City OKs River View Ridge deal
PRIEST RIVER — The city approved an agreement with the developer of River View Ridge Estates on Monday, but not before an in-depth discussion and amendment to the privacy screening requirement.
According to the proposed agreement, the 11-acre development will include 20 single-family home lots, five duplex lots and a 2.24-acre multi-family lot with 32 apartments. The landscaping requirements in the initial proposed agreement called for the developer to include 10-foot-wide privacy screen, such as trees or bushes, along the property's boundary with the Evergreen Cemetery.
A board member of the West Bonner Cemetery District sent an email to the city asking officials to forego the requirement and instead allow the developer to reconstruct an existing four-foot chain-link fence situated on cemetery property, and extend it to the top of the bank.
The fence would cover approximately 1,200 linear feet of the border, said Bryan Quayle, the city's Planning and Zoning administrator.
The email stated that the developer also agreed to provide the green privacy slats for the existing fence.
Council members, however, were not too keen on the four-foot tall fence.
"I walk through there every day," said Councilwoman Candy Turner. "... I'm not against (a fence), but what I want to see I guess, if they are not going to do a 10-foot buffer, then put up a six-foot fence so I don't have to look into someone's yard."
Councilman Doug Wagner agreed that the fence should be "at least" six feet for the reason stated by Turner, as well as privacy for funeral services.
Approximately 400 feet of the fenceline area will be in the multi-family section, while other 800 feet bordering the cemetery is anticipated to have multiple homes, Quayle said.
Developer Fred LeClair and his representatives, including Scott McArthur from H2 Engineering, were in attendance Monday as well.
McArthur said the developer could require those who purchase lots to build their own fences.
"We will make it part of the contract when we sell the lots to the builders that they are required to build an in-kind six-foot fence, and we can even dictate the type," McArthur said.
By the end of the meeting, the section of the agreement regarding the 10-foot privacy screen was scrapped and amended to require the developer and future landowners to construct the six-foot chain-link fence with privacy slats along the cemetery border.
Council members voted in approval of the agreement, which also lists conditions such as allowable construction times, as well as other requirements of the developer as utility and landscape improvements got underway earlier this month.
The agreement limits construction time to between the hours of 7 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday through Saturday. The project will also include construction of a new trail system along the north side of Lookout Drive — the proposed road through the property.
The agreement as written would require the developer to maintain both trails for two years or until 50 percent of the single-family lots are occupied.
According to the developer's schedule, crews began installation of the sanitary sewer on June 15, will get started on water installation on June 27, finish subgrade by July 5, rock and pave July 12, with final cleanup beginning July 18.
Mary Malone can be reached by email at mmalone@bonnercountydailybee.com and follow her on Twitter @MaryDailyBee.