A dozen roadways would be named and formally added to the county’s road network under a proposal pending before the Valley County Board of County Commissioners.
DF Development, owned by Texas billionaires Dan and Farris Wilks, would deed permanent public rights-of-way to the county for 12 existing roadways that wrap through thousands of acres owned by the company.
The roads are all contained within 73 parcels that DF is marketing as a pseudo-subdivision known as Legacy Creek Ranch. The collection of home sites was not subject to the county’s subdivision rules, as Valley Lookout reported, because they are each parcels instead of lots created from subdividing a larger parcel.
The county commissioners will consider accepting the road conveyance after a public hearing on Wednesday, Oct. 15, at 11 a.m. in the Valley County Courthouse in Cascade.
Written public comments will be accepted in advance of the hearing through Oct. 8 at 5 p.m. Comments can be emailed to Valley County Planning and Zoning Director Cynda Herrick at [email protected].
Herrick had not completed a staff report on the proposal as of Monday, but told Valley Lookout she believes the proposal would benefit the county by preserving access to public lands and improving wildfire evacuation routes for existing homes near Horsethief Reservoir. For DF, it would allow home sites within Legacy Creek Ranch to be given addresses by Valley County’s Planning Department.
“It’s all about addressing and preservation of those rights-of-way and that (road network) circulation,” Herrick said.
No added maintenance costs expected
Herrick does not expect the decision to have any bearing on the county’s road maintenance costs.
The rights-of-way DF seeks to convey are along portions of existing Forest Service roads that are within the company’s private landholdings. The roads are not officially recognized by the Valley County Planning Department since they are not named, but any repairs or maintenance is already at the county’s discretion.
“That doesn’t change,” Herrick said. “The county commissioners set the level of service for every road that’s a public road. And they can choose not to maintain something.”
The total number of road miles included in the conveyance was not available, but many of the roadways were listed in the county’s network in the most recent update of the Valley County Comprehensive Plan in 2018. Overall, the Valley County Road Department maintains nearly 800 miles of roadway, including 546 miles of gravel road, according to the plan.
Public access preservation
Accepting DF’s proposal would ensure continued public access to the roadways and prevent the Wilks Brothers or any other private owner from installing gates to keep people out, Herrick said.
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DF has been known for gating roads into the company’s land holdings since it bought 172,000 acres of private land in west-central Idaho in 2017. The acquisition made the Wilks Brothers the largest private landowner in both Valley and Adams counties, with nearly 120,000 acres between the two counties — or about 188 square miles.
“We’re just trying to maintain this access to public lands,” she said.
The conveyance would include six miles of Clear Creek Road, also known as Forest Road 409, which stretches between Idaho 55 south of Cascade to Warm Lake Road.
The eastern portion of the roadway is the main route to Legacy Creek Ranch. Public access to the western portion of the roadway, which is within the Boise National Forest, would likely continue from Warm Lake Road even if DF’s portion were gated.
However, access to other forest roads that outlet into roadways within Legacy Creek Ranch could be cut off if the road were gated.
Wildfire escape route
The conveyances would also improve wildfire safety for existing homes near Horsethief Reservoir by guaranteeing continued access to a secondary escape route.
The proposed deeds include a 1.8-mile segment of Horsethief Road that links to Clear Creek Road. Combined, the two roads would solidify an alternative to the main route in via Warm Lake Road.
“That is very important,” Herrick said. “Circulation through the county.”
Legacy Creek Ranch addresses
The main incentive for DF to deed the roads to the county appears to be in the interest of its heavily marketed Legacy Creek Ranch project, though the company did not respond to Valley Lookout’s request for comment.
Currently, parcels within Legacy Creek Ranch are not eligible for addresses because they are all along unnamed Forest Service roads. That would change if the county accepts the deeds, Herrick said.
DF would retain the right to place water, sewer, and other utilities within the right of way, under the draft deeds. The company would also be responsible for upgrading the roads to meet fire standards and installing new road signs.
Proposed names for the roads are Elk Valley Drive, Legacy View Drive, Long Meadow Drive, Low Creek Drive, Moose Meadow Drive, Peak View Lane, Ranchview Road, Riverbend Lane, Sparrow Lane, Stillforest Drive, White pine Drive, and Wildland Drive.
So far, the county has received one building permit application for a parcel within Legacy Creek Ranch. The application is for a small off-grid cabin on a 640-acre parcel, Herrick said, noting that development opportunities are currently limited by a lack of utilities in the area.
“If someone wants to develop one of these large parcels, they’ll have to pull power in and stuff like that, unless they’re off grid,” she said.
The Wilks brothers, who are estimated to be worth nearly $4 billion per Forbes, earned $3.5 billion from the 2011 sale of Frac Tech, a fracking company they founded in 2002.
