Developer Puts Dream On Display Proposed Upscale Projects At Rockford Bay Include Condos, Golf Course

Developer Marshall Chesrown repeated two phrases Thursday when explaining a proposed 650-acre golf course and gated community near Rockford Bay.

“Natural” and “world-class.”

The site overlooking Lake Coeur d’Alene has the amenities to create a world-class golf course, the Colorado businessman said.

But the planned course and 381 housing units will be developed with a gentle touch to retain the land’s natural character, he said.

“My original plan was to build a house and a barn and live here forever,” said Chesrown, a Spokane Valley native.

But as currently proposed, The Club at Black Rock would become the largest community between Coeur d’Alene and Moscow.

Chesrown has applied for permits to develop an 18-hole golf course, homes and condos, equestrian stables, a golf school, miles of trails and tennis and swimming facilities on the site.

At the heart of the development is the 229-acre golf course, which is slated for completion in 2002.

The course would be the same caliber as The Coeur d’Alene Resort’s golf course, though entirely different in character, course architect Jim Engh said.

“We look at it as not a competitor, but a complement” to the resort’s course, he said.

The site is home to spectacular scenery, wild turkeys, deer, elk and bear, Engh said. The meadows, timbered areas and wetlands have been incorporated into the golf course design.

“We’re leaving the trees for the most part, and incorporating the golf course in a soft and subtle way,” said Engh, who won awards for his environmentally friendly design of The Sanctuary Golf Course in Sedalia, Colo.

Golfers would encounter granite cliffs, rolling terrain, and native grasses outside the greens and fairways. At the 13th hole, man-made waterfalls would stream over a 50-foot black cliff that gives the development its name.

The housing areas have been carefully designed, too, so that 60 percent of the total land base would remain in open space, most in natural vegetation, Engh said.

Chesrown would not divulge how much he plans to spend on The Club at Black Rock, but said it would be privately financed. The 41-year-old developer has a background in car racing and auto dealerships. He sold his dealerships to Auto Nation, a nationwide car dealership, two years ago.

Neighbors of the proposed development got their first chance to study the plans and chat with Chesrown at an open house Thursday afternoon. More than 600 families were invited.

Some said the upscale development would increase their property values. Others were concerned about increased traffic, noise and the development’s impact on domestic wells in the area.

Conda Mitchell thought The Club at Black Rock would be a good neighbor.

“I golf an awful lot, and it would sure be nice to have a course in my back yard,” Mitchell said.

Her neighbor Kathy McNelis, however, expressed concerns about increased traffic and said she’d rather see lower-density development. “I’m concerned about how that will impact the wildlife. That’s one of the reasons people really enjoy living here,” she said.

A retired resident who didn’t want to give her name said she feared the development would boost the already steep taxes she pays on her lakefront property.

“Perhaps if we were younger and enjoyed golf, we might like it,” she said. But “we like the peace and quiet, the scenery and nature.”

Chesrown also unveiled plans Thursday for the Rockford Bay Marina, which he recently purchased. He plans to increase boat slips at the marina from 120 to 200, and rebuild the 50-year-old marina over a three-year period.

Mike and Linda Baker, who rent a slip at Rockford Bay, came to see how the change might affect them.

As well as being quieter than marinas in Coeur d’Alene, Rockford Bay is cheaper, the Spokane Valley couple said.

They liked the proposed improvements, particularly road work that would make the area safer for pedestrians. But the Bakers wondered how the changes would affect rental slip prices.

“I hope it doesn’t price the small boat owners out of the area,” Mike Baker said.

HEARING The Kootenai County Planning Department has scheduled an Oct. 18 public hearing in Coeur d’Alene on plans for The Club at Black Rock.