Plat inactive too long, official rules

The Spokane County hearing examiner this week turned down a 25-home subdivision on 5 acres along Hatch Road north of Spokane.

The ruling was based on the developer failing to meet deadlines for submitting approved plans to the county’s building department.

Landed Gentry Development Inc. sought the subdivision for single-family homes at 17714 N. Hatch Road, near the edge of the county’s urban growth area.

The Canterbury Bluff application was filed in 2008, but the preliminary plat map was not submitted until this spring.

Engineers for the developer had to overcome issues involving a wetland, streets, public sewer connection, runoff and an area with a slope in excess of 30 degrees.

During the application process, the county building department determined the property was occupied by a wetland that required a wetland mitigation study. The developer requested an extension of the application period through early 2010.

The project was placed on hold because of the economic downturn, according to testimony before the hearing examiner.

The developer sought to reactivate the application last December, but Hearing Examiner Mike Dempsey ruled that the 19-month period of inactivity from May 2010 to December 2012 far exceeded the six-month time extension allowed under the law.

Dempsey also ruled that county staff had no authority to revive the application.

The developer could file a new application but would have to pay new permit fees, Dempsey said.