Sandpoint hotel development gets parking reduction

SANDPOINT — A proposed 180-room hotel development on Lake Pend Oreille's waterfront has received approval to reduce its required parking spaces, Sandpoint city officials announced at a December 18 council meeting.

The project at 56 Bridge Street — which includes a hotel, restaurant, and events space near City Beach — initially required 244 parking spaces under city code. However, developers successfully negotiated to reduce this number to 145 spaces.

Jason Welker, Sandpoint's planning and community development director, explained that developers first proposed a three-level parking structure before seeking alternatives. Using city code provisions, the developer submitted a professional parking analysis and offered to pay in-lieu fees to reduce the requirement.

The analysis, conducted by engineering firm Kimley-Horn, projected a peak demand of 141 parking spots, drawing on data from similar properties in Whitefish, Mont. City staff deemed the study valid and accepted the developer's proposal, which included a $400,000 payment to fund improvements to nearby public parking.

The decision, which did not require a motion of the council to pass, sparked debate among council members. Councilor Pam Duquette expressed skepticism about the plan's practicality: "You've seen Schweitzer — people don't even carpool to go up there, and there's a free bus."

However, Councilor Justin Dick, drawing from his decade-long experience operating a restaurant at the site, offered a different perspective. 

"I could count on my hand the number of times that we actually had a full parking lot where either restaurant guests had to park at City Beach or hotel guests had to park at City Beach and walk their stuff over to the front desk," he said.

Mayor Jeremy Grimm shared plans to implement paid parking at City Beach, which could reduce demand and ease pressure on the lot. The proposal prompted concerns from Councilor Kyle Schreiber about public reaction.

"This feels a lot like we're giving a public resource to a private developer," Schreiber said. "I don't think the public is going to be very happy about paying for parking that used to be free so that the developer didn't have to build it."

Grimm responded by suggesting a potential discount program for local residents, saying that most vehicles at City Beach belong to non-residents. 

Welker defended the parking reduction, citing the developer’s right to use the city code provisions. 

“This is a project that stands to bring great economic development to the community,” he said.

The development, which received its conditional use permit in June, could break ground in 2025.