Canfield neighbors hope to buy failed subdivision

There wasn’t much time for celebration Wednesday because neighbors at the base of Canfield Mountain were too busy coming up with a plan to buy 50 acres of hillside for a park.

The neighbors, after four hours of testimony, convinced the Coeur d’Alene City Council late Tuesday night to unanimously reject a proposed 27-home subdivision and a zone change that would allow three homes per acre on nine acres of the property.

Now the residents want to buy the land and turn it into a natural park, similar to Tubbs Hill, with walking and bike trails.

“We need to jump on it,” said Jay Barnett who lives on Miners Loop. “There’s a very short window. We hope we can keep our momentum.”

So there were meetings and phone calls to figure out how the neighbors can raise the money to buy the land that until now seemed destined to be covered with homes.

Some major hurdles remain, especially the fact that Quest Development still has the exclusive option to buy the property and that the company plans to revamp its development proposal and send it back to the city.

The council praised the neighbors for presenting such strong, well-organized opposition and encouraged them to pursue the idea of a park.

“With what you guys created tonight, you guys can make a park,” Councilman Woody McEvers said.

Mayor Sandi Bloem also complimented the group.

“This is an example of a very strong neighborhood,” Bloem said. “You look out for what you think should happen in a neighborhood.”

The neighbors told the council that they feared that approving the first phase of Copper Ridge would open the door for development on the steeper slopes of Canfield Mountain. They said it could bring more scars like the Z-shaped road that already leads to one home on the hill.

While acknowledging those concerns, the council also said they had concerns about traffic congestion, narrow streets and water pressure.

Quest attorney Steve Wetzel said the local company still is interested in buying the property and plans to submit a new development proposal to the city that shows how the entire 50 acres would be used.

Because the city rejected the proposed zone change, Quest can only build one home per acre.

“Now we will go back and plan the whole thing,” Wetzel said.

The initial proposal was to build 27 homes on the 9 acres at the base of the hill. Quest agreed to leave the one-home-per-acre zoning on the remaining 40 acres and keep it as open space until the second phase of the development was planned.

Neighbors argued that Quest should present development plans for the entire property so the city could consider the entire scope of the project.

If the initial subdivision was approved, Quest eventually planned to put as many as 30 homes on the hillside while leaving the rest of the area open. Those plans would have required separate city approval.

Wetzel said he is unsure what any new proposal would look like or whether the company, which is owned by locals Fred LeClair and Greg Snyder, would try for another zone change.

Quest is also open to selling the property to the neighbors.

“I would expect somebody is going to contact us in the very near future,” Wetzel said.

But Quest doesn’t yet own the property. The Coeur d’Alene Seventh-day Adventist Church bought the property about eight years ago with the intent of building a new school. Since then, other Adventist churches have opened and want to send their children to the school, so a more central location is needed.

The church currently has an option to buy property on the Rathdrum Prairie. That sale is contingent on selling the Canfield Mountain property, so the church needs the sale to happen soon.

Twila Brown, principal of Lake City Junior Academy, said the church has to fulfill its agreement with Quest. But if Quest no longer wants the Canfield Mountain property, the church is happy to sell it to the neighbors.

“If the neighbors really want that, then we certainly would let them buy that and turn it into a park,” Brown said. “But first we must fulfill our obligation to Quest.”

Coeur d’Alene Parks Director Doug Eastwood said the city would be thrilled if the neighbors figure out how to raise the money to buy the property – estimated to be worth about $1 million – and gift it to the city for a public park.

He said the city doesn’t have the cash to help with the acquisition. And what acquisition money the city does have is already going to other neighborhood parks that have been on the list for years.

“The biggest hurdle is acquisition,” Eastwood said.

At 50 acres, he could see a natural park with trails and perhaps a parking area, similar to Tubbs Hill downtown.

He told neighbors Wednesday that it may be possible to create a park local improvement district, where residents in the area would agree to pay extra taxes to buy the property. If there was enough community interest, the tax could be citywide, Eastwood said.

Brown said the church never put the Canfield Mountain property on the market. When it got ready to sell the land, which was the Shadduck homestead, they had about six offers including one from Quest. Brown said the church didn’t know that the public was ever interested in buying the property.

“We didn’t realize what a sacred cow this whole issue is, otherwise we would have gone to the neighbors and asked them if they wanted to buy it,” Brown said.

Brown and other church members were concerned about the number of neighbors who told the council about how they use the property every day to walk their dogs, ride bikes and hike. She said the church has never agreed to let the public use the property because of liability issues. The church has even gotten complaints from neighbors angry that the church was “allowing” motorcycles to use the land.

“I’m really disappointed in the meeting last night that none of the (council members) stood up for private property rights,” said Ray Vaudreuil, who is an Adventist school trustee and realtor who is representing the church in the sale. “The comments were more toward ‘We have a right to use the property.’ That’s just not so because of liability issues.”

Another hindrance to development on the hillside is the city’s current rules that prevent building above 2,240-foot elevation, because no water service is available. If Quest wanted to build on the steep sections, the city would have to amend the current rules.

The Coeur d’Alene Planning Commission gave final approval to the proposed subdivision in April. Neighbors appealed that decision, sending it to the council.

City Councilman Ben Wolfinger said he had concerns because four members of the planning commission were absent during the April hearing. That left three voting members, with only two of them supporting the subdivision.