The afternoon of 11/16 heard the appeal by Hooper over the Hearing Examiners decision by the county council. About a dozen or more neighbors made the trek north. A big thank you to all who came as it visibly showed the council that the Maltby Neighborhood Alliance has strong support.
The hearing began with Hooper’s attorney pleading with the council to accept his brief that was filed one day late on the grounds that his diabetes inhibited his mental capacity which resulted in an error on his submission. The council agreed to accept his report and promptly recessed for twenty minutes to review.
The format allowed for Hooper’s attorney to speak for 20 minutes, then our attorney for 20 minutes, then a 10 minute rebuttal by Hooper’s attorney. Oddly, Hooper was not even present at the hearing. It was interesting drama but the advantage appeared to be in our corner. Of course, in proceedings such as these you never know what the council may be thinking.
Council member Koster who was just defeated in a congressional race by Rep. Larson was the first to speak. He acknowledged a few points made on behalf of Hooper then stated very clearly why he felt the ruling from the Hearing Examiner to deny the permit should stand; primarily lot size and incompatible neighborhood character issues were raised by him. Dave Somers made a motion to deny the appeal and made numerous excellent points on our behalf. He has been an obvious advocate for us. They voted unanimously to deny the appeal. In a formality, the motion for denial will be written up more formally by staff then passed next Wednesday.
Hooper could always appeal this to the superior court. He would have to appeal both the SEPA ruling and the council decision to deny the appeal. Considering the size of the proposal at stake, a prudent businessman would likely think this would be cost prohibitive and an uphill battle. We can only hope Hooper sees it that way
Posted
Nov 20 2010, 07:09 PM
by
Earl