This article is from The Daily World.
County approves 100-lot subdivision
By Steven Friederich - The Daily World
Tuesday, January 13, 2009 11:03 AM PST
MONTESANO - The county commissioners on Monday approved a 100-lot subdivision on 48 acres south of Pacific Beach, but left the biggest question up in the air. Where will the sewer access come from?
Simply put, treatment plant capacity means Grays Harbor County only has a few dozen sewer connections left for the Pacific Beach and Moclips area.
Builders started sounding alarms back in 2007, prompting the county to prioritize who gets a sewer connection and who doesn't. Those who already had building permits were given connections.
"We haven't allowed anyone to just sit on the connections," Commissioner Al Carter said. "There are no speculators allowed for sewer connections. If someone had a project, they build it and we give them a connection. We won't leave anyone hanging. We've been saying that all along."
The county had anticipated expansion of its sewer system this year. County officials told builders back in June 2007 that their best case scenario involved the state Department of Ecology signing off on the expansion in the summer of 2007, going to bid in the spring of 2008 and building it by this year. But none of that happened and Ecology still hasn't signed off on the sewer expansion, Carter said Monday.
"We decided to put it all on hold, to just wait a year or so," Carter said. "There haven't been many building starts on the North Beach lately and we don't anticipate that to change in the near future. We're talking about a project that will cost the county several million dollars."
The new system would give the county almost 800 connections, Carter said.
"I see this thing moving along pretty slow," he added.
The developer for the project commissioners approved Monday is Thomas Weber, who owns a road construction company and lives in North Bend. He said he bought the 48.44 acres five years ago. He's calling the proposed development Ocean Grove.
The subdivision approval doesn't mean homes will go in right away - building and environmental permits still must be obtained and the sewer access question must be answered.
Weber said he's not sure where the sewer connections will come from and he still needs to work out the particulars with the county but he hopes something can be arranged in the next five years. That's a timeline Carter said he hopes the county can abide by.
It was Commissioner Terry Willis who first questioned the lack of sewer access with the development on Monday.
Willis also had questions because the county was not requiring that the development install sidewalks, which was not required by county code. And she wanted to get county staff to confirm that there was no building moratorium in place on the recently logged property. Two developments the county approved last year ended up with building moratoriums on them because of logging activity that was never double checked.
The subdivision was ultimately approved by Willis, Carter and Commissioner Mike Wilson.
Weber said he's not sure what prices he'll set for the lots, noting he plans to build the infrastructure for the development but has no plans to construct the homes himself.
The 48 acres will be divided into lots that range from 7,200 square feet to 1.21 acres. Weber said each lot would have a view of the ocean.
Steven Friederich, a Daily World writer, can be reached at (360) 537-3927 or by e-mail at sfriederich@thedailyworld.com
