Please read the attached Notice from Clark County Community Development and/or go to Clark County's Proposed Developments page to see the site plan and other details.
Closing Date for public comments is July 14th.
The Public Hearing is scheduled for September 28th at 6:00 PM via Webex. For details refer to page 1 of the attached document.
Page 5 sets out the deadline and details for offering written comments or testimony.
Issues of concern related to this project are the following:
Will the remainder of this parcel be protected from future development or is this just an incremental development, in other words the first of several on this 400 plus acre parcel?
What is the traffic plan? Where will this access public streets? What upgrades are planned if any. How many additional traffic trips per day will this generate?
How will they mitigate the runoff from these homes into Mill Creek?
You should contact the designated staff person if you have questions: Bryan Mattson, bryan.mattson@clard.wa.gov, 564-397-4319.
This project cannot be considered in isolation but must be assessed based on its collective impacts in unison with the many other projects that are already in the permitting process.
We are a bit overwhelmed by the feeling of powerlessness in stopping this onslaught. These ~40 homes in isolation are not a big deal - and that is the way the county would like the project to be viewed - but the project is part of thousands of proposed new residences.
Taken in that context, the infrastructure to accommodate the impacts is not there. Most obvious is the lack of traffic infrastructure. The County is nowhere near having the funds to upgrade 179th Street as reasonably needed, and this piecemeal approval of developments will lead to more problems than solutions for our neighborhood.
We urge residents to tell county officials to realistically consider projects in the context of their collective impacts in association with all of the other projects that are proposed. Their current projects list account for hundreds of additional residences that will impact the 179th Street corridor, and that is to say nothing of the already approved projects currently under construction.
And let's not forget all the other issues associated with increased population - environmental degradation, water pollution, lack of permeable surfaces causing increased flood risk, police, schools, fire...the list goes on. Are we going to turn our small streams into waste water ditches, or are we going to protect the future of clean water?
4CNA intends to send a letter to the county requesting the cessation of all development until they have a credible plan.
The county uses myriad rules and regulations to stifle engagement, and as we saw at the Housing Options and Study Action Plan Hearing from the Community Planning Commission Chair, is not above using intimidation when it sees fit.
Our community is changing, and as has been said before, "change is the only constant." Change on its own is not an issue, but the changes that Clark County is allowing to take place in our community go far beyond what is acceptable. We cannot give up everything good about our community for affordable ("starting at $400k!") housing.
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