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Council denies variance, approves War Memorial Field improvements

by RACHEL SUN
Staff Writer | March 5, 2021 1:00 AM

SANDPOINT — Council members voted Wednesday to deny an appeal by a Sandpoint couple asking the city to reconsider a building variance for their Lavina Avenue home.

The appeal, made by property owners Aaron Levi and Ann Neal, came after the Planning and Zoning commission voted 5-1 to deny their request for a variance in the construction of their home to exceed the 35% maximum lot coverage outlined in city code.

The appellants had previously altered their building plans to fit city code requirements, which was approved.

However, because of miscommunications between the contractor and the city, the contractor and appellants were led to believe that the house’s trellis would be approved, the couple said. That portion of the structure was later found to be out of code after construction was finished, exceeding the 35% maximum by roughly 6.4%.

The appellants stated that because their house had had four inspections before the roof was completed, the city should have informed them they were out of compliance at an earlier date.

However, Darren Fluke, interim planning director, said the purpose of the earlier inspections is to check for safety — checking for code compliance is usually only done at the final inspection and the city informed the homeowners sooner than would normally be expected.

“The city is not obligated to be looking over the shoulder of the contractor, and I would stress this was found earlier than expected,” he said.

The appellants also said they had acted in good faith, and noted that within the area, they identified several other addresses that surpassed the 35% maximum coverage.

“We wholeheartedly believed due to multiple favorable inspections [it was in code],” Neal said. “It never occurred to us that we should have second-guessed that.”

The two added that their immediate neighbors had stated support for keeping the house as it was, and the portion that would be required to be rebuilt had cost several thousand dollars.

That rebuild cost is one the couple’s contractor agreed to incur, they said, but they also felt the city had a responsibility to notify them sooner if they were out of compliance and account for the individual circumstances. Functionally, the building was not negatively affecting their neighbors, Neal said.

“There’s the human aspect [laws] cannot take into account,” she said. “What we really feel is that everybody has some responsibility here.”

Despite those circumstances, Fluke said, the planning department is required to apply the laws and codes as they are written. Further, building variances are typically approved prior to the structure being built, not after.

“We don’t have the luxury of staff taking into account a human element,” he said. “We are pretty black and white.”

Several members of the council expressed sympathy for the couple, but said they werealso concerned that allowing a variance after construction could set a precedent that would allow other less honest developers to take advantage of the city’s leniency.

“Compassion is one thing, but I also know we have a significant amount of developments being built,” said Ccouncilman Andy Groat. “I’m thinking about the not-so-good [contractors] that are going to come and exploit the soft underbelly [of the council].”

Councilman Joel Aispuro, the only no vote in the denial of the variance, said he hoped the situation would help inform other contractors in the future.

“I don’t put them at fault in this situation,” he said. “I don’t believe that the homeowners that are trusting their builders should be watching over their back.”

The council voted 3-1 to uphold the commissioners’ decision, with council members Deb Ruehle and John Darling absent.

Also that night, the council unanimously voted to approve ongoing improvements to the parking lot and boat launch at War Memorial Field.

Following the recommendation of staff, the city will award a $1,098,737 bid to LaRiviere, Inc. for improvements that include an expanded parking lot and related improvements including stormwater, lighting and landscaping and boat launch improvements.

The construction will include improvements and expansion for the parking lot, which will provide car spaces and boat spaces in addition to a boat launch.

“What this parking lot represents is a balancing of priorities, at many times conflicting priorities,” said Dan Tadic, city engineer.

The new design will increase the car parking spaces to 73 from its previous 40, and 24 boat trailer parking spots from 19.

“Those 19 were not terribly functional,” Tadic said.

The lot will also expand seasonally, he said, as the boat trailer spaces can be used as two car parking spaces during the off season.

That will bring the lot up to 151 spaces, he said, however, the city code still requires 294 spaces for a sports venue. In addition, the lot does not meet standards for landscaping — however it does not account for a stand of trees alongside the parking lot, or trees that the city has planted to help reduce light pollution from headlights into neighboring properties.

“We feel,” he said, “that this layout does achieve the best balance.”

The city is also still working on stormwater runoff changes, including a move of one of its projects to Dub’s Field in an effort to reduce treatment system costs.

“We were dealt a little bit of a curveball with our multi-model master plan with the realignment of the Boyer and Highway 2 intersection that starts to shift down into that Dub’s Field footprint,” he said. “We’re not as far as we would have liked to have been at this point.”

Lastly, the council heard a presentation on proposed changes to the Parks and Recreation fee structure.

Some of those changes included increasing the maximum tournament rental cost from $2,000 to $3,000, and removing certain team fees for local sports teams.

Another change includes a $10,000 annual fee to the Lake Pend Oreille School District for use of War Memorial Field. That fee is necessary to help fund the field’s surface replacement in the future, said city administrator Jennifer Stapleton, and costs the district less than it would to maintain their own field.

In total, the replacement will cost the city roughly $937,300, and the field is expected to last for 15 years. The city’s current reserve for that replacement sits at $150,375.

The city will also implement certain fees for canceled field rentals and other charges to account for labor on the part of parks and recreation staff.