Commissioners Say No To Golf Course Gimme Up To $1.5 Million For Projects For North Side Gift Rules It Out

Two hundred acres offered free for a North Side golf course is too expensive to accept, Spokane County commissioners decided Tuesday.

The county would have to spend $250,000 to $1.5 million building roads and laying water pipes to the scenic parcel of isolated land offered by a Seattle couple, parks planner Steve Horobiowski told commissioners.

That doesn’t include the cost of building the course and clubhouse. Horobiowski didn’t have a chance to outline those costs before commissioners rejected the proposal.

Other needs, such as law enforcement and parks maintenance, are more pressing than building a new golf course north of the Little Spokane River, Commissioner Phil Harris said. Private investors already would have built a course if one were needed, he said.

“The offer of the gift is gracious,” Harris said. “I would probably be willing to accept the gift if it came with no strings attached.”

The land is part of 460 acres handed down through five generations to Spokane native Beverly Throndson and her husband, Roy.

In an interview Monday, Beverly Throndson said her family had no desire to build more than a few houses on the 260 remaining acres if the county accepted her offer.

But Commissioner Kate McCaslin said Tuesday the offer hinged on the county providing water and roads that could be used not only for the golf course, but for up to 46 houses on the Throndsons’ land.

“It was clear that it was the intention of the landowner that the utilities would come in so they could build the houses.”

, DataTimes