Group Hires Lawyer To Fight Subdivision

A newly formed citizen’s group has hired an attorney to fight a proposed subdivision on the east shore of Liberty Lake.

Citizens Allied for Liberty Lake (CALL) has hired attorney Stephen Eugster to help them oppose the proposed MacKenzie Bay Beach Properties subdivision.

The subdivision would be located about one-quarter mile south of the intersection of Lakeside and Neyland roads and would include 200 to 300 feet of common beach area. Owner Rex Harder is seeking preliminary plat approval to subdivide the 24.5 acres into 35 lots for single family homes. He would like to have individual building lots ready for sale by next summer.

Eugster was one of about 10 people who testified at a public hearing on the subdivision last week. Most opposed the development. The county Planning Department received 30 written comments on the proposal, 29 of them in opposition, associate county planner Louis Webster said.

Planning division staff supports preliminary plat approval, the first step for subdividing land, Webster said. The proposal, he said, appears to meet all regulations.

County hearing examiner Mike Dempsey will make a decision sometime in January.

Opponents of the project cite concerns about the project’s affect on lake water quality, inadequate roads, and density of development. Some oppose the fact that developers such as Harder won’t be held to the area’s new urban growth boundary standards, which ban lots smaller than 5 acres. Harder submitted his proposal right before those standards were set.

CALL also questions whether Harder filed a complete application, included required environmental information, and if he took into account flood control zone concerns.

The bottom line, though, has nothing to do with paperwork.

MacKenzie Bay is a critical sub-basin, CALL member Lisa Nania said. If that sub-basin is damaged, she said, the whole lake is threatened.

If the development receives preliminary plat approval, as appears likely, the group vows to fight.

“We’re prepared to have this appealed and take it as far as we have to,” Nania said.

Harder’s attorney, F.J. Dullanty, said his client has already investigated all of the concerns expressed by CALL members, even hiring experts when needed.

“People have legitimate concerns,” Dullanty said, “but you need more than concerns to stop a development. That’s what this process is for.”

, DataTimes