Keep commercial zones out of neighborhoods

I've read about the efforts of Save Our Sandpoint, as well as letters by Erik Daarstad, Ed Braun and others, regarding the draft land use map being considered for Sandpoint. Obviously, they are all concerned about Sandpoint's future. Erik mentions the Coons and Whittaker homes, which were demolished to make way for a huge condo complex. Those houses were the last vestiges of old Sandpoint, the original town by the lake. Some had hoped to make them part of a museum group. But the houses are gone, and much of Sandpoint is being proposed for mixed commercial/residential usage.

Do those promoting this have any idea of what happens when commercial investments move into residential areas? For homes anywhere near the stores, the neighborhood becomes very busy — lots of traffic and even graffiti. If owners hope to gain from increased assessments, think again. I've seen houses in these neighborhoods put on the market in other towns. They either never sell or the price is deflated. Instead of inventing a new Sandpoint, why not encourage developers to build homes that fit in with the existing neighborhoods and the early homes? They don't have to be large, just attractive.

Since the beginning of Sandpoint, with intervals, someone from my family has lived there. My grandfather, Robert Coons, was the president of Sandpoint's first-ever city council. As I make plans to move back, I wonder if I will even recognize the Sandpoint my family and I have known, served, and loved?

BARBARA COONS

Honolulu, Hawaii