Turtle Creek Housing Development Gets Green Light

One of Spokane County’s most contentious housing developments got the go-ahead Tuesday night, after both sides reached a compromise that seemed impossible three years ago.

Approval of the Turtle Creek subdivision in Greenacres may be the first visible effect of the state’s Growth Management Act in the Valley.

A spokeswoman for the Mica View Landowners Association said her group was willing to compromise partly because the neighborhood was marked for urban development under GMA. In the past, the association had fought for larger lots than developer Richard Dahm proposes in the 101-lot subdivision.

Dahm changed his proposal in several ways that will eat into his profits but make the development more palatable for neighbors.

Lots along Eighth Avenue will be 120 feet wide, rather than 80. A road that was supposed to go over a creek and through a wetland was eliminated. Added were community horse paths and a sidewalk to the nearest school.

Opponents testified before commissioners for five hours in 1994, when Dahm first proposed his 39-acre development. Commissioners ordered first an environmental review and then a more-thorough environmental impact statement for the project.

After two years of appeals, a frustrated Dahm threatened to put a 139-unit mobile home park on the land.

Two months in the making, the compromise submitted to commissioners Tuesday night wasn’t completed until Tuesday morning, said Jim Frank, an attorney who represented Dahm. Some minor details still were not complete.

“There’s an awful lot of common ground between developers and neighbors,” said Frank, himself a developer. “Often, they get polarized.”

Given the project’s history, county commissioners and staff called the compromise remarkable.

“It does my heart good,” said Commissioner Phil Harris.

Commissioner John Roskelley said he was “extremely pleased” with Dahm.

“I’m sure that you’ve given up a lot and we appreciate that,” he said.

, DataTimes