Ricks Mountain, LLC, the developer of a proposed major subdivision in Saluda Township, has filed a lawsuit with the Polk County Civil Superior Court.

Ricks Mountain proposed last April a 319-lot subdivision on 1,275 acres on the western slopes of Tryon Peak in the Saluda Township.

The lawsuit says that Ricks Mountain should have been grandfathered from the 7-acre minimum lot size requirement because the Polk County Planning Board reviewed the conceptual plan for the development before it amended the subdivision ordinance to require larger lot sizes.

The planning board on April 12, 2007 reviewed conceptual plans for the project, but did not approve those plans. However, at the time, a clause in the county&squo;s subdivision ordinance said that&bsp; lot dimension requirements for major subdivisions do not apply to subdivisions that have been &dquo;reviewed&dquo; by the planning board or staff.

That clause was later deleted from the county&squo;s most recent version of the subdivision ordinance, after it was amended in January of this year to add the 7-acre minimum lot size requirement. Ricks Mountain&bsp; claims that deletion was not properly advertised prior to the county&squo;s public hearing on the amendment, which makes the requirement invalid.

Look for additional coverage on the lawsuit in today&39;s Bulletin.