New Hagadone project gets planning commission approval

A trio of potential high-rises proposed near The Coeur d’Alene Resort Golf Course gained traction Tuesday night after the Coeur d’Alene Planning Commission voted to let a Hagadone Hospitality project move forward. (Full disclosure: Hagadone Hospitality, like the Coeur d'Alene Press, is a division of the Hagadone Corporation.)

Technically a modification to a portion of a limited design planned unit development, the package adds 2.4 acres on the northeast corner of the golf course on East Coeur d’Alene Lake Drive. Three buildings for apartments, condos and hotel space are designed to accommodate no more than 275 total units, each with stepped roofs, all while minimizing tree removal by pushing the buildings close to the golf course and keeping tenant parking in the bottom floors of each structure. The new addition to the East Sherman area will have similar qualities as another familiar face on the other end of town, according to developer John Barlow as he testified to the aesthetics of the property.

“This probably has a few more flower beds than we would probably have,” he said as he described the landscaping to the Planning Commission. “But (owner Duane) Hagadone talked about making it the same kind of feel as you go by The (Coeur d’Alene) Resort: highly manicured, lots of probably geraniums, evergreens, and so on, but a park-like feel.”

That park-like quality won’t only be felt in the ethereal. The project will also include roughly one-third of an acre to be built and maintained at private expense but open to the public.

The three buildings will be approximately 85 feet apart and will also include an acre of private open space, which will include a pond and park-like private space, as well. It’s an amenity that drew raves from the commission.

“We talked a lot around these tables about open space,” commissioner John Ingalls said. “And this (proposal) kills it with open space. The PUD doesn’t really require it to be open space. It just requires open space for the people who live in that PUD. In this case, I like the fact I’m seeing this pond-park.”

The project is capped at a maximum of 220 feet, which Barlow said could be closer to 180 feet, depending on how the design moves forward. The stepped roofs are aimed at mitigating that height from impeding neighbors views. It was an issue that commissioner Lynn Flemming said was going to cause concern among locals.

“I think the biggest pushback on any of this is going to be the height,” Flemming stressed. “I think the people on Fernan Hill, you’re going to get a big, loud ‘Oh, my God’ when they see what goes up, because their lake view will be broken. As you develop this, I encourage you to look … and see if we can get it down. I’m not big on big.”

Some of that outcry has already begun. Some wrote the commission to voice their concerns over how the project would block their views. Jim Glenn of Fernan Lake Road came in person to testify that the digital imaginings project architects created don’t give a complete picture of how views will be impacted.

“The view you have looking this way from that spot is different from my house several doors down,” Glenn said, “which is different as you head west on Fernan Hill Road. What you see in the depiction is sort of this angle, but as you move down here, it’s sort of this angle … When I bought my house 12 or 13 years ago, I bought it for the view. It had virtually — other than trees — an unobstructed view. I was under the impression that view was protected.”

Glenn asked the commission to consider that the value of his property and the properties of his neighbors would be impacted unfairly. Barlow said he understood those concerns but added that the project’s initial designs are meant to make as soft a footprint on the skyscape as possible in the face of unprecedented growth.

“Coeur d’Alene’s going to continue to grow,” Barlow urged. “Unless you put a gate on I-90, I don’t know how to stop it. What we believe is, this type of housing responds to the desire and demand for low-maintenance living and a central near-town location. And the alternative of having another sub-division is not as good when this is where people want to live and play.”

After the commission unanimously approved the modification, the project will now go through the design process. Flemming added that she was impressed not only by the thoroughness of the more-than-two hour presentation and discussion but by the quality of the work behind it.

“As usual, Hagadone has brought it,” she said. “You set the bar so high that everyone has to jump.”