Magnuson

Liberty Lake Investments, Inc. owned property on Interstate 90 between Spokane, Washington and Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, which it wished to sell to a developer for construction of a regional shopping center. It encountered various difficulties, such as signing up sufficient tenants satisfactory to the prospective anchor tenant, the Bon Marche (the Bon); negotiating a deal with the Washington Department of Transportation for improved access to the shopping center; and fighting a challenge by Spokane shopping center interests to permits for Liberty Lake.

This antitrust action primarily has to do with a last-minute appeal to the Spokane Board of County Commissioners (Board), claiming that the County Hearing Examiner Committee erred in granting Liberty Lake a permit without a new Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), and litigation in the Washington state courts alleging that the Liberty Lake zoning plan violated Washington’s Environmental Policy Act (jointly, West 51k litigation). Both proceedings were brought by West 514, Inc., which operates a tavern in downtown Spokane, and other individuals who do business in Spokane, but they were prompted and paid for by Harry F. Magnu-son, the…