POST FALLS — After a lengthy back-and-forth discussion about adding the McGuire annexation into the city of Post Falls on Tuesday night, the council ruled four to one in favor of adding the 18.11-acre parcel into the city with an R2 designation.    

City Councilor Samantha Steigleder cast the one vote in opposition. Council President Joe Malloy was not in attendance. 

Resident Ashley Tilton said the land in that area has always been small farm plots and traditional country land. She wondered who could afford detached housing. 

“Our community will pay the real price,” Tilton said. 

The land is in a pocket, mostly made up of Kootenai County parcels, located along McGuire Road, Poleline Avenue, and Yukon Avenue. 

The project responds to the housing issues facing the area. Many residents submitted comments or spoke out against what they saw as a significant change to the agricultural way of life they sought when buying their homes. 

Tamara Dale raised her family and livestock on her property. She said she found the annexation “twice as offensive as the Briner annexation.” 

Dale asked council members for a moratorium on this level of new housing in the area and was worried about the added traffic. 

"We have livestock and want a safe place to continue the tradition,” Dale said. 

Wade Jacklin, a developer at Wild Horse Investments who is part of the project, said the result would better support traffic by moving Yukon Avenue and modifying it to fit the flow. 

He urged residents and city council members to consider where their children and grandchildren will live in the future. 

“We're local, we’re here for the long haul, this is not a one and done thing for us,” Jacklin said. 

City Councilor Aaron Plew stated he was torn but voted for the annexation, saying they wouldn’t get another chance to secure the land for housing.  

“At the end of the day, in the interest of the majority of the people of Post Falls, I have to be in favor of this, I can’t forgo tying the continuity of the city together,” Plew said. 

The project plans to create a low-density R2 development with single-family detached homes under the annexation agreement.  

Casting the lone council votes against the annexation and zoning, Steigleder disputed that more housing would bring down prices, but conceded that the land may prove helpful to Post Falls in the future. 

“I like that they’re local developers, I think that the heart of the project is in the right place. I think the developers honestly want to do a good job,” Steigleder said. 

    Post Falls City Council voted four to one in favor of the McGuire annexation on Tuesday during a city council meeting. Pictured left to right: Samantha Steigleder, Aaron Plew, Ron Jacobson, Nathan Zeigler, Randy Westlund and Ryan Davis.