SANDPOINT — The council unanimously voted to approve the Ridley Village Court's planned unit development plan and preliminary plat during the project's final public hearing at the July 15 council meeting. 

The project will build 56 townhomes on a 4.1-acre lot south of Highway 2, between Ridley Village Road and Madison Avenue. 

Associate planner Erik Brubaker said the project’s PUD process grants flexibility development for housing variety, open space, and efficient land use. 

"This is exactly the type of development that's contemplated when we talk about using land more efficiently," said Mayor Jeffery Grimm of the project. 

The applicant, Affinity Real Estate Management, began its application process roughly two years ago, with pre-application meetings beginning in July 2024. 

After adding several conditions to the project's CUP, the council agreed the applicant satisfied the current PUD requirements and findings. 

However, Sandpoint resident Phil Dommes expressed concern over the location of the project's common area. 

“The outstanding issue has to do with the lack of a buffer between these multifamily homes and then the single-family Maplewood homes.” 

Dommes said that issue was addressed when the Planning and Zoning Commission recommended moving the common area to Madison Avenue. However, when the council voted to approve the relocation of the common area, the decision was overturned. 

The common area was then moved back to the central area and sent back to the Planning and Zoning Commission for review. At that point, the commission stated that it would accept and support the council’s decision, Dommes said. 

"I'm a little disappointed in that process," he said, "I think the issue of an appropriate buffer between multi-family and single-family homes wasn't fully addressed and should be fully addressed." 

Councilor Kyle Schreiber said he was one of the three council members who approved the recommendation to move the common area to Madison Avenue. 

"My recollection was that it was the residents of Maplewood that requested that we move it back to the center," said Schreiber. 

Schreiber said he was confused because the design had been changed during the preliminary stage at residents’ request, but residents were now saying they wanted the common area back by Madison Avenue. 

When asking if changing the location again was an option, Schreiber said he didn't know if that was still a possibility. 

Grimm said that once the council instructs an applicant and blesses their preliminary design, they have given them all the requirements they need to meet to move forward.  

"I think the horse left the barn over a year ago when that was approved," Grimm said. 

Affinity Real Estate Management representative Aaron Qualls said that although the project exists in a multifamily home zoning area, is not a multifamily home project. 

"These are single family attached homes," Qualls said, adding that based on the city's impact fee calculator, the project would contribute roughly half a million dollars to capital projects. 

Dommes said several objections were made by developers regarding the movement of open space. 

"I can see why the developers certainly would want it in the central area. That might be ideal, but there's also two parties in this negotiation," Dommes said, adding that he believes Maplewood residents have made "bigger sacrifices."