City to host open house on Comp Plan, Multimodal Transportation Master Plan

By Zach Hagadone Reader Staff

Residents who want to put in their two cents regarding the city’s ongoing update to its Comprehensive Plan will have their chance Thursday, April 27 at an open house hosted from 11 a.m.-6:30 p.m. in Meeting Room B of the East Bonner County Library’s Sandpoint branch (1407 Cedar St.).

The full draft Comp Plan can be reviewed and commented upon digitally at plan.konveio.com/sandpoint-draft-comprehensive-plan, and is open for public comment through Sunday, May 7. In-person attendees are invited to drop in to the open house at any time during the April 27 event.

The 132-page draft document is intended to serve as “our community’s plan for the physical development of Sandpoint” and “guide Sandpoint’s development and growth patterns for the next 20 years,” according to the introduction.

Sandpoint last updated its Comp Plan in 2009 and amended it in 2019. The update had been underway in 2019, but was delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021. As conditions have gradually stabilized following the easing and eventual end of virus-related restrictions, the city has completed and refined a wide range of studies and master plans intended to inform the larger Comp Plan effort, which establishes goals and objectives guiding land use regulations — including zoning — strategic plans and the city budget.

In addition to providing a roadmap for Sandpoint’s growth and development, the Comp Plan also covers the area of city impact, which encompasses approximately 12 square miles southwest to Dover, west to base of the Selkirk Mountains and northeast to the Ponderay city limits. The ACI designates land outside the city limits that may be annexed in the future, and therefore should be considered in the long-range Comp Plan.

Also at the April 27 open house, the city will feature the Multimodal Transportation Master Plan, including a proposed amendment to the long-term “East-West Connection” concept, which envisions