Gated community earns approval

By BRIAN WALKER

Staff Writer

COEUR d'ALENE — A 935-acre gated golf course community on the west side of Lake Coeur d'Alene is in full swing with final approval from Kootenai County last week.

On Thursday, county commissioners unanimously approved the final plan of The Club at Rock Creek, which will eventually include 417 residential units in 20 phases over 20 years.

"Staff said that they comply with all our ordinances," Commissioner Bob Bingham said. "It is the right of the people who own property to develop property in accordance with the ordinances."

Bingham said he feels comfortable with the project moving ahead in phases, adding that the economy isn't in a boom-bust mode. The Great Recession that followed the boom years left a number of big development projects in financial straits.

Commissioner Chris Fillios said that with no opposition from the public or regulatory agencies, he supports the request of Rock Creek Idaho Holdings LLC.

"It's a logical step of what they've been doing," he said.

The first phase of the project has been sold out. Six cottage-style duplexes that can be rented overnight to check out the club have been built and 16 single-family lots have been sold. There are 11 homes on those 16 lots.

In addition to approving the overall plan for the project, commissioners unanimously approved the final plat of the 43-lot second addition of the project.

Other amenities in the project include a dog park, swimming pool, hiking and bike trails and basketball and tennis courts.

The project is off Loffs Bay Road 15 miles south of Coeur d'Alene above Rockford Bay next to Black Rock.

The site was originally approved in 2005 as Black Rock North under developer Marshall Chesrown. It went into foreclosure in 2009.

The 18-hole golf course was finished in 2008, was mothballed during the foreclosure process and opened for play when Rock Creek Holdings acquired the site in 2012.

The plan for the site was amended in 2017 to allow an increase in the number of residential units from 325, provide for a variety of housing types and change the name. By decreasing the lot sizes, more open space was created and the prices for homes decreased to broaden the market to potential buyers.

With the approval of the second addition, more housing lots can be sold.

The homes, which will be in the $500,000 to $1 million range, are on lots of up to an acre.

"The architectural style for the planned unit development can generally be described as 'mountain modern,'" the project narrative states.

Kyle Capps, a consultant for property owner Rock Creek Idaho Holdings LLC and the former general manager of the project, said it may eventually feature multi-family housing. However, those are not planned in the immediate future or the next phase.

A homeowners' association was formed to handle the maintenance responsibilities.