Port of Royal Slope to use $50,000 for Industrial Park Plan

The Port of Royal Slope will be using a $50,000 grant to help draft plans for an industrial park, with the hopes that the addition will encourage business growth in the community.

The grant, awarded in May by the Washington State Community Revitalization Board, will help the port draft a master plan for over 400 acres adjacent to a preexisting industrial park that port officials said is almost at capacity. The addition is necessary in order to allow room for existing businesses to grow, as well as allowing new businesses to move into Royal Slope.

The plan will include environmental surveys required by the state and federal agencies, including delineation of protected wetlands from the site. Drafted plans will also account for potential roads, water and power lines, rail spurs and a feasibility study for a wastewater treatment plant.

Port officials hope that as plans are drafted, binding site plans will be established that will provide the agency flexibility to modify plots to accommodate businesses in the future, cutting out lengthy and bureaucratic procedures that can delay action and dissuade businesses from purchasing plots that aren’t optimal.

The port will match Washington State CERB funds with $16,667 in local resources.

Officials said that the port will look for additional funding for construction and development once plans are finalized.

The Washington State CERB approved $2.25 million in loans and grants for public infrastructure development and economic feasibility studies to aid business growth and job creation in the cities of Othello, Stevenson and College Place, and the ports of Moses Lake, Royal Slope and Shelton.