The owners of Beyond Hope II LLC, doing business as Beyond Hope Resort, on North Idahos Lake Pend Oreille, plan to convert the camping and marina property into a residential development, although theyre in the early stages of doing so.


Rick Auletta, who with his wife, Pam, is part owner of the 80-acre resort property on the Hope Peninsula, says hes begun planning to build 50 residential units on the property. He says 20 to 25 of the units would be townhouses, and the rest would be single-family homes.


Jim Lane, of Hope, owned Beyond Hope Resort from 1998 to 2007, when he sold a majority of his interest in the resort to Beyond Hope II LLC, and he remains a minority owner.


The resort is located just west of the Sam Owen Campground, a U.S. Forest Service facility on the northeast shore of Lake Pend Oreille, about 17 miles southeast of Sandpoint via state Route 200.


Auletta says no decisions have been made yet on how big the houses will be, what their designs will be, or how they will be priced.


Were not pressed for time or money, he says.


Auletta adds, however, that he hopes to have a site plan approved by Bonner County in 2009, and the summer of 2008 could be the last season the property will be used as a camping resort. In addition to 85 recreational-vehicle campsites, the resort currently has a restaurant with a lounge and a 60-slip marina that was recently upgraded to handle larger boats, he says.


The property has 600 feet of lake front-age. Auletta says buyers of homes plan-ned in the development would have access to the water, although not all of the units would front on the lake directly.


He says Bonner County building and planning officials seem to be receptive to the idea of a residential project there, because it would be a less intensive use than a resort that currently has the potential to add hundreds of campsites in portions of the property that arent already fully developed.


Although its too early to market the proposed development, Auletta says hes hearing almost every day from people interested buying homes there. Some would be part-time residents, and a few would be people who live in bigger homes on the lake and are looking to downsize, he says.


The Aulettas have lived near Lake Pend Oreille for 20 years and have owned Hope Marine Services, located nearly a mile northeast of the Hope Peninsula, for 15 years.


Contact Mike McLean at (509) 344-1266 or via e-mail at [email protected].