Developer wants to dig lake for waterfront homes

In a county with 20 lakes, two major rivers and countless streams and creeks, building a man-made lake may seem odd.

But it could become a creative way to make waterfront property a little more affordable for the average Kootenai County resident.

Within the next year, a bluegrass field within Rathdrum’s city limits could become a shallow private lake surrounded by homes. Radiant Lake at Westwood Estates is the first proposal of this sort that any county or state official could recall.

And it’s not the only man-made lake proposal. Developer John Stone wants to turn a portion of Coeur d’Alene’s former Central Pre-Mix gravel pit into a 45-foot deep public fishing pond, with nearby townhouses or condos. The pond is part of his Riverstone project between Northwest Boulevard and the Spokane River.

Stone is surprised it hasn’t been done before and adds man-made lakes are common in California, where the first thing developers do is dig a lake.

“There’s a need for it here,” Stone said. “Thirty-five percent of the people moving here are retired and many are from the California and Seattle areas. They like to be around the water and, for the development, it adds some beauty.”

He anticipates that more Rathdrum Prairie developers will consider building small lakes.

“It really has a new feel to it that is much superior to the product being built on the prairie now,” he said.

That’s exactly why developer JCAV LLC wants to dig a lake in Rathdrum. The idea was sparked by a need for more affordable waterfront and knowledge of private water-ski lakes in other states such as Washington and Arizona.

“The first impression is why you want to do this – there’s plenty of water around here,” said Mike McPhee, a JCAV spokesman who helped build a ski lake in Orting, Wash. “But we want to make something that is really affordable to the average mass of people.”

Most waterfront in Kootenai County, especially on Lake Coeur d’Alene or the Spokane River, is too expensive for local working folks who can’t pay $500,000 for a small lot. A foot of lake frontage currently costs between $5,000 and $6,000, Stone said.

So if you have a small bank account but still want a waterfront home, Radiant Lake is ideal, McPhee said.

The proposed 20-acre lake would be east of U.S. Highway 41 off Nagel Lane, just inside Rathdrum’s city limits. The lake, a narrow nearly circular configuration, would be surrounded by homes, and more houses would sit on a peninsula that would jet into the center of the water.

In total, the plan calls for 210 single-family homes and about 50 condos. Lots would start at $45,000 and go up to about $100,000.

“It’s not a glamor, ritzy deal,” he said. It’s affordable, yet it’s something a little different, unique.”

The Rathdrum City Council will decide Tuesday whether to change the city’s comprehensive plan, the foundation of all land-use decision, to allow JCAV to build homes in an area that’s currently zoned industrial. The Rathdrum Planning and Zoning Commission recommended approval of the request in October.

On Wednesday, McPhee will present the plans for the housing development and lake to the planning commission. The City Council could make a final decision by February.

Rathdrum Planning Director Robert Brock said the plan could be beneficial by adding high-end homes into the town’s mix. He said that would result in businesses offering a wider range of services and products, from the type of food grocers keep on their shelves to more insurance agencies.

He said the main issue is making sure there’s enough water available to serve the 260 new homes. Rathdrum only has enough water to serve its current residents. So any new development would require the city to receive any existing water rights that are on the project property, Brock said. Much of the undeveloped land within the city limits and in the area outside the border have water rights dedicated to agricultural irrigation. Rathdrum can transfer those water rights for municipal use, keeping the city from having to ask the state for new water rights, which has become a very controversial request.

McPhee said the property has plenty of water rights to fill the lake and make sure the city has enough to serve the new homeowners.

Radiant Lake wouldn’t be a typical lake. At only 8 feet deep and about a mile long, McPhee said only one boat at a time would be allowed. And people, even waterfront homeowners, would be encouraged to swim and play at the four common areas around the lake’s edge.

These exclusive lakes normally only include about a dozen homes for avid skiers who schedule when they will practice the sport. By allowing only one boat at a time, it relieves congestion and unwanted waves and increases safety.

But because Radiant Lake wouldn’t be geared just for water-ski fanatics and would have 260 residences, boat use would be even more limited and probably controlled by the homeowners association. It’s possible that the homeowners who want to use boats would have to pay an additional fee. McPhee said none of these details are firm and the homeowners association would have to hash out the specifics.

The 188 acres is one of George Thayer’s former bluegrass fields on the edge of Rathdrum’s industrial park.

A red-tailed hawk soared above the snowy field last week as McPhee pointed out how the lake would fit in the natural depression in the land.

To build Radiant Lake, developers would dig about 8 feet into the ground and line the 20-acre hole with impermeable material used in sewer lagoons. To keep the water fresh and prevent algae blooms and insect problems, the developer plans to have a man-made river feeding the lake.

The lawns along the waterfront would have catch systems to prevent fertilizer from getting in the lake water, McPhee said.

The lake would use less water than what is currently used to grow bluegrass and wheat on the property, he said. And it’s a lot less water than a golf course would need.

“It’s a lot less maintenance and you don’t have to mow,” he said.

Gary Gaffney of the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality, said he can’t recall any other similar proposal for a man-made lake in Kootenai County. He said DEQ would probably treat the lake as a landscape feature and have no regulation of it as long as it doesn’t leak and interfere with the existing groundwater quality. That’s why he has suggested the liner.

“My first impression was, ‘You are going to do what?’ ” Gaffney said.

He doubts that the lake would have any affect on the Spokane Valley/Rathdrum Prairie Aquifer, the sole source of drinking water for 400,000 people. The aquifer is at least 100 feet below the proposed lake.

McPhee said the company owns more than $1 million in real estate in Kootenai County. He declined to name the company’s main partners. The Idaho Secretary of State Web site shows JCAV is based in Fox Island, Wash., and that the managing member is Jack Vanderwaal.

For more information about the Rathdrum public hearings, call (208) 687-2700.