Council debates code issue related to River Bend Drive, KOA access

Part one of two

The River Bend Park Association has advocated closure of the access to KOA through River Bend Drive once the new Zelt Strasse entrance to the park is opened. River Bend Park Association Attorney Steve Demarest has pointed out to the council there is a portion of the city code that states: “No entrance or exit from a park shall be permitted through a residential district nor require movement of traffic from the park through a residential district.”
Now, city officials are talking about striking that portion of the code.
“This has come up because concerns from River Bend folks and their attorney who had drawn attention to that section of code,” said Development Director Nathan Pate, at the March 12 study session. “Our attorney pays attention and listens when other attorneys show up. Our attorney said this section of code is vague. Staff has reevaluated that section. It is not necessarily a good section as written.”
Pate said this is a criteria for siting new RV parks and does not work for existing RV parks.
“When someone speaks to it, there is confusion when talking about this code section or if the RV park chooses to expand, then this code language may be applicable,” Pate said. “Our attorney said, we are hearing from their attorney. He said that section of code is vague and problematic. Today, we would like to talk about whether this code section is a good thing for council to consider and review and make changes.”
Pate encouraged the council to consider the big picture. There are two RV parks in town.
“When talk about the criteria for establishing these uses, think of it in the big picture stuff. Now I know at the forefront is the concern brought to us by a neighborhood, but when we change codes, it is city wide and affects more that just one property or one neighborhood,” Pate said. “When we have language that our attorney says is vague and staff agrees it doesn’t work well, it’s a concern that needs some council attention. Or if you chose to go a different route and say, I don’t want anymore RV parks and you don’t want to expand, this whole section can be removed.”
Mayor Cheri Kelley Farivar said, in her memory, the council decided that section should be removed. Councilman Elmer Larsen this was establish long ago for new RV parks.
“The planning commission inadvertently removed RV parks. The concern was, let’s reevaluate it. When they returned, there was lots of study, and the planning commission actually struck that section, but the community came back and said, they didn’t want that section removed,” Pate said. “So the planning commission said, no harm, no foul as it had been there for many years. That was forwarded back to the council when we did an amendment on RV parks.”
There are some challenges with large vehicle parking, Councilwoman Mia Bretz said, so long term, having RV parks in different places for those large vehicles to gather is a good thing.
People travel to Leavenworth by driving, many in larger vehicles, she said.
“Right now, we have a lot where we encourage large vehicles to park. That is going to work for number of years. Allowing development of new RV parks in our code may allow that to become more productive commercial and RV parks could be parking could be at RV parks,” Bretz said. “I think it is good to have that allowance. I don’t know where a new one would go, because the size is pretty large.”
Larsen said the section should be removed, because the new Zelt Strasse could also be eventually lined with residential property.
“If that is the thing that would stop the whole development, then why would we want it? They are using that to say, that park is illegal because it’s doing that. That wasn’t even on the table when we put this in. We thought it would be up on Ski Hill,” Larsen said.
The KOA developed inside the county. Now, they want to annex, Farivar pointed out.
“I think the council made a statement, as KOA comes into town, we required much after many years of Chelan County requiring very little. The city council was the one that forced the issue and said KOA, if you want to come into the city, you build a new road. That is where the RV traffic is going to come,” City Administrator Joel Walinski said. “That would be the main entrance. Changing this code is not going to change that intention of the city council. What we do see with this, if for example, if KOA changed the conditional use permit, which would implement this.”
As the project progresses, Pate said there will residential homes along Zelt Strasse.
“If they live there for 10-20 years, like the River Bend folks, they come to us and say, hey city, we’re a residential neighborhood, why are those cars going through there? The code section, if applied as people believe it should be applied, it would bar KOA from any access,” Pate said.
This has been a really huge problem for this community, Bretz said, and she would hate to say its okay to do it again somewhere else. She believes there would be the same issues. She favored the ordinance only prohibiting the commercial traffic through low density residential.
“I would be cautious about changing the code. I don’t think it is a good choice. The one thing that would be nice to allow someone to build a new one is to have two exits for emergency purposes. Maybe you have an emergency exit that would go through low density but otherwise it is not used,” Bretz said.
Larsen said he would take out that section and use the conditional use process.
“You look at the neighborhood, look at the zoning. If the KOA was there before the neighborhood developed, why would you penalize the original property owner?,” Larsen said.
That is a key point, Farivar said.
“The existing KOA was concurrent with the development of River Bend Drive. It preceded most of the homes that were built there. Most of the homes which built there, knew what they were getting into,” Farivar said. “The truth is, if you build a new home in a neighborhood, you look at the neighborhood and see what the traffic is like and all of that information. I agree with Elmer that you can’t preclude an historical access, just because the neighborhood has built up around it.
“It’s the same kind of analogy, I want to build my home next to the orchard, then when orchardist sprays, I want to call the Department of Ecology. The orchard has been there 30 years, the homeowner has been there three months. How fair is that?”
Has the use of KOA changed or intensified in the past 10-to-20 years, Councilman Jason Lundgren asked. Has it been exponentially growing? Walinski he wouldn’t use the the word “exponentially” but it has grown, with cabins and such.
“They preceded most of this. The county has turned a blind eye. The idea that no access should come down that route is a disservice to the people that live there, when they need an emergency outlet,” Larsen said. ‘I think that road is a godsend. I don’t think it is wise to gate it. You need that secondary exit. Encourage KOA to move entrance, but if someone wanted to see the back road, they could go out that way.”
KOA has agreed to move their main entrance, Farivar said.
“KOA will have a new entrance road off the Zelt Strasse. They will have a new entrance gate. They will expect all their traffic to use Zelt Strasse to enter,” Walinski said.
The River Bend entrance should not be gated, Larsen said, for emergency access. Councilwoman Carolyn Wilson said she thought the entrance would be blocked off and only emergency traffic could use it. Farivar said that is what the River Bend Park Association requested, but the city has not agreed to that.
“We’ve left that decision up to public safety, fire and sheriff, to determine if that would best serve, whether that should be gated. I don’t know if they’ve made a decision. I do know the sheriff’s department regularly uses that to access the river for rescues,” Walinski said.
Leaving the section of code in, Larsen said, could have a big impact on KOA down the road.
“If we leave this in, what happens if they modify, then now the new road goes through multifamily. Now, we’re into residential again. You are backing yourself into a corner, where you tell KOA, you can’t change or do anything, which will force us to shut you down,” Larsen said. “That are some grandfathered-in issues here that we need to protect and not dig a hole we can’t get out of.”
Is it fair to say that a multifamily neighborhood should expect commercial traffic?, Farivar asked.
“If you consider the KOA is a commercial entity, to say that as we changed the zoning requirement and it can’t go through low density residential, that doesn’t feel fair to me to the multifamily residential,” Farivar said. “I’m with Elmer. I think this has to be stricken from the code.”
In part two next week, the Echo will explore more of the debate surrounding striking a section of code which is favored by some on the council and not others.
Ian Dunn can be reached at 548-5286 or editor@leavenworthecho.com.