COEUR d'ALENE - New evidence compelled the Kootenai County commissioners on Thursday night to overturn their previous approval of 15 multi-million-dollar cabins on Neachen Bay.

Following a hearing required by a court remand, the commissioners voted 2-1 to rescind their approval of a condominium plat for the Gozzer Bay Resort project, proposed by Discovery Squaw Bay Land, LLC.

The rescinding was due to issues with an incomplete site disturbance permit.

"It's a component you need to have," Commissioner Jai Nelson said of the permit, which the commissioners had believed was complete when they initially approved the project last September. "If they had been missing that piece originally, they wouldn't have come to us. Now that piece has been tossed out, so we're missing a piece."

The proposal for the guest cabin resort had included units ranging from 3,500 to 5,000 square feet, with multiple stories, and valued between $2 and $4 million.

First District Judge John Luster had recently ordered the commissioners to hold another hearing on the project, after the discovery that the developer's application for a site disturbance permit had been incomplete all along.

When a Harrison couple had appealed the permit, a county examiner had discovered the application hadn't covered all aspects of the project, and rescinded the permit after the commissioners had already made their decision.

Under the judge's order, the commissioners were to determine if their approval should be modified, based only on information related to the rescinded site disturbance permit.

Attorney John Magnuson, representing the Arizona-based developer, argued on Thursday that a site disturbance permit is not necessary for a condominium plat approval.

He pointed out that the latter is a conceptual decision, and that Discovery would still obtain a complete site disturbance permit before doing any construction.

Needing a new permit doesn't warrant throwing out the whole project, Magnuson said.

"It's not the end of the world," he said. "It wasn't the fulcrum on which that whole decision (approval of the condominium plat) hinged."

But Megan O'Dowd, representing Harrison couple Tom and Connie Fudge, contended that the permit had been presented as a part of the project, and its inadequacy undermined the entire approval.

"The only action this board may take without violating the law is to rescind its original approval," O'Dowd said.

Commissioner Dan Green said he found it illogical to rescind approval for the entire project, which would force the applicant to go through the whole application process again only to present a slightly adjusted site disturbance permit.

"I have trouble getting my arms around that, that the law is that irrational," he said.

But he agreed that when the commissioners gave approval, information had been missing to prove Discovery could meet the site disturbance ordinance.

Commissioner Todd Tondee, who cast the lone vote against rescinding, argued that the ordinance doesn't require a complete site disturbance permit for a condominium plat to be approved.

He believed there was enough information indicating Discovery could obtain a complete permit to replace the faulty one.

"I think they had the piece," Tondee said. "I think it was accomplished in a conceptual site disturbance plan."

Discovery Squaw Bay Land, LLC is a subset of Discovery Land Company, which developed the Gozzer Ranch golf and lake club project in Coeur d'Alene.

After the vote, Magnuson said he would consult with his client to determine the next move.

"It's clearly wrong," he said of the commissioners' vote. "It's contrary to county code."

Tom Fudge said the commissioners made the right decision.

He and his wife, who live near the project site, are not opposed to the project overall, he said.

"We'll see what can be done to have the development go forward in a positive manner," he said.