Lake-Protection Plan May Limit Development
A proposal to protect Kootenai County lakes could prevent some landowners from building shoreline-hugging dream homes, critics said Wednesday.
A new county plan sets guidelines on how and where developers can use heavy equipment when building homes along lakeshores. It prohibits digging closer than 75 feet from the water, with some exceptions.
The goal: Protect county lakes from phosphorous, which sparks algae growth and depletes oxygen in water. Phosphorous clings to fresh earth and pours into the lake during snowmelt and heavy rain.
But at a hearing Wednesday, the plan provoked outrage from nearly 100 real estate agents, developers and lakefront landowners. They argued it would create development headaches and amount to a building ban for some owners of small lots.
County officials countered that the 75-foot restriction would be eased for small-lot owners under a mathematical formula developed for the plan. An appeals board would consider other unusual cases.
“The intent is not to make lots unbuildable, but to protect water quality without infringing on private property rights,” said Planning Director Cheri Howell.
Regardless, the debate marks a watershed moment for the all-Republican county commission, which eventually will vote on the proposal.
In 1994, two of the three commissioners campaigned against an earlier version of the plan, which banned excavating in winter. That was tossed out after 200 developers and builders complained it was too restrictive.
This time, the process and the product are substantially different, but the controversy is equally intense.
“If this were in place a few years ago, we certainly never would have had that beautiful golf course on Lake Coeur d’Alene,” said an angry Art Brown, referring to Hagadone Hospitality’s resort course.
“If this goes into effect, there will be a class-action suit against the county,” said developer Howard Roach, earning applause.
After the earlier lake-protection proposal was yanked, county planners put together a panel of 43 people, including real estate agents, builders, residents and business owners. The latest version took more than 18 months to draft.
Critics said Wednesday the plan would trigger hundreds of appeals from owners of the county’s 1,600-plus undeveloped lakefront lots.
Lakefront land is steep and jagged, and in many cases leaves only one spot for a home. While current regulations all but guarantee the right to build, an appeals board might see it differently, they said.
“Taxes have increased tremendously since 1990, and now they’re putting more and more restrictions on what I can build,” said Chick Weaver, who owns two lots he hopes to sell on Hayden Lake.
But while many members of the Coeur d’Alene Association of Realtors were critical of the plan, real estate agent Bob Hamilton - the association’s representative on the drafting committee - defended it.
With minor tinkering, he said, the plan will safeguard the county’s lakes and pose little threat to property owners.
“You people here who know me know I’m not in favor of more regulation,” he said. “But this will help protect these lakes for our children. It’s just an attempt to be reasonable.”
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