Sandpoint staff to draft historic-overlay zoning and downtown design guidelines; no ordinance yet

City Planner Bill Dean told the Sandpoint Planning and Zoning Commission on Sept. 16 that city staff will prepare a single ordinance to create a historic-overlay zoning district for downtown and add a related certificate-of-appropriateness permit and design guidelines.

Dean said the package will lift the hatched area shown in the city's comprehensive plan onto the zoning map as an "historic overlay" and connect the overlay to council-adopted guidelines that would govern exterior changes, new construction and the permit process. "We'd be lifting this geography, establishing by ordinance that this is now the historic overlay," Dean said.

The discussion matters because the overlay would create enforceable requirements for exterior changes that are currently only aspirational in the city's comprehensive plan. Dean told commissioners that guidelines alone are insufficient: unless architectural and design rules are tied to the zoning ordinance and a permit, they will not be mandatory when projects come through for building permits.

Dean described a two-tier approach: a hashed historic-overlay area where stricter "historic preservation" guidelines would apply and a broader "historic downtown" area with downtown design guidelines that are not necessarily historic in scope. He said staff plans to bring the entire zoning and guidelines package in one draft rather than in pieces so commissioners can see the whole proposal. "I'm going to bring an ordinance, not in pieces. I'm gonna bring the whole thing together in one shot so we see the whole of it," Dean said.

Staff described procedural changes that would accompany an overlay, including creation of a certificate of appropriateness permit. "Anytime we introduce a new permit, we need to make sure that it's right size for the task," Dean said. He said the city will need to decide whether certificates should be approved by staff, the Historic Preservation Commission or another body; his initial preference is for the Historic Preservation Commission to weigh in.

Commissioners and the public focused on where the overlay boundary should lie and on how the city would manage building height and context along First Avenue. Carrie Logan, a Sandpoint resident and former mayor, urged commissioners to include properties on the east side of First Avenue that are not presently in the National Register boundary and to reduce allowable heights in that area. "Please include all the properties downtown, whether they're within the historic district or not," Logan said. "I would really hope you do this sooner rather than later."

Hannah Combs of the Bonner County Historical Society and Museum recommended re-surveying buildings for national-register eligibility before finalizing boundaries. "I believe the baseline for eligibility for the National Historic Register is that a building be 50 years old," Combs said, and noted the last surveys were done in 2015 and that some buildings now may have become eligible.

Ellie Sesnes, chair of the Sandpoint Arts, Culture and Historic Preservation Commission, said the commissions are prepared to work with staff and recommended urgency. "The time is of the essence because once it's gone, it's gone," Sesnes said.

Staff gave several concrete details the commission can expect in the coming drafts: stricter form-based parameters to be added to supplement the existing Commercial A standards; separation of architectural details into council-adopted design guidelines; and an updated Zoning Administration chapter to organize the new permit types and appeal procedures. Dean said he has been reviewing building heights in the downtown to inform any limits: he reported sample measurements taken that morning — the rear of the Panda building about 50 feet, a nearby church back wall 45 feet, the Powerhouse building about 55 feet, and the Granary at just over 80 feet — and warned that measuring height from different ground elevations can make apparent height vary significantly.

Multiple commissioners urged a context-based approach to height limits rather than a single absolute cap. Dean and commissioners said they plan stakeholder outreach to builders, contractors and real estate professionals to ensure rules are implementable and do not conflict with building-code requirements. The city's chief building official, Pete Scahn, was identified as a planned staff participant in drafting to address code conflicts.

Dean said he will coordinate review between the Planning and Zoning Commission and the Historic Preservation Commission and is considering a joint session with city council before forwarding a formal recommendation. He said he expects to deliver draft language for review within the next few months and to refine it based on commission and public feedback. No ordinance or ordinance language was introduced or voted on during the meeting.

Commissioners and members of the public also cited examples from other Idaho cities and urged staff to review model guidelines; Dean said staff had recently attended the Idaho APA conference and reviewed Ketchum, Meridian and Pocatello approaches.

The commission did not take formal action on the overlay or guidelines during the meeting; the item was a staff-led discussion and direction-seeking session. Dean said he plans to return with a drafted ordinance, associated guidelines, and proposed administrative rules for how certificates of appropriateness would be applied and appealed.

The meeting included public participation from residents and representatives of local preservation organizations who offered to assist with building research and historic surveys. Dean emphasized the draft would be a "reaction" document at first'a starting point for discussion rather than a final product, and invited commissioners and community stakeholders to review and provide feedback before any recommendation to the city council.