Developments move ahead in Post Falls

POST FALLS — The Post Falls Planning and Zoning Commission unanimously approved requested changes to the Montrose Planned Unit Development and approved a proposed subdivision Tuesday during a public hearing.

The Montrose PUD amendment and subdivision area of 467 acres, established in 1998, is south of Poleline Avenue, north of Seltice Way, north Mullan Avenue and east of McGuire Road.

The amendment will allow for an increase in lot coverage from 40%, as allowed by the city’s municipal code, to 50%. The amendment would memorialize the changes in local access streets and the reduction of cul-de-sacs that appear in the original design, plus it would remove remaining multi-family and cluster housing in certain areas and provide all single-family detached lots.

During the meeting, Post Falls planning manager Jon Manley said the net reduction of housing units would be just more than 300, dropping from 769 to 465.

The subdivision approval allows for 306 lots on 73.72 acres.

No public testimony was given during the public hearing. Planning and Zoning's was the only approval necessary for the amendment.

"The changes will result in more the same type of single-family residences you see in the neighborhood today," Post Falls Community Development Director Bob Seale said Thursday. "The increased lot coverage will allow existing homes to build small additions, covered patios or install sheds that would not have been permitted before or allow for slightly larger footprints on new homes."

More projects moving ahead in the River City include a land exchange between the city and the Jacklin Land Company, an annexation and a zone change in the North Crown area, all of which were unanimously approved June 15 by the Post Falls City Council.

The land exchange is expected to increase open space for the preservation of the Rathdrum Prairie and provide developable lands for the Jacklin Land Company. Most of the properties in the annexation are north of Prairie Avenue between Chase Road and Highway 41, with some on the south side of Hayden Avenue and some on the north.

“This preserves open space on the prairie," Post Falls Public Works Director John Beecham said during the May 17 public hearing about the zoning changes.

"These are properties that are intended to be used for farming," he said. "That’s what the land application of the treated wastewater would use, is basically growing a crop on those properties, so it’s open space."

The land exchange increases city-owned land from 960 acres to 1,058 acres.

Seale said in correspondence with The Press that the land swap and zoning decisions made at the previous council meeting will benefit the community through the addition of the approximately 98 acres of preserved open space and the inclusion of appropriately zoned land.

"The residential mixed zoning approved for the North Crown property will complement the adjacent Crown Pointe neighborhood and the future school site," he said. "The additional roadways constructed with the project will offer new access points to the west and north for both the North Crown and Crown Pointe neighborhoods, allowing residents of both communities additional options for getting to and from their homes."

Seale said he would expect the Jacklin Land Company will likely begin the subdivision process for North Crown later this year, although he doesn't expect any construction to begin at North Crown for about a year.

"The land at Hayden and Highway 41, known as South Thompson, will not likely see any development for at least 5-10 years, depending on the timing of new infrastructure needed for the project," Seale said. "Granting the annexation and zoning request at this time allows for the developer to invest in their long range plans with confidence."

Contingencies in the land exchange agreement require the properties be annexed and the North Crown parcel be rezoned to something compatible with the developers’ intended uses. This includes 80 acres of public reserve that is now residential mixed, while 178 acres annexed from county land to public reserve will replace the 80 that have been rezoned.

“This 80-acre parcel is going to be the death-maker for Hayden Avenue," Gary Baldwin, who lives on Hayden Avenue across the street from the 80-acre parcel, said during the public hearing.

He said the development is just going to double the traffic on Hayden Avenue, with so many people coming out of the parcel to travel east and west.

“I’m adamantly opposed to this," he said.

Other residents shared concerns about traffic and lack of infrastructure to support development in that area.

During the June 14 Post Falls City Council meeting, Post Falls School District Superintendent Dena Naccarato spoke in favor of the annexation as the deal will be beneficial to the district. She said the district usually is neutral in proposed developments.

"But in this case, the Jacklins have given the district a letter of intent, which states in part, and I quote, ‘Jacklin will work in good faith to extend utilities including but not limited to water, sewer, gas power and telecom to and through future public road which will be located on the property line between North Crown Point and the Post Falls School District just west of the Jacklin property,'" Naccarato said.

She said, because school districts are unable to collect impact fees, this project will save taxpayers money in the long run.

City Councilman Joe Malloy said many people are in favor of this annexation and that everyone who likes indoor plumbing in Post Falls and Rathdrum is going to benefit.

He acknowledged that those who live in the immediate area will be impacted. He said hindsight is a bit funny; when a hearing was held about 10 years ago regarding Crown Point, some were in opposition to the development because they thought it would increase crime and traffic and ruin Post Falls and turn it into California.

“They’re talking about your homes,” Malloy said to those in attendance. "I don't think your homes ruined Post Falls and turned it into California. So if we hadn’t allowed it then, your homes wouldn’t exist.

“I don’t think this 80 acres is going to ruin Idaho and turn it into California,” he said.