Growth forum Thursday in Cd'A

“Facing Growth—Eyes Wide Open,” the next community forum sponsored by DART, will be at 6 p.m., Thursday, Nov. 17 at the Family Harding Center, 411 N. 15th St.,Coeur d’Alene.

DART, an acronym for Dedicated, Accountable, Responsible, Together, is a nonpartisan group of community-minded citizens.

The upcoming forum will feature an expert panel that will present the issue of growth from several viewpoints. Panelists include Hilary Patterson, Coeur d’Alene Community Planning Director; Dave Callahan, Kootenai County Community Development Director; Allen Dykes and Scot Hoag, representing the North Idaho Building Contractors Association; and Kiki Miller, a longtime advocate for affordable housing. Dave Childs, a retired city and county administrator with experience spanning many years and multiple states, will serve as moderator.

“The rapid increase in North Idaho’s population has a multitude of impacts and dynamics. It

is a huge topic, “said Rick Palagi, DART chair. “We will focus our panel on the role of cities and counties in the approval process and the role of developers and builders as a place to start.”

The results of a 3,500-respondent survey of North Idahoans will be highlighted by Kiki Miller,

chair of the Regional Housing and Growth Issues Partnership, a multi-agency task force on

growth and affordable housing. Her research into what other communities across the nation have done and what is and is not allowed in Idaho will be referenced as well as the top five issues from the survey.

“We want to discuss the big issues on the minds of our community,” said moderator Dave Childs. “Residents, land owners, developers, local governments and of course all of us as residents want the same thing—a thriving, sustainable community with well managed growth and housing options for all stages of life.”

As in past forums, questions from the audience will not be taken during the forum due to time constraints. Questions can be submitted in advance to [email protected] and will be woven into the overall questions given to the panelists.

“Our On Point Forum series seeks to educate and increase understanding of key community issues so we can be better informed residents and ultimately make good decisions in our leaders at the ballot box.” Palagi explained. “The forum’s expert panel format will remove the politics from the equation and provide solid information that the community needs in order to make the best decisions,” Palagi said.

For more information on DART, email the organization at [email protected].