Board overturns zoning change
Colbert restaurant and bar had planned to reopen Sept. 16
Spokane County violated the state’s Growth Management Act and its own comprehensive plan when it granted a zone change allowing McGlades Bistro & Wine Bar in Colbert to reopen, the Eastern Washington Growth Management Hearings Board ruled.
The board invalidated the zone change, remanding the zoning decision to county commissioners. It is unclear how the ruling affects plans to reopen McGlades, 4301 E. Day-Mt. Spokane Road, which new owners had expected to do Sept. 16.
Nonprofit Spokane law firm Center for Justice in February petitioned the board to review the commission’s decision on behalf of four neighbors and the Neighborhood Alliance of Spokane. They contended the county did not do sufficient environmental analysis of the 4.2-acre site and that commercial use is inappropriate in the rural area – arguments upheld by the board.
The county “failed to preserve the character of existing natural neighborhoods and communities … and failed to prevent abnormally irregular boundaries,” the board found. It also ruled the county failed to comply with the State Environmental Protection Act.
Commissioner Mark Richard, who voted in favor of the zone change, asserted there is “quite a bit of commercial nearby” the site and the change went through a “full public process.”
“I think the hearings board is in error,” Richard said. “We need to weigh our legal options on moving forward to prove that.”
The ruling gives the county until March 4 to take legislative action to comply with the GMA. Either the county or building owners Shawn and Theresa Gabel could appeal the decision to Spokane County Superior Court.
Controversy began after owners transformed McGlades from a fruit stand on the way to the Green Bluff harvest community into a full-service restaurant. The Gabels, who purchased McGlades from its founders, shut it down after county officials found it could not operate in the rural zone. But late last year, commissioners voted 2-1 to change the zoning for the site from “urban reserve” to “limited development area commercial.”
The Gabels then sold the business to Triple Charged LLC, which now leases the building.
An attorney for the Gabels had advised that the business should be vested even if the board ruled against the county. He could not be reached for comment Monday afternoon.
Attorney Rick Eichstaedt of the Center for Justice argued the only development action that could be vested was expansion of the property into a restaurant, which occurred under the initial zoning.Triple Charged’s lease on the McGlades building includes a clause allowing the business to “essentially walk away from the lease” should zoning prohibit the restaurant, said Nick Brumback, who represented the lessees. “That’s why we moved forward,” he said.
The Washington state Liquor Control Board has not issued a liquor license for the site. A health inspector also needs to sign off, said Nikki Goetz, one of the owners.
“I don’t know if that’s going to hold or not,” she said of the zoning. “I have no way of knowing, and I’m not even sure who’s going to tell us that.”
Commissioners want to operate fairly and hold the owners accountable, but also “allow for reasonable prosperity and economic development in this community,” Richard said.
Eichstaedt added the decision could affect a challenge by the Center for Justice of the city of Spokane’s recent comprehensive plan amendments allowing big-box development on the South Hill. The city also delayed full environmental analysis, he said.