The growth predicament in Bonners Ferry and Boundary County

Bonners Ferry is approaching its housing limit. 

RVs are parked in residential neighborhoods, a former church on Jackson Street has been converted into an unpermitted apartment building, and all 32 affordable units in a recent South Hill project were claimed before construction was complete. 

"There’s a lot of density coming, and we need to address it faster than it comes,” said local developer Scott Bourassa at an April 16 city planning and zoning public hearing.  

Like most of North Idaho, Bonners Ferry faces increasing pressure to build high-density housing. City officials throughout the region are approving new developments, often despite strong opposition from residents intent on preserving their community’s character.

In Sandpoint, for example, 52 of 56 public comments opposed a recent townhome project proposal. Yet the Sandpoint City Council approved it, citing its fit within the city's Comprehensive Plan to create more affordable housing. 

Similarly in Bonners Ferry, many locals disagree with the city’s approach to accommodating growth. Over 25% of respondents to the city’s 2023 Comprehensive Plan survey opposed its affordable housing strategy, and 78% said it’s important to protect historic neighborhoods from redevelopment.  

But the council will consider adopting a new zoning code next month that would allow for high-density housing on an 80-acre vacant lot near downtown. 

“People like to keep things the way they are, but in order to sustain growth, you’ve got to do something different,” said Bonners Ferry Mayor Rick Alonzo. 

City or County development

Local officials and developers agree that housing demand will continue to rise throughout North Idaho and Boundary County.  

If Bonners Ferry doesn’t increase housing opportunities within city limits, some officials say urban development could spill into agricultural and forestry lands — a trend already seen in the Rathdrum Prairie, where over 15 square miles of rural land have transformed to Coeur d’Alene suburbs since the 1980s, according to satellite images. 

In Post Falls, the Panhandle Affordable Housing Alliance has taken a new approach to providing affordable homeownership opportunities. PAHA partnered with city officials to lower permit fees, enabling the construction of deed-restricted homes for households earning between $75,000 and $126,000. These homes sell for $290,000 to $430,000. 

“I think both single-family and multi-family housing developments are needed,” said Maggie Lyons, PAHA executive director. “Single-family is more palatable for neighbors. And the middle to upper-middle class want single-family, not townhomes. But land costs have soared, so high-density and multi-family ends up being the only viable way for developers to build housing.” 

PAHA’s homes in Kootenai County — where the median housing cost is 36% higher than in Boundary County — are priced similarly to homes on Bonners Ferry’s South Hill, according to the county assessor’s database. 

But Bonners Ferry already charges the minimum building permit fees allowed by the state, making the PAHA model hard to replicate, Alonzo said. 

“We don’t have that luxury,” he said. “A nonprofit can’t lower its profit margin.” 

Boundary County’s permit fees are also among the lowest in the state, said Commissioner Ben Robertson.  

The real expense lies in extending utility services like water and sewer, which are limited outside of the city. County ordinances favor growth near existing infrastructure, but most rural areas lack the public systems to support it — unless new taxing districts are formed by local communities. 

“I don’t see a way out of meeting the housing demand, unfortunately,” Robertson said. “Ideally, you have the densest housing within the city, and private industry willing to build it.” 

With limited land and utilities, the 80-acre lot near downtown — already served by industrial-grade infrastructure — may ultimately be the city's best chance to accommodate the growth that seems inevitable.