Developers to present Copper Ridge plans

The fight over the future of 49 acres on the side of Canfield Mountain will continue Tuesday as developers pitch a new plan for an upscale housing development that includes a city park.

Quest Development of Coeur d’Alene has revised its plans for the gated Copper Ridge development off Shadduck Lane. This time developers show how the entire hillside would be used, not just the lower portion.

Quest is asking for a zone change to build 52 homes on the lower 27 acres. The remaining 22 acres would go to Coeur d’Alene for a park with hiking and biking trails.

Yet Canfield Mountain Alliance, which consists mostly of neighbors, continues to protest and argues the mountain needs to remain undeveloped. Members don’t see the park as a victory.

“That’s a bribe,” said Jay Walden, who lives near Copper Ridge. “The community is yelling out to the politicians to stop.”

The group has gathered nearly 1,000 signatures from regional residents who want to stop the development. The petition also states that residents would rather pay higher taxes so Coeur d’Alene could start a program to buy open space, especially timbered hillsides and landmarks such as Canfield Mountain. Walden had no specifics on how the open space program would work but said other cities, such as Missoula and Boise, have successful examples.

Members plan to rally in front of City Hall before the Coeur d’Alene Planning Commission meeting, just as they did this summer before the City Council voted to reject Quest’s initial proposal.

Initially Quest proposed building 27 homes on the lower nine acres and developing the remaining 40 acres in the future. The long-term plan was to eventually build 47 more homes on the hillside while leaving some open space.

The council wanted more specifics and rejected the first plan because of proposed narrow streets, traffic congestion and water pressure concerns.

Greg Snyder, who owns Quest with Fred LeClair, said the new Copper Ridge plan should satisfy the city because it applies to the entire property, includes a city park and water tower on top of the hillside that he estimates would provide better water pressure to 700 homes in the north end of Coeur d’Alene.

Snyder doubts Canfield Mountain Alliance’s vocal opposition will make a difference.

“I don’t quite understand what their goal is,” he said. “The 49 acres is private property and I don’t know why they are thinking they can buy that. It hasn’t been offered to them.”

Quest has an exclusive option to buy the property from the Coeur d’Alene Seventh-day Adventist Church if Copper Ridge is approved. The church initially intended to build a school on the property but decided to sell it for a more central location.

Walden said the group doesn’t necessarily want to buy Copper Ridge. It wants Coeur d’Alene to develop some kind of open space program so the hillsides are protected from development.

Canfield Mountain Alliance fears that if Copper Ridge is approved it would open all of Canfield Mountain up to development. The group is worried about 43 acres above the Copper Ridge property that the Small family has for sale. The property is listed with Coldwell Banker for $925,500.

The group is suspicious of Quest’s plans and fears the company is working with Marvin Erickson to help provide Erickson access to a proposed 44-acre home development on Canfield Mountain.

Snyder said he has no intention of buying the Small property and isn’t working with Erickson. In fact Quest’s attorney has said Copper Ridge would look nothing like Erickson’s home with the notorious Z-shaped road.

Erickson spent the summer logging a separate 90 acres that abuts the Copper Ridge and Small properties, a project that has left a large bare spot on the hillside and infuriated many local residents.

Erickson said he has no plans to buy the Small property and isn’t sure why the neighbors are so upset with the logging because it will increase the number of syringas – the Idaho state flower – and provide better habitat for deer and elk.

“Not everything is negative,” Erickson said.

The hillside properties are the type that Canfield Mountain Alliance wants Coeur d’Alene to start purchasing.

“Our survey is showing the interest of the community (in preserving hillsides). It’s heartwarming,” Walden said.

Coeur d’Alene Parks Director Doug Eastwood wasn’t available for comment on how an open space program might work or what it would take to get it started. The Coeur d’Alene Parks and Recreation Committee plans to discuss Copper Ridge at its Monday meeting.