Hayden Canyon opponents unite

Opponents of the proposed 1,800-home Hayden Canyon housing development are preparing for a long fight following a recent hearing on the project in front of the Hayden City Council.

A group of property owners neighboring the proposed development, located just north of the Hayden city limits, has joined to form the nonprofit corporation High Density Development Hurts to organize and raise money for their work.

“People have been ignoring us. We’re putting ourselves together so we count,” said Philip Clements, secretary of High Density Development Hurts.

The project is still in an uncertain state. The Hayden City Council held a public hearing July 8 on developer Glen Lanker’s request that the 618-acre site be annexed into the city. Presentations and testimony lasted more than five hours.

“It was a long evening with a lot of input,” Lanker said.

Public comment on the project is now closed, but the council continued its decision until it publicly deliberates at a July 22 meeting at Atlas Elementary School.

Lanker said the project would benefit the community by donating land for police, fire, park and school use and increasing the tax base.

Opponents said Hayden Canyon, as proposed, would not benefit the area, but would create dense housing not in keeping with the surrounding homes, create traffic problems and add pressure to school and police services.

“We think Hayden Canyon is inappropriate for this area,” Clements said.

High Density Development Hurts now has the ability to raise money to hire attorneys.

“The good thing is they’ve got some good land-use lawyers involved now,” said Bev Twillmann whose group, Neighbors for Responsible Growth, has been battling the Powderhorn Bay and Chateau de Loire proposed projects near Harrison.

But Lanker said most of those who have spoken out against Hayden Canyon and who are involved in the new opposition group don’t live in the city.

“It’s unfortunate,” Lanker said. “I think the City Council will weigh what’s best for the city.”

Clements and his wife Claudia Squibb don’t live in Hayden, but say that they speak for both city residents and those in the surrounding area.

If the annexation is approved by the Hayden City Council, the next step would be for the developer to submit a development proposal including a traffic study, said Lisa Key, Hayden Community Development Director.

Meanwhile, Squibb said she and others in High Density Development Hurts are preparing for a long fight. “We don’t know how far this is going to go.”