Carlsborg 66-manufactured home park decision expected by July 26

SEQUIM — Another decision looms for a proposed 55-and-older manufactured home development in Carlsborg on the corner of Atterberry and Hooker roads.

Clallam County Hearing Examiner Andrew Reeves plans to make a decision on a binding site plan for 66 manufactured homes by July 26.

This is the second attempt by Chris Anderson of CA Homes Inc. to seek approval through the county after his similarly designed 73-home park was denied in August last year.

Reeves cited issues with the former project’s stormwater plan, how traffic enters and exits the site, and its parking, lighting and landscaping plans.

Anderson’s updated project proposes two phases with the first phase including construction of 36 manufactured homes and 30 homes for phase II ranging from 1,200 to 1,700 square feet.

Anderson said June 21 at a hearing for his potential new development in the Clallam County commissioner’s board room he feels his team addressed Reeves’ concerns and hired the proper officials for needed reports.

He said since last summer pricing for single-family homes has risen significantly and people are lucky to find new homes for less than $350,000 in the area. Anderson said he plans to sell his proposed houses for about $150,000 and lease each property as affordable seniors’ homes.

Donella Clark, Clallam County senior planner, said at the hearing that county staff approve of the plan with 32 provisions, including a final stormwater plan, a plan for pedestrian paths, widening the north side of Atterberry Road 17 feet, and providing a landscaping screen 15 feet wide along the west and south property lines.

She said a road connecting lots along Matriotti Creek was removed during planning to allow for enough buffer between development and the creek.

However, following a meeting on the property with Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe and Department of Natural Resources officials, Clark said they agreed the creek is a Type 3 stream and required a 100-foot buffer rather than 150 feet with a Type 3 stream and that a county planning map incorrectly classified it as a Type 2 stream.

Neighbors’ concerns

This remains one of the biggest points of contention for residents with the group Concerned Atterberry Neighbors.

The group’s attorney Alex Sidles of Bricklin & Newman of Seattle said the differences between the classifications of streams are subtle, but “we believe there is substantial evidence this is a Type 2 and not Type 3.”

Following neighbors’ hired consultants’ review of the creek last year, Sidles said endangered/threatened fish like steelhead being present should factor into an increased buffer.

When asked by Reeves what the neighbors seek, he said one of their main focuses was a minimum 150 foot buffer under the Type 2 classification from the creek but there’s a provision in the county’s code to go at least 300 feet when endangered species are involved.

Some of their other concerns via letter to Reeves also asked for reevaluating the high water mark on the property, addressing what habitat are present in the Habitat Management Plan, and adding provisions for overflow parking because no parking is allowed on the roads inside the development.

Several neighbors spoke June 21, too, sharing concerns that the proposal didn’t provide enough parking, it would increase vehicle traffic on Atterberry and Hooker roads, it could possibly become a “blight” on the community, and more.

During the hearing’s testimony, Sequim resident Julie Gardiner said she feels there’s “an artificial conflict brewed between the neighborhood and applicant” and she’s “greatly concerned this will all end up in superior court.”

Reeves replied, “I suspect I am just a stop along the way,” which some audience members laughed.

County, developer landscaping

Anderson’s consulting designer, Tracy Gudgel of Zenovic & Associates Inc., said it was fine with the county’s 32 provisions except for the 15-foot landscaping buffer.

He said they proposed a 10-foot screen with a 6-foot cedar fence and landscaping and that the county’s Department of Community Development was trying to use its proposal, which was denied by county commissioners, to mandate a 15-foot buffer.

Clark said county staff weren’t trying to circumvent the public process by proposing a 15-foot buffer.

She said the county’s ordinance doesn’t address manufactured home parks for greenbelts and that going through the hearing examiner is the public process for greenbelts in manufactured home parks.

Aside from landscaping, Clark also asked to go with Dr. G. Bradford Shea of Westech Company to confirm where he marked the property’s high water area for Anderson’s application. Anderson agreed.

At the hearing, both the county, developer and neighbors added items for the record, including a Wetland Delineation Report. Reeves granted three more weeks for applicant, county and citizen comments on the new items to be submitted by noon today. From there, he’d make a determination on the project by July 26, or 10 business days later.

For Anderson’s first proposal, Reeves extended public comment from June 1, 2017, to July 13, so Anderson could provide a revised site plan and reports on critical areas, traffic impacts, stormwater, landscaping, lighting and pedestrian circulation.

For more information on the proposal, visit www.clallam.net/permits/hearingexaminer.html.

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Matthew Nash is a reporter with the Olympic Peninsula News Group, which is composed of Sound Publishing newspapers Peninsula Daily News, Sequim Gazette and Forks Forum. Reach him at mnash@sequimgazette.com.