Council to vote on comp plan, parking

SANDPOINT — Two of Sandpoint’s most polarizing plans are nearing judgment day, and the city is offering residents one last chance to weigh in on the proposals before either becomes law.

The City Council will hold a special session Feb. 11 for public hearings on the comprehensive plan and a proposed ordinance that would drastically change downtown parking requirements.

Over the span of nearly two years, the comp plan has been worked and reworked through dozens of public hearings, council sessions and workshops. The plan was designed to act as a development road map for the next 20 years of growth in Sandpoint.

Last year alone the council devoted more than a quarter of its 70 official meetings to the plan, and Councilman John Reuter said the community’s meticulous examination of the document will make its passage that much easier.

“The calls and e-mails that I’ve been getting are saying, ‘John, you need to pass this thing now. It’s time to pass it,’” Reuter said. “I think it’s as close to perfect as we’re going to get without holding 22 more workshops.”

Reuter likens Wednesday’s meeting to a wedding between the city and the comp plan, which gives community members one last opportunity to voice their  concerns.

“It’s like during a wedding when they ask if anyone knows why this couple shouldn’t be wed. Nobody expects anybody to object at that point, but I guess they always could,” he said.

While it was introduced long after the comp plan, proposed deregulation of downtown parking requirements have caused just as much of a ripple through the community.

The city’s current parking ordinance, which went into effect in 1979, requires businesses that have either changed usage or undergone significant alterations to maintain a certain number of off-street parking spaces, depending on the size and function of the business.

Among other changes, the new ordinance would do away with all parking requirements for new businesses downtown.

Reuter, who proposed the plan and has been its strongest supporter, said the many meetings and hearings held on the topic have done away with much of its controversy and will make it more likely to become law.

“It shows you that you don’t have to go and try to ram your ideas down people’s throats,” he said about the long public process. “You can have a conversation about it and allow the public to have time to make an informed decision about whether they want to do something or not.”

Community members are encouraged to attend the meeting, which will begin at 7 p.m. at City Hall.