This survey is being conducted to better quantify housing needs and identify strategies to address housing issues in Sandpoint. It will also be used to update goals and policies included in the Comprehensive Plan.
Using the numbered areas in the map below, identify where you live in Sandpoint. If you do not live in the Sandpoint city limits, please select the city or area in which you live.
Area 9
Using the numbered areas in the map above, identify where you work. If you do not work in the Sandpoint city limits, please select the city or area in which you work.
No response.
What is your housing status?
Own a primary residence
Adults
2
Children
No response.
Extended Family
No response.
Non-family members
No response.
Disabled Family Members
No response.
How much of your current gross household income do you spend per month for housing (rent or full mortgage payment, excluding utilities)?
No response.
Which of these best describes the type of housing you currently reside in?
Single family home
If you have recently looked for a rental or home to purchase, how difficult was it to find?
Apartment, condo, townhome, duplex or other attached housing type to rent - Have not recently looked
Single family home to rent - Have not recently looked
Condo, townhome or other attached housing type to buy - Have not recently looked
Single family home to buy - Have not recently looked
If it was difficult to find a rental or home to purchase, please indicate reasons. Choose as many as apply:
No response.
Does your current housing meet your needs?
Yes
If you would like to move from your current home/apartment, what is the reason? Choose as many as apply:
No response.
Have you tried to buy a home before?
No response.
Have you faced any of the following obstacles to buying a home in Sandpoint or Bonner County? Choose all that apply:
No response.
What type of housing is most needed in Sandpoint? Choose as many as apply:
Single family homes to purchase
Single family homes to rent
Homeless shelters and/or transitional housing
Workforce housing
If you were to purchase a primary home, what is the maximum purchase price you would be able and/or willing to pay?
500000
What is the maximum amount of rent you are able and/or willing to pay?
No response.
What is your perception of the affordability of housing?
Housing in the Sandpoint city limits? - Very Expensive
Housing in Bonner County outside of Sandpoint city limits? - Expensive
What factors are most important to you in choosing a home or apartment? Choose all that apply:
Like the neighborhood
Should the City invest funding into creating more affordable housing options?
No
Please indicate if you would support the following ideas to meet the community's housing needs (with 1 being do not support and 5 being strongly support):
Partnership with local employers for workforce housing. - 1
Down payment assistance programs. - 1
Incentives for landlords to convert seasonal rentals to long-term rentals. - 3
Incentive programs to help with cost of infrastructure for new housing developments. - 3
Incentives for homes built within a specific price range, of a specific type, or in a specific area. - 3
Fund infrastructure to support workforce housing with taxes or fees collected from vacation homes. - 1
Land trusts created in partnership between private developers and public agencies, non-profit agencies, or employers. Rental or for-sale housing built on land held in a trust to control cost of homes as a result of land value. - 1
Annexation of adjacent land to build more housing near Sandpoint's current city limits. - 1
Build more high-density housing in the city (i.e., large apartment complex). - 1
Build more medium density housing in the city (i.e., duplex, townhouses, small multi-family developments). - 1
Encourage residential development above commercial or in mixed-use buildings. - 3
Tiny home (400 sq ft or less) planned unit developments. - 1
Shared equity down payment assistance grants tied to the property. - 1
Change zoning to allow construction of duplexes in single family-zoned neighborhoods. - 1
Utilize small pockets of vacant land within existing Sandpoint neighborhoods for appropriately scaled multi-family housing types. - 1
Pocket residential / cottage housing (cluster of small single-family detached homes of approximately 1000 sq ft). - 1
Limit the number of non-resident owned short-term/vacation rentals in residential neighborhoods. - 5
Please share additional thoughts or comments regarding housing in the City of Sandpoint.
Re: question concerning how much I spend on housing, there should be a "Zero" option. Some people actually have paid off their mortgage.
Housing Variety Goal: Provide a variety of housing types across income levels in Sandpoint. (1=not important, 5=very important)?
Encourage diversity in housing types by permitting detached, duplex, townhouse, stacked flats, ADUs and other types as appropriate in land use districts. - 3
Encourage low to moderate-income housing with development incentives (like density bonuses) or other similar strategies. - 1
Help reduce household transportation costs by locating housing near daily needs. - 2
Blend mixed densities in neighborhoods to provide for income diversity among neighborhood residents while ensuring that the bulk, mass or scale of any individual development does not dominate a street. - 1
Existing Neighborhoods Goal: Protect and enhance the charm and comfort of Sandpoint’s existing neighborhoods. (1=not important, 5=very important)?
Implement appropriate controls in consideration of transition areas between existing neighborhoods and adjoining districts. - 2
Create street environments that would be appropriate for historic single family neighborhoods. - 2
Encourage small accessory dwelling units throughout Sandpoint. - 1
Encourage the formation of active neighborhood organizations and advocate their participation in the public process. - 1
New Neighborhoods Goal: Ensure that new neighborhoods provide the same charm and comfort of Sandpoint’s historic neighborhoods. (1=not important, 5=very important)?
Cul-de-sacs and other dead-end streets are discouraged, with a preference instead for traditional grid street patterns. Where cul-de-sacs are allowed, they must provide for continuous, non-motorized connections between streets. - 5
Neighborhood services, public open space and parks shall be connected with multimodal paths. - 3
Development shall occur with a safe, appropriate street system in a network that provides easy access but does not allow rapid or high volume traffic to disrupt the neighborhood. - 4
Encourage a variety of housing sizes within a block. - 1
Are there any goals or policies that you feel are missing from the list above?
It is difficult to comment on an open ended option like: "implement appropriate controls". That is wide open to interpretation by whichever factions are currently in control at any given time. I wouldn't want to give any of the current planning commission, elected officials or staff that kind of blank check!
Looking out 20 years, what does a livable neighborhood in Sandpoint look like to you? Be specific.
Return to quiet residential neighborhoods with traffic routed AROUND them and not THROUGH them as is currently happening. Encourage all commercial activity to locate outside the Sandpoint city limits.
Through initial outreach during the fall, we asked the community to start thinking about what they love about Sandpoint. Of the following, what are the top 3 that are most important to you?
Housing options for all incomes
Wide range of housing types and sizes
Housing options for renters and owners
What should Sandpoint be doing to help support these shared values?
The city shouldn't be investing tax dollars toward any of these options. The only city involvement should be through zoning and reasonable fee schedules in order that builders can reduce their costs and thus reduce the selling prices of the units they build. Thinking way outside he box, perhaps there could be a scale wherein the fees paid by the builder could be put into escrow and then drawn from over say a 5 to 10 year period to refund money to the builder (not the home owner) as long as the initial buyer stayed in the house. This would be predicated on the house selling for say only 1 certain percentage over what it cost to build. I haven't thought it out but better minds than mine could. When I see tiny, tiny houses on N. Division that I understand are being marketed at $250,000, I am in SHOCK! Total Shock. I suppose if the builder can get desperate people to pay that, it's working for someone but to me it is a crime.
Each survey being introduced seems less well thought out than the previous survey. It seems as if whoever is putting these together is fast losing interest in the process.
Why were schools even a topic in the last survey? The city of Sandpoint has ZERO control over our school district and that is as it should be. The only impact a city has over schools within its limits pertains to zoning and providing city services such as water, sewer, police and fire. The questions about schools were irrelevant and a waste of space. We have elected people to a school board. Leave the schools to them and concentrate on doing what is required of you by law.
Tell us a little about your relationship with the City of Sandpoint. Choose all that apply:
I'm retired in Sandpoint
What is your age?
70 or older
What is your annual household income?
$35,000 - $49,999
How many children under the age of 18 are living at home?
0
Open Town Hall is not a certified voting system or ballot box. As with any public comment process, participation in Open Town Hall is voluntary. The responses in this record are not necessarily representative of the whole population, nor do they reflect the opinions of any government agency or elected officials.
Translate
Using the numbered areas in the map below, identify where you live in Sandpoint. If you do not live in the Sandpoint city limits, please select the city or area in which you live.
Using the numbered areas in the map above, identify where you work. If you do not work in the Sandpoint city limits, please select the city or area in which you work.
No response.What is your housing status?
Adults
2Children
No response.Extended Family
No response.Non-family members
No response.Disabled Family Members
No response.How much of your current gross household income do you spend per month for housing (rent or full mortgage payment, excluding utilities)?
No response.Which of these best describes the type of housing you currently reside in?
If you have recently looked for a rental or home to purchase, how difficult was it to find?
If it was difficult to find a rental or home to purchase, please indicate reasons. Choose as many as apply:
No response.Does your current housing meet your needs?
If you would like to move from your current home/apartment, what is the reason? Choose as many as apply:
No response.Have you tried to buy a home before?
No response.Have you faced any of the following obstacles to buying a home in Sandpoint or Bonner County? Choose all that apply:
No response.What type of housing is most needed in Sandpoint? Choose as many as apply:
If you were to purchase a primary home, what is the maximum purchase price you would be able and/or willing to pay?
500000What is the maximum amount of rent you are able and/or willing to pay?
No response.What is your perception of the affordability of housing?
What factors are most important to you in choosing a home or apartment? Choose all that apply:
Should the City invest funding into creating more affordable housing options?
Please indicate if you would support the following ideas to meet the community's housing needs (with 1 being do not support and 5 being strongly support):
Please share additional thoughts or comments regarding housing in the City of Sandpoint.
Re: question concerning how much I spend on housing, there should be a "Zero" option. Some people actually have paid off their mortgage.
Housing Variety Goal: Provide a variety of housing types across income levels in Sandpoint. (1=not important, 5=very important)?
Existing Neighborhoods Goal: Protect and enhance the charm and comfort of Sandpoint’s existing neighborhoods. (1=not important, 5=very important)?
New Neighborhoods Goal: Ensure that new neighborhoods provide the same charm and comfort of Sandpoint’s historic neighborhoods. (1=not important, 5=very important)?
Are there any goals or policies that you feel are missing from the list above?
It is difficult to comment on an open ended option like: "implement appropriate controls". That is wide open to interpretation by whichever factions are currently in control at any given time. I wouldn't want to give any of the current planning commission, elected officials or staff that kind of blank check!
Looking out 20 years, what does a livable neighborhood in Sandpoint look like to you? Be specific.
Return to quiet residential neighborhoods with traffic routed AROUND them and not THROUGH them as is currently happening. Encourage all commercial activity to locate outside the Sandpoint city limits.
Through initial outreach during the fall, we asked the community to start thinking about what they love about Sandpoint. Of the following, what are the top 3 that are most important to you?
What should Sandpoint be doing to help support these shared values?
The city shouldn't be investing tax dollars toward any of these options. The only city involvement should be through zoning and reasonable fee schedules in order that builders can reduce their costs and thus reduce the selling prices of the units they build. Thinking way outside he box, perhaps there could be a scale wherein the fees paid by the builder could be put into escrow and then drawn from over say a 5 to 10 year period to refund money to the builder (not the home owner) as long as the initial buyer stayed in the house. This would be predicated on the house selling for say only 1 certain percentage over what it cost to build. I haven't thought it out but better minds than mine could. When I see tiny, tiny houses on N. Division that I understand are being marketed at $250,000, I am in SHOCK! Total Shock. I suppose if the builder can get desperate people to pay that, it's working for someone but to me it is a crime.
Each survey being introduced seems less well thought out than the previous survey. It seems as if whoever is putting these together is fast losing interest in the process.
Why were schools even a topic in the last survey? The city of Sandpoint has ZERO control over our school district and that is as it should be. The only impact a city has over schools within its limits pertains to zoning and providing city services such as water, sewer, police and fire. The questions about schools were irrelevant and a waste of space. We have elected people to a school board. Leave the schools to them and concentrate on doing what is required of you by law.
Tell us a little about your relationship with the City of Sandpoint. Choose all that apply:
What is your age?
What is your annual household income?
How many children under the age of 18 are living at home?
0