River's Edge opposition grows
By KEITH ERICKSON
Staff Writer
Scaled-back plans for a high-density residential development along the Spokane River west of Riverstone have not impressed opponents, who are urging the Coeur d’Alene City Council to reject the latest proposal.
Under revised plans, River’s Edge Apartments LLC calls for 680 units housed in 21 structures ranging from 55 to 63 feet tall. The city’s Planning and Zoning Commission in December unanimously denied a more dense request for 850 apartments.
“It’s still a massive bad-fit project,” said Roger Smith, a member of the newly formed “We the People of Coeur d’Alene,” which has mounted a campaign opposing the project.
The council will consider the appeal during its regular meeting Tuesday at 6 p.m. at the Coeur d’Alene Public Library.
In response to feedback from the planning commission, the applicant lowered the height of five waterfront apartments within 150 feet of the shoreline to 55 feet, down from the original 75 feet. The number of units is unchanged at 168. Despite the reduced height, the proposal would still require a height variance as existing zoning along the river caps buildings at 34 feet.
The height variance requirement for buildings outside the 150-foot shoreline buffer was eliminated after the developer revised building heights to 63 feet, which is allowed under current R-34 zoning.
In a letter this week to the City Council, We the People said the River’s Edge proposal conflicts with the intent of the city’s comprehensive plan, would negatively impact already congested traffic and create “undesirable” vistas.
“The sheer mass of this development would not be compatible with the surroundings,” the group said, calling the proposed 26-acre development “a highly impactful, ill-planned and uncreative use of this very special riverfront property.”
As of late Thursday afternoon, more than 8,600 people had signed a petition opposing River’s Edge. According to We the People, 90 percent of the signers are from the greater Coeur d’Alene area.
Other revisions made by the developer in response to public feedback include replacing 14 apartment buildings each containing 50 units with 16 structures: 14 buildings with 32 units each, one with 48 units and another with 16 units.
Private open space under the amended plan is reduced to 3.5 acres, down from 5.5 acres, while public open space remains unchanged at 1.5 acres. According to the applicant, the total allotted open space represents slightly more than 19 percent of the total project — more than double the requirement.
The plan still calls for 12 docks with 60 slips.
Also under consideration by the council on Tuesday as part of the River’s Edge request is approval of a planned unit development (PUD) involving a land exchange between the city and the applicant.
Under the proposed PUD, the city would trade railroad right-of-way it owns in the vicinity of the applicant’s property in exchange for a triangular piece of land that is privately held by River’s Edge LLC.
The land exchange would result in the city acquiring the privately held land, including a 40-foot-wide permanent easement approximately 1,600 feet long for a public trail, greenspace and waterfront access, said city attorney Mike Gridley.
For its portion of the exchange, Gridley said, the city would give the applicant its railroad right-of-way that bisects his property. The city property and River’s Edge LLC land is about the same size.