City rejects request for water service to Indian Trail lot

The Spokane City Council on Monday rejected a request from an Indian Trail property owner to extend water service to 80 acres of land proposed for a 16-lot development.

The council voted 4-3 against a resolution approving the water extension. Council members Cherie Rodgers, Brad Stark, Al French and Mary Verner opposed the resolution.

French said he voted no because the city’s comprehensive land-use plan requires a contract between the city and the property owner before water can be extended outside the city’s urban growth area. No contract had been obtained, he said.

Pete Rayner, who lost a race for City Council last year, has been seeking to develop the property since 1994 when he and his wife, Linda Rayner, bought it. The land is north of the city limits and east of Indian Trail Road.

Rayner told council members the property is inside the county’s urban reserve area and could be eligible for a clustered development of 16 homes in which the structures are located near one another, leaving much of the remaining acreage in open space.

In 1994, Rayner sought to create 10-acre lots for eight homes but subsequently proposed development of as many as 154 single-family homes on nearly 400 acres, including his land as well as surrounding property. In 1997, the city agreed to provide water if the plat was approved, but the proposal was rejected by the county.

In the years since, both the county and city have enacted new land-use laws governing developments in both urban and urban reserve areas.

Rayner told the council the land cannot be developed without water. After Monday’s vote, he said in an interview that he may file a lawsuit against the city to force it to provide water to his land.