Athol rejects housing project

ATHOL — The Athol City Council voted unanimously Tuesday night to reject a controversial housing project that reportedly sparked threats against its developer.

Athol Grove is a proposed planned unit development located in The Crossings at Athol subdivision, east of Super 1 Foods. The development would include 30 lots on a little more than 4 acres.

Coeur d’Alene-based builder Active West is the developer.

Dennis Cunningham, owner of Active West, reportedly did not attend Tuesday’s City Council meeting because he received death threats after speaking at a previous public hearing.

Cunningham did not respond to a Press request for comment.

More than 100 people attended the meeting, some holding signs expressing their disapproval of the project.

At a public hearing in February, which drew a crowd of around 150, no residents spoke in favor of the development.

City staff have reportedly raised concerns about some elements of the plans for Athol Grove, including snow removal and parking overflow.

Under the current design, each home would have enough space to park one vehicle in the garage and one in the driveway.

The streets are too narrow for any street parking; emergency vehicles would not be able to get through.

All four City Council members expressed concerns about elements of the project, from the potential impact on local schools to wastewater and solid waste removal.

“It’s black and white to me,” said Councilman Steve Cutaiar. “I want to see your approval in a better form where it says you’re taking responsibility if something goes wrong over there when the cars are parked on the street and the fire truck can’t get through.”

City attorney Jason Wing said at a previous hearing that the City Council cannot approve or deny an application arbitrarily.

The decision must be based on whether an application satisfies the requirements of Athol city code.

The code states, in part, that all planned unit development projects must demonstrate there is a general public benefit to be gained by the degree of deviation from the zoning regulations proposed by the project.

“They have not demonstrated there is a genuine public benefit,” said Councilwoman Cindi Devine.

Devine later moved to deny Athol Grove’s application for preliminary approval.

Now that the City Council has denied the application, it must provide the developer with a list of specific requirements the application failed to meet.