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Mapping out a course – The perplexing prospects at Painted Hills
4/1/2016

By Steve Christilaw
Current Correspondent

There's a haunted quality to a golf course after the owners, golfers and greens keepers leave and the lush, manicured fairways follow suit. 

Things turn a sickly brown, as if all that luscious green has followed into that other-world where golf balls and missing socks from the dryer go, never to be seen again by human eyes. Before long, the birdies and bogeys of rounds past are forgotten and duffers head off to another course to find those stubby little pencils no one can actually write with. 

The last golf swings at Painted Hills Golf Course on Dishman-Mica Road were made in 2012. The ownership, IWILL70 Properties, LLC, which purchased the course in 2006, declared bankruptcy in August 2012 and the course did not open for the 2013 season. It was sold at auction in October of that year. 

Whether or not they were the final swings ever on those 91 acres is another story. What happens next with the property is a very different game that will play out over a much different kind of course. 

Here is an overview of the story, played out over nine holes: 

No. 1 

Greater Spokane prides itself on its golf courses, but from 1986 when it opened, until 2012, there was but one golf course in all of Spokane Valley – Painted Hills. That still put Spokane Valley two courses behind Liberty Lake, but who's counting. 

In many ways, the course was a small gem. It boasted a driving range, a challenging par-3 course (Chester Creek) and a 3,244-yard, par-36 course. Golfers looking to play 18 holes could cover the course twice – once from the white tees and once from the blues, for a total course length of 6,532 yards. 

It was a course designed for golfers looking to practice their game. 

It wasn't dynamic in the way Hangman Valley or Indian Canyon is to a golfer with a descent handicap. It wasn't as convenient as an Esmeralda or Downriver can be to Spokane golfers – but it fit into the golfing landscape in a very utilitarian way. 

No. 2 

The course was purchased by IWILL70 Properties, LLC in 2006. The property was put up for sale, but in 2012 the company declared bankruptcy, with an outstanding debt owed to AmericanWest Bank of $797,000. A public auction was set for September 2013 at the Spokane County Courthouse.  

Prior to the auction date, a group of concerned area a residents approached the Spokane Valley City Council, requesting that it purchase and continue to operate the golf course. Short of that, the city was asked to purchase the land and turn it into a city park.  

Spokane Valley City Council Member Dean Grafos recalls there being considerable interest at City Hall in buying the property. Prior to the auction involving the land, however, a group of local dentists talked to city officials about their intentions to buy the land.  

"We were ready to go," Grafos said. "We felt it was important for us to be at the table, then we backed off because of the dentists. It was disappointing.  

It could have completely changed the character of that area." Council Member Chuck Hafner said the contingent of dentists "had the right idea."  

"I really feel badly on what is happening," Hafner said. "Hindsight is much easier now and I wish we had somehow come up with the resources to purchase the property. It would have made a great recreational park for our city."  

No. 3  

Dave Black of Black Realty bought the 91-acre site at auction for $1.1 million. The dentists could not match the opening bid. Black announced that he was open to keeping Painted Hills as a golf course along with his residential plans for the area.  

No. 4  

In December 2013, real estate broker Bryan Walker presented a group of Painted Hills neighbors with a plan to develop the property. It was described as a "brainstorming session" so the developer could hear neighbors' concerns.  

The plan is to keep the clubhouse, turning it into a restaurant and lease the par-3 course. The remainder of the property would be developed with a mix of housing, potentially in a mixed-use concept similar to Kendall Yards. Final plans are still a year off.  

No. 5  

The final plans were unveiled late last year and can be viewed on the Spokane Valley's website at www.spokanevalley.org.  

The plan calls for 580 total units, 228 apartments, 26 single family homes and 52 "empty nester" ranchers on a three-hole chip-and-putt course, and 40 estate homes plus permission to add 52 loft units on top of commercial development facing Dishman-Mica Road. Home prices start at $300,000.  

The clubhouse restaurant is scheduled to open and has a 10-year lease. Additional commercial development could move into an area designated for mixed-use retail along Dishman-Mica Road.  

The development is designed so that it does not require a zoning change. Spokane County Commissioner Shelly O'Quinn, who has followed this land equivalent to musical chairs, said the current design for the acreage "has a lot of good aspects," including setbacks with sidewalks and plenty of greenspace.  

O'Quinn has been discussing the latest plans with Spokane Valley officials "to ensure that we have the least amount of impact on the surrounding community."  

No. 6  

In response to the development, a group of concerned citizens launched the Painted Hills Preservation Association and have introduced a fundraising website at www.gofundme.com/Save-Painted-Hills.  

The association hired The Tilghman Group to review the traffic study submitted to the city by the developers and found several problems, not the least of which is the fact that the property sits atop the Chester Creek flood plain.  

And the association promises to challenge the development every step of the way.  

No. 7  

The city of Spokane Valley has a nine-step process for approving a development such as the Painted Hills project. Painted Hills is currently on step three, which calls for staff and agency review of application materials. The city is expecting a report back on the traffic study and a report on the flood plain issues.  

No. 8  

Questions have been raised about how area schools will handle the anticipated increase in enrollment related to the new development. The Central Valley School District has indicated that, because of the passage of school levies and a recent bond, it can handle the increased number of students. But it will have to be creative about which schools take on the new students.  

No. 9  

The approval process is going to take time working its way through the system and there are some significant challenges to be overcome, especially with regards to the flood plain.  

"I like a lot of the pieces they are putting in place," O'Quinn said. "We'll see what the actual development design turns out to be."

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