Petition opposes housing

Neighbors who oppose a 52-lot housing development on Canfield Mountain are gathering signatures to urge the Coeur d’Alene City Council to stop the proposed project.

“It’s time the city, county and state officials realize developments all over the mountain is not what the citizens would like or want,” said neighbor Jay Walden in a press release.

Walden is a member of the Canfield Mountain Alliance, which changed its name last week from Citizens Against Copper Ridge.

The petition also asks if people would support paying higher property taxes to buy public space on Canfield Mountain and, if so, how much money they would contribute each month.

The group will collect signatures at the Safeway stores on Neider Avenue and Fourth Street between 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. through Friday. On Saturday, the group will gather signatures from 8 a.m. to noon at the Neider Avenue Safeway and go door-to-door throughout Coeur d’Alene.

Quest Development recently revised its plans for the upscale Copper Ridge development that was initially rejected by the City Council in June.

Quest wants to build 52 homes, with an average price of $300,000, in addition to donating 22 acres on the top of the hillside to the city for Prospector Park, which would have hiking and biking trails.

Quest owners said the park donation should satisfy unhappy neighbors who want to see the hillside preserved. Yet neighbors don’t want any development on the 49 acres at the end of Shadduck Lane and want instead to buy the property for a park.

The Coeur d’Alene Planning Commission will have a public hearing on the new proposal Sept. 14.