Lake District Strategic Plan - Page 1 of 4

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Executive Summary
Introduction
Process
- Planning Context
- Stakeholder Interviews

Executive Summary

The LCDC Lake District Strategic Plan is an implementation-oriented plan for three districts within the Lake District urban renewal area of Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. These three districts include: Downtown, Midtown and Northwest Boulevard. The strategic plan is a "blueprint" intended to guide the Board of the Lake City Development Corporation (LCDC) in future planning, projects, programs, partnerships and actions in these districts. The plan lays a foundation for action by evaluating and describing: District Assets and Constraints, a Market Summary, Opportunity and Challenge, the Planning Context, information gathered in Stakeholder Interviews, district Goals and Objectives, and a Vision. In response, Framework Plans identify existing and preferred patterns in each district for Civic Space, Frontage, Land Use, Development Opportunities, Parking, Landscape and Pedestrian Improvements. An Implementation Strategy follows with Revitalization Principles and Specific Strategies for each district. Finally, a Prioritization Matrix identifies those recommendations to be undertaken in the short term as Next Steps.

Key recommendations of this strategic plan include the following:

Downtown

Partner with cultural providers to develop Downtown and the Education Corridor as a Cultural Center.
Commission a parking study to determine where capacity is needed and implement innovative parking and management solutions.
Expand and enhance the Federal, County and City governmental campuses to reinforce Downtown's civic identity.
Encourage urban multi-family housing infill and mixed-use development.
Develop Garden Avenue as a connection between the Education Corridor and residential neighborhoods to the east and rehabilitate and develop new housing along this connection.
Improve the quality, access and programming of lakefront and riverfront parks and public spaces.
Designate and improve Pedestrian Streets within the district to invite pedestrian use.

Midtown

Establish 4th Street and Roosevelt Avenue as a mixed-use neighborhood node and "heart" for Midtown.
Remove one-way couplet on 3rd/4th Street south of Harrison Avenue to support neighborhood retail and services.
Expand the Midtown district to the north to include vacated auto dealerships and land bank sites for an employment center.
Encourage mixed-use development in Midtown with residential uses above retail and services.
Make streetscape and storefront improvements to enhance the quality of the pedestrian environment and improve the image of the district.

Northwest Boulevard

Seek partnerships to plan for North Idaho College, University of Idaho, and other cultural uses in the Education Corridor in a park-like setting between the river and Northwest Boulevard.
Implement landscape and streetscape improvements on Northwest Boulevard and Ramsey Road to enhance their gateway quality, visual continuity and connections to river and trail access points.

Introduction

The purpose of this strategic plan is to establish a vision of what three districts within Coeur d'Alene's Lake District could become, and to identify a series of projects that can begin to realize that vision.

Over the past few years, plans and public workshops on various aspects of the city's future have yielded a valuable cache of ideas and information. The Board of the Lake City Development Corporation (LCDC) was concerned that this thinking should be translated into action. They identified Downtown, Midtown, and Northwest Boulevard as three districts with the potential to set an example of self-renewal for the whole city. These three districts include a full range of urban land uses, and include properties in the best and worst conditions. By implementing a series of related projects, each of these districts can be propelled towards a bright future, capitalizing on existing assets and latent possibilities to realize their full potential as vital components of a vital community.

This strategic plan sets out the process and thinking that led from LCDC intention to an action plan. It details what the consultant team discovered through interviews with over fifty individuals representing diverse interests. It outlines visions for the future, and recommendations for immediate initiatives and subsequent actions.

District Assets and Constraints

An analysis of the assets and constraints for the city and the three districts is the starting point. Coeur d'Alene possesses some extraordinary qualities and features upon which a vision for the future can be built. This analysis also identifies the barriers that stand in the way of successful implementation of projects that can realize a strong and positive vision. Some projects may need to be modified in order to work around these constraints, while other projects may be the first steps to removing the barriers altogether.

Assets

As confirmed in the stakeholder interviews with which the planning process began, Coeur d'Alene's strongest assets are based in its physical location along the Spokane River and the shores of Lake Coeur d'Alene. Its natural setting allows for scenic vistas from many locations throughout the three districts and encourages an outdoor culture of biking, walking, and water recreation. An abbreviated summary of assets that benefit the entire city includes:

Coeur d'Alene

Proximity to the lake, parks and other recreational assets;
Mature neighborhoods with relatively inexpensive housing;
Growing influence of higher education;
An attractive main street – Sherman Avenue;
Diverse development opportunities;
Civic champions in the community;
Strong sense of civic pride;
Resort development

Each district has it own unique set of assets as well:

Downtown

Quality, destination retailers, restaurants, and resort;
Pedestrian-friendly;
Relatively full occupancy;
Attractive streetscape;
Many locally-owned businesses;
Proximity to the lake and public parks;

Midtown

Adjacent to residential areas;
Close and direct access to freeway and Downtown;
Close to Education Corridor;
Acts as a gateway to Downtown;
Mature, wooded landscape;

Northwest Boulevard

Close to freeway and Downtown;
High quality landscaping;
River frontage;
Education Corridor potential;
Multiple new development opportunities;
Acts as a gateway to Downtown.

Constraints

Implementation of the plan requires an honest assessment of barriers and constraints to development. By clearly identifying things that stand in the way of achieving the vision, the plan can address these issues through deliberate actions, policies, and projects that will methodically remove the barriers and clear the path for successful implementation. Constraints that affect Coeur d'Alene as a whole include:

Coeur d'Alene

In transition from a resource based economy;
Low wages;
Seasonal economy – businesses struggle in off-season;
Contentious political environment – resistant to change;
Losing businesses and tax dollars to Post Falls;
Outdated, zoning code and comprehensive plan;
No public transportation;

Each district has its own constraints that are limited to their own geography:

Downtown

Few local services;
No relation to the waterfront;
Boat-trailer parking dominates waterfront;
Perceived parking problems;
Many struggling retailers;
Lack of class A office space;
Few housing opportunities;
Often viewed by locals as "for tourists only"
High property costs;

Midtown

One-way, high-speed traffic;
Deteriorated and vacant retail buildings;
Vacant auto lots;
Weak retail uses
Deteriorated streetscape and sidewalks;

Northwest Boulevard

Limited public access to river;
Few street connections to either side;
Auto-dominated;
Water treatment plant location is an obstacle to development;
Active mill blocks redevelopment opportunities;
Premix site has high potential, but is not in LCDC boundaries.

Market Summary

Demographic trends are positive for Coeur d'Alene as a whole. The city and region are experiencing strong population growth. Between 1990 and 2000, Coeur d'Alene's population grew from 24,563 to 34,514, an increase of over 40 percent. However, most of that growth is not occurring in the central city. Rather, it is happening at the fringes. Inner neighborhoods are growing, but at a much slower rate than for the city as a whole. Also significant is that while incomes have risen since 1990, the 2000 median household income for Coeur d'Alene ($33,001) is almost 13 percent lower than for Kootenai County as a whole ($37,754). This is lower than the median household income for both Idaho ($37,572) and for the United States ($41,994). Raising the incomes of residents in close-in Coeur d'Alene will be a key factor in revitalizing the three districts.

The real estate market is widely varied by district and even within each district. Current commercial rents Downtown are too low to support new construction given the high land prices – this is evidenced by the lack of new development in recent years. Until either land prices drop to levels commensurate with rents, or rents rise to levels commensurate with land prices, very little new development will occur in the Downtown core. However, nearby neighborhoods like Midtown, Northwest Boulevard, and even streets just a block or two away from Sherman Avenue have lower land prices that might facilitate new development. It is likely that these nearby areas will be the first to develop.

Residential prices show a steady upward trend with distance from Downtown. That is, the central city is home to the area's lowest housing prices (with the exception of the Fort Grounds neighborhood and lake side properties). The up side to these low values is that home ownership is affordable to many residents and property acquisition for redevelopment projects will be less expensive.

Commercial development, particularly retail, is likely to continue to focus near the freeway and at Silverlake Mall due to the lower cost of development in those locations and the overwhelming concentration of other retailers. However, Downtown has built a strong niche as a pedestrian-oriented shopping district with unique stores and quality restaurants that cannot be found elsewhere in Coeur d'Alene. New residential projects and public projects such as the library, McEuen Park, and streetscape improvements can have a cumulative effect in strengthening this marketplace and in sustaining Downtown's position as the government and cultural heart of the community.

Opportunity and Challenge

The overall opportunity addressed by LCDC through this strategic plan is to improve wealth and livability in three inner city districts by capitalizing on existing assets. This is to be accomplished through implementation of a large number of projects, big, and small, that will collectively bring about significant beneficial change.

The challenge is to identify projects that the community is motivated to implement, and that will contribute to such change. Wherever the prospects of personal gain can be aligned with community objectives, an opportunity exists for a realizable project. Public funds can be used most effectively to leverage private investment in such circumstances. Successful programs typically leverage more than $4 of private investment for every public dollar invested.

Large and ambitious projects can bring about dramatic change. However, such projects typically take a long time to realize, and are vulnerable to delay. Such opportunity should certainly be pursued, but so too should smaller projects that can demonstrate to the public and to potential investors that the plan is already being implemented, and that visible progress is being made.

Process

Recent plans and numerous public meetings provided LCDC with a wealth of information, but no specific plan for action. It is the purpose of this strategic plan to determine what those actions should be. The consultant team was introduced to the project in a workshop with members of the LCDC Board. Goals and objectives were derived from this discourse, defining a clear direction for the strategic plan. After assembling and digesting available information, the consultant team undertook a series of confidential interviews with representatives of key businesses, agencies and institutions. The purpose of the interviews was to verify the apparent values of the community, and to gauge willingness to invest in initiatives that could improve the wealth and livability in one or more of the three districts.

A sequence of framework maps was developed as a means of consolidating and analyzing information gathered on each district. Collectively, they provide an inventory of what exists, but also provide clues about what each area could become.

Opportunities for each district were exposed, and an overall vision developed. A strategy was proposed for realization of the vision through a series of projects. A few key projects were investigated in greater detail so that the costs, actions, and timing of each could be understood sufficiently to enable the LCDC Board to decide on an appropriate course of action.

Planning Context

In recent years, a number of plans and studies have been directed at bringing about an appropriate future for different parts and aspects of the City of Coeur d'Alene. These have included the Hyett-Palma Study on Downtown development economics, and the Walker Macy Study on public open spaces. There has been much public involvement in these and other planning efforts. Much of the accumulated thinking and opinion was drawn together in the Coeur d'Alene 2020 project, which distilled community intention into twelve concise goals:

Arts and Culture – Improve and increase the City of Coeur d'Alene's sponsorship of arts and culture.
Downtown Vitality – Develop a plan to increase Downtown vitality.
Economic Development – Ensure that Coeur d'Alene has a diversified economy that pays employees at or above the national average wage.
Education – Ensure that our educational partners have the resources to provide lifelong learning opportunities to all community members.
Health Care – Provide access to quality health care options for all community members.
Infrastructure – Develop a plan that recognizes the needs of residents in the analysis and implementation of infrastructure improvements and growth.
Lake Coeur d'Alene – Preserve the natural beauty that is Lake Coeur d'Alene, while improving public access and the overall quality of this community asset.
Neighborhoods – Provide vibrant neighborhoods where people are united to form a strong sense of community.
Planning – Coordinate community efforts to create a systematic plan that encourages the vital and unique nature of Coeur d'Alene.
Public Safety – Create a community-oriented public safety force with ample resources to address population growth.
Recreation – Develop and maintain year-round, affordable, and accessible recreational opportunities for all citizens.
Transportation – Provide convenient and accessible, efficient, affordable, and environmentally responsible transportation options for all citizens of the Coeur d'Alene community.

Each of these was expanded with a series of subordinate goals, setting a direction for the next two decades of planning in the city.

Stakeholder Interviews

As part of the planning process, the consultant team met with numerous community members to discuss the future of the three districts. Over 50 stakeholders attended a series of one-hour small group discussion sessions on September 10, 2002. Participants included small business owners, local developers, property owners, representatives of educational institutions, residents, activists, and others. The purpose of the confidential interview sessions was to understand what the "real" issues are that are shaping Coeur d'Alene's future in order to better define visions and plans for the three districts. A second purpose was to probe the willingness of those in a position to do so to invest in improvements.

Rather than use a list of predetermined questions, the team facilitated a free flowing discussion with the stakeholders. As is the case in any community, the stakeholders expressed a wide range of opinions and ideas. Many comments were consistent from group to group, but there were also conflicting views. Many of the comments address issues that go beyond the physical aspects of the three districts or LCDC's charter, but they nonetheless helped the team to identify priority issues to be addressed. The summary of non-confidential comments is far too lengthy to list here, but those comments and ideas formed the basis upon which the district visions and action plans have been developed.