Blue Heron Developer Appeals Rejection

Thu., Jan. 13, 2000

By Dan Hansen danh@spokesman.com

A proposed golf course and housing development on the North Side could lure high-paying jobs to Spokane, a business recruiter says.

“While to those of us who live here, upper-scale housing and golf courses may not seem important, it is to those who might move here,” Pete Kerwein, a board member for the Economic Development Council, told county commissioners on Tuesday.

Kerwein urged the county to approve Blue Heron Estates, a controversial proposal on Indian Trail Road near the Little Spokane River Natural Area. Many neighbors in the area oppose the development.

The development would include an 18-hole golf course and 95 residential lots ranging from one-half acre to two acres. The proposal already has been rejected once by the county. Developer Pete Rayner on Tuesday appealed to commissioners. They will issue a decision next month.

Rayner purchased the 417 acres in 1993. He proposed building 1,000 houses on the land, which was the target of city expansion.

But the annexation never happened. The land remains just outside the city limits, without services like sewer.

Under county rules, Kerwein’s land is zoned for lots no smaller than 10 acres. His proposal calls for an average of one house for every 4.4 acres if the entire 417 acres is taken into account.

Last year, Rayner asked county Hearing Examiner Mike Dempsey to change the zoning. Dempsey rejected the request amid neighborhood opposition to the project.

Among other things, Dempsey said the project would be out of character with the neighborhood and could harm the aquifer. He also cited concerns about traffic on Indian Trail Road.

Rayner noted Tuesday that the smallest lots in his development would be clustered on the south side, closest to the city limits. The north end would be developed into large lots, providing a buffer between the golf course and the natural area, he said.

“Frankly, I’m at a bit of a loss” over Dempsey’s rejection, Rayner said. “This isn’t a nuclear waste dump. This is a championship golf course.”

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