Residents press officials for future details
Lynne Lynch/Columbia Basin HeraldMarvin Lybbert of Moses Lake looks at a map before a meeting at the Moses Lake Golf and Country Club about proposed developements on April 29, 2008.
Sun Terrace work expected to start this summer
MOSES LAKE - About 175 western Moses Lake residents asked officials pointed questions Tuesday night about how their quality of life would be affected by future housing developments.
Residents' concerns included how water and sewer services would be extended at Fairway Drive and how the roads would handle more traffic. People also wanted to know what would happen if a major emergency blocked an area bridge and kept hundreds of outlying residents from quickly reaching town.
Three developments were one focus of the meeting, but the 340-home Sun Terrace project near Road F and Frontage Road is the only plan with city approval.
Work is expected to start on Sun Terrace sometime in the summer, city and project construction officials confirmed.
The first phase of Westshore Walk, which includes 46 homes, is on hold until the developer knows if a portion of Westshore Drive is being closed to make room for a park. The park would be used for Westshore Walk.
Another related topic that's been discussed at a Moses Lake City Council meeting is the closure of nearby I-90 exit 175.
Dave Honsigner of the state Department of Transportation said Tuesday I-90 exit 175 wasn't going to be closed by the DOT or Moses Lake. The Federal Highway Administration has the DOT monitor the exit for safety, he said. He added the DOT hasn't found anything severe enough in the area that needs to be changed.
Preliminary talks occurred about a third development, which is a gated community that could be built near Hansen Road and the Moses Lake Golf and Country Club.
More projects are in the concept stage, with possibly 1,900 more units at Moses Pointe Resort, a 150-acre project at Westshore Drive and Road 3 and a possible project at Mae Valley Road and Road F, said Moses Lake realtor Ralph Kincaid, who is also an area resident.
"There's a lot of things in the pipeline we should be aware of," Kincaid said.
Officials with Grant County, Washington State Department of Transportation and Moses Lake were asked to explain details about how Road F would be extended to Mae Valley. The extension would be built to relieve added traffic on Frontage Road created by the Sun Terrace development.
For the construction of Road F, the city would take the work from North Frontage Road to 1,400 feet south to Mae Valley Road, Honsigner said.
Derek Pohle of Grant County said the county doesn't have plans to complete the link, but added that the nearby Moses Pointe Resort is required through development regulations to build Road F from Mae Valley to North Frontage Road.
Pohle said the county encouraged Sun Terrace's construction company and Moses Pointe officials to talk about future work for cost-saving measures.
Another affected area by the Sun Terrace development is Fairway Drive because the project's water and sewer lines are being extended to the new homes from there.
Grant County is reviewing Sun Terrace's sewer and water plan submittals for Fairway Drive, said Pohle.
Pohle said Sun Terrace's developers will be reconstructing Road F.2 and Fairway Drive as part of the water and sewer work.
He said current Fairway Drive residents have paved the front of their homes without the proper permits and unpermitted paving will not be replaced during the work. Driveways will be replaced, he said.
Jennene Ring of WSDOT addressed safety on the area's freeway, I-90. She said WSDOT inspected the freeway ramps and ditches in 2003, which weren't all up to federal safety standards. A ramp near the park was extended.
There have been about three accidents over 10 years from on-ramp merges, she said.
There are talks about working with the city and state for an area plan, she said.
"I think we're aware this isn't a typical diamond interchange," she said.
Resident Wendi Schield's comments drew applause from the audience when she said the developments shouldn't be approved unless the developers "ante up" what's required.
"The developers tend to come in, make their money, promise whatever and leave. We've had that in Cove West and Bluff West," she said.
Resident Marvin Lybbert asked officials "Why does it always take a death before something is done with all of the on-ramps, off-ramps and lights?"
He said the ramp going onto Broadway Avenue in Moses Lake isn't long enough and a fatal accident will happen if work isn't done.
"There's going to have to be a complete new ramp," he said.
Resident Mike Shannon said he was concerned Frontage Road will never be brought up to arterial standards.
"The city is not serving the community for North Frontage Road," he said. "The city doesn't want to do it and the state doesn't want to do it. The residents are a victim of local politics, city and state."
Moses Lake City Manager Joseph Gavinski said the issue was over jurisdiction, which was the "bottom line."
An area resident, former state Sen. Joyce Mulliken told the audience to let the Moses Lake Planning Department know they want to be notified about projects.
If the appeal deadline has not been reached on future projects, she said there are processes available for the public.
The processes include filing a petition for review with the Eastern Washington Growth Management Hearings board in Yakima, she said. The petition for review is intended to appeal a comprehensive plan decision and the petition can be filed. To file the petition, one must have said something on the record about the issue, she said.
Mulliken, a member of the board, said she's not promoting lawsuits, rather citizen participation. She said she would have to recuse herself from hearing the discussed issues because she's a property owner.
Another option for residents is to file a land use petition through the superior court, which involves the allowance of zoning or development, she said.
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