Planning Commission trudges through Comp Plan: set to make recommendation to Council on Aug. 8

CHELAN - The Chelan Comprehensive Plan is finally out of the hands of Planning Commission. Well, almost.

After a month of debate, the commission voted and approved a final version of the Comp Plan at their regular meeting on Wednesday, July 19. Planning Director Craig Gildroy said they will now compile everything into one report - they hope to have on their website by Aug. 2 - and present it to the Chelan City Council on Tuesday, Aug. 8.

“It has been a long process, but we (now) get to do it all over with the council,”  Gilroy said after commission took their final vote on Wednesday. “We’re gearing up for that and making sure we cover everything adequately, but it is nice to get done.”

Although the commission passed through the plan, there was not a consensus among commissioners on future land use and zoning. Unlike the rest of staff, Commissioner Myrt Griffith was not on board with the multi-family zoning along Golf Course Road.

“She was concerned for the traffic it would generate in the (adjoining) single-family neighborhood, the (loss of) views from downtown and the height limit,” Gildroy said.

 Griffith was the only commissioner to vote nay on the zoning. The rest of the regulations were passed unanimously.

In what initially started last November, the Comp Plan is nearing the finish line after being discussed at considerable length by the Planning Commission, staff and hundreds of public comment. “We’ve never had this much public participation,” Gildroy gleaned from the public comment matrix.

The reason for this, in some part, can likely be attributed to the residents disdain for the current zoning of Three Fingers and their desire for them to become a public park.

There inlies the rub.

Community members Steve Kline and John Olson have been in the forefront of the debate since March, when they asked council to consider using eminent domain to acquire and purchase the Three Fingers from construction mogul, Goodfellow Brothers Inc (GBI). Mayor Mike Cooney, and the council have repeated numerous times they are in favor of parks, but will not take away private property from a landowner.

Of course, this all might not even matter if Judge Lesley Allan rules in favor of the Chelan Basin Conservancy, mandating their removal.

The City has remained neutral on the issue, but  Gildroy is confident a few changes to the Commercial Waterfront zone, including scaling the height limit down from 35 feet to 25 feet will help protect against large buildings on the Three  Fingers. Developers still have the ability to go back up to 35 feet though, provided they give the Planning Commission a criteria and 3D Model to show view impacts.

Kline and Olson discovered through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) that GBI initially filled out an application of a planned development for approximately 24 condos on the Three Fingers back in 2010, but the application was rescinded before being presented to the Planning Commission and public.

Should Judge Allan rule in favor of GBI (despite ruling for CBC previously in 2012) Kline and Olson are nervous the plan could re-surface.

“I haven’t thought about that,” Gildroy said. “But the changes in the Comp Plan may not allow them to do what they initially proposed. There is always the potential, but the new code keeps the density and planned development district from increasing.”

Another change, Gildroy said, is that for residential use GBI would have to show a water dependency as it’s primary use. In other words, a marina / dock, which is certainly attainable and an allowed use in the zone.

Part of GBI’s initial plan includes the bench (on the south side of 97A) above the Three Fingers, which they also own as well, zoned under the new plan as Tourist Accommodation (TA). So even if the Three Fingers come out, GBI still has the ability to construct a hotel, condos, or single family residences above.

GBI would still have to submit a plan, but either way, development along the Three Fingers area could be on the horizon.

Zach Johnson can be reached at lcmeditor@gmail.com or (509) 682-2213