By DON NELSON
Okanogan County Superior Court Judge Chris Culp has denied a request by defendants to dismiss two plaintiffs from the legal proceedings in a lawsuit over a small cabin built on Flagg Mountain.
In a ruling dated July 12, Culp said there was no persuasive argument offered by the defendants to support disqualifying Steve and Kristin Devin as plaintiffs in the suit.
The defendants, owners of the small cabin near Mazama, had asked Culp to reconsider his earlier ruling that the Devins could remain as parties in the suit.
The lawsuit, originally brought by the Devins, John and Rayma Hayes and Lee and Theresa Miller, is a civil action seeking to enforce building covenants on the cabin’s site overlooking the valley floor.
On May 28, Culp ruled that the lawsuit could proceed, but without the Millers as plaintiffs. At that hearing, Culp dismissed motions by Wenatchee attorney Michelle Green of Jeffers, Danielson, Sonn & Alyward, representing the owners of the cabin, to disqualify all the plaintiffs in the suit.
In a June 6 filing asking Culp to reconsider his earlier decision, Green requested that the Devins also be disqualified from the suit, alleging that they misrepresented their ownership interest in Mazama-area properties with a view of the cabin.
After sorting through property records, Culp concluded that the Devins have “a basis on which to claim standing.”
The Seattle-based owners of the cabin are James Dow, Tom and Jeannie Kundig, and Ben Rand. Ultimately, the plaintiffs are asking the court to impose a permanent injunction that would order the defendants to abide by the provisions of covenants – in other words, remove the cabin from its current location.
No trial date has been set.
