Rv Park Opponents Face Deadline Cda Council Won’t Delay Blackwell Development For Judicial Review

Opponents of Blackwell Island development have 28 days to decide whether to take their fight to District Court.

They suffered a stinging set of defeats at the hands of the City Council on Tuesday in their efforts to keep a 291-space recreational vehicle park and commercial development from being built over an old dump. The Hall family, which has owned the island for 30 years, says the area needs more RV parks.

Not only did the council vote 4-2 to annex the island and allow the project, but it also refused to order the development postponed until a judge can review the environmental analysis of the landfill.

These decisions mean city water and sewer service will cross the Spokane River, officially signaling the city is growing south. That’s as contentious as questions about whether the island is environmentally fit for an RV park and commercial development.

“I think there’s no question when that sewer line comes across the river, (development) will steamroll, … leap-frogging all the way to Rockford Bay,” said Gertie Hanson, clearly disappointed at the decision. Opponents will meet soon to decide what to do next, she said.

Mayor Al Hassell says Blackwell Island touches fears of forced annexations and that “the city is going willy-nilly up Blackwell Hill. I don’t believe that’s going to happen.”

Hassell and other council members emphasize that the Hall family - not taxpayers - will pay for extending city utilities to the island.

But opponents also believe the Halls didn’t do a sufficient job of probing an old city landfill that is under part of the proposed RV park.

Councilman Ron Edinger once hauled garbage to the dump, he said. Based on that experience, he says he believes many of the test pits the developer dug were located outside the boundaries of the old landfill.

Chuck Sheroke, attorney for the development’s opponents, criticized the fact that the Halls’ engineers analyzed the contents of only five of the 30 test pits. And only one of those pits went into an old garbage cell.

“This is not a truly representative sampling of what’s out there,” he said.

Engineers for the Hall family acknowledged the studies aren’t comprehensive, but are designed to catch the problems commonly found in old dumps. The site has been studied several times since 1979 and lead to the same conclusion, said F.C. Budinger, one of the consultants on the project.

“The refuse is more benign than we expected,” he told the council. Most of the hazards have leached from the landfill and were carried down river, he said.

Paving part of the island for an RV park will put an impermeable cap over the old dump which will stop future leaching of any toxic chemicals into the Spokane River, he said.

Ann Hall, who will live at the park, said it is perfect for a destination RV resort. “Allow us to improve this land, so abused in the past,” she said.

In other business the council:

Awarded a $14,550 design contract for a new city water well to JUB Engineers. The well will be located on a triangle of land at Fourth Street, Honeysuckle Avenue and Margaret Avenue.

Voted to buy four police cars from Lake City Ford for $78,286.

, DataTimes