PORT ANGELES — A long standing dispute between Habitat for Humanity of Clallam County and the city of Port Angeles over 580 feet of West 16th Street is now in Clallam County Superior Court.
Habitat for Humanity filed a lawsuit Wednesday alleging the city has no legal ground to require it to pave and widen a gravel portion of the road that extends from the northwestern edge of its planned 42-unit Maloney Heights development to South O Street.
Maloney Heights is a $3.5 million project of Habitat for Humanity and Serenity House of Clallam County that includes 14 single-family homes for people now living in substandard housing and 28 apartment units for people who are considered to be chronically homeless.
The project is funded by $2.75 million in state and federal grants, $391,000 from Habitat for Humanity, $261,000 from Serenity House, $250,000 from the city’s housing rehabilitation fund and $45,000 from Clallam County.
The development would sit on 4.3 acres of land owned by Habitat for Humanity in the 2300 block of West 16th Street.
The homes would be built by Habitat for Humanity volunteers, with owners providing work, called “sweat equity,” and paying off a mortgage to the nonprofit agency at no interest.
Tenants for the apartment building would be chosen by Serenity House.
Fall 2011
The apartment building and two of the homes are scheduled to be completed by fall 2011 if construction can begin in early spring, said Habitat for Humanity Executive Director Dick Chambers.
The rest of the homes are expected to be completed at a rate of two per year for six years, he said.
Chambers said Habitat for Humanity, which is heading the project, has contested having to pave the 580-foot stretch of the road west of the development site, which it calls costly and unnecessary, for more than a year.
But Habitat for Humanity is not challenging the city’s requirement that the nonprofit organization improve another 580-foot stretch of the road that extends from the development site to the nearest portion of 16th Street that is paved in order to provide vehicle access at the north end of the property.
The city wants it to improve the entire 1,160-foot stretch of dirt and gravel road.
Chambers said that paving half of the gravel and dirt road will provide adequate vehicle access for residents and emergency responders. He said paving the other 580 feet of road will unnecessarily cost Habitat for Humanity between $100,000 and $200,000.
“That we don’t have,” he said, referring to the projected price tag.
The city said traffic impacts from Maloney Heights require Habitat for Humanity to ensure the entire stretch of the road between N and O streets is paved.
The City Council concurred earlier this month when it approved an “infill overlay zone” for the project that allows the site to be more densely developed than current zoning permits.
Improving the entire 1,160-foot stretch of gravel and dirt road was a condition of the exception the city provided Habitat for Humanity.
But Habitat for Humanity counters in its lawsuit that the city has not done a traffic impact study to show that the development will have enough of a traffic impact to require it to pave and widen more than 580 feet of the road.
Seeking resolution
Nathan West, city economic and community development director, said Thursday the city has not done a traffic impact study but declined further comment on that issue since it is part of a lawsuit.
But, he added, the city is speaking with Habitat for Humanity to resolve the issue outside of court.
Chambers said that is true, and the city is offering to help pay for a yet-to-be-determined amount of the costs.
“We’re still negotiating in good faith with the city,” he said.
“We hope to reach a compromise.”
If that does not occur, the issue would be settled by a judge, which could push ground-breaking to late spring, Chambers said.
________
Reporter Tom Callis can be reached at 360-417-3532 or at tom.callis@peninsuladailynews.com.
