Neighbors press city over alleged code violations at 1119 C Street; council asks for staff follow-up

Multiple neighbors at the April 1 Coeur d'Alene City Council meeting urged elected officials to investigate alleged building-code violations at 1119 C Street, saying the structure as built exceeds step-back and setback limits and that the planning and building departments did not require corrective action.

Speaker Nick Bell presented diagrams and planning-department materials showing what he said were discrepancies between the approved site plan and the building as constructed, including a north-side alley setback that he said measures 6 feet from the property line where the stamped plans showed 8 feet; on the west side he said the wall and roof pitch extend into the step-back area and that the structure was built to 17 feet 9 inches where the code allowed 15 feet.

Mark Smiley and Kelly Bell, who said they had worked with neighbors and the planning department, described a sequence of inspections and communications they said left residents without a corrective remedy. Smiley summarized the chronology presented to council: a November inspection that could not verify an alley-side setback, neighbor inquiries in December and January, a January 14 inspector note that the west-side height did not match stamped plans, and a March 5 resubmission of plans that the neighbors say did not include a scaled site plan or required elevation drawings.

"Regardless of the city-stamped plans, it lies on the contractor to ensure code compliance," Kelly Bell said. "In this case the homeowner is acting as contractor and bears that responsibility." She asked council to place a stop-work order and require either modification of the building to meet code or that the homeowner go through the variance process.

Neighbor Vince Wybert (surname appears in the record in various spellings) told council the problem went beyond technical interpretation and said the planning department's decision not to require a variance set an unfair precedent. "What you fail to sanction, you appear to support," Wybert said, urging the council to "stand up for us as residents, have the city enforce its own guidelines, and do what is right."

Council members acknowledged the concerns and several asked the city administrator and planning/building staff to follow up. Councilmember English and Councilmember Miller asked that building- and planning-department leadership appear at a future council meeting to answer questions. At least two councilmembers explicitly asked for a report back to explain whether a variance process would be required and what enforcement steps staff planned to take; the transcript records these as requests for follow-up rather than a formal enforcement vote.

City staff were not present on the dais for this portion of the record; the meeting concluded with the council directing staff to provide additional information and to place the matter on a near-term agenda so council could question planning and building leadership directly. No final enforcement action or variance decision was recorded in the public meeting minutes presented during remarks; neighbors asked for a stop order or variance if staff concluded the structure is out of compliance.

The residents cited a 2019 precedent at Young Avenue and Eighteenth Street in which a contractor self-reported a 10-inch violation and was required to pursue a variance; they argued the same standard should be applied here. Neighbors asked the council to ensure uniform enforcement of city code and to protect established neighborhoods from incompatible commercial uses in residential zones.