After years of work behind the scenes, developer Dave Barnett is nearly ready to unveil his proposal to build a minicity called Falcon Ridge.

The plan may never get anywhere.

The Snohomish County Council is moving to head off plans for projects such as Barnett's community near the Cascade Range foothills that would include up to 6,000 homes plus shops, schools and businesses. His land is a 3,000-acre island of mostly timberland just west of Lake Roesiger.

On Wednesday, the council voted 3-1 on an emergency temporary ban on permit applications for these projects. The emergency proposal failed because it required at least four votes.

Democratic County Council chairman Dave Somers, who pushed for the measure, vowed to try for another ban in coming months.

The council is targeting what planners call fully contained communities. Under county rules, a fully contained community is a housing development plopped down on at least 2,000 rural acres. Builders are required to carefully plan out open space, housing, jobs, businesses, schools and emergency services.

The projects "just are large housing developments in the rural area with no roads or infrastructure," Somers said. "I personally don't think they're appropriate in Snohomish County."

These kinds of projects can preserve open space, provide affordable housing and put housing for workers next to their jobs, said George Kresovich, Barnett's land-use attorney.

The proposed temporary county ban came as a surprise and might disrupt Barnett's efforts to build the project, Kresovich said.

"It serves no purpose," he said.

Republican County Councilman John Koster was alone in voting against the temporary ban.

"A moratorium is an extreme remedy for an extreme risk," Koster said. That risk hasn't been proven, he said.

The council has final say over proposals such as the one at Lake Roesiger, Koster added.

"This council still controls whether it flies or it dies," he said.

Fully contained communities are allowed by the state Growth Management Act and Snohomish County rules. Even so, the concept is taking a beating.

There's a push by regional leaders in four counties to discourage fully contained communities in the Puget Sound area after projects in King County haven't delivered the promised job base.

"It takes time for the jobs to develop," Kresovich said. "They come in fits and starts with the market."

The Snohomish County Council voted in 2005 to allow fully contained communities in rural areas after Barnett's land-use experts lobbied for years for permission.

Somers wasn't on the council at the time, nor were Democrats Brian Sullivan and Mike Cooper, who voted as a bloc Wednesday for the six-month ban.

"We have a new council this year," Somers said. "A majority of the council is concerned enough about them (fully contained communities) to want to take a time out."

Such projects could put a strain on rural volunteer fire districts and water supply, Cooper said.

Democratic Councilman Dave Gossett missed Wednesday's vote because he was on vacation in Hawaii. He voted with the Republican majority for fully contained communities in 2005.

Barnett's team of consultants spent 19 months and hundreds of thousands of dollars estimating the transportation costs of putting a development in the rural area, Kresovich said.

The project conceptually includes more than 100 acres for an office business park and about 30 acres for drugstores, grocery stores and other neighborhood services, Kresovich said.

Traffic would reach the project from Dubuque Road on the south end of the property and Carpenter Road on the north, he said. The county will review what roads need to be widened and what intersections need to be built to handle possible traffic from the development.

Despite a possible price tag in the tens of millions of dollars, "we have reason to believe a project there is feasible," Kresovich said.

If Barnett files a formal application, it would be the largest such development in 20 years in Snohomish County and on par with Mukilteo's Harbour Pointe, said Craig Ladiser, county director of Planning and Development Services.

The county has assigned a 10-person technical team to review an application when it is filed, Ladiser said. The county plans to hire a traffic consultant for $70,000, who will be paid for by Barnett.

Construction of a minicity also is under consideration on about 2,000 acres north of Lake Goodwin, said Brian Holtzclaw of the Edmonds-based McNaughton Group.

"A moratorium isn't warranted," Holtzclaw said. "I'm not sure what the emergency is that this came about in the last 24 hours."

Somers wrote the proposal over several weeks and pushed for a vote Wednesday because Barnett's proposed minicity at Lake Roesiger is in the works.

Opponents groups are happy to see the council reconsidering the rural land-use policies.

Ellen Hiatt Watson, who has led the opposition to proposed rural clusters and a possible fully contained community in the Lake Goodwin area, applauded the effort and lambasted Koster for voting no. The Lake Goodwin area is part of Koster's district.

"He obviously doesn't live in Seven Lakes or Lake Roesiger," Watson said.

Reporter Bill Sheets contributed to this story.

Reporter Jeff Switzer: 425-339-3452 or jswitzer@heraldnet.com.