County gets new Canfield proposals

Three new proposals for housing developments on Canfield Mountain were recently submitted to Kootenai County, dampening some locals’ hope of preserving the landmark hillside for open space.

In total, the three subdivisions just outside the Coeur d’Alene city limits would put 30 homes on about 136 acres just east of the controversial Copper Ridge proposal inside the city. Copper Ridge sparked a public call this summer for the preservation of local landmarks.

County planners anticipate these new proposals will cause the debate to get even more heated.

“It seems any development on Canfield Mountain gets plenty of attention,” Planning Director Rand Wichman said.

County staff haven’t yet reviewed the proposals for Mountain Crest Estates, Grand Vista Estates and Valley Vista Estates, and no public hearing date has been set. The three subdivisions would share common access off Thomas Lane.

All have links to Marvin Erickson, the property owner who carved a notorious Z-shaped road into the mountainside and built a house, dramatically changing the appearance of Canfield Mountain in the last five years.

Erickson said Tuesday he had little involvement, even though he does have a minor partnership in Mountain Crest LLC, which is proposing Mountain Crest Estates and Grand Vista Estates.

He added that he logged a portion of the property this summer and that’s about the extent of his knowledge.

“It’s not me,” Erickson said. “There’s a perception that it’s mine but it’s really not.”

Yet, the Idaho secretary of state Web site shows that Erickson is president of Mountain Crest LLC and that his wife, Sharon, is the secretary. It shows Mark and Kirsten Cysewski of Las Vegas as members.

The Cysewskis are the only listed members of Valley View Home Site LLC, the company that’s proposing the 28-acre Valley Vista Estates that would have 10 homes.

Erickson also signed notarized letters of authorization giving local attorney Scott Poorman permission to represent Grand Vista Estates and Mountain Crest Estates. Poorman also is representing the Cysewskis, who list a Rathdrum address in addition to the Las Vegas address.

Poorman said that the three subdivision proposals are independent and that each development would have separate homeowners associations. He said the two companies are cooperating because of the shared road system and shared open areas. All the homes would have individual wells and septic tanks, in addition to storm water collection systems.

Poorman acknowledged that the proposals will draw “lots of public interest.” He said he is unaware of any connection between the proposals and neighboring Copper Ridge, which the Coeur d’Alene Planning and Zoning Commission will review Jan. 11.

Road plans for Copper Ridge and the three newly proposed developments make it obvious there is no intention to link the projects, Poorman said. To make a connection possible, Poorman said, a road would have to cut across the back yards of potential landowners.

Local attorney Steve Wetzel, who represents Copper Ridge LLC, wasn’t available for comment.

Poorman said officials for Mountain Crest LLC and Valley View Home Sites LLC have been closely watching the debate over Copper Ridge, which has been rejected twice by the city because of concerns about density, access to a proposed hillside park and cutting a service road into the mountainside to access a water tank needed to provide the development with adequate water pressure.

The latest plan for Copper Ridge calls for 40 homes. In the previous proposal, the developers offered to donate the open space to the city for a public park. But that idea was rejected because of steepness and access problems.

“Even though we are not in city limits, we are trying to take advantage of their experience and incorporate some of the public’s comments and concerns into our proposals,” Poorman said. “That’s why the low density and lots of open space and staying away from sensitive areas.”

Grand Vista Estates includes the easternmost 80 acres and would have 11 homes with 31 acres of open space. It’s the property that Erickson logged this summer, leaving a bare spot that infuriated many locals.

Erickson said the logging would increase the number of syringas – the Idaho state flower that is similar to mock orange – and provide better habitat for deer and elk.

Mountain Crest Estates is 28 acres that would have nine homes and about three acres of open space. Valley Vista Estates also is 28 acres, which would include about five acres of open space. Both these lands were part of the 43 acres recently sold by the Small family – land that was listed this summer for $925,500.

In September, Erickson said he had no plans to buy the property.

Canfield Mountain Alliance, which formed this summer to protest Copper Ridge, had hoped that Coeur d’Alene would figure out a way to buy portions of Canfield Mountain and other landmark areas for preservation.

Member Jay Walden is upset the city has taken so long to act on the City Council’s October promise to research various funding options for buying open space, including the idea of putting an open space bond on the February ballot.

“We don’t feel like they are making this a top priority,” Walden said. “Now the Small property has sold and they haven’t done a thing.”

City Parks Director Doug Eastwood said the Parks and Recreation Committee will appoint a subcommittee, perhaps in January, to investigate the possibilities. He is unaware of any further movement to get an open space bond measure on the ballot. Eastwood said he hopes that the subcommittee will involve the county and other neighboring towns that have an interest in open space.

Wichman said the county also is looking for ways to preserve open space, especially on the Rathdrum Prairie, but that time is running out.

“In this kind of development climate time is not a luxury any of us have,” he said.