Sandpoint to kick off comp plan update process with community meeting

By Zach Hagadone
Reader Staff

It has been 10 years since the city of Sandpoint adopted its current comprehensive plan. Now, as required by state law, local officials are gearing up to update the document, which established a “roadmap” for the city’s growth 20 years into the future.

An aerial view of Sandpoint, looking west down Pend Oreille River. Courtesy City of Sandpoint.

Residents, as well as business and property owners, are invited to take part in a kickoff event for the comp plan process Thursday, Oct. 24 at 5:30 p.m. in the community room of the Sandpoint Library, 1407 Cedar St.

As city officials stated in an announcement, “The comprehensive plan process is an opportunity to imagine Sandpoint’s future — its neighborhoods, business corridors, education, economy, connectivity, open spaces and all that makes our community a great place to live, work and play.” 

Specifically, the comp plan steers the location and nature of future development — including everything from residential to industrial, manufacturing and airport, public facilities and open spaces. 

The parks and recreation and multimodal transportation master planning efforts already under way at City Hall feed into the comp plan, ideally creating “conditions that support a vibrant economy and help ensure the infrastructure is in place to accommodate growth,” city officials stated.

According to the city’s comp plan website (sandpointidaho.gov/imagine), the plan is also intended to ensure that development decisions are made with consideration for “a broader vision by the community” and provide predictability for property owners, businesses and residents.

The kickoff event will begin with an opportunity for attendees to meet representatives from Logan Simpson, an Arizona-based planning consultancy firm that the city hired in September to guide the comp plan project. Members of city staff will also be on hand for an overview of the plan update process. The presentation will include timelines for the process and attendees will be asked to use their cell phones to answer questions gauging areas of interest related to the update.

Following the Oct. 24 kickoff event will be an airport technical meeting on Thursday, Oct. 25 and an Airport Board meeting/comp plan kick-off Monday, Oct. 28. That same week, city officials intend to launch the first of two online questionnaires. The full comp plan update is expected to be adopted by September 2020.

 For more information visit sandpointidaho.gov/imagine or call 208-255-1738.