16 lots planned adjacent to Cascade Condominiums
By Ann McCreary
The largest subdivision planned in Winthrop in almost a decade received preliminary approval last week from the Winthrop Town Council.
Called Cascade Meadows, the project includes 16 lots on 8.14 acres south of the Cascade Condominiums complex off Highway 20, at the south edge of town.
The subdivision proposes single-family homes on lots that range from 10,000 square feet to 35,000 square feet on property owned by Jim and Gaye Pigott, who own Moccasin Lake Ranch.
Located in a tourist/residential zone with a minimum required lot size of 10,000 square feet, the property could hypothetically be developed to a density of 60-plus housing units, said Rocklynn Culp, Winthrop town planner.
“The zoning code allows single family or duplex, two units per lot. They are opting for larger lot sizes,” Culp said.
The property is on a mostly level, partially treed terrace above the highway. Plans call for leaving some open space as common areas and retaining most of the trees on the land, Culp said.
In reviewing the Cascade Meadows application, the largest concern was road access to the property, Culp said. The new subdivision would share an unpaved private road from Highway 20 that serves the Cascade Condominiums complex.
That road would also serve the Mount Gardner View subdivision, a 10-lot parcel located west of the condominiums that had received preliminary approval from the town several years ago, but that has expired. Culp said the owner is expected to reapply.
The roadway easement through Cascade Condominiums also serves property to the north, with several acres for sale and the “subject of considerable interest,” Culp said.
“Staff believes it is important to consider the potential impacts of 60-90 residents utilizing this roadway through the subject property with a single point of access,” Culp said in a memo to the council.
Access questions
“For purposes of emergency access and traffic flow, our preference would be for this roadway to connect to SR20 at a second location, and also to Horizon Flats. However, those connections would require the agreement and cooperation of multiple property owners. That is not a burden we can place solely on this application,” Culp’s memo said.
To try to address the concerns, Winthrop’s planning commission required that the access roadway be widened to 28 feet throughout the development.
“That satisfied the fire district in terms of getting emergency vehicles in,” Culp said. It also means that the road would meet town standards for residential access streets, with the exception of being unpaved.
“The intent is that the road may, at some point in the future, and in cooperation with adjoining landowners, become a public residential access street,” according to recommendations from the planning commission.
The Cascade Condominiums Property Owners Association requested that the owners of the new subdivision enter into agreement to maintain the road that serves both properties, Culp said.
“We agree both entities need to work together, but we [the Town of Winthrop] don’t have any legal leverage to require it,” she told the Town Council.
The review of the project also included evaluation of wildlife habitat on the property. A site visit by a Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife biologist determined that the proposed plat configuration, with dedicated open space and protections for trees and vegetation included in the development plans, were adequate to protect habitat.
After all requirements outlined in preliminary approval have been met and accepted by the town, the project will come back before the Town Council for final approval before lots can be sold.
Cascade Meadows is the first long plat subdivision (five or more lots) since 2008 to receive preliminary approval from the town. Two other long plat proposals received preliminary approval that year, but neither was finalized and the applications have expired, Culp said.
A 48-unit condominium planned development at the Pine Near RV Park received preliminary approval in 2009, but that project also stalled and the application expired, she said.
“The only sizeable development in Winthrop to be completed in the past 10 years is North Village,” a 52-lot planned development, Culp said.
