Silverwood Theme Park is requesting another rezone on its property to allow for future expansion, this time on parcels spanning more than 400 acres.

The Athol amusement park will go before the Kootenai County hearing examiner next month about rezoning 425.5 acres from rural to commercial, which would allow for a wide variety of uses like restaurants and rides.

Most of the acreage is included in the existing theme park campus, the area west of the air strip that is still zoned rural and isn't consistent with the remainder of the commercial-zoned park, said Steve Syrcle with Tri State Consulting Engineers.

"It's just a house cleaning operation," said Syrcle, whose firm is working with Silverwood on the rezone request. "The whole property is utilized commercial now anyway. It's just cleaning up the lines and colors on the map."

The rezone would also apply to roughly 37 acres to the north of the park owned by Silverwood, he said.

According to the project narrative submitted to the county, Silverwood expects to expand operations on the rezoned acreage.

"Expansion to the west and northwest is the logical direction to continue to provide good family entertainment for the entire community," the narrative states.

The document doesn't specify what kind of attractions or other commercial uses would be built on the property.

The rezone itself shouldn't have a negative impact on nearby properties, the narrative states, and will allow for park growth that could bolster the county overall.

"...The community will benefit from new job opportunities, due to an increase in tourism," it reads.

The Kootenai County commissioners approved a rezone on 95.5 acres adjacent to the theme park last year, which the business had also expected to use for expanding attractions.

The narrative adds that the northern and western portion of the campus should also be zoned commercial because the park's train attraction already takes patrons out in that area.

Silverwood spokeswoman Nancy DiGiammarco was out of town for the week and could not add more details about the request.

A public hearing before the county examiner is scheduled for 6 p.m. on Feb. 16 in room 1 of the county Administration Building.