Examiner Refuses Wal-Mart Rezoning Developers Promise To Appeal To County Commissioners

North Spokane neighbors won a major victory Friday in their battle to stop a massive Wal-Mart shopping center from being built next to their homes.

Spokane County Hearing Examiner Michael Dempsey denied a request by developers to rezone the property that now allows just housing.

“Needless to say, we are thrilled with the way the decision went,” said Karen Barniol, head of Citizens for Neighborhood Preservation.

“I know of other communities that have been victorious against Wal-Mart, but I don’t know if any were neighborhood groups like us without attorneys,” she said.

Developers of PineWater Plaza say they aren’t giving up.

“We are naturally disappointed with the hearing examiner’s ruling, and we plan to appeal this decision to the county commissioners,” said Cynthia Lin, project spokesman.

“We believe zoning for this site in north Spokane needs to be reexamined and changes made to accommodate future growth and to serve an expanding population,” Lin said.

Developers of the 40-acre project argued in a hearing last month that conditions had changed so dramatically around Newport Highway in recent years that big stores such as Wal-Mart are more appropriate than housing.

Wal-Mart would be the centerpiece for the shopping center that would also include an 80,000-square-foot building, two 20,000-square-foot stores and two small fast-food restaurant-sized buildings.

The project was proposed on a triangle of land that falls between Camelot, College Place and Carriage Hills neighborhoods.

Neighbors argued convincingly that the proposal doesn’t conform to the county’s comprehensive plan.

The hearing examiner agreed with the neighborhood’s opposition, which he said was “unprecedented.”

“The intensive commercial activity that would be generated by the project between the two nearby residential communities will not serve the public welfare,” Dempsey ruled.

Scott Brown, a land-use consultant hired by Citizens for Neighborhood Preservation, said he hadn’t received a copy of the decision and was unable to comment on specifics.

“Planning was adopted so that it would be followed. In this case, all the hearing examiner did was follow the adopted plan. I’m confident the county commissioners will also support following the adopted plan,” Brown said.

Barniol also hadn’t seen a copy of the decision.

“I would love if we could get past the appeal and have the neighborhood work with the landowner and put some development in there that works for everyone,” she said.

The land is owned by Pente Limited Partnership, which includes the Nelson family.

The Nelsons have owned the property for almost 40 years and operated a landscape nursery and design business there.

Colorado Land Consultants, the project developers, came to the hearing armed with computer simulations, aerial photographs, attorneys and a team of experts.

The neighbors held garage sales, bake sales and passed the hat at meetings to raise money for their battle.

Now the neighborhood group has to decide whether they want to hire an attorney to fight the appeal, said neighbor Lee Spencer.

“The unfortunate part of this process is that Wal-Mart has infinite money to throw at this thing compared to the neighborhood,” he said.

, DataTimes