City kicks off comp plan update

SANDPOINT — Community members were asked Thursday evening to say, in one word, what they love most about Sandpoint.

While there were a number of answers ranging from character and quality, to charming and small, the top answer was “community.”

“This is an awesome list,” said Bruce Meighen, principal and planner with Logan Simpson Design, as he watched the answers roll across the screen. “... These are the words that we use to build a vision for the comprehensive plan, making sure that whatever we do in the future, whether that is land use or parks, it really represents the community’s values.”

The question was part of an exercise during the city’s comprehensive plan kickoff meeting on Thursday in the Sandpoint branch of the East Bonner County Library District. The city approved the contract with Logan Simpson Design in September to update to the comprehensive plan, which has not been overhauled since 2009. The comprehensive plan is a 20-year vision for the city, and is also required by law, said Aaron Qualls, city planning and community development director.

“It guides major decisions by elected officials, appointed officials and city staff,” Qualls said. “It’s a way, in a sense, to hold all of us accountable for that vision that is by and for the community.”

The updated plan will include a state-required chapter on the airport and its land use. Idaho’s Airport Land Use Guidelines provide six recommended airport land use compatibility zones — runway protection zones, lateral safety zones, critical zones, airport traffic pattern area, airport influence area and impact coordination zone.

Council approved a temporary moratorium in July on new zone change requests for up to one year to allow adequate time for the comprehensive planning process. Therefore, the airport component of the plan is being expedited by the consultants.

The overall update will be done in three phases over the next year, said Miriam McGilvray, a community planner with Logan Simpson Design. The first phase will look at the people of Sandpoint, who they are, and what is “great” about the city, as well as some data analysis, she said. In the second phase, the consultants will look more specifically at visioning — what the community sees for the future of the city in the next 20 years and how to get there. In the third phase, the consultants will take what they have heard from the community and translate it into the update to the comprehensive plan, meaning goals, policies and action items, McGilvray said.

The consultants and city officials, including Mayor Shelby Rognstad, said community involvement in the process is “crucial.”

“This is arguably the most powerful way that you can have a lasting impact on your community now and well into the future,” Rognstad said.

During the meeting, the consultants asked everyone who had a smartphone, which was the majority of the approximately 70 people in the room, to log into a website and answer a few questions, such as the aforementioned one of what people love about Sandpoint. Another question, for example, included a list of general community issues, asking people to choose the top three they believe need addressed in the comprehensive plan.

Planning for growth, housing options, and jobs and business were the top three answers among the meeting attendees. Another question was in regards to what could be improved, to which some of the answers mirrored the previous question, such as higher paying jobs and affordable housing.

Community members also had some questions for the consultants as well, including whether they will be integrating the other master plans, such as the Parks and Recreation Master Plan, the city has initiated this year into the comprehensive plan.

“The ideal situation is that your overall comprehensive plan may touch on parks and rec, but just touch on it — same thing with transportation, same thing with water,” Meighen said, adding that they do have to work together.

Other questions surrounded how they plan to reach more of the community, as one person noted only a “small spattering” of the community were present at Thursday’s meeting. Meighen said they have a year “together” with the community, and encouraged public involvement through a number of upcoming opportunities, including community meetings and events, online surveys and even one-on-one interviews with the consultants.

The first online survey will go live next week and can be accessed through the comprehensive plan website at sandpointidaho.gov/imagine, or through the city’s Engage Sandpoint app. Information and a full schedule for the comprehensive planning process is available on the website as well.

Mary Malone can be reached by email at mmalone@bonnercountydailybee.com and follow her on Twitter @MaryDailyBee.