CARLSBORG — A proposed Carlsborg manufactured home park faces another crossroads.
Clallam County Hearing Examiner Andrew Reeves has again denied Atterberry Landing, a proposed 66-manufactured home development for residents 55 and older, at the northwest corner of Atterberry and Hooker roads.
Reeves denied the binding site plan three times over recent months — originally on July 27, a reconsideration for the proposal on Aug. 30, and a follow-up to the reconsideration on Sept. 20 — despite efforts by developer Chris Anderson of CA Homes Inc. and Clallam County Department of Community Development staff.
Anderson has until Thursday to file a petition for the proposal through Clallam County Superior Court.
Anderson could not be reached for comment.
“If you choose to uphold this denial based off items that have been correctly [addressed], items that I have no control over, and items that were never part of the original denial, then I will be forced to move this to litigation in the court system due to unfair treatment, loss of time and money,” Anderson wrote to Reeves on Sept. 10.
Reeves’ most recent issues stem with the project’s sidewalks, overflow parking and critical aquifer recharge area. He wrote in a Sept. 20 statement that the Clallam County Code allows him to attach a condition of approval to further the public health, safety and welfare.
“Because of characteristics unique to the property and proposal, conditions would be warranted related to parking, protecting critical areas, and providing pedestrian amenities beyond the minimum requirements of the municipal code,” Reeves wrote Sept. 20.
In his Aug. 30 decision, which he reiterated Sept. 20, Reeves felt the issues could be handled through conditions but new project plans would be required to address these issues.
“When considered cumulatively, it is unclear what, precisely, the Hearing Examiner would be approving while addressing each of these deficiencies, in piecemeal fashion, through additional conditions,” he wrote.
Reeves added that the public wouldn’t be able to view new plans.
“Ensuring that proposed development is consistent with public health, safety, welfare, use and interest, however, requires more concrete plans and analysis, preferably through an organized, transparent process,” he wrote.
Parking, sidewalks
Both Anderson, his engineer Tracy Gudgel with Zenovic & Associates, and Clallam County senior planner Donella Clark wrote to Reeves asking him to reconsider his August decision.
Clark wrote that Reeves had an “erroneous interpretation of the code” in regards to building sidewalks along Atterberry Road.
She said Clallam County Code exempts the property because it’s at least 500 feet from U.S. Highway 101, and that Clallam County’s road department determined it has sufficient right-of-way for future construction of sidewalks because Anderson is required to widen Atterberry as part of his 30-plus conditions required by county staff.
The proposal doesn’t allow for street parking, but project proponents said there is adequate parking for each home with four spaces — two in the garage, two in the driveway.
Gudgel said overflow parking in each driveway amounts to 132 parking spaces, and that Clallam County Code only requires 1.5 spaces per unit.
“We feel that based on the fact that each lot can accommodate four vehicles without impeding emergency vehicle or other traffic that public health and safety are adequately protected with the proposed design which includes posting on the street to not allow any street parking,” he wrote.
Anderson wrote that each driveway is 20 feet wide and 21 feet long and can accommodate larger, popular trucks such as the Ford F-series.
Because all units feature two bedrooms and are constructed for residents 55 and older, Anderson wrote, “It’s not unreasonable to assume that gatherings of friends/family would carpool to the site and with average vehicles having four seats for occupants, 16 people could come and park onsite for any small gathering.”
Aquifer
Both Clark and Gudgel wrote that the proposal meets any possible issues for water and sewer.
Gudgel wrote that soil testing for the stormwater system revealed glacial till exists where homes would go and that the till is “basically impermeable and does not allow water to infiltrate into the groundwater.”
He said it has low aquifer recharge potential and a low susceptibility to contamination of the underlying aquifer.
Clark wrote that by connecting to Carlsborg Sewer and Clallam Public Utility District water and by using a stormwater management plan, any potential runoff would be handled, so no additional hydrology study was needed.
Gudgel said county conditions require Anderson to submit a mitigation plan for fertilizers and herbicides but landscaping would be minimal on the site with little impact.
Previously
Prior to denying a reconsideration of the proposal on Aug. 30, Reeves agreed to reconsider the project on Aug. 16.
He agreed to not include stream buffers in his reconsideration because Anderson and county staff said stream buffers classifying Matriotti Creek a Type 2 or Type 3 requiring either a 150-foot or 100-foot setback had minimal effect on the project either way.
Clark said previously that with a 150-foot buffer the project would affect one home and the stormwater pond’s location.
Nearby residents with the Concerned Atterberry Neighbors argued in favor of a Type 2, 150-foot buffer at previous hearings and in testimonies and that it holds important habitat for endangered/threatened fish.
The neighbors’ attorneys also argued in a letter on Sept. 13, and Reeves agreed, that the county’s code doesn’t allow for “reconsideration of a reconsideration” and that it would be more appropriate in superior court under the Land Use Petition Act.
Last year, Reeves denied Anderson’s original proposal for 73 homes, which was later revised and resubmitted for the current and now denied 66 homes on 8.66 acres of a 15.5-acre lot. The homes would have varied from 1,200-1,700 square feet and sell for about $150,000 with each property being leased out, Anderson said.
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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.
