Hayden planning commission recommends approval of Hayden Sky PUD with conditions

The Hayden Planning and Zoning Commission voted 6-0 on Feb. 24 to recommend that the City Council approve the Hayden Sky final planned unit development (PUD), a proposed mixed residential and light-industrial project on about 127 acres north of Hayden Avenue.

The commission's recommendation sends the project to City Council with staff-recommended conditions and three applicant requests the commission approved: a waiver of the PUD buffer on the property's north edge adjacent to the airport, a deferral of certain frontage/landscaping improvements along Hutter Road until phase 4 (with performance surety), and an extension of the PUD approval period from the city standard five years to 10 years.

Donna (staff member), the city planner presenting the application, told commissioners the property was annexed into the city in 2013 (by ordinance) with an annexation agreement that requires a roughly 25-foot strip adjacent to Hutter Road reserved for a future Hutter Bypass, limits gross residential density to 4 dwelling units per acre, and requires 15 acres set aside for a park. The final PUD presented to the commission proposes about 411 residential lots (3.22 dwelling units per acre), a mix of single-family lots, townhomes and a light-industrial tract, and four construction phases. Dale Rainey of Rainey Design Group described the proposed parks: a southern active park (about eight acres) and a quieter northern park; the applicant said the parks total roughly 15 acres and meet or exceed the PUD's 10% open-space requirement.

Engineer Eric Olsen (Olsen Engineering) and other applicants described infrastructure and utilities. The Hayden Lake Irrigation District provided a will-serve for water and a dedicated well site is proposed; the Hayden Area Regional Sewer Board (HARBS) and the city provided will-serve capacity for wastewater and identified that sewer flows would tie into the H7 pump station in the Carrington/apartment area. Staff noted Harbs requested an odor easement to be recorded on plats. Stormwater is proposed to be handled through roadside swales consistent with city standards; power, gas and communications would be run in easements along streets.

Agency review and conditions were a major focus. Staff summarized outreach to multiple agencies (Idaho Transportation Department; Hayden Lake Irrigation District; Hayden Area Regional Sewer Board; Post Falls Highway District; Panhandle Health District; Idaho Department of Environmental Quality; Idaho Department of Water Resources; the airport) and said Post Falls Highway District comments on the Hayden–Hutter alignment had not been returned and remain outstanding. Staff also noted the southeast neighboring landowner (Thomas McNabb, owner of Core Technology Campus) provided a letter; staff characterized that as a private matter between landowners and the applicant that could affect right-of-way acquisition for the proposed temporary realignment of the Hayden–Hutter intersection.

Commission discussion emphasized traffic and safety improvements on Hayden Avenue, pedestrian and bicycle connections (sidewalks and multiuse paths are shown on Hayden Avenue, Downing and Carrington), buffering between commercial/industrial tracts and residential areas (including a proposed block wall and 10-foot tract between commercial and single-family lots), and phasing logistics. The applicant said phase 1 will include major intersection and roadway improvements (Hayden–Hutter and Hayden–Carrington) and that earthwork sequencing means the larger southern park will be built in phase 3 because park fill is needed for later phases. The applicant estimated roughly 2–3 years per phase under a typical market pace and requested a 10-year PUD approval window to allow for the four-phase buildout.

The commission's formal action was a motion to recommend approval of PZE24-0129 (Hayden Sky final PUD) with staff conditions and the three applicant requests described above. The recorded vote was 6 in favor, 0 opposed: Commissioner David Erickson (yes), Commissioner Joel Johnson (yes), Commissioner Chris Morris (yes), Commissioner Keith Gibson (yes), Vice Chair Mary Howard (yes) and Chair Sean Taylor (yes).

Conditions of approval attached to the staff report that the commission required or incorporated include: obtaining all outside-agency permits prior to construction, recording an odor easement as requested by HARBS on each plat, dedicating the 15 acres of parkland to the city by deed and recording the deed prior to final plat, constructing the half-width of Hayden Avenue (north half) as part of the first plat (2.5 lanes with curb, swales and multimodal path), constructing Hayden–Carrington and Hayden–Hutter intersection improvements as required by phasing, ensuring single ownership for parcels required by code before a master development agreement, recording POA/CC&Rs that specify maintenance responsibility and notification language for proximity to the sewer plant and airport, and posting performance surety if any frontage/landscape improvements are deferred until a later phase.

Staff and the applicants flagged remaining dependencies that could affect implementation: final comments from Post Falls Highway District on the Hutter/Right-of-Way alignment; formal right-of-way or easement agreements with private adjacent owners for the temporary eastward realignment of the Hayden–Hutter intersection; completion of agency-level permits (DEQ, Panhandle Health District, Hayden Lake Irrigation District water-right transfers) at the time of subdivision construction plan review; and recording of requested easements (odor, water-line easements) prior to final plat. Staff characterized those as conditions of approval and recommended they be satisfied before construction plan approvals or final plats as specified in the conditions.

There were no members of the public who completed forms to speak on the application during the public-comment period. After the commission's favorable recommendation, staff said the application will be scheduled for a City Council public hearing (staff indicated a likely late-March council meeting, contingent on the commission decision and timely agency responses).

The commission's recommendation does not itself authorize construction; it forwards the matter to the City Council, which will make the final decision and which must confirm compliance with the conditions and outside-agency requirements before approving construction plans or issuing building permits.

What happens next: staff told the commission the application will be placed on a City Council agenda for a public hearing; the timing depends on outstanding agency responses and required record items, but staff anticipated the council hearing in late March if the record is complete.