and has seen a spurt of growth on its perimeters, including along the Wyoming and Lancaster corridors.

Only its infrastructure, which reaches north and west along Lancaster Road, has slowed growth on its fringes. This year, the city is planning the second phase of its sewer treatment plant, and a road project, Hayden Avenue between U.S. 95 and Government Way, is planned this summer.

But the city is still small town, Griffitts said. It’s also a destination, especially the city’s downtown park, which plays host to a summer music series; the city’s Honeysuckle Beach and boat launch; the annual marathon, triathlon, parades and Veterans Day ceremonies. Together they drew an estimated 25,000 participants last year.

For a city of 15,000, Griffitts said, “We maintain the small-town feel. We have a ton of stuff going on.”