By Ken Graham
The Times
Development Hearing Rescheduled for Monday
Waitsburg Planning Commission will hear public comments on Whoopemup Meadows
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WAITSBURG – The Waitsburg Planning Commission has rescheduled its public hearing to receive comments from the public on the proposed Whoopemup Meadows housing development in Waitsburg’s northeast corner. The hearing will be held Monday evening at 7 p.m. in the Lions Building at the Waitsburg fairgrounds.
As The Times reported last month, the public hearing was originally set for December 15, but two members of the commission didn’t attend. The hearing was cancelled due to lack of a quorum.
Once the hearing is completed, the planning commission will make a recommendation to the City Council on approval of the application and any conditions they feel should be set. The council will make the final decision on approval and conditions.
The new development is on land that was annexed into the city and rezoned residential in 2007. Gene and Mary Warren, of Dayton, purchased the property in 2011 and are currently farming it.
On November 17, Warren Land Company submitted an application to the city for approval of the 114-unit development. Gene Warren says the plan is to develop the property in five phases, and that total development could take as long as 20 years.
The property is adjacent to the Port of Walla Walla’s Waitsburg industrial park. The City of Waitsburg has been notified by Port Director Jim Kuntz that the Port believes that it still owns the water and sewer lines it installed to its site. Kuntz also said that the Port may be owed a “latecomer fee” for any development that ties into the Port’s line.
On Monday, Waitsburg City Manager Randy Hinchliffe told The Times that the city believes that the line to the Port development is now owned by the city, which has been maintaining it. Hinchliffe said that the issue was in the hands of the city’s legal counsel, and that it would likely not be resolved before Monday’s hearing.
Hinchliffe also said that the city has no record of a “latecomer fee” clause for utility connections as part of the approval of the Port’s original development. Such a clause would have to have been approved by the city, he said.
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