by Richard Uhlhorn
Chelan Butte Feasibility Study:On Thursday evening, April 4, an estimated 100 Lake Chelan Valley residents crowed into the Chelan Senior Center to learn about a feasibility study being conducted by the Trust for Public Lands on Chelan Butte.
Peter Dykstra, an environmental attorney and Diane Taylor, a TPL employee/volunteer, were on hand to conduct the meeting.
The study will provide a vision for public use of the butte; try to determine a feasible ownership structure; and identify potential financing options for both the purchase and ongoing maintenance of an open space area on the Butte.
The 900 acres under the ownership of Golden Gate Ventures has been optioned to Raja Venugopal for potential residential development and is not, at this time, for sale. If enough funding became available to purchase the property, negotiations would have to be entered into to arrive at a final price. Considering that Golden Gate Ventures paid $10 to $12 million for the property, it will be or would be interesting to see what the final number would be.
Dykstra told the audience, “The TPL is engaged with CBC trying to develop options for long term ownership.” Having worked with the Wenatchee Foothills acquisition, Dykstra stated that the TPL is engaging with the landowner and developer to create a vision and a pathway to ownership. “We do not own land,” he said. “It is not an easy parcel to put together,” he added.
Finding a funding source and an entity that would take on the ownership are just two of the issues and then convincing the owner that he can achieve an economic return and not develop the land.
“We can’t purchase the property for what the landowner wants,” said Dykstra. There would be an appraisal and Dykstra added, “They are not going to get what their asking price is.”
There are several alternatives to landownership including having the land taken over by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife or Chelan County PUD, but Dykstra said the agencies would have to look at surrounding ownership before considering that alternative.
One other potential alternative would to be to secure a portion of the property and look at potential development options for the developer.
Ex Chelan Mayor asked if it was common for municipalities to assume ownership? Dykstra replied that the Operations and Maintenance that comes with owning the property is a hard thing to do.
One person in the audience asked if the Colville Confederated Tribes might be a potential owner. Dykstra replied that the Colville’s are incompatible to recreation.
Another person asked about water access for the developers. Water is a large issue, but the property is in the City limits and therefore, the City would be obligated to supply water. However it was noted that only 5,200 acres of water remains for development.
Joanie Bankson remarked that there was already too much development in the Valley and would like to see the Butte remain undeveloped. Lynette Grandy added that the Butte was the second most important part of Chelan with the first being the lake.
Steve Milner, an ex-board member of the Chelan/Douglas Land Trust, remarked that other areas have put their money into land trust efforts including Wenatchee and Leavenworth.
The other question to the audience was whether or not they would accept some development on the Butte. Some in the audience didn’t see that as a problem depending on where it would occur.
It was also stated that 109 acres on the east end of the property is zone Rural Residential and available for development of worker force (affordable) housing.
Mike Cooney told the audience that he had talked to both the owner and developer prior to the meeting and stated that they are listening, but that it is private. “You don’t see the City taking your home,” Cooney said. “It’s his property to develop.”
Cooney went on to say that he would like to see developer Raja Venugopal involved in the feasibility process.
The next meeting on the feasibility study will take place on May 9 at the Chelan Senior Center beginning at 7 p.m.
All Things Lake Chelan 