No compromise on Maple Field development

The Town of La Conner did not violate Washington’s constitution in its purchase and sale of the Hedlin family’s Maple Avenue property last April. The lawyer for Maple Field, the Landed Gentry development company responded with a three page letter Sept. 15 to the Bricklin and Newman law firm representing the Reclaim Hedlin Field group organized by resident Linda Clark. Bricklin lawyer Bryan Telegin sent a Sept. 1 letter to Landed Gentry calling the sale “likely illegal.”

There will not be a “compromise of Maple Field agreeing to not develop the property for one year so that your client can attempt to raise $700,000 to purchase the property from Maple Field in exchange for your client agreeing not to sue,” Holly Stafford, attorney with Chmelik Sitkin & Davis, wrote. Telegin has a “misplaced reliance” on the 1978 state Supreme Court case Lassila v. City of Wenatchee, Stafford wrote, and the firm “disagree(s) with your assessment.”

She asserts “the Town did not finance Maple Field ‘s acquisition of public property.”

Stafford’s point is “The lending of credit clause of the Washington Constitution is intended to prevent public funds from being used to benefit private interests where public interest is not primarily served.” La Conner did not take a financial risk, she writes, but “the opposite occurred – Maple Field lent its credit to the Town to acquire the Property.”

The property sale to Maple Field benefitted the public, she writes, because residents gained a park and the terms of the sale included ensuring “the Town maintains a supply of affordable housing” by limiting the size of the homes.

Two attorneys the Weekly News consulted with agreed that Linda Clark, organizer of Reclaim Hedlin Field, will incur significant legal expense if her attorneys pursue this case by filing the action in Skagit County Superior Court and asking the court to halt construction pending a hearing on whether the status quo should be maintained until a hearing on the merits could be held.

Clark would not speak on the record when asked about a two-page flyer that has been left at doors around town that summarizes “the Town’s intentions” and provides an almost two year timeline of events, quoting from town records. The appeal states “donations made payable to Bricklin & Newman, LLP, Subject line: Reclaim Hedlin Field.”

Clark would not comment on the amount of money raised, the number of donations or how many people are involved in Reclaim Hedlin Field.

Telegin and Stafford declined to speak to the Weekly News about the case.