East Hope OKs development

The lines were clearly drawn and city council members, the Harbor View developers and a few East Hope citizens stood on the shores of Lake Pend Oreille to see the footprint of the proposed home sites last week.

Developers of the property, located on the west side of Pringle Avenue, have modified their original application from seven to six sites, said Planning and Zoning Administrator Bryan Quayle as he explained the white chalk marks to the group.

Returning to city hall, the hearing regarding the plan was convened. The developers’ representative, John Layman explained that the developers were requesting a zero setback on the back side of the proposed homes and a forty foot setback on the front of just one of the six home sites.

Layman said that the council helped the developers rethink their original plans. He said that they took aerial photographs of the property and consulted with architects and surveyors before they made their decision to reduce the size of the project.

The property gets narrow on the west end, and in order to accommodate the six parcels the 40-foot setback variance would have to be approved or else the western most house would be extremely narrow, Layman said.

During public testimony, resident Dawn Brinker said, "I’m pretty happy with this plan. I can actually see why you need the forty foot setback on that one lot."

Property owner, Brent Lockwood agreed, saying he found this proposal "much more agreeable." He said he understood the zero foot setback on the back of the properties, but thought that they could still be compliant on the forty foot from lake setbacks on property one.

Mayor Paul Madden said that he had no issues with the zero foot setbacks.

"These setbacks are not encroaching on anything now or ever," Madden said. "The big issue is the 50-feet versus 40-feet thing, but you make a good argument for a hardship on that property, who wants a house six and a half feet wide?"

Council members Jerry Clemons and Trecy Carpenter agreed with Madden. Council member Ed Butler abstained from the discussion because the property was previously owned by his family and he didn’t want a perceived conflict of interest.

Quayle read the council the items that they and the developers will have to sign off on before permitting will proceed. The council approved the variance so the project has a green light for proceeding.

In other council business, Fire Chief Robert Moore announced that an open house will be held on Tuesday, October 7, from 6 to 8 p.m. for everyone who contracts with the city for fire protection.

The council also approved a resolution increasing contracted fire protection from 0.0186 percent to 0.0279 percent of assessed value of property and structures plus a $50 set-up fee. This factor has the subscribers paying what in-city residents are paying for fire protection.

The next regular council meeting is Oct. 14 at 6: 30 p.m.