Hayden Planning and Zoning to vote on new subdivision

Hayden residents could have new neighbors.

The Hayden Planning and Zoning Commission will meet Monday to vote on whether to approve a potential new subdivision along West Prairie Avenue. If it passes, the vote would go to City Council later for final approval.

The Hazelnut Glen subdivision is planned to have 126 lots for single-family residential zoning on 38.94 acres of land north of West Prairie Avenue, west of North Carrington Street and south of West Honeysuckle/Bean Avenue, according to a staff review document on Hayden's website.

The 97-page staff review document says it will be built in four phases, starting with the south end of the plat in phase one, then moving north up the plat in each phase until phase four.

“They’re going to do it in parts and pieces,” Hayden Community and Economic Development Director Donna Phillips said. “They’re not going to build the whole thing (all at once).”

The document says infrastructure improvements would come along with the development, including new roads and water and sewer infrastructure. The improvements would account for car, bicycle and pedestrian traffic.

“The area will have some connectivity with multimodal pathways so you can bicycle,” Phillips said. “You could get around there and get to and from (places) without being in the middle of the street,” Phillips said.

One of the most important transportation additions will come at Carrington and Prairie.

“They're going to put a signal in right there, so that will help with traffic onto and off of Prairie instead of trying to guess whether you can get across the cars,” Phillips said.

Entry points into the subdivision will come off Carrington Lane, Downing Lane and Cranston Avenue. As it currently stands, Cornerstone Baptist Church has a driveway on Prairie that will be replaced to align with the Carrington Street entry.

Phillips said reaching that alignment required coordination among several jurisdictions, including Kootenai County and the Post Falls Highway District, as well as work between the developer, OO Land Holdings, LLC, and the church.

“The road will kind of veer around the church,” Phillips said. “The developer worked really well and did the heavy lifting with the church to get it all done. Should this get approved by the hearing bodies, the intersections would now align to the south.”

The Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office said in the staff review document that it does not see anything preventing the subdivision from being approved but was concerned about police resource availability.

“Increasing the population will cause an increase in the number of calls into the 911 center and will increase needs for staffing to handle the additional calls,” Capt. Andrew Deak, Operations Support commander, said in an email attached to the staff review document. “An increase in population will also inevitably cause an increase in crime. Traffic from the development … could further burden a rapid law enforcement response.”

Public comments on the proposed project can be submitted on haydenid.gov on the Upcoming Public Hearings page up until 3 p.m. on the day of the hearing. Those with comments may also attend the meeting Monday at 5:30 p.m. at Hayden City Hall.

    A map from the Planning and Zoning Commission's staff review document showing where Hazelnut Glen would be, outlined in purple and zoned for single-family residential.