Trendwest, in the news yesterday when it broke ground on another destination on the Oregon Coast, had been battling local environmental groups for months over the rezoning attempts for MountainStar in this eastern Washington community of 30,000 people on the slopes of the Cascade Mountains.

The firm, which specializes in timeshare properties, plans to build 4,000 vacation homes, three golf courses, a hotel, conference facilities and a retail site on about 1,140 acres. Approximately 5,085 acres are planned as open community space.

Local environmental group RIDGE had filed a lawsuit, contending that the county did not conduct a thorough study of the project and that county regulations would shield the resort from rezoning and environmental law changes for the next 30 years.