County Commissioners Give Ok To Proceed With Hunters Pointe

Harley Douglass’ Hunters Pointe subdivision got the approval it needed Tuesday, but opponents still may sue.

After more than a year of hearings, appeals and other delays, county commissioners John Roskelley and Phil Harris on Tuesday signed the decision approving the controversial North Side project.

Douglass plans to build 40 houses on 21 acres atop a ridge sandwiched between the Little Spokane River and Deadman Creek.

Harris and then-Commissioner Steve Hasson approved the project in December, over Roskelley’s objection. But a written decision, requiring the signatures of two commissioners, wasn’t ready until this month.

Hasson’s replacement, Kate McCaslin, couldn’t sign the document because Hunters Pointe was approved before she took office. Roskelley refused to sign, saying he didn’t want anyone to assume he approved of the project.

On Tuesday, with county attorneys warning that a judge could order him to sign, Roskelley signed a decision that noted his opposition.

Friends of the Little Spokane River Valley has not decided whether to sue to block the development, said member Tom Hargreaves.

The group contends Hunters Pointe’s small lots don’t belong in the semi-rural neighborhood. Its septic tanks could pollute the river, the group says.

, DataTimes