City officials should consider Panhandle State Bank proposal

Panhandle State Bank should be allowed to construct a three-story building to replace the Harold's grocery store.

The city should move post-haste to help this strong local business stay and thrive in downtown Sandpoint, as long as fire safety and parking concerns are addressed.

Essentially, the city has to decide the importance of raising the building height limit by 15 feet.

In order to protect downtown Sandpoint's culture, perhaps the Sandpoint City Council — or the planning and zoning commission — should consider a special use permit for the majority of the city block that now houses Harold's.

This move would protect the historic and scenic areas of downtown while allowing Panhandle State Bank to construct a building that would definitely be an improvement and more functional than what is there now.

A special use permit could also be used if and when the city decides the downtown parking lot needs to be expanded to two stories to help ease parking woes.

The face of Sandpoint and Bonner County is changing and we will be dealing with growth issues far into the future.

Our city leaders must act to preserve the unique architectural attractions along First Avenue and Cedar Street while not discouraging businesses that want to keep employees downtown.

It's our feeling a special use permit for this project would help an important local business stay put and expand. A new height ordinance would be cumbersome. Instead, we should allow our councilmembers to help decide the future direction of the downtown business district.

David Keyes is publisher of the Daily Bee.