POST FALLS — Citing proximity to a commercial area, the City Council voted to deny the Briner annexation Tuesday night. 

The Briner annexation would have included a 4.630-acre parcel of land owned by Chris Briner by Poleline Avenue and Maguire Road. 

Gordon Dobler of Dobler Engineering said a single family R1 zoning designation made the most sense for the land use. 

With a projection of 16 homes and hosting 151 potential vehicle trips each day through the project area, Dobler said it would require Poleline Avenue and McGuire Road to be widened. 

Councilor Randy Westlund argued that the annexation wasn’t in the best interests of the city and saw no benefit to existing residents west of McGuire Road. 

“Given that Poleline does not go to the east and that McGuire is likely to be disconnected from 53, as ITD does their work up there at Pleasant View, I don’t see any immediate need of expanding that road,” Westlund said. “I don't want to get stuck in the trap of saying we have to expand the road for growth and then doing the growth in order to cause the reason to expand the road.” 

Councilor Samantha Steigleder said the site might be a future benefit to the city but didn’t see the need for it now. 

Westlund and Councilor Joe Malloy also raised questions about the area’s proximity to the commercial node in Post Falls' future land use map. 

Malloy pointed out the increased difficulty of working with small lot annexation. 

“You take them one at a time and it’s really tough to tell if it’s going to be good for the city or not,” Malloy said. 

Councilor Nathan Ziegler said the annexation could go either way based on the pros and cons of what the project would add for residents. 

“There's some connectivity benefits, but I agree with Joe that we don’t know the other parcels,” Ziegler said, adding that this location wasn’t a county pocket for a fill and that he believed there was less benefit for Post Falls to annex at this time. 

Westlund made the motion to deny the annexation, seconded by Steigleder and councilors Malloy and Ryan Davis voted in opposition. 

    Gordon Dobler of Dobler Engineering speaks about the impact fees the Briner Annexation would bring in for Post Falls. City Council voted to deny the annexation Tuesday in a public hearing at City Hall.