SANDPOINT — During a Wednesday meeting, city staff and officials explored the possibility of buying a 2.53-acre right of way near the intersection of Larch Street and U.S. 2 for the purpose of expanding park and trail access.

If purchased, the parcel could house a “pocket park” next to a low-income neighborhood and be used to extend the multimodal Sandpoint-Dover Community Trail. 

Community Planning and Development Director Jason Welker presented the opportunity during the meeting; he explained that the 50-foot-wide, 500-yard-long property is owned by Union Pacific Corporation and contains a disused railway. 

Welker said that Sandpoint has been in negotiations with Union Pacific, and that the landowner is willing to sell the property to Sandpoint for $659,000 — a price lower than the $740,000 value determined in an appraisal commissioned by the city. 

“They're giving us first right of refusal. If we don't buy it now, it will be bought by a private developer,” Welker said. 

Welker told councilors the property is close to a cluster of city-owned parcels in the area, and that a purchase could bring the community one step closer to having an uninterrupted trail spanning the greater Sandpoint area. 

“Imagine a shared use path connecting the city of Ponderay to the city of Dover. This is the way to achieve that,” he said. “This is an essential piece of property.” 

He also noted that purchasing the land could create an opportunity to improve park and trail access for a neighborhood that includes subsidized senior and low-income housing. 

“This is one of our only low-income neighborhoods in Sandpoint,” Welker said. “It's a great thing to provide a park to a traditionally underserved part of town.” 

Councilors expressed support for expanding parkland and noted that the property could eventually connect to land owned by nonprofit Friends of the Pend d’Oreille Bay Trail and house an expanded trail system north of Sandpoint. 

“There have been a lot of other people who have put effort and thought into continuing a pathway here,” said Council President Deb Ruehle. “I think if we shy away from this purchase ... we might look in the rear-view mirror and wish we had made this purchase.” 

Councilor Kyle Schreiber said he wanted to see the right of way protected from development, but that he recognized the point made by commenter Clay Hutchison, who earlier in the meeting argued that the landowner’s asking price was too high and encouraged the city to seek a way to have the parcel donated in exchange for relieving Union Pacific of liability. 

“I don't know if there are any other possibilities out there,” Schreiber said. “I would certainly hate to see this piece get snatched up while we tried to figure that out.” 

If councilors vote to approve the purchase, the land would likely be bought using impact fee funds earmarked for parks expansion and improvement collected from developers when they construct new structures in Sandpoint. 

Additionally, Mayor Jeremy Grimm noted that the parcel falls within Sandpoint’s urban renewal footprint, allowing tax dollars to from the fund to potentially support the purchase. 

Welker told attendees that it will inevitably take time to develop the area, even if the purchase is made soon. 

“These are long, long-term plans,” he said. “These are not things we're going to implement in the next few years, even if we take ownership of this right of way.” 

Sandpoint’s Parks and Recreation Commission will review the buying opportunity at its next meeting Feb. 12. If approved, Welker said that staff will come to councilors for final permission next month.