Coeur Housing / Missing Middle / Infill Housing

The City of Coeur d'Alene provides a variety of missing middle and infill housing opportunities in our residential zoning districts such as R-8 (residential at 8 units per acre) and R-12 (residential at 12 units per acre) that allow for duplexes, and R-17 (residential at 17 units per acre) that allows for multiple-family housing product types such as apartments, condominiums, and townhomes. Our DC (Downtown Core), DO-N (Downtown Overlay - Northside), DO-E (Downtown Overlay - Eastside), and M-O (Midtown Overlay) allow for a variety of infill housing types. Our C-17 zoning district (commercial with residential at 17 units per acre) and C-17 L (commercial limited) allow for single-family and multiple family housing options, and even our smaller commercial districts allow for mixed-use with residential uses. Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) have also been allowed in Coeur d'Alene since 2019. We also have many planned unit development projects or PUDs in the city that have twin homes, townhomes, cottage homes, and ADUs. We continue to explore new housing trends with a goal of providing housing opportunities and addressing neighborhood compatibility. 

In 2020 and 2021, Planning Department staff worked with an ad hoc committee with a goal of writing an infill housing code for the City of Coeur d’Alene. The effort was referred to as Coeur Housing. The Coeur Housing Committee and staff looked at areas of the city that are appropriate for the new infill/missing middle housing code. What types of units and how many of units was also discussed and vetted. Seven workshops were held, including two community meetings in late 2020 and early 2021. This effort was affected by limitations to bring community members together during COVID and was put on hold while team members worked on the Comprehensive Plan Update and Historic Preservation Plan.

Fast forward to 2026, the team is currently working on a Twin Home code. Click here to learn more. 

The following information outlines the Coeur Housing Code effort that was undertaken, including the mission statement and a summary of workshops and guiding concepts for infill housing.  

GOAL: To create a new Infill Housing code that will allow additional housing units that are quality in design, in areas of the city that are appropriate.

Infill Housing Objectives

• Develop a set of criteria for the suitable location infill housing sites.
• Analyze and develop a map showing the suitable area within the city to locate infill housing.
• What neighborhoods should be designated for infill development?
• Ensure that established neighborhoods won’t be negatively impacted.
• Density should decrease as you move away from the downtown core
• Allow for a variety of housing types
• Various densities and styles within residential neighborhoods
• The units should be house-scale if they are in a residential neighborhood

 Infill Best Practices:

• Orient the design toward the pedestrian experience. Allow for open and inviting ground-floor spaces with no blank walls and no hidden corners.
• For tall buildings, consider an articulated base with a step back to allow tall structures to address the scale at the street better without dwarfing its users and neighbors.
• Walkable, create sidewalks that not only promote easy travel, but also serve as a connection to the transportation network.
• Integrate landscaping that promotes protection of the pedestrian from the street and green elements that can soften the hard materials of an urban environment.
• Front doors face the street, where possible.
• Emphasize high quality building design and landscaping.
• Allow for greater density on larger lots at block ends and mid-block.
• Transect mapping with density decreasing as you move away from the downtown

Livability and Walkability:

• Livability focuses on place making, which involves the design of public spaces to encourage public gatherings and engagement (Berke, Godschalk, Kaiser, & Rodriguez, 2006).
• Walkability is vital in the livability aspect of a city. (Duany, Plater-Zyberk, & Speck, Suburban Nation: The Rise if Sprawl and the decline of the American Dream, 2000).
• Clarence Perry developed a model of the neighborhood unit that defined a five-minute walking distance as the radius a person would likely walk as a primary means of transportation for frequent trips (Perry, 1929).
• The distance of 900 feet equates to approximately a five-minute walk.

Best Practices Used in Other Communities for Siting Infill Housing

• Preserve and protect existing historic single-family neighborhoods.
• Quality design of the infill housing units increases the livability aspect.
• Pedestrian and bike trails for outdoor recreation are also very important, infill housing should be located within 900 feet of pedestrian and bike trails.
• Infill Housing Units should be in close proximity to public transportation routes and should be located within 900 feet of these routes.
• Infill Housing should be located at least 900 feet from employment centers and commercial nodes.
• Infill housing should allow for densities decreasing as you move away from the downtown core. (Transect Map)

The Coeur Housing discussions were largely informed by a Missing Middle Housing Forum that took place in 2019 and the work of Opticos Design that coined the term missing middle housing.  Click here to learn more about missing middle housing and the forum.