New Mackenzie Bay Application Under Consideration By Examiner

Sat., Aug. 29, 1998

By Pat Sciuchetti pats@spokesman.com

After a six-month respite, debate has once again heated up over a proposed waterfront subdivision on Liberty Lake.

As proposed, MacKenzie Bay Beach Properties would bring at least 35 homes to 24.5 acres on the east shore of Liberty Lake.

Late last year, developer Rex Harder sought perliminary plat approval for the project, but was told by Spokane County hearing examiner Mike Dempsey that the application lacked critical information and didn’t meet all applicable regulations.

Harder resubmitted the application in June. A second public hearing on the proposal was held Wednesday.

Dempsey will now have to decide if the supplemented application is complete, and if the proposal meets comprehensive plan goals and guidelines.

The project is a complex one, Dempsey admitted, because it involves issues such as erosion, construction on a slope and shoreline protection. The proposed subdivision would include several waterfront lots and 200 to 300 feet of common beach area. It would sit about one-quarter mile south of the intersection of Lakeside and Neyland roads.

A citizen’s group called Citizens Allied for Liberty Lake (CALL) is fighting the proposal, and vows to appeal if it is approved. They say the subdivision is too dense and will threaten water quality.

On Wednesday, CALL’s attorney, Stephen Eugster, argued that the updated application still didn’t answer critical questions about the proposed sewer, water and stormwater runoff control systems. “The applicants didn’t deal with the deficiencies,” Eugster said. “This is all (still) conceptional.”

Harder’s attorney, F.J. Dullanty, argued that all required standards had been met and that some questions couldn’t be answered until the process was further along.

Dempsey said he would study the new information and make a decision as soon as possible.

Planning division staff have once again recommended approval of the project, as they did in December before Dempsey requested the additional information.

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