FEMA grant enables removal of home in floodway

SANDPOINT — The saga of a home built in a floodway at the confluence of Pack River and Grouse Creek is drawing to a close.

Bonner County is receiving a $508,935 pre-disaster mitigation grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to raze the home and restore the property to its natural state.

“This is the culmination of six years worth of work,” Bonner County Planning Director Clare Marley.

The now-defunct county building department approved the construction of the 3,700-square-foot home in 1994, but FEMA later determined there was no required analysis of the home’s impact on the base flood elevation.

The tony home jeopardized Bonner County’s standing in the National Flood Insurance Program. More than 200 landowners in Bonner County rely on NFIP.

A neighboring landowner also claimed that improvements to the property was deflecting the Pack River to their property and causing it to erode, although Marley said those claims were never proven.

The county initially sought a FEMA hazard mitigation grant to demolish the home, but the request was denied. The county subsequently sought an alternate source of FEMA funding and the request was approved.

The county’s share of the grant $169,645, resulting in a total project cost of $678,580.

“This is the largest acquisition of property in several decades in Idaho,” said Marley.

The home was at one point was offered for sale for $849,021, according to an undated real estate advertisement. A couple purchased the home in 2008.

Marley said the couple who bought it are relieved and eager to put the controversy behind them.

“It’s been an emotional ride for them and for us,” she said.

Commissioner Todd Sudick said the restored property may be placed into a conservation land trust, but in the meantime it will be managed for recreation purposes, such as pullout for kaykers and canoeists.

“That’s the intent, after it’s re-vegetated, is to have it at least in the short term as a recreation area,” said Sudick.