Close to 100 people packed a meeting at the Coeur d’Alene Public Library Community Room on Monday, anticipating a ruling to quash a petition to privatize a 1.9-mile stretch of road through Gozzer Ranch.  

Four hours later, a roar of cheers filled the room when East Side Highway District commissioners announced their unanimous decision to keep the roadway open to the public.

“It was the right decision to make,” said Sub-District 1 Commissioner John Boothe. “The petitioner failed to prove privatizing the road was in the best interest of the public.” 

Marcus Johnson represented the developers and the Homeowners Association of Gozzer Ranch, which is a private, 700-acre luxury home and golf community in Harrison overlooking Lake Coeur d'Alene. 

"The start of the vacation of the road is north of Bent Tree Lane, not south of it as has been reported," Johnson said. "All of the property owners whose land abuts the right-of-way support the petition." 

He was given 30 minutes to address concerns from Gozzer-area residents who submitted 55 letters to the East Side Highway District, opposing the gating of public access to the road through Gozzer Ranch. 

Those concerns included safety issues; delays in emergency response; the need to choose an alternative route to work and Highway 97; setting a precedent that would allow other developers across Kootenai County to privatize public access roads; and the impact of mail and delivery services.

More than a dozen people opposing the petition spoke during the public input segment of the meeting. 

“I represent 200 people in my email contacts who can’t be here today,” Bev Twillmann said. “We’ve all seen this in the past — it's a well-established fact since the inception of Gozzer Ranch — that they’ve been denied twice. Still, they’ve taken over public docks, have guards out there, and restaurants. Gozzer Ranch is not part of our community and don’t have the right to take away our public road.”  

Glenn Graham strongly opposed the petition, citing EMS issues. 

“What happens when there’s an emergency if the road is gated off,” he asked. “I’m certain there will be delays in response times. There’s a guardhouse on the road which gives false impression it’s already a gated community — creates a lot of confusion.” 

Eastside Fire District Chief Jerry Lynn submitted a letter to Ben Weymouth, a commissioner with the East Side Highway District, telling him he was opposed to the Gozzer Road vacation. 

“Converting this roadway to private ownership introduces an impediment to emergency services that, in the event of a time-sensitive emergency, could be the difference between a life-or-death outcome for a patient,” Lynn said. 

One of the last opposing statements submitted at the meeting came from Christian Johnson, who provided the following two bullet points in Idaho Code 40-203 that establish the procedure by which a highway district could abandon and vacate a highway or public rights-of-way within its system: 

• Requires the Board, after completion of the proceedings, to determine whether the proposed abandonment and vacation is in the public interest of the affected highway jurisdiction. 

• Prohibits abandonment or vacation that would leave any adjoining real property without access to an established highway or public right-of-way, placing the burden of proof on the impacted property owner. 

In response to the letters and public comments, Johnson said various ER, business and mail services would have access to the Gozzer Road gate via RFID Transponders/remotes and entry codes. He also said that if a neighbor wanted access to the roadway, they would receive it. 

He did not, however, back off the concept that privatizing the road would be in the public’s best interest. 

The East Side Highway District commissioners didn’t agree and denied the petition to privatize the road that runs through Gozzer Ranch. 

Johnson did not comment on the commissioner's decision. 

Coeur d’Alene attorney Susan Weeks, who was a member of the panel accepting the submitted statements, said there are no state statutes that would prevent future submissions to privatize the road that runs through the Gozzer Ranch. 

“There have been two prior rejections, in 2004 and 2019,” Harrison resident Sally Bair said. “Why? Because it’s a bad idea.” 

    People who oppose the gating off of a public road that runs through the Gozzer Ranch pack the meeting room at the Coeur d'Alene Library.
  

    Marcus Johnson represents the Gozzer Ranch developers and homeowners association, wanting to privatize the public road that runs through the property.