The Spokane County hearing examiner has denied a request by Spokane developers Dennis Swartout and his son, Ben, for a height exemption to allow construction of two 12-story condominium towers on the South Hill.

Michael Dempsey, the hearing examiner, determined in a ruling issued earlier this month that the requested 150-foot height limit for the proposed Moran Prairie Condominiums project doesn't conform to land uses in the surrounding community, where the height limit is 60 feet.

The multimillion-dollar project was proposed on 4.6 acres of land between 53rd and 55th avenues, about two blocks east of Regal Street. The parcel, zoned for mixed uses, is just east of South Regal Lumber Yard and just north across 55th from South Hill Mini Storage.

Had the project been approved, it potentially would have had a combined value of roughly $74 million, based on the developers' stated goal of keeping average sales prices in the 247,000-square-foot project at under $300 a square foot.

The developers had proposed a planned-unit development (PUD) with two nearly identical towers that each would have included up to 68 living units on their second through 12th floors and 11,000 square feet of retail and commercial space on their ground floors. The proposed PUD also included an underground parking structure.

Dempsey's ruling says the county's planning staff shouldn't have allowed the application to proceed to the hearing level because the parcel is zoned as mixed use, which doesn't allow such a PUD.

Ben Swartout contends that the project would have fit the intent of the mixed-use zone, which encourages development that supports a community center with activities within easy walking distance.

"We wanted the project to have more open space than is traditional," he adds. "It would have catered to pedestrians and put autos out of sight."

He says a height variance was needed to make such a project economically viable.

"In order to make concrete-and-steel construction and the enormous expense of underground parking feasible, it would need that height," he says. "If we constructed four to six buildings with four to five stories each, it would lose open space and amenities that were the goal of the project."

Swartout says he and his father haven't decided yet what they'll do next regarding the vacant parcel, which their family owns.

"We thought the Moran Prairie Condominiums project was innovative and progressive," he says. "We're disappointed the county was unable to recognize some of its benefits."

Dennis Swartout has been involved in several developments, most of which are in North Idaho, including the upscale Riverside Harbor residential development, in Post Falls.