View our full comments to the Town Planner here: Family Haven SEPA Comments MVCC
Methow Valley Citizens Council has been broadly supportive of affordable housing efforts centered within our towns. As a participant in the Housing Solutions Network Roundtable, we are aware of the documented need and appreciate learning about various efforts to develop more local housing options.
Last week at a public hearing, the Town of Twisp Planning Commissioners voted to delay their vote for two weeks on making a recommendation to the Town Council concerning the proposal from Catholic Charities for building the “Twisp Family Haven” Planned Development. The 78-unit, three-story, three-building development is proposed for a portion of former working orchard ground behind Hanks. The Planning Commission voted to continue the hearing to enable more public participation, after community members reported that the legal notice in the local paper had been missed by many.
A second hearing has been set for January 29th at 5pm. While MVCC remains supportive of the project’s goal to provide housing that meets identified local needs, the proposal has raised several concerns that could impact the future environment and rural character of Twisp. You can read our full comments to the Town Planner here. If you’d like to attend the hearing and comment you can find more details on it here.
Extensive testing for arsenic: As a former orchard, the site has known elevated levels of arsenic. We recommend working with the Department of Ecology and Environmental Protection Agency to address the history of contamination on and adjacent to this site, to ensure surface and ground water, including irrigation wells and Critical Aquifer Recharge areas, as well as neighbors and future residents, are not subject to construction-related spread of arsenic.
Building up to 3 stories is a decision that should not be taken lightly: Up to this point, the Town of Twisp has stuck to the 2-story, 30-foot benchmark defined in its building code. Going higher for one project adds pressure for the Town to allow future projects to request similar variances, bypassing the necessary community discussion about how the Town can grow, without sacrificing its views and character. We believe that the long-term impacts to the Town’s viewshed should be properly examined in an update to the Town’s zone code rather than considered project by project – this is the best way to avoid unintentional consequences.
Two routes of access should be required, both for emergencies and to ease congestion: Currently, the 384 daily trips anticipated from the development are proposed to have a single point of access, which has been moved from Schulz Lane to the Twisp-Carlton Road. While this is apparently adequate to meet Codes, we believe that more analysis needs to happen, to ensure the Town is planning for access that addresses current and future traffic flow needs as well as emergency safety considerations.
Addressing local needs for affordable Housing first: At the hearing, Catholic Charities indicated that they are unable to provide preference to Twisp or Okanogan County citizens who apply for their subsidized units. With affordable housing in short supply for locals already, we hope that there are creative solutions that will allow existing, documented local housing needs to be prioritized in the application process.