Carving up the prairie

Over 60 acres of prairie land was rezoned from agricultural to rural during a Kootenai County community development meeting as the area continues to move away from its farming roots.

The properties, one made of two 20-acre parcels on the corner of Meyer Road and Hayden Avenue and the other two 10-acre parcels straddling north-south of Orchard Avenue, were rezoned in unanimous decisions by the Board of Commissioners Thursday morning. Both units are currently designated in transitional areas by the Kootenai County Comprehensive Plan and sit in the shared Area of City Impact of Post Falls, Hayden, Rathdrum, and Coeur d'Alene.

Together, those four cities have shown rapid growth and expanded much into what used to be agricultural prairie land.

Vlad Finkel, a planner for Kootenai County, said these rezoning applications are intended to allow the property owner to subdivide the land into 5- or 10-acre parcels, which would be more financially manageable. Finkel also noted concerns were raised during public comment sessions regarding traffic, environmental features, and quality of life.

However, county staff, the public hearing examiner, and other residents had expressed support for the change.

"The intended subdivision in the near future is consistent with the surroundings in the area," Finkel said. "The majority of the acres in the area are already 5 to 10 acres in size."

One of the applicant representatives, Rand Wichman, noted that the four major cities of the prairie, Post Falls, Hayden, Rathdrum, and Coeur d'Alene, are all a mile or less away from the area and that over the past decade, several properties have switched to the rural designation.

"This area was once the middle of a large agriculture area," Wichman said. "Those of us that have been here a while remember the great plumes of smoke from burning the land. There was once so much that it would take a week or two of burning to burn all the fields."

Burning, which is no longer permitted on the prairie and vast amounts of farming activity, are nearly non-existent now, he said, because the cities have consumed the land with their growth.

"In 1973, when this property was originally zoned agricultural, that was the local zone for it, it fit with the surrounding area and was what was believed to be its long-term direction," Wichman said. "Nearly 50 years have passed, and boy how things have changed."

While there are some large agricultural lands still on the prairie, the 60 acres in question were, for the most part, surrounded by other rural-zoned parcels and residential units. Applications for the subdivision of the properties are expected in the near future, Wichman said, but he believes the owner is leaning toward more 10-acre lots than 5.

"I don't like losing the prairie. I don't like how growth is going, and I don't like telling people what they can and can't do with their property if it's legal," Commissioner Bill Brooks said. "It's a hard choice. It's not the prairie it was 20 or even 15 years ago."

Due to the county's Comprehensive Plan permitting such zoning changes and its compatibility with the surrounding area, the commissioners were hard set to find a reason not to approve the applications even if they fear the loss of the prairie.

"I hate to see things carved up, but because the existing characteristics are similar and it seems he is not going to divide it into eight 5-acre areas, I don't have a reason not to approve it," Commissioner Leslie Duncan said.