What a kick
DAVID COLE/Staff writer | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 11 years, 7 months AGO
<p>Outside the council chambers at the City of Hayden City Hall, youth soccer athletes from left, Kimball Waddell, 10, Noah Waddell, 7, Nate Wyatt, 8 and Olivia Wyatt, 10, keep themselves busy as planning and zoning commissioners listen to a presentation of a proposed 40-acre soccer complex on Huetter Road.</p>
<p>Outside the meeting room at Hayden City Hall Garrett Flolo, 16, listens to discussion about a proposed sport field complex. Approximatley 60 supporters of the project were in attendance.</p>
HAYDEN - Players representing Coeur d'Alene Sting Soccer Club showed heart. They showed endurance.
On Monday night, they proved they can do anything they set their minds to.
Dozens of players from the club sat through a three-hour public hearing conducted by the Hayden Planning and Zoning Commission meeting at City Hall.
Their effort paid off.
The commission approved a special-use permit the club needed before it could establish a soccer complex with four artificial turf fields along the east side of Huetter Road just north of Prairie Avenue. The 40-acre complex is in an area zoned residential.
There will be 80-foot-tall field lights for night games. The complex will be able to operate from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m., will have parking for 260 vehicles, and 16 stand-alone, portable toilet units.
Sting is leasing the property from a group called North Idaho Sports Complex.
Attorney John Cafferty, representing the commission, said the Hayden City Council doesn't need to provide further approval.
The nonprofit club's board president, Tony Norris, said there are currently 530 players, from ages 7 to 18.
He said players could potentially use the fields year-round.
"This complex is going to allow us to not only expand our club to become even more competitive and allow more players to start playing for Sting, but it will also help us to have opportunities with our tournament and other events we can start to hold," Norris said.
The complex also will take some pressure off other fields the club uses.
Allan Fonken, who lives near the complex, was the lone voice of opposition at the packed hearing.
He said he expects the complex to grow far beyond the four fields that Sting sought in its special-use-permit request. He pointed to the more expansive plans in earlier proposals, which included more fields and facilities on 80 acres.
"If you're only looking at four soccer fields, you're only looking at the nose of the camel," he said.
Fonken said the "peaceful" and "rural" nature surrounding his home will be a "thing of the past."
Commissioner Brian Peterson agreed. He said there is no question the character of the area in the vicinity of the complex will change.
In the end, though, the vote in favor of the special-use permit was unanimous.
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