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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

County approves Lost Creek subdivision

Homes are going up along Lost Creek even though county officials have lingering reservations about putting septic tanks in the sensitive aquifer recharge area.

The Kootenai County commission approved the controversial housing development west of Rathdrum in a 2-1 vote on Thursday.

During the same meeting, the commission unanimously rejected a proposal for a 125-acre rock mine south of Coeur d’Alene because it could damage the Mica watershed.

Both decisions revolved around issues of protecting water quality.

Commissioners said they felt comfortable approving Lost Creek because the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality gave approval for putting 64 homes along the creek in the Hidden Valley area.

“I put weight with that,” Commissioner Rick Currie said.

A county hearing examiner had recommended approval of the project, which was proposed by local real estate agent Chuck Hughes and owner Norm Waldo.

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.

Commissioner Katie Brodie moved to approve the project “with pleasure,” saying it is “a well-designed subdivision for this community.”

Lost Creek neighbors had lobbied for Brodie to abstain from voting on the proposal because she still works for the property’s previous owner.

Brodie is a property manager with Idaho Forest Industries, the company that sold the property to Waldo in March 2004.

The commission unanimously denied in 2002 IFI’s request for putting homes on the property along with a 10 million gallon sewage lagoon.

County attorneys determined that no conflict existed because Brodie no longer has any financial interest in the property or the 64-lot subdivision.

Commission Chairman Gus Johnson voted against putting homes along the creek in the Hidden Valley area.

“This area is a very unstable area to be putting this on,” Johnson said.

Claudia Agate of the neighborhood group Save Lost Creek was saddened by the approval.

“If BN (Burlington Northern Railway) can’t even protect the aquifer what do they think is going to happen with this many cluster homes,” Agate said, referring to recent leaks at the railroad’s nearby refueling depot. “It’s just too close to the aquifer.”

The commission rejected the rock quarry request because of concerns about contaminating Mica Creek, which empties into Mica Bay.

Johnson said the creek needs time to heal after the Idaho Transportation Department’s troubled project to widen U.S. Highway 95 that resulted in the dumping of massive amounts of mud into the creek and bay.

“Mica Bay has taken a beating,” Johnson said. “I’m willing to let Mother Nature take a chance to do some healing.”

Forrest Godde of Yearington, Nev., asked the county to change the zoning of the property, which is about eight miles south of Coeur d’Alene and just west of U.S. Highway 95, from rural to mining.

A county hearing examiner recommended denial of the request last year because the quarry could damage the Mica watershed and harm the rural character of the area.

Godde’s engineer Bruce Noble told the commission that they tried to ease the county”s concerns by offering a stormwater plan where no runoff would leave the mine site or reach Mica Creek.

Yet the commission said the blasting would still disturb the bedrock.

This isn’t the first time the county has rejected the rock quarry plan. Godde sued the county in 2001 for denying a proposed 175-acre mine. The commissioners said that the mine wasn’t compatible with the rural neighborhood.

Godde dropped the lawsuit just as it reached the Idaho Supreme Court and instead decided to reapply with this smaller request.