POST FALLS - Another chapter in the 13-year history of the Post Falls Landing project is about to start.

Liberty Bankers Life Insurance Co., owner of the 33-acre, multi-use site along Spokane Street and the Spokane River, is seeking changes to the project plan that would make it easier to sell smaller lots to individual users.

Liberty took over the site via foreclosure about two years ago after Harry Green, the original developer, had financial woes.

Allan Scharton, Liberty's real estate assets manager, said his firm wants to see the site developed sooner rather than later, as it has been at a standstill for several years.

There has only been limited interest from single developers in taking over the entire project, Scharton said.

"Harry's original plan was and is quite complex and exceedingly onerous for a developer, especially in light of the dramatic changes in the economy and real estate market since the 2008 meltdown," Scharton said. "Therefore, Liberty must have the flexibility to offer individual commercial, retail, office and residential lots within the project to individual users."

After condominiums and the marina were built and the Post Falls Urban Renewal Agency funded $1.5 million in infrastructure to jumpstart the project, little visible activity has occurred.

Liberty tapped Gary Young, Post Falls' former community development director, to work with city staff over the past year to make changes to the plan.

A public hearing on the amended plan is expected to be held by the Planning and Zoning Commission within three months. It will also be presented to the city council.

"Liberty's position is that the suggested revisions to the plan represent minor changes which no one would notice while driving through the finished development," Scharton said. "Liberty is not proposing any changes to the existing plan that would change the overall flavor or experience of the original, approved Post Falls Landing project."

City officials said that recrafting the plan was not required by the city, but was the desire of Liberty to have the project move forward.

Scharton said one of the catalysts that prompted Liberty to change the plan was that it wanted to remove the requirement of underground parking in an area of the project.

"I think this item represents the most apparent change which may be noticeable to the public eye," Scharton said.

Underground parking would be allowable, but not required under the proposal, Scharton said.

"We felt that underground parking there would not be feasible or practical," he said.

Scharton said possible uses may include medical and real estate offices, retail, restaurants and apartments.

All of the businesses and housing projects would need to conform to design standards.

Linda Wilhelm, a city council member and one of four Coldwell Banker Schneidmiller Realty listing agents for the site, said there has been a "fair amount" of interest from businesses in the property. She said banks, restaurants and bakeries have been among the type of businesses that have inquired, but declined to specify names or whether they are local or national firms.

"We can't sell (the property) until it's split into lots," Wilhelm said. "Harry had a great vision and that was everybody's dream, but it needs to be more realistic."

Scharton said Liberty and Coldwell Banker have backed off from launching an aggressive marketing campaign for the site, pending the amended plan.

Wilhelm said while some opinions hold that spending urban renewal dollars on the project was a bust, the property value numbers that she researched tell a different story.

When the Louisiana-Pacific mill occupied the site in 1995, the assessed value of the land and buildings was $1.5 million. After the mill closed and most of the buildings were removed, the value was $2.4 million in 1999. In 2013, with the condos and medical buildings at the site, the assessed value was $14.7 million.

"I realize that many years have passed and that this site has set pretty much dormant for years," Wilhelm wrote to fellow council members and city staff in an email. "However, at this time when values are increasing and total sales in the area are up, with the purposed re-platting of this land we should see continued growth in tax revenue.

"I would strongly disagree that it was a waste to put infrastructure on this site. I believe the numbers here prove that statement."

Scharton said Liberty is in support of the adjacent Spokane Street renovation project, another urban renewal-funded project. However, Scharton said Liberty can't dedicate right-of-way to the urban renewal agency for the project until the plan revisions are settled.

Another matter involving the project that remains unsettled is ownership of the boat slips.

A judge in January ruled that the law firm of Witherspoon-Kelley, not Liberty, should have control of the slips. The law firm had secured a lien against the marina after Green's legal fees owed to the company piled up.

Scharton said Liberty plans to appeal the judge's decision.