No public comment at Marriott appeal hearing

COEUR d’ALENE — A hearing to appeal the Design Review Commission's approval of a Marriott hotel proposed for Sixth Street and Sherman Avenue is scheduled for Tuesday night.

But the city wants to make one thing clear: No public comment will be allowed.

This notice will be posted at the public comment sign-up table for the City Council meeting that starts at 6 p.m.

"Pursuant to Municipal Code § 17.09.340(C) only the Appellant and Applicant, and their representatives, and City Staff may present argument to the City Council on an appeal from the decision of the Design Review Commission. Therefore, no Public Comment will be accepted tonight regarding the Marriott Hotel Project. Public Comment on the subject of the appeal would taint the appeal process and deny the parties a fair hearing. Also, no new written materials will be reviewed by City Council prior to making its decision. If you submitted written comments, they will be provided to Council after the hearing."

Downtown resident Joan Woodard requested an appeal of the DRC's January decision and will have a chance to argue her case in the Coeur d’Alene Public Library Community Room.

The City Council can affirm the decision of the DRC, reverse the decision, or remand it back to the DRC for further proceedings, said Hilary Patterson, Coeur d'Alene's community planning director.

The six-story development would be on a vacant lot at Sixth and Sherman. 

But Woodard believes the public was not given sufficient notice and information about the project until it was too late, and the hotel was given a green light despite what she sees as conflicts with the principles of the city’s comprehensive plan.

Developers have said construction could begin this summer and would take about two years to complete.

The hotel would have 131 rooms, 130 parking spaces, three stories of underground parking, a fitness center, a rooftop bar and an outdoor patio. Vehicles could enter and exit via Sherman Avenue and the alley.

About 60 people crowded into a conference room at City Hall for January's public hearing that lasted nearly three hours. Most spoke against it. They argued it didn’t fit with the historic character of downtown, lacked sufficient parking, would increase traffic, take business away from locally owned motels, put additional burden on police and parks and turn Coeur d’Alene into a Seattle or Portland.

But both DRC Chairman Tom Messina and Commissioner Jon Ingalls pointed out the six-member commission's authority was limited to whether the project met certain design criteria for the Downtown Core zoning district. Its impact on parking, businesses, character, police or taxpayers was not under their purview. 

According to a staff report, the project “satisfied the comprehensive plan’s desire for hospitality uses to help bolster Coeur d’Alene as a tourist destination and maintain the community’s friendly, welcoming atmosphere and its small-town feel.”

Woodard, who has decades of experience as a developer, said the DRC hearing shouldn’t have been held without first meeting with neighbors and stakeholders.

“We value community input and keeping the community informed,” Woodard said.

Woodard will have 10 minutes to tell the City Council “that an error was made by the Design Review Commission in its decision or that it ignored or incorrectly applied the design standards or guidelines, and how you were prejudiced thereby."

City staff will have 10 minutes to give a report and the applicant will have 10 minutes “to address the City Council on matters raised by the appeal."

Woodard will get another five minutes “for rebuttal to address anything that came up during the City’s or the applicant’s presentations.”

The burden of proof is on Woodard, “by a preponderance of the evidence, which means that Council must believe it is more likely than not that an error was made."

Patterson said this is not a public hearing and members of the public can’t testify. No witnesses can be called and no new evidence can be submitted. Comments are limited to “matters related to the adopted design standards and guidelines.”