Quote:
Originally Posted by jimthemanincda
2014 Census results for metros & counties just came out...
Spokane-Coeur d'Alene CSA 688,279 (should be over 700,000 within 2 years)
Coeur d'Alene MSA (Kootenai County) 147,326 (should be over 150,000 next year)
|
Interesting to see the numbers in Kootenai County jimthemanincda. I posted this article back in 07 - wonder if these past estimates will end up being anywhere close to what they were thinking:
County population could top 300K
Posted: Wednesday, Apr 18, 2007 - 11:31:17 pm PDT
By DAVE TURNER
Staff writer
Calls upon developers to add voice at comp plan meetings
COEUR d'ALENE -- Kootenai County's population will likely more than double within the next two decades, outgoing interim Planning Director Cheri Howell told a gathering of developers Wednesday night.
Howell also told members of the North Idaho Building Contractors Association that her bosses -- the board of commissioners -- want developers to lend their voices to the chorus of those speaking out about the update of the county's comprehensive plan.
"The commissioners want to have a balance," said Howell, who explained that members of groups opposing what they call uncontrolled growth are often the majority at Planning Commission "open mic" nights.
Howell, the county's former planning director who assumed the interim position five months ago when commissioners had difficulty replacing former director Rand Wichman, said in the past 50 years, the county's economy shifted from traditional pursuits of logging and lumber to service and construction.
"But the infrastructure, the roads and sewers, hasn't kept up," she said.
Also, she has seen an increase in "trophy homes" being built in the area.
"People moving in here are older and are coming from higher-end communities," she said. "It's not unusual to see a 10,000-square-foot home going up on a hillside."
Howell will continue to conduct long-range planning for the county once new director Scott Clark assumes the post in 12 days.
In the past 17 years, she said the population has grown from about 70,000 to current estimates of 135,000.
"Using projection from the Department of Commerce, (growth) in the next 20 years will range from 230,000 to 310,000 for Kootenai County," Howell said.
She also said in the past year, while the number of business and stormwater building permits is up, the county has issued 40 percent less residential building permits than they did during the boom years which crested in 2005.
"I see this as cyclical," she said. "It will pick up again."
About the comp plan, Howell said commissioners want as many citizens involved as possible.
But now, she said most of those who attended recent open mic meetings are those who have issues against growth.
"There's an organized group for almost every subject in the comp plan," she said. "It always seems to be the same people ... and the commissioners are afraid the plan will not be balanced."
She said the commissioners want the plan to match "what the residents want."
She then challenged the NIBCA membership to attend the next open mic a week from today at the county administration building.
NIBCA President Charlie Rens also called to his members' voices to be heard.
Howell said she wants to get the comp plan finished by the end of the year, because commissioner Todd Tondee wants the updated zoning regulations to dovetail with the comp plan.
Karen Oaks of American West Bank said the recent spurt in growth has been good for her business.
"We've opened up quite a few new branches because of the growth," said Oaks. "I know it certainly helped our bank."
Howell said different parts of the county want different things in their areas. She said in the Post Falls and Rathdrum area, then north and west to the county lines, growth is welcome.
"Spirit Lake is saying: 'Bring it on,'" she said.
But other parts of the county, specifically to the south, growth is not wanted, even though that's an area where many large development projects are headed because of the amount of open space, natural beauty and proximity to Lake Coeur d'Alene and other lakes.
About the groups that oppose uncontrolled growth, Oaks said after she had gone to public hearings about proposed developments, she found out several of the opponents are not from here.
"They moved in from California or other parts and found this to be paradise and they don't want it to change," she said. "But they came in and changed and now they want to shut it off. I find that fascinating."
Ron Mahuron of MW Construction and a past president of NIBCA, agreed. He said the most strident voices against growth in the area come from relative newcomers.
"We literally have people who have come to the area, gotten their piece of North Idaho and now they want no more growth," he said. "The voice of anti-growth is going to come from people who got their piece and they want it to stay like that."
Oaks said she supports growth, "so long as it's planned well and you have the infrastructure and it looks like (developers) are trying to put the proper things in place to support that growth," Oaks said.
She also said good planning of the area's growth was needed and that affects affordable housing.
"It seems to be really tough because of the growth that prices of the houses have gone up so high that it's hard for a person to get started," she said. "A starting price for home here is higher than in Spokane County."
Growth opponents in the past have blamed "greedy out-of-state developers" for what they consider "uncontrolled growth."
"A lot of these people are bringing money here and are spending money here," he said.
Besides, Mahuron said developers would not be looking to build here if local property owners hadn't sold their land to the speculators.
"If people were not interested in selling their property, they have a right to not sell," Mahuron said. "A lot of the profiteers in our area are local homeowners. If they did want (the area) to grow, they never should have sold it."
He also said the area probably could not survive without growth.
"The building industry is probably the stable part of this economy," he said. "There has to be control and it has to be quality."
He said a recent call for a moratorium on development would have been a death knell for the economy.
"We're basically surviving on growth in the housing industry," he said. "If that shuts down, our economy is going to hurt big time."
Rens said communication is the key to healing the growing rift between the development community and those who oppose it.
"There's a hundred ways to peal an onion," he said. "What we have to do is get to the core and found out what really matters to each side."
Dave Turner can be reached at 664-8176, ext. 2009 or at
dturner@cdapress.com.