CITY COUNCIL APPROVES WILLOW CREEK MANOR

Willow Creek Manor applicant Kurt Grinnell, of K & F Development, fielded questions from City Council members, especially Councilor Don Hall, who was ?terribly disappointed? that affordable housing was not included in the plans.
Photo by Avani Nadkarni

by Avani Nadkarni
Staff Writer

The City Council approved the application for Willow Creek Manor, a five-phase 56.3-acre planned unit development adjacent to Carrie Blake Park, but several members expressed disappointment that affordable homes were not included.
  
?I am terribly disappointed in that (portion),? said council member Don Hall during the public hearing on March 26. ?To me, this was ideal for affordable housing.?

New member Bob Anundson, who was attending his second meeting as a councilor, agreed with Hall and questioned why affordable housing was not looked into.

?We considered every option with this project,? said Kurt Grinnell of K & F Development, the applicant for this property.

?We talk with our marketing people and see what will work. There?s a certain equation that seems to be successful in Sequim.?

He also suggested that the 28 duplexes planned in the unit could be affordable.  Hall disagreed.
  
?Affordable doesn?t necessarily just mean smaller,? he said.

Grinnell expressed interest in meeting with Hall in an attempt to incorporate his ideas into the development.

?We really looked at it before,? he said after the meeting. However, ?We are willing to sit down with (Hall) and look into it more.?
 
A few other members of the public had concerns for the development as well.

Randy Rapp of Port Orchard said there was a chance that his deceased relatives were buried somewhere on the property, but were not actually found.
 
?I?ve spoken to Kurt Grinnell and I?m comfortable that if remains are found, it will be handled well,? Rapp told the council. ?I just wanted it to be known.?

Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife representative Chris Byrnes also expressed concern about the project, but said he was neutral on whether or not the development should be built. 
 
?There are a number of issues relative to this proposal that remain unresolved for us,? said Byrnes, who also commented at the March 6 Planning Commission discussion about Willow Creek Manor. Byrnes noted that the WDFW believed there were fish-bearing streams in the planned development area, which borders a wetland by Bell Creek.  However, ?we don?t have any problems with Phase 1 (of the project).? Grinnell agreed that while Phase 1 begins, the issues that WDFW has with the latter phases would be resolved.  
 
Grinnell, who sits on the council for the Jamestown S?Klallam Tribe, also plans to team with the tribe to create a 400-square-foot habitat restoration area in the planned subdivision.

Grinnell has been active in meeting with opponents and addressing their apprehensions.  Farm owner Gary Smith had a written concern about a drain line exiting the planned development and running onto his property, which he submitted at the March 6 Planning Commission meeting.  Grinnell and partner Ken Clark of Clark Land Office worked to revise the plan, and Smith said he had no further concerns regarding the development.
 
At the end of the public hearing, council unanimously approved the application, and Grinnell said they would proceed with the development.
 
?I am very happy that it passed,? he said.