County seeks permanent access at Bonner Park West

PRIEST RIVER — An access disagreement is emerging as the city and private developers assemble a comprehensive waterfront plan that embraces the Pend Oreille River and ties into downtown revitalization.

The disagreement involves a stretch of Railroad Avenue, which provides access to Bonner Park West. Bonner County, which owns the riverfront park, is concerned development plans of Beardmore Landing LLC will sever access to the park.

To safeguard the public’s interest in Bonner Park West, the county filed suit in 1st District Court to secure a prescriptive easement and other forms of relief to preserve permanent access to the park via Railroad Avenue.

“We have no ulterior motive here other than to guarantee that we have access to the park. We have some real concerns or we wouldn’t have done this,” said county Commissioner Todd Sudick.

But Brian Runberg of Beardmore Landing contends the county’s concerns are unfounded because the park is a vital asset in reuniting the riverfront with the city’s re-emerging downtown.

“At no point have we ever indicated that access will be denied,” said Runberg,

Runberg said an access agreement is being drafted to ensure that Railroad Avenue will still be used to access the park while a plan is developed to reroute vehicle access into the park by extending Treat Street.

The Treat Street extension is buoyed by an ongoing project by the city to relocate a Stimson Lumber Co. railway loading facility to the west of the park, another move that is meant to improve waterfront access and broaden development options.

“They have the engineering plans in place and part of the financing is in place to move the loading facility,” said Runberg.

The city and Runberg are planning a series of stakeholder meetings to develop a long-range vision for the waterfront with public input. Two items being considered by Beardmore Landing include a riverfront amphitheater and a public market promenade.

“Now we really need to start to push this and see where we go with it and what the community wants,” said Priest River Mayor Jim Martin.