The Times - Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley

WAITSBURG - The Waitsburg Planning Commission met with a full quorum Monday to receive public comment and discuss the proposed Whoopemup Meadows housing development in northeast Waitsburg. Tones were tense as first the developers and then the Port of Walla Walla discussed the main sticking point - ownership of water and sewer lines installed by the Port but maintained by the city.

Mary and Gene Warren, of Warren Land Company, submitted an application for the 114-unit development on November 17. The development is situated adjacent to the Port’s Waitsburg industrial park, just off Millrace and Taggart roads. An initial public hearing, set for December 15, was cancelled due to lack of quorum, though informal discussion on the proposal did take place at that time.

Mary Warren was first to speak Monday, and expressed frustration at learning, through discussion at the Dec. 15 informal meeting and a subsequent letter from the Port, that ownership of the utility lines is in question. Warren said they understood the city owned the water and sewer lines and would not have proceeded had that not been the case.

“We need some clarity and proof of who really does own the lines because we have spent thousands and thousands of dollars,” Mary Warren said. “There’s either some negligence or a huge misunderstanding and we need that addressed before we can move forward.” She said Warren Land Co. would have never attempted the project if they had known they would be required to work with the Port, possibly paying thousands of dollars to do so.

Planning commission member K.C. Kuykendall explained that problems like this tend to surface when preliminary plat submissions are submitted and that the issue came as a surprise to both the developer and the city.

Port of Walla Walla Executive Director Jim Kuntz was the sole public commenter at the hearing and spoke to the Port’s belief that they own the water and sewer lines in question. Kuntz said the Port installed the 8” line at their sole cost and that their attorney has reviewed the entire Waitsburg charter and couldn’t determine where it deeded the line to the city.

“Our position is pretty clear. We paid for it -- we own it,” said Kuntz. He also explained that the Port has previously charged an $18,000 latecomer’s fee to the Walla Walla County Public Works Department for their share of hooking on to those lines when a new county shop was built on the north side of Waitsburg.

“If the city wants to move forward with the development we can sit down with the developers and they will have to pay, to the Port of Walla Walla, proportionate fees for sewer capacity and water capacity that the taxpayers of Walla Walla County put in on that site,” said Kuntz. He reiterated the need to make sure there is enough water/sewer capacity to serve both the industrial park and the housing development.

Kuntz also said the Port still has sensitivity toward a housing development butted against an industrial park. “I don’t think that’s good land use planning,” he said. The Port suggests moving houses a bit further away and requiring the developers to build a block fence to help divide the properties and mitigate potential noise and odor complaints.

The utility ownership issue is currently in the hands of Waitsburg city attorney Jared Hawkins, and the Port of Walla Walla’s legal counsel. City Clerk Randy Hinchliffe and Kuntz agreed that the issue should likely be resolved within 30 days.

When The Times contacted Hawkins on Tuesday, he confirmed that he was aware of the issue and had been asked to gather more information and report back to the commission within 30 days.

Following public comment, the commission discussed concerns ranging from pedestrian use and a possible privacy fence along Millrace road to re-phasing development to move the first homes further from Port property.

“I have not heard one person - and I’ve been involved in a lot of conversations since our December meeting - come to me and express that they don’t want to see the development,” said Kuykendall. Commission member Karen Gregutt agreed, saying that she’s only heard people say that they do want it, just in a thoughtful and controlled way.

In conclusion, the planning commission requested that the developers submit a Traffic Impact Study on potential impacts to Millrace and Taggart roads and a preliminary Storm Water Management Plan. They also requested a discussion with the applicants on ways to mitigate the impact of the homes that will abut the Port industrial zone (including re-phasing the project) and the possibility of a pedestrian access easement.

According to Waitsburg municipal code, the planning commission has 14 days from the date of public hearing to issue a recommendation to the City Council to approve or reject the preliminary plat proposal. When contacted by The Times on Tuesday, Hinchliffe said the commission could recommend disapproving the application, with a recommendation to grant additional time for receipt of more information.