Kootenai County seeks public input on growth, parks plans

Kootenai County is asking residents to help set the rules for where the next wave of housing, roads, parks and lake access will go, before those choices harden into policy.

The county opened its comprehensive-plan survey on April 7, and the update is expected to run through April 2027. Community development director Mike Behary said the effort is about more than a land-use map. It is meant to tie together growth, transportation, housing, economic development, infrastructure, recreation and the places people use every day, from shorelines and trails to boat launches and open space.

That matters in a county where pressure has already been visible in rising home prices, traffic and strain on public services. Kootenai County says the plan is a 20-year guide for development in unincorporated areas, including the land outside Coeur d’Alene, Post Falls, Hayden and Rathdrum. County materials say the plan also must satisfy Idaho’s Local Land Use Planning Act and include 17 state-required elements, making it the framework that helps steer budgets, capital investments and future development decisions.

The scale of that task is shaped by the county itself. Kootenai County spans 1,310 square miles, including 18 lakes and 56 miles of navigable rivers. County population materials say the residential population reached 188,323 in the 2024 Census estimate and had grown 14% in the previous five years. The U.S. Census Bureau lists the county’s 2020 census population at 171,362 and its July 1, 2025 estimate at 191,864, underscoring how quickly the county has changed.

At the same time, the county is drafting its first Parks & Waterways Plan, linking the big growth questions to the places that shape daily life. Kootenai County says it is Idaho’s largest boating community, with about 20,000 registered boaters and more than 44,000 navigable acres. Its Parks and Waterways Department manages 10 parks totaling more than 162 acres, 8.6 miles of recreational trails, 21 boat launches and five marine vessel pump-outs.

A seven-member Parks and Waterways Advisory Board is already in place to recommend long-range direction, serve as a public liaison and advise on funding priorities. That makes the current public input window especially important for residents who want to influence where parks, waterways projects and service upgrades land before county decisions are locked in.

The comprehensive plan itself is not new. The Board of County Commissioners approved the amended Kootenai County Comprehensive Plan on Dec. 30, 2010. But county outreach through Keeping Kootenai says this update is intended to give residents, property owners, investors and businesses more transparency and predictability as the county confronts growth that is already reshaping the region.