COEUR d'ALENE - On Tuesday, the Coeur d'Alene City Council finalized an agreement granting Hagadone Hospitality portions of Front Avenue and Second Street.

The council decision, which was initially approved after a public hearing in July, allows Hagadone Hospitality to begin designing a new 200-room tower adjoining The Coeur d'Alene Resort. Prior to the vote, Councilwoman Kiki Miller explained to her colleagues and constituents that she conducted an in-depth study to answer her questions about giving a portion of Front Avenue right-of-way between Second and Third Streets - and a portion of the Second Street right-of-way south of Sherman Avenue - to the company.

"When I first heard this, I made a comment that I felt there was a lack of information and it was going to be difficult to decide how this was going to affect the community," Miller said. "I felt like every small idiosyncrasy I had regarding this entire process was addressed in the way the Hagadone Corp. promised it would be."

At the public hearing on July 7, John Barlow, a consultant for the company, said building the new tower is essential to attracting large conferences to the Lake City.

"They love Coeur d'Alene. They want to come to Coeur d'Alene," Barlow told the council. "But we're not large enough."

Adding the 200 rooms gets The Resort above what Barlow called the "500-room magic number" essential to booking large conferences and events.

During his presentation, Barlow also stressed that vacating the requested portions of public road would not harm or change the public's walking and biking access, or the utility lines that run through the area.

Miller added that her only remaining issue with the decision involved the logistics of providing public safety in an area that could have an additional 200 or more people frequenting it at any given time.

"We're potentially creating a traffic jam, and I'm not sure if we have enough space for that many people to be in there," she said.

City Attorney Warren Wilson said the city was actually better off in terms of public safety due to an easement, also approved by the city council during the meeting, for utilities and pedestrian and bicycle access.

"We clarified some of the language (from the previous operating agreement the city had with Hagadone for the area) where emergency vehicles can access the area for loading and unloading," Wilson said. "I'm not at all concerned about that, but I'm not the fire chief."

Coeur d'Alene Fire Chief Kenny Gabriel was at the meeting, and echoed what Wilson said about the city being better off as it relates to public safety in the area.

"The corporation has agreed to move where the standpipe is; it's now currently where the buses park, over toward Third Street. That will alleviate some of the congestion because we will be working specifically in that corner," Gabriel said. "And we've been assured that the 26-foot access we need will be maintained on Second Street."

The next step in the process, according to Wilson, is for Hagadone Hospitality to complete its application with the city's design and review commission, which makes sure the plans for the tower meet city code.