" Phases or not this developer should be run out of town! "

" Here's the deal. This project has been lanquishing for years. Why? Because of water. DEQ was not convinced that there was ample water to support 55 homes. The developer has pushed and pushed so now DEQ has 'compromised' and is requiring them to develop it in three phases, I repeat 3 phases. After each phase is built out they will reassess and determine if they think they can sustain the next phase. This is not good planning. What kind of disclosures will the developer and realtors provide to potential buyers that water is so questionable the project is to be built in phases? I would hate to be one of those buyers suckered into something that is not assured of ample water. What happens when you have the first 18 homes built (or less) and there is no water to sustain them or more. Homeowners in the developmnet will be stuck with high maintenance cost for the water/lagoon systems not to mention the impact on surrounding homeowners and thier water supply. Then, to top it off another rural area is destroyed and where is our developer now? Check out the current and proposed comp plan. Both address the poor water availability in the area. This is the worst kind of planning if there ever was if you could even call it that. "

" How is it that everyone comments on the water? If the developer installs a water system that has a properly developed well and a sufficient resevoir to meet the daily demand for houshold and fire flow, which by the way are requirements of the Departmant of Environmental Quality, he will have a sustainable system for the residences of the project. Those of you that complain about the state of your current well may need to spend some money and time developing your own water source or work with the developer to solve your water problems via connections to the new system. Your attempts to stop development without having done your homework will eventually show your true colors. "

" To Bull - I would like to correct myself - the 15,400 gallon water use is for a family of 4 for 1 month. Sorry I posted too fast. Thanks so much for correcting me, I appreciate your watchful eye. This water usage included laundry, showers, flushing, dishwashing and outside maintenance (car washing and landscape requirements for lawns and trees).

However, this does not include water usage for the maintenance of common areas of vegetation that would be like parkways or open space. This would be additional water consumption.

Again thanks for catching my mistake, I appreciate your input. Just typed too fast from the information that I had in front of me. "

" Keep putting our voices out there at any meetings, don't let the investors come in and ruin our country all for the mighty $$$!!! If we do down the road we'll be fighting like they do in the middle east over land, only we'll be fighting over WATER. "

" It certainly feels like big business and developers seem to run our area. I recall a few years ago we were told that all the building would be good for our community because the houses would bring in tax dollars, and that, of course, would benefit the county. Hindsight is 20-20 now that we see empty house, crowded schools, and traffic problems growing all around us. I doubt the new developments on Prairie Avenue paid for the road work that took it from two lanes to four (but I don't have numbers in front of me to confirm this definitively). Perception is reality, and I think a lot of us perceive that developers will win over the rest of us every time, as seen by "to North Idaho Native's" post below. That's really unfortunate, and I'm sorry you felt blacklisted just for standing up for your beliefs.

BUT, I have to say I'm proud of our community for fighting the good fight. Look how hard citizens of Hayden fought against the Hayden Canyon development...but when you see that Hayden Canyon won the battle, it's pretty disheartening. I just hope we don't give up. Look at Bayview. I wonder how many thousands upon thousands of hours people have spent (unpaid, volunteering their time off from work or time off from retirement) to fight Holland's bulldozers.

This kind of fighting spirit is what makes me proud to live here.

Fight the good fight, all ye dwellers of Mica Flats!!!! "

" Laramie, where in the WORLD do you get the idea that a 4 person household uses 15,000 gallons of water a day?????
Where?

I'm not standing up for the developers, but people like you who are so drama are what takes reality out of the situations, making them emotional instead of realistic.

15,000 gallons a day, huh?

That would be 10.7 gallons a minute-
24 HOURS A DAY.
7 DAYS A WEEK.

Your well pump would be dead in about a month from running non-stop. It's duty cycle would never take the abuse.

Next time keep sopme credibility, I lost all respect for your post when you started out with false numbers. You became Bev twillman from the start. "

" Very interesting attendng the examiner's hearing (Zanetti) and having 2 prepared presentations of 15 minutes that spoke against this project and then over 20-30 people individually get up and speak against this project and over 50 people's names read that were against the project and still the project was OK'ed by Ms. Zanetti.

The issue is water, that there is not enough water to support this type of build on Mica Flats. A household of 4 uses 15,400 gallons of water a day. There are to be built 55 houses on this property that are between 2,600-3,000 sq.ft, with individual lawns to maintain, and a certain amount of trees that have to be planted on each property and water has to be used to maintain the common areas plus an open pit, sprayed effluence type sewage lagoon will be on the property for waste removal from each house.

Water is the issue - when the water runs out and is taken out of the ground up on the Flats then taxpayers from (Rathdrum, Harrison, Athol, Dalton Gardens, Coeur d' Alene and Hayden) will be taxed to help provide a water system of pipes and pumping stations to get water to Mica. Mr. Newell, the developeer will be long gone, out of the picture and the county commissioners and county taxpayers will be left holding the bag.

This is not the only big project Mr. Newell has planned for the area - talk to the residents along Highland Drive in Coeur d' Alene, he wants to build 45 houses in their neighborhood and guess what--water has been an issue with this build too.

As stated this is to be a conservation design build, the original build was for 50 houses on the property but at the first hearing, Mr. Newell's reps. recalculated their land figures and could squeeze 5 more houses in for a total of 55. At this hearing for the 50 houses, the hearing was stopped because of the additional 5 houses being added to the project and no time was given for public comment- when asked by the examiner that she could only hear testimony on 50 houses not 55 Mr. Newell told his rep. that he didn't want to go on with the proceedings as the extra 5 houses means 800,000 dollars extra to him.

Again water is an issue, water is an issue with every build in this county and state and in the entire western United States.

Taxpayers in this county need to be aware of the water issues (lack of sufficient water) to sustain these large builds because it will be the taxpayer and the county that will be holding the bag trying to get sufficient water to county residents.

And these developers will be on to another project and not held responsible for their actions. "

" I wrote a letter to the editor a few years ago claiming the same thing as you and others have stated here.

The powers that be boycotted my business, had their family members boycott my business, along with other things they did to me.

The problem is the developers are the power brokers here. "

" No one is fooled by this developer's stated desire to keep the area beautiful and natural. It's all about money. His prospective buyers will find out there is just no water there. Who wants to decide between taking a shower and running the dishwasher..no option for doing both simultaneously. "

" The trouble with some developers is that they only care about the money they will make on their project. Too often, the developer builds and then moves on, leaving the community to deal with the aftermath (water trouble, traffic issues, cost to the community in countless ways) and loss of open space. Justme (below) is right: there are empty homes and developments all over the place. Our county doesn't need new ones because we can't fill the old ones.

I know there will be a day when we really regret the loss of open space on the Rathdrum Prairie. But once it's gone you can't get it back.

I can't tell you the happiness I feel when I drive across the Mica flats and watch deer and elk grazing in pastures, or look at the cattle in the fields off of Presley Road. These are precious gems we can't afford to lose, and I hope the county officals look far into the future before rubber-stamping development proposals. "

" It will be a sad day in Kootenai County if this subdevelopement is approved! The county already calls for 10 acre minimum parcels in the Mica Flats area to build on and if they put in this abortion it will open it up for any riff raff to come in and put anything on any amount of property.....Just like what happened at the end of Presley Rd, they were suppose to be 10 acre parcels and the owner had the new buyers quitclaim 5 acres back to him after the sells, now there is a whole bunch of properties sitting back in that hole that are only 5 acres! Something is terribly wrong when this kind of a thing can happen! "

" Hey why don't they head for Montana, Oregon, or Washington leave some of Idaho alone. Will they solve any future problems, only if they make a profit. "

" Why on earth does mankind feel like urban spreading is the thing to do!!!!!! There are so many areas within the city area that could be secured, instead of impeding on the rural areas and wildlife habitat. No wonder mankind (modern mankind) is on a downward spiral,,,,everything is dollar related. American Native Americans had a beautiful belief of taking care of the land and it would take care of the tribe,,that was until the government decided what was "best for them". (and that in itself is another complaint).
And guess what Rebecca Zanetti,,,, the SUBDIVISION will ruin the rural character of the region,,like everything in life ,one action does indeed influence change, indeed a negative one in this choice. Wait and see ,commissioners, the outcome of your decision maybe a cancerous sore especially during a pre depression era. "

" To many houses sitting empty already!
NO NO NO!!! "

" Clustering is just a way for developers to make more money by packing houses in closer to each other enabling savings on road costs. Instead of having homes spread far apart with treed buffers - it looks more like a suburban development. "

" Poor Engineering and judgement of the developer. The North Idaho look, more blue tarps and broken down vehicles. There's already enough crap on Mica. "