City Of Leavenworth Withdraws From Land Purchase Agreement For Parking Lot

The City of Leavenworth has withdrawn from an agreement to purchase a property near the Wenatchee River it had intended to use for public parking.

The decision was made at a meeting of the Leavenworth City Council on July 22 and came in the wake of a lawsuit that was filed by the owner of a property which neighbors the parcel at 37/81 Norling Lane.

The Leavenworth Echo reports the City had agreed to purchase the parcel from MLTE Properties, LLC for $650,000 earlier this year, with the final sale being contingent upon the City's acquisition of a conditional use permit. The City had reportedly wanted to convert the land into a public parking lot for recreationists entering the Wenatchee River from the Icicle Road Bridge as a way of curtailing illegal parking along Icicle Road.

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The City's plans hit a snag, however, when residents in the neighborhood raised concerns about the proposed project's impacts on a shared well and private easement, along with one citizen's objections about most of the planning for the parking lot being discussed by the City Council during executive sessions that were closed to the public.

That citizen, Ellen Beardsley, then filed a complaint with the Office of the Washington State Auditor in April with the backing of two additional neighbors, all of whom alleged the City was in violation of the state's Open Public Meetings Act.

When the complaint failed to dissuade the City from purchasing the land, Beardsley filed an injunction in June, claiming the City had; not shown just cause for the continuing executive sessions; withheld information from the public that was privately shared with other parties; engaged in discussions regarding the project that were not appropriate; and refused to conduct a proper public process for exploring alternative locations for the proposed parking lot.

Beardsley then filed a subsequent injunction against both the City and MLTE over alleged illegal impacts the project would have on both the well and the easement.

The City's decision to pull out of the agreement to purchase the property was made shortly after the second injunction was filed, and the application for the conditional use permit was officially cancelled on July 31.

A pair of City officials, including Mayor Carl Florea, reportedly refused to comment about the specific reasons for pulling the plug on the parking lot, but did confirm the fact that it was made during the "pending litigation"

After the City terminated its plans to build the lot at the Norling Lane location, Beardsley withdrew her initial lawsuit, citing no need for additional expenses, time, or conflict in the matter. She also removed the City as a co-defendant in her second suit.