SANDPOINT — While some Sandpoint City councilors shared a desire to see staff and officials review a parking lot rehabilitation initiative’s preliminary design further before advancement, the council approved a motion to push it forward during a Feb. 19 meeting.

The action will send the initial design to Sandpoint’s urban forestry commission before blueprints are finalized and construction occurs. Councilors Deb Ruehle, Justin Dick and Joel Aispuro supported the motion, while Rick Howarth, Kyle Schreiber and Pam Duquette opposed it. Mayor Jeremy Grimm cast the tiebreaking vote in favor. 

Grimm told councilors the initiative to repair Sandpoint’s primary off-street parking area at Church Street and Third Avenue has been deferred every year since 2014, and that he hopes to improve the poor condition lot before summer. 

“This city parking lot, in my mind, serves as our welcome, gateway, entrance mat to all visitors,” Grimm said. “It reflects tremendously on the first impression someone has of our community.” 

In the preliminary design, staff suggested repaving the lot, replacing the dual entrances on its north and south ends with a single access point on Third Avenue, and installing improved dark sky compliant lighting. 

City forester and manager of the project Erik Bush said the proposed changes would not significantly alter the number of parking spaces but would create more-appropriately-sized parking stalls and drive aisles, improve accessibility and address a conflict point at the lot’s north entrance. 

“We have, literally, the worst-case scenario,” Grimm said of the existing access, which has cars cross a sidewalk and bike lane next to a busy intersection. “It's just a recipe for an accident.” 

During the council’s discussion of the plan, Howarth worried a single entrance would be “highly inefficient” and would cause drivers to have to loop through the lot to find a spot. 

Grimm said that even with multiple access points, the upgraded stall sizes featured in the design would still force drivers to travel one way through the area. 

“We can't really find a way to make traditional-size spots and also provide two-way traffic down any of these lanes,” he said. “I hear your concerns clearly, and it's not ideal.” 

One resident, along with Duquette, shared they wanted to see the city explore opportunities to protect several trees that would be destroyed in the proposed rehabilitation. 

Bush said working around the trees would present an additional challenge and would likely add cost to the project. City engineer Brandon Staglund said the design could be revised to accommodate the trees, but that it would come with compromises. 

“If we saved the trees, the tradeoff is that we have a lot more compact parking spaces than you typically see in a parking lot,” he explained. 

Additionally, the change would prevent staff from addressing an existing turning space deficiency at the ends of parking rows. 

“I have a responsibility to protect public safety as a professional engineer,” Staglund said. “My argument would be that the space to make those turns at the end of those parking spaces right now is a safety hazard, because I've seen large trucks drive on the sidewalk.” 

Bush told attendees he expected Sandpoint to seek bids for the project in March and that construction would occur in April or May and last three weeks. 

Grimm told councilors he would inform them of the urban forestry commission's input and the project’s progress going forward: “We will keep you posted, and if there are conflicts or better ideas that come up, we will brief you on it.”