A soccer field and a proposed overnight soccer camp complex near North Bend have drawn the ire of neighbors who believe the camp ruins the area’s rural character and violates county law.

Neighbors Bill and Kathy Wilbert have filed a lawsuit in King County Superior Court that seeks to overturn county approval of the camp owned and operated by Peter Fewing.

A complaint by neighbor Chris Coones sparked an investigation by the county ombudsman office of the county Department of Development and Environmental Service’s (DDES) initial approval of a grading permit in 2004 allowing the soccer field. The ombudsman office manages citizen complaints concerning King County government agencies.

“Basically, it was shoved down our throats,” said neighbor Pete Glover, who supports the appeals of his neighbors.

Telephone numbers listed on the camp’s Web site had been disconnected and Fewing’s attorney, Bob Jones, did not return phone calls. Fewing did not respond to an early November call or to an e-mail sent last week to the address listed on the camp’s Web site.

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