Canfield may get more homes

Developers are close to proposing another housing development on Canfield Mountain that would be the key to providing a public corridor connecting to thousands of acres of U.S. Forest Service land.

Yet Quest Development isn’t sure it wants to work as closely with neighbors after a recent hitch in its adjoining Copper Ridge subdivision that stopped work for several days and caused neighbors to question the company’s sincerity in compromise.

“They’re very reluctant,” Quest attorney Steve Wetzel said Friday. “They spend hundreds of thousands more, and in reality they aren’t sure they can ever make the neighbors happy.”

Wetzel said Quest has a few specifics to finalize before it submits an application to the city of Coeur d’Alene to develop 139 acres on the west side of Canfield Mountain, just above the Copper Ridge development that was touted as a model for compromise. Greg Snyder and Fred LeClair, Quest’s owners, have an option to buy the 139 acres from Marvin Erickson.

Snyder and LeClair had hoped to use the momentum, credibility and good vibes from the Copper Ridge success to make the public corridor leading to a recreational paradise a reality.

That was until neighbors last month said that Quest was bringing in fill dirt to raise the height of the road and cutting down trees along Shadduck Lane that the neighborhood had agreed would remain. The neighbors said Quest had gone against the plans and worried that raising the road would cause car headlights to shine into existing homes.

In an abrupt move, the Coeur d’Alene City Council pulled the final approval for the 40-lot Copper Ridge subdivision and asked staff to work out the issues between Quest and the neighbors.

City Attorney Mike Gridley said all the issues are resolved, and final approval for Copper Ridge is on the council’s Tuesday agenda. The city decided that it was appropriate for Quest to build up the road but that the company had cut down one tree that was supposed to remain.

Coeur d’Alene Parks Director Doug Eastwood said Quest has agreed to plant another, nearly mature tree in its place. He added that other landscaping issues also were worked out, and he doesn’t see this glitch having a larger impact on Quest’s plans to develop the 139 acres to the east.

“I hope this hasn’t doused the flames” of cooperation, Eastwood said. “I really doubt it has, and I’m extremely optimistic everything will work out. I believe (Quest) wants it to work out, and I believe the neighbors want it to also.”

Neighbor Jay Barnett said that the local group has been working with Quest and the city and that they are near resolution.

A highlight of the Copper Ridge project was Quest’s pledge to donate 24 acres of open space to the city. Wetzel said the company plans to make that donation in November.

That natural park is the first piece needed for the public corridor. The rest of the land – perhaps 50 additional acres – and the link to the national forest would be given to the city if Quest can get the other housing development approved on the adjoining 139 acres.

The steep forestland is just outside Coeur d’Alene’s city limits. Snyder and LeClair need the city to annex the property so homes could have city water and sewer service.

Besides the open space donation, Quest has said the development would include a water tower to provide better water pressure to about 700 homes on the city’s north side.

Coeur d’Alene’s current rules prevent any building on the hillside above 2,240 feet because of water pressure problems.

Gridley said the recent Copper Ridge problem will help the city refine the process so miscommunication doesn’t occur between developers and neighborhoods.

“This is the first time we’ve done this, and we want to improve on it,” Gridley said. “Things are going to crop up that are unforeseen, and we just need to do a better job of communicating with everyone.”