The Post Falls City Council will hold a public hearing at 6 p.m. Jan. 17 to amend zoning approval criteria, a move expected to make the criteria more clear and concise.

"This has been in the works for the better part of a year," Post Falls City Attorney Warren Wilson said Friday.

He said the intent of the changes would be to align the city's zoning approval criteria more closely with criteria contained in the Local Land Use Planning Act, specifically Idaho Code 67-6511.

"The focus of the statute is whether the requested zone is consistent with the jurisdiction's Comprehensive Plan and whether the request would adversely impact the ability of local jurisdictions to provide services," Wilson said.

The current review criteria states:

• Amendments to the zoning map should be in accordance with the Future Land Use Map.

• Amendments to the zoning map should be in accordance with the goals and policies found in the Post Falls Comprehensive Plan.

• Zoning is assigned following consideration of such items as street classification, traffic patterns, existing development, future land uses, community plans and geographic or natural features.

• Commercial and high-density residential zoning is typically assigned along streets with a higher road classification.

• Limited or neighborhood commercial and lower density residential zoning is typically assigned for properties as they proceed farther away from the higher intensity urban activity.

• Industrial zoning is typically assigned for properties with sufficient access to major transportation routes and may be situated away from residential zoning.

"As far as the current criteria, they tend to be duplicative and are a bit confusing," Wilson said. "The last four criteria essentially address the same information that is already considered when reviewing whether the request is consistent with the goals/policies contained in the Comprehensive Plan as well as the Future Land Use Map."

The proposed review criteria are the following:

• Is the proposed zoning district consistent with the Future Land Use Map and Focus Area contained in the currently adopted Post Falls Comprehensive Plan?

• Is the proposed zoning district consistent with the goals and policies contained in the currently adopted Post Falls Comprehensive Plan that are relevant to the area under consideration?

• Does the proposed zoning district create a demonstrable adverse impact upon the delivery of services by any political subdivision providing public services within the city including, but not limited to, the Post Falls School District?

In addition to the aforementioned Zone Map Amendment criteria, the city council members will also consider the following criteria when the request is for initial zoning upon annexation:

• Is annexation of the property in the best interest of the city? (This will be a legislative decision).

The public hearing will be held in Post Falls City Hall, 408 Spokane St., Post Falls.

Those who wish to be heard at the meeting are encouraged to submit written testimony by mailing to the city of Post Falls Planning Division, 408 Spokane St., Post Falls, ID, 83854; email comments to phnotice@postfalls.gov; or visit postfallsidaho.org to submit comments. Written comments must be in by Jan. 10 to be included in the addendum to the already completed staff report.