Hayden's lost that home-town feelin'

Why is my city of Hayden losing its small-town feel? The mayor, City Council and staff are adhering to the 2040 Comprehensive Plan which is diminishing our quality of life rather than enhancing it for existing and future residents. The Plan contemplates doubling our population while requiring its citizens to pay for more people to move here with higher taxes and fees. The mayor and City Council acknowledge that growth does not pay for itself. Impact fees are insufficient to cover the costs of development. As a result, the infrastructure is strained and deteriorating.

The world has changed dramatically since The Plan’s creation in 2019. The “dream” imagined by The Plan is becoming a nightmare due to exponential growth. Traffic congestion, massive migration and huge home price increases are happening at record speed. Affordable housing is a myth. Wages are not keeping up with the cost of living, pushing locals and young people out. The safety and well being of citizens are being compromised.

The pandemic accelerated the retirement of baby boomers; and, people are now working remotely from home, allowing them to relocate to our desirable area. As a “living document,” The Plan can be revised to better manage the problems created by this unexpected, rapid growth. The Plan should no longer be implemented as is.

I had the opportunity to listen to local authorities discuss the impacts of growth on the infrastructure in Kootenai County at McIntire Park. Fire protection and law enforcement response times in Kootenai County are far below the minimum national standards. According to Sheriff Norris, the average response time for a law enforcement call should be under five minutes. Currently, the average response time for law enforcement is around ten minutes for some and twenty for others depending on priority. Hayden needs two officers to respond to certain calls, but has only one full-time officer. Pat Riley, the Northern Lakes Fire Chief, stated that the national standard ratio of firemen to population to best protect communities is 1 for every 3,500 people. In Kootenai County, the ratio is 1 fireman for every 63,000 people. Calls for service annually have increased from 672 to over 5,000 in twenty years with the same staff. We are not meeting the needs of the existing public let alone the new developments.

Recently, a proposed massive zone change was mailed to more than 1,700 households in Hayden. This aggressive amendment not only changes the character of the city, it forgoes millions of dollars that would otherwise be charged for zone change requests as they come forward on a more gradual basis. This amendment shouldn’t be passed.

The decades-old Huetter bypass plan is used as a reason to facilitate high density housing developments along Prairie and Hayden Avenues. However, the right-of-way has not been purchased for this road which was to alleviate traffic on I-95. One estimate to purchase the needed right-of-way land is more than $300,000,000. The cost is now too expensive for this bypass to be constructed.

The Rathdrum Prairie Aquifer, the water source for 500,000 people, is not being protected from building a sea of residential units over it. The storm water created by The Plan and rezoning puts the aquifer at greater risk of contamination. Requiring sewers helps but doesn’t mitigate the run off from concrete, roads and buildings seeping into the soil.

It is not too late to change the trajectory of this growth, but it will require a vocal citizenry to get involved and ask the Hayden mayor and City Council to hold a town hall meeting to address The Plan and zone changes. An upcoming open house invitation to discuss these matters with staff, although welcomed, is just a beginning to address these serious issues. More input from more of the public is needed. If we don’t speak up the mayor, City Council and staff will assume our silence means consent with their actions to promote growth.

I am not against growth, but I want safety and cost to be paramount in decision making. We now have an opportunity to make a difference in what is happening to our beloved city. Let’s not let it pass by. Speak up and be heard.

• • •

Joy Richards is a resident of Hayden.