Sandpoint committee urges RRFB crossing, Chestnut storefronts and secure bike parking for Boyer multifamily CUP

At the Feb. 12 meeting, staff briefed the committee on a revised Ridley Village multifamily development that includes a committed easement to extend an existing multiuse path to Boyer. Committee members focused on pedestrian safety and bicycle accommodations as conditions to support the project.

Staff explained the project’s multiuse-path connection to existing networks and noted prior commitments made during earlier review. Committee members raised concerns about pedestrian crossings at Boyer — especially near the school — and urged consideration of an RRFB (rectangular rapid-flashing beacon) or other flashing crossing device to ensure safe crossings rather than relying solely on a distant crossing. Several members also recommended orienting any nonresidential frontage toward Chestnut rather than Boyer to create a more walkable retail frontage and to avoid unsafe mid-block crossings on Boyer.

The committee also emphasized secure and ample bike parking for residents and shoppers; staff confirmed revised application materials would be posted and that bike parking requirements (including covered/secure storage) could be clarified in conditions. Members discussed the tradeoffs between bike lanes and multiuse paths for different types of users and whether truck or turn-lane movements on Boyer would alter preferred crossing locations.

Chair Kaye Huseman moved that the committee recommend careful consideration of an RRFB crossing on Boyer, locating storefronts on Chestnut, and requiring more secure bicycle parking for the CUP application tied to the Boyer multifamily project (application referenced in the meeting as "CUP 25-001"). The motion was seconded and approved with 'aye' recorded; the committee asked staff to reflect these recommendations in its planning-commission comments.

Next procedural steps: staff indicated the CUP will be scheduled for planning commission review before coming to council; the committee asked staff to post revised documents and to return with the application when it reaches planning commission for formal comment.