POST FALLSThe city of Post Falls is considering annexing 320 acres of land that would be developed into a residential subdivision with nearly 1,200 housing units.


The proposal by a group called Prairie Falls LLC features plans for 879 single-family homes and 300 multifamily units, according to documents filed with the citys planning department. The property is located in north Post Falls, at the northeast corner of Idaho Road and Poleline Avenue, and is bounded on the east by Greensferry Road.


Although Prairie Falls LLC hopes to start construction of the as-yet-unnamed subdivision in the fall, the documents say, the proposal hit a snag earlier this month when the Post Falls Planning and Zoning Commission recommended that the City Council not annex the property.


The commission just felt that the property densities were not compatible with the surrounding areas, says Gary Young, the citys planning and building director, who attended the commission meeting.


Youngs department, however, which looked at the proposed subdivisions plans before they went to the planning commission, judged that the plans would be appropriate and in conformance with the comprehensive plan, according to the planning staffs analysis of the project.


The annexation now goes before the Post Falls City Council, on July 17.


Neighbors of the proposed development lodged a number of written objections to the project in advance of the planning commissions hearing, saying they believed it would be too big and too much for Post Falls to absorb in a short amount of time.


The proposed construction schedule calls for the development to be built in seven or eight phases, each lasting about 18 months.


However, Jon Mueller, of Hatchmueller PC, the Coeur dAlene-based planning and design consultant for the project, says the development would add amenities that would make it not necessarily just pavement and houses. Those amenities would include nearly 40 acres of open space, from parks to buffers to neighborhood play areas, plus a small amount of acreage earmarked for service-oriented retail businesses. Gas, grocery, cleanersthe kinds of smaller commercial uses that would benefit a neighborhoodand reduce traffic created by the developmentare the kinds of retail uses envisioned, he says.


Tim Mueller, of Tomlinson Black North Idaho (and Jon Muellers brother) is heading the Prairie Falls LLC group that would develop the project.