Though he contends there well may be reasons to keep the project alive, Kenmore City Manager Frederick Stouder said local officials are looking to possibly revamp aging plans for the large-scale LakePointe mixed-use development proposal, stuck in neutral for more than a decade.

With Stouder noting that the original LakePointe master plan was approved by King County officials before Kenmore was even a city, he and others seem to be using the latest attempt to extend permits for the project as an opportunity to revisit the entire undertaking.

The first LakePointe master plan won King County approval in 1998 just prior to Kenmore’s incorporation as a city.

Stouder said that since then, the various permits needed to make the development happen have been extended several times, though a needed shoreline development permit expired in 2007. Stouder added a belief that now is the time to review the overall project, to determine what conditions around the targeted area have changed, to see if the proposal would hold up under current regulations.

Judging from information coming from the city, the affected property and the LakePointe permits are held by one firm, the Pioneer Towing Company.

Through a legal representative, Pioneer recently asked for another extension of a commercial site development permit.

That permit was set to expire at the end of 2009. Pioneer had asked for the permit to be extended through December 2012. Stouder said Kenmore officials instead agreed only to a temporary permit that runs through mid-February.

In a letter to Pioneer and its attorney, Stouder said the city might consider a further extension if the two sides can agree on a six-month process to review the entire project. The letter essentially states the city wants to use that time to study the LakePointe master plan and suggest possible amendments.

In the letter, Stouder noted that if no review process is agreed upon before expiration of the temporary permit, the city reserves the right to grant or deny any further extensions.

Pioneer’s attorney did not return a phone call requesting comment for this story. Stouder said he and other Kenmore administrators have met with Pioneer representatives at least once and he seemed to expect to do so again.

What is at stake in the apparently ongoing discussions is a 45-acre development proposed for the shore of Lake Washington, roughly where the lake meets the Sammamish River. The city’s Web site further describes the site as just east of Kenmore Air.

The project potentially includes 350,000 square feet of office space; 300,000 more square feet of retail, possibly including a multi-screen movie theater; and 1,200 residential units plus a marina.

According to Stouder and others, the economy has proven to be perhaps the biggest stumbling block to even starting the project. Dick Taylor is a former Kenmore mayor who served on a citizens committee that helped put together the original LakePointe proposal. He said there are at least two factors that have added greatly to the cost of the plan.

The first is a call for new road. According to the city, that road would connect State Route 522, at approximately 66th Avenue Northeast, with 68th Avenue Northeast.

Taylor also talked about the fact the LakePointe site consists primarily of landfill, apparently mostly used as the final resting space for debris from homes demolished to make room for Interstate 5. For several reasons, including the potential need to take extra steps to stabilize any construction, Taylor said the presence of the landfill clearly makes any development more complicated and more costly.

Despite any possible difficulties, Stouder listed a number of reasons Kenmore officials might want the LakePointe plan to remain in tact, if altered.

For one thing, Stouder noted a single company owns all of the land involved. If LakePointe dies, that land could be sold off piecemeal and developed piecemeal.

“Our challenge is, can we take the positive aspects… and improve those?” Stouder said.