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Post Falls council annexes Mullen Avenue parcels, bars multifamily in development agreement
Summary
The council approved annexation of roughly 4.39 acres on East Mullen Avenue (ANX-25-7) and assigned Community Commercial Services zoning, adding a development agreement prohibiting multifamily construction after concerns about high-density special permits from neighbors and council.
Post Falls City Council voted unanimously April 7 to annex two parcels on East Mullen Avenue (1609 and 1641 E. Mullen Ave., file ANX-25-7) into city limits and to zone the property Community Commercial Services (CCS). The owner is North Idaho Surgical Hospital Buildings Land Holdings; the applicant’s agent said the property will likely be marketed for commercial or mixed-use sale once annexed.
Associate planner Justin Solder told the council the 4.39-acre site sits on the Rathdrum Prairie aquifer, that Ross Point would provide water and the city sewer, and that Mullen Avenue currently carries traffic volumes above 11,000 vehicles per day. Solder said the proposed CCS zoning is generally consistent with the city’s comprehensive plan and the focus-area policies encouraging infill and commercial corridors. He also reported a neighbors’ letter asking for a 20-foot buffer and other landscaping and height conditions.
Council members raised concerns that a CCS designation combined with a special-use permit could allow high-density multifamily (R3) development without full council review. Planning manager John Manley said multifamily could be allowed by a special use permit and estimated an 80–90-unit outcome on a 4-acre site depending on design and open-space strategy. After discussion, council moved to approve the annexation and to require a development agreement that prohibits multifamily construction on the parcels; the motion passed by roll call.
The council also discussed a small remaining “keyhole” county parcel that the annexation did not absorb and potential impacts on marketability. Staff noted that additional rights-of-way and easements would be required at the time of development and that sewer infrastructure would need extension when the site develops. The applicant indicated a willingness to accept a development agreement that limits uses to commercial only.
Next steps: staff will process the annexation paperwork and monitor any development proposals for consistency with the development agreement and required infrastructure dedications.
