Judge dismisses Willow Bay suit

Agreement limits expansion slightly

SANDPOINT - A lawsuit to block the expansion of a marina across the Pend Oreille River from Laclede has been settled and dismissed, court records show.

The Seneacquoteen Homeowners Association and Willow Bay Holdings stipulated to a binding agreement which scales back the proposed marina expansion by 24 boat slips.

Under the agreement, the total combined number of slips would be limited to 115 instead of 139 slips. The marina at Willow Bay currently has fewer than 30 slips, according to the Idaho Department of Lands.

The homeowners' association sued Willow Bay and IDL in 2006 to halt the expansion project. The plaintiffs raised a number of legal issues in the suit, including whether the state had an obligation to compel Willow Bay to demonstrate the conversion of public resources to private use was in the public's interest and whether there was economic justification beyond the benefits to the developers.

District Judge Steve Verby ruled last year that the IDL permit application was technically flawed, which would have forced developers to reapply for the permit and restarted the public review process.

Counsel for Seneacquoteen moved for Verby to reconsider his ruling because the legal questions that they raised were not addressed and they could have formed the basis for another round of litigation if IDL approved a second encroachment permit.

A hearing on the motion for reconsideration was scheduled for this month, but it was called off because of the stipulated agreement. The agreement requires the parties to pay their own legal costs and forces the developers to obtain IDL permit approval for any more than 115 slips, court documents said.

As a result of the agreement, Verby dismissed the suit.