A pair of Langley property owners who have been advocating for the city to give up its access to the land can now breathe a sigh of relief and move forward with their plans.

During a meeting this week, the Langley City Council voted unanimously to terminate the utility easement on 510 Cascade Ave., upon recommendation from Mayor Kennedy Horstman, Public Works Director Randi Perry and Director of Community Planning Meredith Penny.

The property is the site of the former Edgecliff Restaurant, which went out of business in 2010, according to an article in the South Whidbey Record. Based on a Zillow.com listing, the 4,290-square-foot property sold for $1 million in 2021.

Deanna Nollette, one of the two owners, approached the city council in the past about vacating an abandoned sewer easement on the land, which she explained bisects the property and makes any design and future construction very expensive and complex. In December 2023, a divided city council voted to retain the easement and relocate it to a different place on the property.

Since then, the mayor met with the city attorney, the property owners and their architect, who proposed an alternate connection for the utility — across the street in a church parking lot. Horstman allowed that an alternate path might be possible, but that it was up to the property owners – Nollette and Marcos Diaz – to confirm existing conditions by hiring a plumber to investigate and provide a report of the conditions.

Results of the sewer inspection confirmed the current connection is in the easement.

“However, it appears that the city did abandon the ‘main’ status as there is no access to the east,” Horstman noted in her memo to the council.

The results also confirmed an alternate path to the sewer main in the Island Church parking lot, though it is in poor condition and will need to be replaced by the property owners to accommodate further development.

City officials recommended the extinguishment of the sewer easement for a few reasons: termination removes any potential risk associated with city infrastructure near an unstable bluff and allows future redevelopment on the site to be located further from the unstable bluff; reasonable redevelopment of the property is in the best interest of Langley for purposes of economic development, city revenue and urban vitality; and the easement is no longer necessary for the city’s sanitary sewer utility or any other public purpose.

As part of this, officials requested at least $3,500 in compensation from the property owners, because while the value of the easement is minimal, the cost of the process to relinquish it is not.

Councilmember Chris Carlson asked if there would need to be a new easement to connect any new buildings to the sewer line.

“One of the challenges that we have is not putting the cart before the horse, and in this case, actually allowing the planning process and the permitting process to take place,” Horstman said, adding that in the future there may be a need to establish another easement, potentially a private one, but at this point it’s all surmisal.

Nollette and Diaz did not comment during the city council meeting on Aug. 19.