Big Rock to become public land

He’s a rock star now.

For years, Bob Hamacher’s name has been uttered in frustration by hikers and climbers covetous of the Costco-size boulder he co-owns as a member of Spokane Investors LLC.

Locals know the 10-story granite mass dubbed “Big Rock” as one of the area’s best rock-climbing spots, a place on Spokane’s southeast flank where some climbers have trained before ascending Mount Everest. But they also know Big Rock, the largest rock of the Rocks of Sharon, as private property. And they know Hamacher forbids trespassers.

Monday, on the behalf of Spokane Investors, Hamacher agreed to trade Big Rock and 80 acres on which it sits to the Dishman Hills Natural Area Association for 80 acres off Hallett Road in Spokane Valley.

Years ago, Spokane Investors used the rock as a perch for a commercial radio tower.

The Dishman Hills association has made several purchases in recent years near Big Rock. Spokane County has done the same, leveraging voter-approved conservation money to buy land in the area. More than 1,000 acres in the area are now in the public trust.

The land will remain private and off-limits until the deal closes sometime in the next 45 days.

Negotiations of one kind or another to make Big Rock available to the public have gone on for 15 years. Hamacher credited the Dishman Hills association on Monday with crafting an acceptable proposal.

“It’s always been our intent to figure out how to get it into non-profit hands,” Hamacher said. “We’re confident that it’s in the right hands. If someone walked in tomorrow and said, ‘Here’s cash – take it,’ we probably wouldn’t. It’s a beautiful area.”

Hamacher said talks leading to the agreement have been in the works for only a few years. Earlier talks centered on either Spokane County or the Dishman Hills association buying the land outright, but the amount never was acceptable, according to news accounts.

Spokane County wanted to buy Big Rock using the Conservation Futures program, but the program allowed the county to pay only the appraised value for the land, which was a deal-breaker. Located on a ridge dividing Moran Prairie and Spokane Valley, Big Rock dovetailed nicely with the 800-acre Iller Creek area already owned by the county.

The Dishman Hills association went as far as trying to buy Big Rock for more than appraised value so the group could sell it to the county for the required price of appraised value. The group would have had to pay Spokane Investors $340,000 for the land, said geologist Mike Hamilton, who negotiated the land swap for the Dishman Hills association. When it became clear the group lacked the needed cash, a land swap was proposed.

The 80 acres the Dishman Hills group offered in trade contains an unnamed creek and a forest access road. As a condition of the swap, those areas will remain open to the public and off-limits to development in order to preserve wildlife habitat and trail access. Zoning for the rest of the land limits homes to one per 20 acres. Hamacher’s investment group has no current plans for the land.

Before the swap can be finished, the Dishman Hills group will be scrambling to pay off $46,000 it still owes on the Hallett Road land, Hamilton said. Over the years, group members have pledged $42,000 for paying off the debt. That money will now have to be paid within two weeks. In addition, the group will have to raise the remaining $4,000.