Developer Asking For Rezone For Subdivision Stone Horse Bluff Would Consist Of 606 Lots

Thu., March 16, 2000

By Isamu Jordan isamuj@spokesman.com

A proposal for a 606-lot subdivision on 108 acres northeast of Wandermere Mall will come before the county hearing examiner on Wednesday.

Developer Harlan Douglass is asking to rezone the 108 acres as a planned unit development overlay zone, which would increase density from 3.5 dwelling units per acre to 5.5 per acre by decreasing the lot size and adding more lots.

Douglass’ proposal for the Stone Horse Bluff development is six years in the making.

In a revised draft the proposed North Side Freeway slices through the site. In the latest draft there are no accommodations for the freeway, an issue that is sure to come up at Wednesday’s hearing.

The preliminary plat for Stone Horse Bluff includes 17 common area tracts for open space and drainage, if it is approved as a planned unit development.

If the development is not approved as a PUD, one alternative is developing under the existing 3.5 zone as a solar development. The other option is taking no action at all.

A solar development allows for density flexibility up to 5.35 based on solar energy standards. There is only one solar development in Spokane County in Northwood, according to county planner Francine Shaw.

The no-action option would likely mean no recreation opportunities, via open space tracts, and sewer mains would not be extended.

A system of private roads and bicycle and pedestrian pathways are also included in the PUD proposal.

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