Coeur d'Alene eyes more sidewalks

Coeur d’Alene is known as a bicycle-friendly city. It wants to have a similar reputation when it comes to walking but one city official said first, it needs more sidewalks. 

The city has low “walkability rating” according to National Urban Planning Standards, said Monte McCully, Coeur d’Alene trails coordinator. 

"I don’t even think we got an honorable mention,” he told the City Council. 

He said 30% of the city doesn’t have sidewalks and in older parts of the city on the east side, you won’t find many sidewalks. 

That raises concerns for kids walking to schools and pedestrians mixing with vehicles. 

“It’s absolutely imperative we do everything we can to improve the safety, especially around the schools,” McCully said. 

He recently presented a possible solution to the City Council. It would involve amending city code so it can require sidewalks to be built with new construction.

Municipal Code §§ 12.28.210 through 240 provides for exemptions to sidewalk construction due to hardship, geographical constraints, and distance. If the nearest sidewalk is 450 feet or more from the property being developed or remodeled, the property owner is not required to build a sidewalk.  

“That has, over the years, prevented the city from getting a lot of sidewalks in a lot of areas,” McCully said. 

He asked the City Council to direct staff to prepare an ordinance making amendments to change the exemption for sidewalk installation requirements within priority pedestrian corridors, including school routes and the Kroc Center. 

“Future sidewalks will be built by property developers, grant money, or future sidewalk projects that will come back to Council before approval,” a city report said. 

This would create a safer, more walkable community, McCully said. 

The Pedestrian/Bike Committee has identified 12 priority areas that should be removed from the exemption. They include streets around Coeur d’Alene High School, Fernan and Winton Elementary schools.

“They all have to do with access to schools,” McCully said. 

For instance, 21st Street from Mullan Avenue to Fernan STEM Academy doesn't have sidewalks, and neither does Coeur d’Alene Avenue from 15th to 23rd streets. Both are used by students.

McCully said it would not require a homeowner to build a sidewalk in front of his home, but if a developer tears down an old house and puts in a new one, a sidewalk would be part of the deal. 

“A lot of times right now, they don’t have to," McCully said. “They have a big multi-million-dollar development, if they’re 450 feet away, they don’t have to build a sidewalk.” 

If the city requires it over the years, he said, “we will get connectivity.” 

The City Council, by a 4-1 vote, agreed.  

“It’s absolutely imperative we do everything we can to improve the safety, especially around the schools for families walking their children to and from,” said Amy Evans said. 

Dan Gookin was the no-vote. 

While agreeing it was for a good purpose, he said it would be “ridiculous” to require a developer to put in a sidewalk that “goes nowhere” as the properties on both sides probably wouldn’t have them. 

He said such sidewalks are around town and are an “undue burden” on a homeowner.

Gookin said having no sidewalks is part of the character of many neighborhoods. In those areas, such as Sanders Beach, people walk in the streets and don’t have any problems. 

“It seems to me, this is Idaho. This isn’t a big city. There's lots of places in the city where there’s no sidewalks and people buy homes there. They like that. They like that lifestyle," he said.

Gookin said the ordinance should include a map of the priority areas targeted for sidewalks, and homeowners should be notified, “to let them know that’s our intention, to force them to put in a sidewalk.”