Homeowners File Suit; Ask For Reversal Of Rezone Gleneden Residents Claim County Codes Were Ignored

Legal complaints filed by the Gleneden Homeowners Association have sent a proposed North Side development back to the county hearing examiner.

The lawsuit, filed in Spokane County Superior Court against the county, asks for a reversal of a rezoning decision on 11 acres owned by Harley Douglass east of Wandermere Drive.

Last July, Hearing Examiner Michael Dempsey concluded that the proposed development complied with requirements. But last week, Superior Court Judge Kathleen O’Connor noted not all of the 14 subsections were addressed.

Douglass was granted the rezoning last summer, allowing him to build 55 homes on 11 acres in a planned unit development.

The land was originally zoned for 3.5 houses per acre; the rezoning allows up to 7 houses per acre.

A key issue is “the quality of life for all future Spokane County PUD residents,” said Art Meikel, president of the homeowners association.

“Will the county exercise control over the quality of PUD’s built in Spokane County, or will that be left to the vague and unspecified discretion of developers?” Meikel asked.

The homeowners claim some of the 14 PUD requirements in the county code were ignored.

Meikel said some of the details missing from the plans include: location of driveways, or garages, building heights, sprinkler systems for common areas, dry wells, flood plane data and landscape plans.

The court order was signed June 9. The hearing examiner has 45 days to submit the additional findings.

, DataTimes