POST FALLS — Anticipated traffic impacts loomed large as city commissioners unanimously approved the 1,125-lot North Place East Subdivision, a massive 238.53-acre residential development slated for the area south of Prairie Avenue between Idaho and Greensferry roads.

While greenlighting the project by Schneidmiller Brothers and Greenstone Homes, Commissioner Nancy Hampe stipulated no high-density multifamily structures be built on "parcel seven" near Penrose Avenue and Idaho Road. The mix of single-family homes and townhomes across varying lot sizes proved a key selling point.

"A lot of these lots are really small, more affordable," Hampe said.

Commission Chairman James Steffensen acknowledged the daunting scale of the project but viewed it as an incremental, decade-plus undertaking with the developer funding some road upgrades through impact fees. However, he added, "Schools aren't able to offset costs with impact fees," alluding to the increase in the number of students local schools could see.

Commissioner Bobby Wilhelm voiced skepticism over whether proposed road improvements aligned with the city's transportation master plan, citing train-related bottlenecks as a concern. "This is a really hard decision. We need houses, but that traffic," he said.

Fellow Commissioner Kibbee Walton urged trusting city engineers' data over anecdotal traffic preditctions. "We need houses. We need affordable housing, but this seems to be a good mixed-use plan," Walton stated.

The project must maintain 8.75% open space while multifamily use cannot exceed 20% and commercial 10% of the total acreage.

Current traffic on Prairie Avenue is around 8,400 vehicles daily, projected to surge to 16,000 by 2035 — necessitating its widening from two to five lanes in a planned capital project stretching to Highway 41.

Over 15-25 years, the subdivision could add 3,000-4,000 new Post Falls residents, developer Kevin Schneidmiller estimates, with senior housing comprising roughly a third. "Because of the mixed-use nature, we'll likely be building in multiple locations at one time," using smaller construction sites, he said.