Sandpoint Comprehensive Plan Update Existing Conditions Summary Draft: June 12, 2020
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Sandpoint Comprehensive Plan Update Existing Conditions Summary Draft: June 12, 2020 Introduction This report presents a series of existing conditions that provide the background and historic trends that were used to inform the direction of the 2020 Comprehensive Plan update. This document highlights issues and needs and illustrates data trends and land uses. In providing this overview of baseline conditions, we can start to understand how these conditions influence the policies and actions for Sandpoint’s Comprehensive Plan update. This report is not an exhaustive inventory, but instead focuses on relevant data to inform the Comprehensive Plan. Each section tells Sandpoint’s story – from where we’ve been to where we are headed in the future. Using the best available data from the City of Sandpoint, Bonner County, the State of Idaho, the U.S. Census Bureau, and other sources, data and trends were researched and synthesized into the seven planning topics below. Introduction ......................................................................................................................................... 1 Community Profile ............................................................................................................................... 2 Community Character & Design ........................................................................................................... 9 Land Use & Growth ............................................................................................................................ 16 Housing & Neighborhoods ................................................................................................................. 20 Jobs & Economic Development .......................................................................................................... 23 Public Facilities, Services & Utilities ................................................................................................... 29 Natural Resources & Hazardous Areas ............................................................................................... 35 Sandpoint Airport .............................................................................................................................. 42 Existing Conditions Report | Page 1 Community Profile Sandpoint and Its History Nestled in the northern panhandle of Idaho, Sandpoint’s history and access to natural resources and railroad transportation have shaped the city’s character and development over the last century. Situated in Bonner County about 60 miles south of the Canadian border on the banks of Lake Pend Oreille, the City of Sandpoint officially became a village in 1901 and a city in 1907. The area where Sandpoint is today was part of the home of the Kalispel Tribe of Indians. Their ancestral lands extended across all of Priest and Pend Oreille Lakes, up the Pend Oreille River into Canada and as far east as Montana. Northwest Company fur trader David Thompson was one of the first settlers to establish a relationship with tribes in the area, including the Kalispel, and helped establish fur trading in the area in 1809. Historic Aerial Map of Sandpoint 19381 Northern Pacific Railroad surveyors arrived in the area in 1880, attracting a few permanent settlers. That same year, Robert Weeks opened a general store in what was then called Pend Oreille, the little settlement that sprouted up on the east side of Sand Creek on a narrow spit of land lined with buildings on both sides. By 1882, Northern Pacific began building a stretch of railroad that connected the community to Montana. A number of fires in the 1890s, coupled with limited room to grow on the spit, started a gradual move across the creek to a new townsite. The settlement grew slowly over the next decade, during which time its name was changed to Sandpoint. In 1892, Great Northern Railroad arrived in what is now Bonner County. Its first agents were L.D. Farmin and his wife Ella Mae. The Farmins bought rights to 160 acres along the west edge of Sand Creek, and after “proving up” 1 Sandpoint, Idaho and Lake Pend Oreille shore, vertical aerial 1938 (P 832-33), Archival Idaho Photograph Collection, Digital Initiatives, University of Idaho Library https://www.lib.uidaho.edu/digital/archivalidaho/items/archivalidaho791.html Existing Conditions Report | Page 2 on homestead property, platted the city of Sandpoint in 1898. To this day, most commercial sites in Sandpoint still border Sand Creek and the edge of Lake Pend Oreille. The forests and rich mineral deposits in the Pend Oreille region attracted settlers to small communities forming throughout the area. Timber became the main industry in Sandpoint and Kootenai and mills like the Humbird Lumber Company thrived in Sandpoint into the late 1920s. Farming was also becoming a popular activity on the cleared forest land. These farms, called “stump ranches,” primarily grew hay because the short growing season in Northern Idaho made it difficult to grow other crops. The hay was used to feed the horses lumber companies used to harvest and process the wood. On February 2, 1907, a portion of Kootenai County was partitioned to become present day Bonner County. By mid-1908, work had begun on the bridge connecting Sandpoint and Sagle. It was completed in 1910, and was just under two miles in length. The bridge was replaced and dedicated in 1934, and replaced again in 1956. The first two versions of the bridge span aligned with Sandpoint’s First Avenue—unlike today’s alignment with Superior Street. The Long Bridge that Sandpoint residents and visitors use today was built in 1981. The 1940s brought Farragut Naval Training Station to the area and about 300,000 new servicemen. In 1963, Schweitzer Basin ski area opened, which brought more people to the area for skiing and recreation. North Idaho’s unpopulated areas and rich and diverse recreational opportunities began to attract many more residents to the region in the 1970s. From the 1980s through today, Sandpoint has transitioned from a resource-based economy to a more balanced diversified one with manufacturing and recreation amenities. 1809 1980s - 2010 1981 Fur trading Diversified route Long Bridge economy with established was built manufacturing and recreation 1898 1880 Farmins 1907 Northern bought 160 1963 2010 - 2020 Pacific Railroad acres and Sandpoint Schweitzer Added more surveyors platted officially Basin tech and arrived Sandpoint became a city opened aerospace industry 1890 1892 1910 Fires 1940s Bridge prompted Great Northern Farragut Naval completed move across Railroad arrived Training between Sand Creek Station Sandpoint and Opened Sagle Existing Conditions Report | Page 3 Environmental Characteristics Sandpoint is surrounded by Lake Pend Oreille to the southeast and forested mountains to the northwest. Formed by glacial activity, Lake Pend Oreille is the largest lake in Idaho and the fifth deepest lake in the United States. Lake Pend Oreille’s historic glacial formation provides Sandpoint with a steady supply of drinking water into the foreseeable future. Sandpoint is the largest city along Lake Pend Oreille, providing positive opportunities for scenic and recreational engagement with the water. To the northwest of city limits and just south of Schweitzer Mountain Ski Resort, the City of Sandpoint is a significant landowner within the area commonly referred to as the “Little Sand Creek Watershed.” Land within this watershed is also partially owned and managed by the Bureau of Land Management, US Forest Service, and the State of Idaho. Map 1. Little Sand Creek Watershed Existing Conditions Report | Page 4 Mountains northwest of Sandpoint provide opportunities for outdoor recreation including hiking, mountain biking, skiing, and more. Schweitzer Mountain Resort attracts tourists for winter recreation from across the nation. While the natural features and recreation surrounding Sandpoint attract over 10,000 visitors a year2 as well as new residents, these features also influence the city’s ability to physically expand beyond its current boundary. Sandpoint enjoys a temperate climate with average high temperatures reaching into the 80s during the summer, and below freezing during the winter. The annual average precipitation in Sandpoint is about 34 inches. The wettest months of the year are November and December. The consistent rain and snowfall create a lush environment still leaving plenty of sunny days in the summer months to attract visitors to outdoor recreation. Chart 1. Average Precipitation and Temperatures in Sandpoint3 6 100 80 4 60 2 40 20 0 0 Fahrenheit Temperature in Temperature April May June July January March August February October September November December Inches of Precipitation of Inches Average precipitation in inches Average high temperature in ºF Average low temperature in ºF [To add: wind and snowfall data] 2 Sandpoint Chamber of Commerce: http://sandpointchamber.org/about-the-greater-sandpoint-chamber-of- commerce/statistics/ 3 U.S. Climate Data: usclimatedata.com Existing Conditions Report | Page 5 Community Characteristics and Population Sandpoint is the Bonner County seat and provides Chart 1. Comparative Population Growth 2000-2018 several regional amenities and services to the smaller [To add: City of Kootenai] communities around Lake Pend Oreille and the surrounding mountains. Recent population growth has been led, in part, by retired residents looking for a relaxing beautiful place to enjoy their retirement years. This change in population demographic creates