Housing plan hearing postponed again

The Idaho Department of Environmental Quality has raised concerns that a proposed housing development west of Rathdrum could harm the aquifer and neighboring water wells.

For the second time this fall, a public hearing on the controversial Lost Creek Estates housing development has been postponed.

Local real estate agent Chuck Hughes and owner Norm Waldo asked the Kootenai County Commission to postpone tonight’s 6 p.m. hearing so they have more time to present more information about the proposal to put 64 homes in the rural area along Lost Creek.

A Nov. 23 letter from the DEQ states that more study is needed to show that putting individual septic tanks for each of the 64 upscale homes on the property won’t harm nearby wells or pollute the aquifer.

The property is classified as a sensitive recharge area for the Spokane Valley/Rathdrum Prairie Aquifer, which is the sole source of drinking water for more than 400,000 people. The homes would have individual septic tanks and the drinking water would come from a community system maintained by the proposed homeowners association.

The letter refers to a study done about the water quality in the perimeter around the Rathdrum Prairie aquifer and states that the plan for Lost Creek Estates “would degrade the water quality of the Rathdrum Prairie aquifer and introduce elevated levels of contaminants to the water supply wells located at the perimeter.”

An October hearing also was canceled because the commission didn’t have enough members at the meeting. No new hearing date has been set.

Neighbors in the Hidden Valley area west of Rathdrum don’t like the idea any better than another plan brought by a different developer who wanted to put 184 homes on the same 260 acres.

A county hearing examiner recommended approval of the development earlier this year.

For more information, call the Kootenai County Planning Department at 446-1070.