Official backs golf community’s expansion
A Kootenai County hearing examiner recommended approval Thursday of Black Rock North, the expansion of the area’s original luxurious golf community.
Owner Marshall Chesrown wants to create a whole lifestyle experience with a 1,100-acre extension that would allow for 325 more homes, a new 18-hole golf course and an equestrian facility.
“We want to make our club different than anything else that comes into the marketplace,” Chesrown said.
The County Commission will have the final say on the project that’s just across Loff’s Bay Road from the initial Club at Black Rock, the exclusive community that opened three years ago.
Membership fees to the club are around $100,000 plus monthly dues of $500, with required purchase of residential lots starting around $200,000.
Chesrown said only 60 of the 375 lots are left, so it’s time to expand. If approved, the entire project would cover 1,800 acres of former farmland overlooking Lake Coeur d’Alene’s Rockford Bay and offer 700 lots, mostly second homes for people who want to play golf year-round.
Hearing examiner Gary Young’s report said that the commission shouldn’t grant final approval until traffic concerns are addressed and that the current traffic report has “numerous deficiencies.” For example, the report says, more discussion is needed on how to improve the Rockford Bay and Loff’s Bay intersection.
Young also wants a map that shows sensitive wetland areas on the property and clarification on what type of high-density residential is proposed, whether it’s condominiums or townhouses.
The proposal has opposition from some property owners south of Coeur d’Alene. They’re worried about putting 325 new homes in the rural area, drawing public water from Lake Coeur d’Alene for irrigation of a second private golf course and other issues.
Chesrown characterized the opposition as a small group of people who are against any type of growth.
“It’s the same cast each time,” he said.
Some residents question what the exclusive golf hideaways mean for the future of Kootenai County and Lake Coeur d’Alene.
Jai Nelson, who formed the Coalition for Positive Rural Impact at Rockford Bay and Loff’s Bay, wasn’t available for comment Thursday. But in previous interviews she said Kootenai County doesn’t want to become the next Sun Valley.
Black Rock was the first luxury golf resort development in the area, and the idea has caught on with construction of Gozzer Ranch on the east side of the lake. Similar developments are in various stages of approval.