King County Superior Court judge Monica Benton ruled on May 9 that the city of Kirkland must process the Potala Village developer’s building permit application per February 2011 zoning laws, when the Shoreline Substantial Development application was originally filed.

“The Dargeys are pleased with the decision,” said Duana T. Kolouskova, the Potala Village plaintiff’s attorney. “They’re ready to move forward with the project with what we hope to be a constructive fashion.”

For one year, plaintiffs Lobsang Dargey and wife Tamara Agassi Dargey with Potala Village Kirkland, LLC, and defendants with the city argued over several building moratoria the city imposed on neighborhood business districts, where the controversial proposed Potala Village project would have been.

Kolouskova filed an injunction against the city last May with claims that the moratorium was imposed on the property illegally.

Dargey filed a second lawsuit in January, which asserted the city used the ongoing moratorium as a cover to abruptly adopt drastic zoning changes that forced major amendments to the Potala Village project. That lawsuit is still in litigation.

Dargey initially proposed a four-story development in 2009 that would consist of 181 apartment units with 6,000 square feet of retail and parking space on a 1.2 acre lot on 10th Avenue South and Lake Street South.

However, when Dargey met with the city to scale down the project, he agreed to 150 units per acre. The density limit was again revised to 143 units per acre “to allow for higher ceilings and larger courtyards that most city standards in the region require,” according to 2012 court documents.

But on Feb. 23, 2011 when Dargey submitted his Shoreline Substantial Development permit application for that design, which is subject to the vested rights doctrine, his application wasn’t approved until Jan. 17 of this year.

During that time, the city enacted four moratoria and changed neighborhood business (BN) zoning laws that would prevent him from building the 143 unit per acre project. There are only two BN zones in Kirkland – one in the Bridle Trails neighborhood and one on Lake Street South.

City attorney Robin Jenkinson said city officials are looking at their options for judicial review and will ask the judge to reconsider her decision on May 20.

“The judge was thoughtful, she read a great deal of material,” said Jenkins of the 21 court declarations, motions, exhibits and responses. “We just see it differently.”