A Bothell-area church had its chance Wednesday to appeal fines it was handed over an unpermitted pole on its property — a case that drew widespread attention shortly before Christmas.

During an hour-long debate between

Park Ridge Community Church and Snohomish County code-enforcement staff, one part of the case was largely ignored: the neighbor’s complaint that started it all.

Largely ignored, that is, until near the end of the hearing when Bill Miller stood up to testify before the county hearing examiner. The longtime neighbor of the Maltby Road church said he originally contacted the county with safety concerns about a cross hoisted atop the 90-foot pole. “I wasn’t complaining about the flag pole,” Miller said. “I was complaining about what was on the pole.”

Through the code-enforcement process, Miller’s worry about the cross attached to the pole with ropes morphed into an argument about whether the county requires a permit to erect such a pole in unincorporated areas.

In the blogosphere, the conversation got even further off track, with people rallying to defend the church against what they said was a government assault on religious symbols — even though the county never had any qualms with the cross or the star that also appeared on the pole.

The wooden pole in question was installed several years ago as a temporary cell phone tower and stopped being used for that years ago. An illuminated star adorned the pole at Christmas and a cross was often there at other times.

The county code enforcement action began in September 2009 with the neighbor’s complaint about the cross.

Currently, the church faces a $1,500 fine. The amount could go much higher, perhaps up to $30,000 if the county is able to apply all the allowable penalties, including increases for not correcting the problem in time.

On Wednesday, county code-enforcement officer Craig Odegaard argued that the pole was a structure regulated by county code — so the church needs a permit.

Consultant Gene Miller, no relation to the church’s neighbor with the same last name, represented the church during the hearing. He contended that the rules the county is trying to enforce aren’t actually listed in the code. He also pointed out that during the past 10 years, the county never made anybody else get a permit for a flag pole.

Gene Miller also noted that the county never sent a structural engineer to check whether the pole was at risk of falling down, even though safety was supposedly a big concern.

Neither the county nor the church could say exactly when the pole was installed, though the church believes it was around 2002.

A spokeswoman for Clearwire Communications acknowledged that the company used the pole but did not install it. A spokeswoman for Verizon Wireless said that company didn’t install the pole either.

Hearing Examiner Millie Judge said she would issue a decision within the next 15 days.

As neighbor Bill Miller testified at the end of the hearing, he mused that the supposed pole has never flown a flag, though it is being described as a flag pole by county officials. He also handed the hearing examiner an envelope of photographs that he said would show the pole tilting to one side. “I do know that the pole was leaning and I do know that there’s never been a flag on that pole,” he said.

Noah Haglund: 425-339-3465, nhaglund@heraldnet.com.