The Sandpoint City Council voted July 30 to schedule a public hearing on Aug. 20 for proposed new fees and changes that would raise some charges by more than 5 percent.

Parks and recreation and community planning staff described a wide set of changes, saying they aim to simplify billing, reduce administrative reporting and more closely align fees with the cost of services.

Jason Welker, who led the parks and recreation presentation, said the James E. Russell Sports Center will move away from per‑visit “daily play” charges toward frictionless monthly and annual memberships and online court reservations. Staff proposed monthly rates of $99 for general public users, $69 for county residents and $59 for city residents; annual memberships would carry a $20 discount and be billed monthly with automatic renewal. Welker said the change is intended to reduce queuing at the front desk and to increase membership uptake by making access “frictionless.” He said private court rental rates for some sports will be higher than tennis or pickleball because they require more staff time.

Welker also described outdoor field changes. Organizers of ticketed events at Memorial Field would be asked to estimate ticket sales at reservation time and prepay according to tiers; the staff presentation said the stadium’s maximum seating and standing capacity is about 4,000. Staff proposed simplifying field booking by charging one rate for practices and double that rate for games and increasing certain hourly field‑use rates to move closer to cost recovery.

Planning staff described multiple increases for development review and permitting: larger subdivisions and replat processes would face higher fees (staff noted a 45 percent increase for some subdivision categories), conditional use permits would be restructured (staff said the prior single $2,400 fee would be replaced with staged fees including a preliminary development plan fee of $3,500 and a subsequent final‑plan fee), and pre‑application meetings would remain free for the first meeting but be charged at cost for repeat sessions. Noticing fees would be charged per round of notice; a PUD that requires four rounds of notice would pay the approximate accumulated cost of those rounds rather than a single flat fee.

Other changes described by staff: outdoor court private‑use fees would rise (a cited increase from about $3.75 to $10 per hour for some outdoor courts, with indoor court rates higher), the shooting range visit fee would move from $7 to $10 to cover a higher wage for the range master, community hall rates were simplified (nonprofit rates decreased in some cases; for‑profit rates would rise), marina transient and city beach guest moorage rates would increase, and parking and boat‑launch fees would appear on the fee schedule as maximums to be set later when technology and lot assignments are finalized.

Short‑term rental enforcement was highlighted: staff said the city uses a subscription service (Rentalscape) to scan vacation‑rental sites and will begin issuing compliance letters to property owners advertising short‑term rentals without permits; staff said the service costs about $4,000–$5,000 and the proposed enforcement penalty is $100 per day for violations, with staff planning to monitor how owners respond to initial notices.

Council President Deb Rule moved to set the public hearing for Aug. 20; the motion passed on a roll‑call vote with all council members present voting yes. The clerk recorded the vote as unanimous among present members. Staff will return with final ordinance language and the complete fee schedule for the hearing.

The council did not adopt the fee schedule July 30; it scheduled the hearing required by Idaho law for fees proposed to increase by more than 5 percent and asked staff to provide additional operational detail on some items before adoption.