COEUR d’ALENE — The city plans to conduct workshops to gauge the impact of possible changes to height restrictions, zoning code and design guidelines in the downtown core.

Hilary Patterson, community planning director, addressed the Coeur d’Alene City Council on Tuesday evening, reviewing the feedback gathered over the past two years. 

Patterson said the city has fielded concerns about downtown projects like the Marriott, as well as the lack of teeth in the design review commission, particularly regarding height and tower spacing. 

“You really wanted us to be looking at view corridors, towers, and the impacts of towers on the downtown in general with shadows, and how it affects the historic core,” Patterson told the council. “Preserving that charm was kind of a big thing, making sure we're not having oversized buildings or big bulky buildings that take up entire blocks, really focusing on more walkability and having the pedestrians be able to interface with the businesses.” 

The City Council previously directed the design review commission to look at parking and floor area ratio, incorporate public safety, gather public input, use modeling and visual graphics and provide clear illustrations. 

In 2025, the planning commission proposed capping the height of buildings on Front Avenue, Sherman Avenue and Lakeside Avenue at 45 feet, which would be more consistent with the historic core. They also suggested allowing buildings on Coeur d’Alene Avenue west of Sixth Street to be 110 feet tall. 

At that time, the commission recommended no additional 220-foot towers and increasing the tower spacing from 50 feet to 80 feet to better incorporate historic preservation and design concepts. 

Patterson said the planning commission sought community input on whether it should review height limits in the downtown core. About 81% of the more than 250 respondents said yes. 

Most respondents indicated that the commission should examine building height regulations, Patterson said. 

“That was followed by preservation and conservation, downtown corridor development, landscaped and view protection, transportation and mobility, parking management, zoning and economic development in general,” she said. 

Downtown core working group member Kevin Jester said the majority of polled stakeholders indicated that downtown height limits should be reviewed. 

Pedestrian protection topped the list of desired requirements for street-level design elements in new projects in the downtown core, followed by storefront windows, engaging entrances, historic plaques, outdoor seating and artwork. 

Patterson reminded the council that at their last meeting, they had recommended taking smaller steps rather than trying to bite off everything at once. 

“We do all of this, but it’s a heavy load,” she said. 

Councilor Christie Wood agreed that would be the best way to tackle the humongous undertaking. 

“It has been a long process, but these are very impactful decisions that need to be made,” Wood said. “I’m not interested in going straight to public hearing — I would much prefer conducting workshops so that we can make sure that when we make these decisions that we've taken in the impact to everyone.”

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Bob Kirkpatrick contributed to this report.