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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Project an erosion experiment

Construction could begin this week on Forest Ridge – the controversial housing development off Rimrock Road that has become a guinea pig for how to keep erosion and sediment out of Hayden Lake.

After years of haggling and frustration, the once-doomed upscale project formerly called Green Meadows is now considered by local officials as a potential model for environmentally friendly development in Kootenai County.

“It’s one of the better projects that I’ve ever seen,” said Gerry House, Hayden Lake Recreational Water and Sewer District chairman. “It’s going to have safeguards so we won’t see that chocolate brown going into Hayden Lake.”

The development has the most intricate and detailed plans in the county for keeping storm water and erosion from running off the construction site and into the lake, which is about a mile south.

That’s because the sewer district refused to give developer and local real estate agent John Butler the 80 sewer hookups for the project until it approved those storm water and erosion control plans.

After a year of consultation with engineers and a University of Idaho professor, the board recently approved the measures. The county is expected to sign off on the plans soon, meaning Butler can start moving dirt and building roads on the 60 acres at the corner of Rimrock and Lancaster roads. The area drains into Hayden Lake’s Berven Bay and nearby Avondale Lake.

This is the first time the district has held sewer hookups hostage and opted to get involved in the design stages of subdivisions. House said the board has a responsibility to protect Hayden Lake and was tired of seeing projects damage the popular recreational lake that provides drinking water to more than 1,000 residents.

Butler’s nearby Rimrock Forest Estates has been characterized by a conservation group and some neighbors as a detriment to the lake’s water quality, as have several other subdivisions in the area.

Hayden Lake is considered threatened, according to federal Clean Water Act guidelines. Increases in sediment, nitrogen and phosphorus prompted the finding, which is causing the state to outline ways to protect the lake from becoming polluted.

The sewer district intends to require all new developments, especially those like Forest Ridge that are marked by high groundwater and crossed by seasonal streams, to have more stringent storm water and erosion systems. If the developers refuse, House said they won’t get sewer hookups.

County officials wonder if other developers will be as receptive to the sewer district’s requirements that are more expensive and time consuming. Butler didn’t provide actual dollar amounts but said the advanced storm water and erosion control plans probably increased the total cost of the project by 10 percent and caused at least a year delay.

“Whether this becomes the wave of the future is really up in the air at this point,” said county Planning Director Rand Wichman.

The county expects to get a subdivision application soon for 60 acres just south of Forest Ridge. The development company, Landing LLC, has said it is willing to comply with the sewer district requirements.

At first, Butler felt the sewer district was overstepping its jurisdiction, but he eventually agreed to the extra precautions.

“This will be a state-of-the-art system and a case they are going to watch,” said Butler. “I’d rather be safe than sorry.”

Wichman said that even with these more sophisticated plans there is no guarantee that Forest Ridge won’t have runoff problems. He said the plans are only good if they are implemented correctly, adding that Mother Nature also is part of the equation, and a storm could cause problems no matter how good the erosion control measures.

Mike Piper of the conservation group Save Hayden Lake said he has little faith the county will enforce Forest Ridge’s storm water and erosion control systems. He also is disappointed the sewer district agreed to give Butler hookups for homes in the southern third of the development, which he said is wetlands.

The property acts as a natural filter, meaning the wetlands filter runoff before it gets to the lake, Piper said. Building homes on the land destroys that natural system.

“This is an outright tragedy,” Piper said.