Liberty Lake gets 644 acres

After years of court battles and detailed looks at hundreds of documents, Liberty Lake got its wish Monday: It soon will have room to double its population.

The Boundary Review Board approved a 644-acre annexation to the city of Liberty Lake in an area filled with weeds, soil and a few homes.

But in less than 10 years, the area could be fully developed with a school, thousands of homes and several businesses, effectively doubling the 5,000-plus population of Liberty Lake.

“We’re delighted to get this behind us,” said Mayor Steve Peterson. “It’s been a thorn in our side for three years.”

Actually, it’s been four years since voters in the soon-to-be-annexed area rejected the notion of belonging to the city. At that time, the area was sparsely developed, but since then, a large development has sprouted up. Residents in the new development strongly favored annexation.

The city tried to annex the land again in 2004, but its proposal was denied because the Boundary Review Board found problems with the city’s capital facilities plan.

The city then sued the board, saying the problems had been fixed. A Superior Court judge ruled last December that the board must hear the proposal again.

Peterson said a critical element in the annexation attempt was the support of landowners, including Centennial Properties Inc., a subsidiary of Cowles Co., which owns The Spokesman-Review.

“If the landowners had said we don’t want to be annexed, we would have just dropped it,” he said. “We wouldn’t have done this unless the property owners wanted it.”

Members of the Boundary Review Board discussed the annexation proposal for an hour, referring to testimony and exhibits brought up during a public hearing three weeks ago in Liberty Lake.

Board member Douglas Beu said the lack of testimony in the public hearings made it hard to judge Spokane County’s position on the annexation request.

“The loudest testimony I heard was the silence,” Beu said. “I would have liked to have heard from the county looking at their lost revenue.”

Members also discussed whether annexation to Liberty Lake would hurt the neighborhood character of the homes already existing in the area.

After walking through the area where the boundary of the city would be drawn, Beu said, “I find it hard to believe there is a wall there and those folks are not in the same neighborhood.”

Beu said he didn’t believe the homes would be a natural part of Liberty Lake.

“There is probably two and a half miles of unpopulated land” between the homes that are existing and the city of Liberty Lake, he said. “It’s only 10 feet to get to the city of Spokane Valley.”

But board member James Peck said that as the area is developed, it will form a link to the city.

“When the build-out is complete, this will be much more a part of Liberty Lake than it will be the city of Spokane Valley,” he said. “I just don’t see this as a deal breaker.”

Eventually all board members agreed, and with a unanimous vote asked the Boundary Review Board staff to prepare a written decision. After that decision is approved by the board, the annexation takes effect.

Liberty Lake is already prepared for the new neighbors, Peterson said.

City police cars already help patrol the area, and parts of the land have been looked at by retailers such as Cabela’s.

Peterson said he felt the decision was like handing in a final test at the end of the school year.

“This thing is over,” he said. “I passed and I’m out of here.”