Neighbors open new Canfield battle

Neighbors at the base of Canfield Mountain are gearing up for another battle to stop a proposed housing development on the landmark hillside.

This time they are going all out. Canfield Mountain Alliance has bought a full-page advertisement in a local newspaper and plans to have a public demonstration Saturday to encourage people to stop changes to one of the area’s largest natural landmarks.

And they softly chided the Coeur d’Alene City Council for moving too slowly on appointing an ad hoc committee to research ways to buy open space.

Member Jim Pierce told the council Tuesday night that time is slipping away, especially for Canfield, because now there are three new proposals for housing developments in the county, next door to Copper Ridge.

“Opportunities (for buying open space) are in existence,” Pierce said. “If we spend too much time in committee, it will be gone forever. We have to keep it at the forefront of people’s attention.”

The Coeur d’Alene Planning Commission is holding a public hearing Tuesday on the newest plan to put homes on Copper Ridge, which is 49 acres at the end of Shadduck Lane.

The plan would include a zone change on the lower portion of the land to allow for 40 homes. The remaining, steeper property would stay in the current zone that allows only one home per acre.

Coeur d’Alene has already denied two proposals for Copper Ridge.

The property’s owners aren’t happy with Canfield Mountain Alliance’s tactics, especially the advertisement that shows pictures of roads carved into the hillside nowhere near the Copper Ridge property. Instead, the pictures depict the notorious Z-shaped road cut into the hillside by property owner Marvin Erickson. Wetzel said Copper Ridge has no connection to Erickson’s three new proposed housing developments next door in the county.

“They are intent on misrepresenting what is occurring,” said attorney Steve Wetzel, who represents Copper Ridge LLC. “They have no intent to build on Canfield Mountain. All the building would be done in the lower, flat area.”

Wetzel said the Copper Ridge developers are willing to work with the neighbors and city to develop the nearly 20 acres of open space. Yet he said nobody has contacted them with proposals.

“Nobody wants to give them any credit for being willing to have in excess half of the entire property turned into open space,” he said.

The developer’s first two proposals sparked public outcry from neighbors and other local residents who believe the hillside should be preserved. More than 1,000 people signed a petition saying they were willing to pay higher taxes if it meant stopping the development of local landmarks such as Canfield.

This ire became even more intense last week when people found out about the three new county proposals, all linked to Erickson.

Together the county proposals – Mountain Crest Estates, Grand Vista Estates and Valley Vista Estates – would put about 30 homes on about 136 acres just east of Copper Ridge.

The county won’t have public hearings on these proposals until probably March.

Wetzel said that Erickson’s proposals are only hurting plans for Copper Ridge.

One of Copper Ridge LLC’s previous plans included donating 20 acres of the steep property to the city for a public park. The planning commission denied that proposal because they had too many questions about the number of homes and access to the public park.

“When is enough enough?” said Jay Walden of Canfield Mountain Alliance. “How many times has Copper Ridge been told no? We can’t lose sight of the fact that Canfield Mountain is a landmark that is to be protected.”

Coeur d’Alene City Administrator Wendy Hague told the preservation group Tuesday that the city is moving forward on appointing an ad hoc open space group and that the Parks and Recreation Committee should start naming people Monday.

She said that the city planner initially put in charge of the group recently moved to California, causing a “little glitch” in the timing.

The Copper Ridge public hearing is Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. at Coeur d’Alene City Hall, 710 E. Mullan Ave. For more information, call 769-2300.

The Canfield Mountain Alliance demonstration is at 11:30 a.m. Saturday at the intersection of 15th Street and Shadduck Lane. For more information, call Kiantha Shadduck at 661-9188.