Coeur d’Alene has more sidewalks

Coeur d’Alene is a bike-friendly city. It wants to have a similar walking reputation, but one city official first said it needed more sidewalks.

According to national urban planning standards, the city has a low “walkability index,” said Monte McCully, Coeur d’Alene’s trail coordinator.

“I don’t think we even got an honorable mention,” he told the City Council.

He said 30% of the city doesn’t have sidewalks, and there aren’t many in the older parts of the city on the east side.

This raises concerns for children walking to schools and pedestrians passing vehicles.

“It is absolutely essential that we do everything we can to improve safety, especially around schools,” McCully said.

He recently presented a possible solution to the City Council. This would involve amending the city code to require the construction of new sidewalks.

Municipal Code §§ 12.28.210 through 240 provides exceptions for sidewalk construction based on hardship, geographic and distance limitations. If the nearest sidewalk is 450 feet or more from a property under construction or reconstruction, the property owner is not required to construct a sidewalk.

“This has prevented the city from creating a large number of sidewalks in many areas over the years,” McCully said.

He asked the City Council to direct staff to prepare an ordinance implementing changes to amend the exemption regarding sidewalk requirements within priority pedestrian corridors, including school corridors and the Kroc Center.

“Future sidewalks will be constructed by developers, through grant funding, or future sidewalk designs will be submitted to Council prior to approval,” the city report said.

It would create a safer, more walkable community, McCully said.

The Pedestrian/Cyclist Committee has identified 12 priority areas for removal from the exemption. These include streets around Coeur d’Alene High School and Fernan and Winton Elementary Schools.

“They all have to do with access to schools,” McCully said.

For example, 21st Street from Mullan Avenue to Fernan STEM Academy has no sidewalks, nor does Coeur d’Alene from 15th to 23rd Streets, both of which are used by students.

McCully said the homeowner wouldn’t have to build a sidewalk in front of the house, but if the developer demolishes the old house and builds a new one, the sidewalk would be part of the deal.

“Nowadays, they often don’t have to,” McCully said. “They have a large, multi-million-dollar investment and if they are 450 feet away, they don’t have to build a sidewalk.”

He said if the city needs it over the years, “we’ll get connectivity.”

The City Council agreed by a 4-to-1 majority.

“It is absolutely vital that we do everything we can to improve safety, especially around schools where families walk their children to and from,” Amy Evans said.

Dan Gookin was against it.

While agreeing it has a good purpose, he said it would be “ridiculous” to require a developer to build a sidewalk that “leads to nowhere” because properties on either side would likely not have one.

He said sidewalks like these are found throughout the city and pose an “undue burden” on the homeowner.

Gookin said the lack of sidewalks is part of the character of many neighborhoods. In areas like Sanders Beach, people walk the streets and have no problems.

“I think this is Idaho. It’s not a big city. There are many places in the city where there are no sidewalks and people buy houses there. They like it. They like this lifestyle,” he said.

Gookin said the ordinance should include a map of priority areas for sidewalks and that homeowners should be notified “so they know our intention is to compel them to put in sidewalk.”