Mattawa council delays annexation vote again

MATTAWA — The Mattawa City Council may decide whether or not to annex 40 acres of property into the city at its Dec. 8 meeting. Council members voted to continue the annexation application process to Dec. 8 at the regular meeting Thursday.

The vote was 5-1, with council member Alex Heredia voting no.

“I would ask that we make sure we stay to that date (for a decision), if at all possible,” Heredia said during the discussion before the vote.

The annexation proposal was discussed at the Oct. 6 meeting, but council members delayed a vote after asking for more information. Rachelle Bradley of SCJ Alliance, the city’s planners, requested that the council delay the decision until Dec. 8 to allow planners to gather the information.

Previously Bradley had recommended approving the application with the stipulation that an agreement be negotiated between the city and CAD Homes, the company requesting annexation.

Sara Prather of CAD Homes asked why Bradley had changed her recommendation.

“The recommendation was changed by staff based off the concerns that were brought up at the last meeting,” Bradley said. “That’s the primary reason why, and a lot of those concerns can be addressed earlier on through the development agreement.”

City attorney Kathryn Kenison said she was concerned the city would forfeit some of its ability to control development if the annexation was approved without an agreement in place.

Council members Fabiola Hernandez, Wendy Lopez and Silvia Barajas had expressed concern about the ability of city services to accommodate development, as well as the impact of a new housing development on traffic, the Wahluke School District and the Mattawa Police Department. Prather said the delay might affect the process, notably interest rates, but Hernandez said she didn’t think six weeks would make much difference.

The company is proposing to develop housing on 40 acres, with a project in five phases. Prather said about 100 homes, a mix of single-family houses and duplexes, would be developed over the five phases.

“Phase One produces roughly 20 lots immediately, then proceeds in phases two through five, within a two- to five-year time span is what we’re anticipating,” Prather said.

Prather said the company was willing to commit to negotiations for a development agreement if the annexation was approved before an agreement was signed. Kenison said she didn’t think that provided enough protection for the city.

Council member Tony Acosta asked if the timeline could be speeded up, but Drew Scott, CAD Homes owner, said in his opinion Dec. 8 would be the earliest realistic date.

“From my experience, it’s going to be having our own attorney draw up the agreement, then it’s going to go (to the city attorney) and then it’s a lot of back and forth because it’s a negotiation between us and the city,” Scott said.

Acosta said council members are not opposed to development.

“I don’t want you guys to get discouraged, and leave here thinking that we as a council don’t want housing. We know that we need housing here,” he said.

“We also need single-family stick-built housing, which is in short supply in Mattawa,” council member Brian Berghout said.

“I understand your point of view,” Lopez said. “But I also think a month and a half is not going to make or break (the project). I don’t think things are going to change that rapidly. We’re trying to do the best for our community. It’s not like we’re against the project, we understand and we see. But we can’t go in blindly.”

Cheryl Schweizer may be reached at cschweizer@columbiabasinherald.com.