Tom Pew, in the Campbell Wash: "The Hohokam didn't build houses in the wash. The Spanish didn't build houses in the wash. The Mexicans didn't build houses in the wash. The pioneers didn't build houses in the wash. Now in 2006, we're going to build houses in the wash?"

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Do Not Enter When Flooded.

A yellow sign with that message marks the descent on Camino a los Vientos into the Campbell Wash.

A developer has proposed building two houses just north of the dirt road, at the bottom of the steep slopes flanking the wash. The lots have been carved from larger homesites that sit on the ridge above.

Neighbors are outraged, and plans prompted the county to convene an expert panel to examine the way flood-plain use permits are issued.

At issue is whether flood models used by the county account for the deeper, swifter-moving water that flows through steep, canyon-walled washes like the Campbell Wash. The models don't distinguish between types of washes.

The decision could have broad implications as rising land prices make previously marginal lots more attractive.

"The Foothills are largely built out, so all the easy property is taken," said County Administrator Chuck Huckelberry. "The theory is you can recover a portion of the wash and build there without any harm to the homeowner or anyone else."

Though cautioning that two homes don't make a trend, housing analyst John Strobeck said more buildings are going where they wouldn't go before.

"Our home market is driven very strongly by price," he said. "With impact fees and set-asides pushing land prices up, people are increasingly looking at land that didn't used to be desirable."

For Tom Pew, who lives a few houses north of the proposed houses, common sense says the washes should be off-limits.

"The Hohokam didn't build houses in the wash," he said. "The Spanish didn't build houses in the wash. The Mexicans didn't build houses in the wash. The pioneers didn't build houses in the wash. Now in 2006, we're going to build houses in the wash?"

Pew has rallied his neighbors into a group called the Campbell Wash Coalition, which filed an unusual third-party appeal before a flood-plain use permit was even issued.

The developer, MTI Investments, has applied for a permit for one of the lots.

Larry Hecker, a lawyer for the developer, said the appeal was premature, and didn't give the builder an opportunity to develop his plans.

He said MTI Investments was prepared to do whatever the county requested to make the homes safe. He said battling sprawl will require creative solutions.

"There's a dwindling inventory of homesites that are developable unless you look at the far reaches of the county," he said. "If we want to slow the sprawl, one way to do that is look at sites that already have infrastructure."

Sculptor Dan Bates, who lives just north of one of the proposed house sites, said the long drought has lulled people.

"If we weren't in a 10-year drought, we wouldn't be having this conversation," said Bates, who has lived above the wash for 30 years. "Unless we get some rain, it may never flood down there. But if we get out of this drought, it would be scary down there."

Bates stables his horses on the flood plain, but he doesn't keep tack or other supplies down there. The water has run as high as his horses' knees.

Suzanne Shields, chief engineer and director of the county Flood Control District, said all the district has done is acknowledge that engineering drawings submitted by the developer were technically correct.

She said the proposed houses would encroach 40 feet in a 400-foot wide wash, and digging into the hillside to avoid encroaching on the wash could be damaging as well. She also said there were concerns about access and septic systems.

Supervisor Ann Day asked the county to look into the larger issues raised by the proposal, including hillside building.

A three-member panel that includes hydrologists and engineers should present its findings to the Board of Supervisors in June.

Howard Baldwin, an attorney for the Campbell Wash Coalition, said his biggest concern is setting a precedent.

"If you have 60 to 100 of these, the erosion is going to be terrible, and the water is going to be higher and stronger," he said.