A flood control district near Arlington doesn’t have standing to seek a review of auto dealer Dwayne Lane’s controversial proposal to annex the Island Crossing area into Arlington, Lane contends in a lawsuit.
Lane is asking a Snohomish County Superior Court judge to throw out an appeal filed last month by the Stillaguamish Flood Control District with the Snohomish County Boundary Review.
The lawsuit, filed Wednesday by Everett lawyer Todd Nichols, also asks the court to order the Boundary Review Board to halt any actions related to the flood district’s appeal. The Boundary Review Board considers annexations and incorporations, and can overturn proposals.
No hearing dates have been set.
The move is the latest development in Lane’s bid to add 266 acres to Arlington, extending the city boundary so he can eventually move his Arlington auto dealership to a high-profile location next to I-5.
Lane’s lawsuit claims the flood control district would not be directly affected by the annexation and therefore doesn’t have standing to challenge the move. The car dealer says his property rights would be hurt by the Boundary Review Board’s review.
The flood control district asked the board to block the annexation, which was vetoed by former Snohomish County Executive Bob Drewel in September. The County Council overrode the veto in October.
Henry Lippek, the flood district’s attorney, said the group has the authority to object.
"We don’t think Mr. Lane’s actions have any reasonable basis," Lippek said. "Obviously, the district is adversely affected. It’s the agency that’s most affected by development there."
The district is concerned that development of the land, now mostly zoned for agriculture, will make flooding worse in the area.
The flood control district and others — including Gov. Gary Locke, farmers and environmental groups — also are fighting the County Council’s decision to take Lane’s land out of farming.
Those groups say Lane’s property is "prime farmland" and must remain so under the state Growth Management Act. That law bars urban development in farm and forest lands.
Lane, however, has said the land at Island Crossing can’t be commercially farmed, and the area already is served by water and sewer lines.
A state growth management hearings board is currently reviewing the county’s switch in zoning from agriculture to commercial uses.
Lippek likened the lawsuit to an earlier attempt by Lane to get a grading permit for his land. Starting development of the property, or getting his land annexed into Arlington, would then make the hearings board decision moot as to whether it was appropriate to remove the land from farming.
"These are all kind of desperate, long-shot moves. He’s hoping at some point we’re asleep," Lippek said.
Lane eventually withdrew his request for a grading permit. He is part owner of about 15 acres in the annexation area.
Lane’s lawyer claimed the law is on his side.
"According to law, the flood control district is not affected by whether Island Crossing becomes a part of the city of Arlington," Nichols said Thursday.
The lawsuit points out that the nearest point of the flood control district is two miles away from the proposed annexation area.
Nichols said the flood district’s Boundary Review Board filing has been "clearly done only to delay this proposal."
Reporter Brian Kelly: 425-339-3422 or kelly@heraldnet.com.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
