Council approves Mullen Avenue annexation and development agreement with multifamily cap

The council approved the Mullen Avenue annexation and its development agreement after staff and council negotiated language limiting multifamily residential to no more than 50 percent of the development and making multifamily subject to a special-use permit.

Planning staff recapped prior deliberations and said the applicant (North Idaho Surgical Hospital) resisted a blanket restriction on multifamily. Staff recommended inserting the Community Commercial Mix (CCM) zone’s multifamily cap into the development agreement to satisfy council direction from an earlier meeting. The development agreement’s Section 2.5, as drafted in staff’s packet, obligates the owner to require special-use permits for multifamily residential and to cap multifamily at 50 percent of the total development.

Councilors discussed trade-offs between CCS and CCM zoning products, the practical housing types allowed under each, and whether the council’s prior direction (find a zone amenable to the applicant that would not permit 100% R-3) was satisfied. After discussion, a councilor moved and the council voted to approve the Mullen Avenue annexation (ANNX-25-7) and the related development agreement. The motion passed by roll call.

Staff will record the annexation and implement the development agreement restrictions as written, and future special-use permit applications for multifamily units would be subject to heightened review and additional mitigation conditions if required.