POST FALLS - Access approved.

After fighting for nearly 20 years to gain access to 557 acres it owns on Rathdrum Mountain, the city of Rathdrum finally has the key to opening what could someday be a public recreation wonderland.

Wednesday night, the Post Falls Highway District unanimously validated Barrett Drive, formerly named Foster Road, as a county road. Barrett leads to the city's mountain property.

"This validation gives the city of Rathdrum and its citizens the true value of its property," Rathdrum Mayor Vic Holmes said after the meeting. "Now we have to decide what that full value means."

Holmes said residents, including those on the mountain who have concerns about the traffic and validation, will have the opportunity to weigh in on how the mountain should be used.

The front-running use is to lightly develop it for recreational opportunities. The site includes mountain streams, giant cedar trees and dirt Forest Service roads.

Rick Goodwin, who lives on the mountain, said he's concerned about public safety, since Barrett is a one-lane road.

"They need to bring it to county specs if they do anything," he said. "If they don't, forget it and leave it alone. There's a lot of responsibility that they just took on, and I hope they're up for it."

Goodwin said ideas are one thing, but funding them can be another.

Holmes said funding sources will need to be identified, but they weren't worth pursuing when the city didn't have access to its property.

The city's property has been selectively logged over the years, which has generated income for the city and helped pay for City Hall. The site is about a half a mile north of the city limits. It is not the area of the mountain that was heavily logged and seen as bare from the Rathdrum Prairie.

John Sylte, who lives on the mountain and is a member of the Friends of Rathdrum Mountain conservation group, said allowing the city to have access to its land is a win for fire protection, public use, recreation and education.

He compared the property to what Tubbs Hill is to Coeur d'Alene. Proponents believe the property will benefit Rathdrum residents and draw tourists.

"We're not cramming this down anyone's throats," Sylte said. "We want this for public access, and we're tired of twiddling our thumbs."

That said, Sylte said he also understands the concerns of some property owners.

"If I had property right there, I may share some of their concerns," he said. "I don't want to belittle their feelings. But our community stands to gain more than the adjacent landowners stand to lose."

The validation hearing was extended from March until Wednesday after an earlier lawsuit between the city and private landowners regarding mountain property was brought up. However, the matter was settled out of court, so Susan Weeks, the highway district's attorney, said that had no bearing on the validation.

The city of Rathdrum spent about $15,000 in attorney fees to research the history of the road in its quest to gain access to its site. The research showed that Barrett was accepted as a county road in 1909 and had not been vacated or abandoned since.

Property owner Susan-Marie Smith, who believes it's not a public road, wrote the validation decision "shows that power and money does win out in the end."

Commissioner Lynn Humphreys said he believes the history of the road is clear.

"It was created as a public road and it remains a public road," Humphreys said.