Developer eyes Soap Lake for RV park

SOAP LAKE — A West Side developer is looking to build a nearly 40 acre, high-end RV park near the intersection of Division Street and state Route 28.

“We hope to start construction this summer,” said Alain de Chantal, who is a Port Angeles-based developer and one of the principal owners of North Pacific Investments. “If everything goes well, we’ll open early this fall.”

Speaking at a public hearing on the proposal Wednesday night at the Soap Lake Middle/High School library, de Chantal said the park would have 189 RV spaces, measuring 40 feet by 80 feet, along with a clubhouse, a welcome center, showers, bathrooms, a swimming pool and full utility hookups at each space.

De Chantal said the park would charge visitors $85 per night, a little more than $2,500 per month. The park would also stay open year-round, and he anticipates roughly “18-20 folks” would overwinter as a way of helping park owners pay the bills in the off-season.

He also said development plans include: handling all stormwater runoff on-site; generating roughly 9,900 gallons per day of wastewater at full capacity; and providing complete access for city firefighters and police in the event of an emergency.

Darryl Piercy, Soap Lake’s planning director, said the development was “not a done deal,” and must still be approved by the city council.

However, Soap Lake has received $150,000 from the state of Washington, through Grant County’s Strategic Infrastructure Program (SIP) — $105,000 in the form of a grant and a $45,000 loan, which de Chantal said he will pay back — to extend the city’s sewer system out to the proposed RV park.

“The developer will pay the loan portion in advance,” said Raymond Gravelle, former Soap Lake mayor and a real estate agent representing de Chantal. “The only way SIP will grant this is if it’s related to jobs.”

“All costs associated with this are being borne by the developer,” Piercy added. “Development pays for development.”

De Chantal said the investment will benefit Soap Lake significantly, mainly by bringing in people who will spend what he estimates is an average of $288 per day on food, fuel and amenities.

However, residents were concerned that the proposed RV park would have a huge effect on traffic at Division and Route 28 and could potentially stress the city’s sewer and water system. Several residents also noted that visitors to Soap Lake would have to find another way around town, since there is no parking downtown for anything as large as an RV.

“This is my back yard,” said resident William Cook. “The sewer is already at maximum, and this is like adding 110 houses at the end of the road.”

Cook also noted that Division Street itself is not very wide, and that there will not be left turn lanes on either Division (into the park) or eastbound on Route 28 onto Division.

“My RV barely fits,” Cook said of Division Street. “People will be sitting on the highway to make a left turn, which will clog up Division.”

Gravelle explained the new sewer line will come in from the east, and the project will allow the city to expand sewer service to a part of the city currently unserved.

“This will open up a whole new section of the city to development,” he said.

Charles H. Featherstone can be reached at cfeatherstone@columbiabasinherald.com.