|  EDUCATE AND ADVOCATE |
- Home
- About US
- Our Opinions and Actions
- Fight for Sandpoint Parking
We Fought to Ensure Fair Access to Parking in Sandpoint
Members of Bonner County Republican Women, Inc. (BCRWI) became concerned this past winter, when we learned that during the 2024 holiday season, with no public input, Sandpoint City officials made a sweetheart parking deal with Averill Hospitality, which plans to build a resort at City Beach
The city planning director agreed to reduce the parking spaces the resort developer would create from 245 to 144. At the time, the resort plans included:- 181 guest rooms
- Event space (to host weddings or conventions)
- Two restaurants
- Recreational equipment rentals
- Curated retail spaces.
The average ratio of parking spaces per hotel room in the United States is 1.24 parking spots per room. However, under those plans, the Resort at City Beach would have a .82 ratio of hotel rooms vs parking spaces. Making matters more concerning, Sandpoint’s Planning Director announced that the High School parking lot would be used for resort parking overflow. He also simultaneously announced plans to charge locals to park in Sandpoint.
We took action.
- We wrote letters to the editor of local papers
- We flooded FaceBook with messages raising awareness about this matter
- We spoke at City Council and Planning and Zoning Meetings
- We wrote letters to members of City Council
We got results.
Our actions resulted in Brian Averill from the Resort, and his Project Manager, Ben McGrann, requesting to meet with members of our Board. During that meeting we learned that the Averill's revised their development plans. They will create parking spaces in line with national standards (1:1).
Furthermore, after we raised concerns about using taxpayer-funded parking spots for Resort parking overflow, they modified their plans. They are now working with local private businesses to lease parking spots in their lots.
Fortunately, Averill Hospitality wants to do what is right for this community.
However, the City Code needs to be altered. The Planning Director informed board members and the public that, based on current codes, the resort could have reduced its parking space to just 71! Stay tuned. We will be asking City Council to change City codes so that unreasonable parking deals can’t be made with developers in the future, and especially without input from City Council and the public.
