Zoning request passes after multiple attempts for Post Falls annexation

POST FALLS — The fourth time was a charm for annexation in an area to get across the finish line and gain zoning approval with Post Falls City Council.

Lake City Engineering headed up the project for the 20-acre parcel of land on behalf of Copper Basin Construction council members as it was annexed into the city of Post Falls. 

The parcel of land in question is located north of Prairie Avenue and just east of the Greensferry Road and Prairie Avenue.  

On March 17, the project was filed as R1 single family residential zoning.  

Council passed the annexation at that time, but held off on finalizing a zoning designation until after an agreement with the developer was struck up. 

Prior denials of zoning projects include Acuff Annexation in 2019, Tullamore Vista in 2021 and Copper Basin Prairie Annexation in 2023. 

High density, residential mixed and community commercial services and then single-family residential zoning options were denied respectively in the past.  

On May 19, the zoning measure that finally passed unanimously among council members was a residential mixed zoning designation to accompany a developer agreement. 

Post Falls planning manager Jon Manley said the key condition in the agreement with the developer was that an improved connection to either Greensferry Road or Prairie Avenue was needed before a connection would be created to five individual parcels of land in the project. 

The intention was to discourage future “access-restricted" Lynn Street as a main access point to Prairie Avenue. 

“We would not allow a road to dead-end and stop,” Manley said. 

Field Herrington clarified the reason why the matter returned for council approval. 

“The decision to annex has already been made and voted on. We are just considering the zoning of the parcel,” Herrington said. 

The legislative decision was made and now city leadership needed to hold the quasi-judicial proceedings. 

City Councilor Samantha Steigleder asked about whether project sites to the north started to develop after this project site and how this developer could meet the road condition in the developer agreement. 

“We would be pushing for Cecil Road improvements from Prairie Avenue up to that project because that was the concern: to mitigate the temporary situation where people would, because of an unfinished portion of Cecil, use Lynn Street as their means out,” Manley said. 

Because drivers can’t otherwise get to Prairie via any other means, the roads require Cecil Road to be connected to move forward and be in compliance with the agreement. 

“In what world would they be able to connect to Greensferry if those properties didn’t build out?” Steigleder asked. “And the answer is, there isn’t one, the only option for them to connect to Prairie would be to go to Cecil. Cecil’s not called out in this, which seems like it ought to be.” 

Steigleder also addressed the necessity of placing higher density zoning carefully when it comes to city planning. 

She said there are possibilities in creating density in places like Prairie and Greensferry to retain more small-town elements in other areas around town. 

“It's a busy, industrialized area,” Steigleder said. “If we can put some well thought-out density here, then we’re able to keep that kind of sense of walkability, small-town charm, open spaces in other places in the city where we find it really important.” 

Kootenai County Fire and Rescue Chief Pete Holley was the lone speaker at the public hearing and emphasized the fire district’s neutrality on the topic.  

When KCFR does weigh in on city considerations, it’s to add life-saving perspectives to the conversation based on the international fire code and applicable life-saving standards.  

“On those questions, the district will offer professional opinions grounded in adopted code rather than preference,” Holley said. 

The zoning decision was unanimously passed.