Rathdrum OKs Lakeland Landings

RATHDRUM — With two new members on board, Neil Oliver and John Hodgkins, the Rathdrum City Council picked up right where it left off: Tackling housing proposals.

Last week, the council gave the green light to one project plan and rejected another.

Final agreements were made for the Lakeland Landings annexation between property owner and applicant, Scott McArthur and Rathdrum city officials. The property had been annexed into the city of Rathdrum last year. During the council meeting the responsibilities of the city and the developer were finalized.

Lakeland Landings is 17.2 acres east of the Westwood Pines Subdivision, a half-mile east of the north Meyer Road and west Highway 53 intersection, on the north side of the highway.

Previously zoned as rural by Kootenai County, annexation into the city of Rathdrum is accompanied by a zone change. 14 acres will be zoned R-2S, low to medium density residential. The remaining 3.2 acres will be zoned C-2, highway and service commercial.

The developer, Lakeland Landings, LLC, is represented by McArthur Engineering.

The project includes plans to build single-family homes with a minimum lot size of 7,500 square feet. Plans for the commercial segment are yet undetermined.

According to City Council documents, the property is located within “Rathdrum’s exclusive area of city impact,” on the report of the city’s future land use map. City officials designated the property as a “transformational area” that can support residential and commercial uses.

The provision of additional housing is expected to help the housing market, the council concluded. And the addition of more commercial zoning can help attract businesses to Rathdrum.

McArthur has agreed to a private deal with Lakeland Joint School District. The developer will pay the district $500 per housing lot at the time of sale to address the impact on the district.

The development adjacent to the north of Lakeland Landings is zoned rural and occupied by single-family homes. To the east is a plot zoned high-density residential and rural. It is occupied by two 5-acre single-family lots and a 4.72-acre property occupied by 22 manufactured homes. To the south is rural land along Highway 53, a 94-acre single-family home lot. To the west is the yet undeveloped Westwood Pines Subdivision.

"They will probably be bringing the preliminary plat soon," City Administrator Leon Duce said.

GREEN ACRES DENIAL

The Green Grass project was denied at the Jan. 26 council meeting. A request from applicant Tim Grossglauser to rezone 41.84 acres from industrial to residential was recommended for denial by the Rathdrum Planning and Zoning commission on Oct. 21, 2021.

Commissioner Nina Beesley made the motion to deny, accompanied by a statement.

“We have received comments from citizens, as well as letters from citizens, that they are concerned about growth and it will be an encroachment on them — on their taxes,” Beesley said. “Because of the comments we’ve received, we need to slow the growth to catch up.”

The council voted in accordance with the Planning and Zoning recommendation. At last Wednesday’s meeting, the council presented the findings of fact that supported the application denial, Duce said.

According to city code, Grossglauser can’t resubmit the application for one year. He can, however, modify it and re-submit at any time, Duce said.

The Green Grass property is adjacent to several subdivisions: Radiant Lake Estates, Skyline Meadows, Grace Meadows and Rigby Place. Accessible by way of North Thayer Street, West Nagel Road or North Meyer Road, the land holds no structures and is mostly native dryland grass.

The City Council next meets at 6 p.m., Feb 23, at City Hall on Main Street.

This article has been corrected.