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

Part two of two

The Leavenworth City Council is considering striking a portion of the city code which relates to RV park access through a residential neighborhood. The city attorney has recommended removing the portion code, believing it is vague.
But the attorney for the River Bend Park Association, Steve Demarest, has argued, because of that provision in the code, the city must close the River Bend Drive access to the KOA once the new Zelt Strasse entrance is opened.
At the March 13 study session, the council had a lively debate about the merits of removing that portion of code or leaving it in. Councilwoman Mia Bretz argued to keep the code intact.
“I think we’re saying KOA is not an example that we want to follow, so we need to have some existing conditions that is not the same as we want future development to be,” Bretz said.
Bottom line is, if this stays on our code, Mayor Cheri Kelley Farivar said they cannot allow KOA to operated in the city because, either way, it’s going through a residential neighborhood.
“If we leave this here, even though one residential neighborhood has grown around the established KOA traffic, the new residential neighborhood has to be considered as part of this as well,” Farivar said. “I just feel like this clause, if not removed, it would change the conversation around RV parks, new RV parks, existing RV parks. I understand you might not want a new RV park to accessed through a residential zone. Maybe there is a better way to word this. Maybe there is wordsmithing that will solve a future code problem.”
Bretz said the city should make KOA build a road out the other side. She said the city can exempt them for now, then say you have to build a new road if you want future development. Farivar said this new road would still be going through a residential development.
Development Director Nathan Pate said KOA is paying for a road now.  
“Make that decision be made through the hearing examiner or through conditional uses, rather than just a blanket statement that you can’t do it. It’s going to develop around his existing road,” said Councilman Elmer Larsen.
Do we see this rule being a problem with new RV parks or is it more of just an issue with KOA?, Councilman Jason Lundgren asked. He said if they made this condition apply to existing facilities, then it is less of an issue.
Larsen said if KOA changes anything, they would need a permit to modify it.
“They have a conditional use permit so when they come in to make adjustments to the CUP, there are going to be things that trigger they have to go through the process. Once you go through that new process, that’s where you see the code,” City Administrator Joel Walinski said.
The city already required KOA to build a very expensive street to get to their KOA camp, Farivar said.
“River Bend is driving this thing. They don’t want any traffic through there. KOA was there before most of the homes were built. The multifamily was a concession to them. The KOA is a commercial establishment that preceded most of them, and they are being penalized,” Larsen said.
River Bend Drive grew from four homes to 37, Walinski said. The new development behind Safeway will provide 200 new units, Lundgren said. He felt the council needed to solve a bigger problem than just the immediate KOA thing.
The biggest problem with the KOA is the size of vehicles that go there, Bretz said. She said these huge vehicles need good roads and a place to turn around.
“They are building a route into KOA. We’re worried about traffic there. They have one light. I’ve never been to a point where I couldn’t get out of Safeway. People want 24 hour access. It’s unreasonable we put a new road or bridge across because we have 200 more people living there,” Larsen said.
The reason this is an issue is because of the traffic, Bretz said.
“This whole thing is about not squishing little kids with RVs. It makes eminent sense to me to have that in there and I don’t  know why we would take it out,” said Councilwoman Margaret Neighbors.
The KOA camp was there before the River Bend homes, said Councilwoman Sharon Waters.
“I feel like if I lived on River Bend Drive, I would probably be where they are. I’m thinking now I have little home here, and now there’s multifamily, commercial and hotels,” Waters said.
Farivar said she wanted to separate the traffic question from the code question.
“We are hitting all the high points. If don’t want to permit future development through a residential area, don’t parse residential. That is not fair, because kids will be living in those apartments too,” Farivar said.
River Bend just wants this access closed, Lundgren said.
“I don’t think we should build our codes around KOA. They are a preexisting thing that might be the exception to the rule. I don’t think the residents would push back to leaving this in there. Most of us don’t want an RV park on our road. So I think we should leave this, but caveat it for now,” Lundgren said.
The city needs to deal with KOA as an exception, Lundgren said.
“It’s been here a long time. It’s not going anywhere. We have other uses and developments that are confounding these issues. We want to maintain quality of life in our residential areas, but we’re not going to kick KOA out,” Lundgren said. “We need to come to the table and find solutions to that whole zone, but I think we should not develop our code around KOA.”
Or develop around the River Bend park, Farivar said.
“That is an existing situation we need to tackle. For the future, if have this in there to prevent new RV parks in residential areas, I think it is fine from an economic standpoint because we probably won’t have an RV park in a residential area. I don’t think any of us want an RV park in our residential neighborhood,” Lundgren said.
The KOA wants to be part of the city, River Bend park does not, Farivar said.
“They are in our urban growth area. They don’t want to annex. They are still dealing with the county, who is a player we cannot ignore,” Farivar said. “The RVPA came come to city to ask for accommodation, but I don’t know they’ve gone to the county. I don’t have any evidence they are dealing with them.”
The main argument against keeping River Bend access is to accommodate the current KOA, in case of expansion, Bretz said.
“I don’t think we should do that. We should say no access through residential areas. If the KOA wants to expand, we should work with them on a different entrance,” Bretz said.
They are building an entrance, Larsen said. That is why this is so frustrating, he said.
“They are building a road there because people didn’t want them to come down there. They didn’t need to do this. Now, we’re building multifamily up to their road and saying if you build anything, you have build a new road. It’s going to catch them if they try to change anything,” Larsen said.
Blocking off that existing entrance does not make sense for safety, Farivar said. If flow is the issue, then cutting off the existing driveway is not good practice. Walanski said yes, but that is not about this discussion.
This discussion is about KOA building a new road, Walinski said.
“The council has talked to KOA and said at least all your RV traffic will be going on Zelt Strasse. Going into the immediate future, that is how things are going to go,” Walinski said. “The question becomes, going into the future, as long as they are the same, this does not apply. If and when they do change, that’s where the council, planning commission is going to have an issue with the language. That’s where (city attorney) Tom Graafstra has the issue. His suggestion was to just remove it.”
River Bend Drive residents, in large part, were dismayed the council was considering this action, with many feeling the council is not considering the history between the KOA, Chelan County and the RBPA.
RBPA Attorney Steve Demarest said this proposed code change is solely for the benefit of KOA, and solely burdens River Bend neighborhood.
“Since adoption of the first RV code language, back in 1988, Leavenworth took the position that RV’s should not transit through a residential district. It is remarkable that three decades later some members of the council suddenly think it is a good idea to allow RV’s to drive through a residential neighborhood,” Demarest wrote, via March 29 email. “I would take exception to Senior Planner Nathan Pate referring to the language as vague. It reads plainly enough: ‘no entry or exit’ and uses the mandatory ‘shall’ verbiage. Staff may not like what has been on the books since 1988, but claiming it to be vague is a disservice to the words used.”
Demarest took issue with how the mayor characterized the situation.
“Mayor Farivar uses the analogy of a homeowner building next to an orchard, then complaining about the orchard. This is misplaced. While the homeowner can’t complain about spraying, she could certainly complain about an orchard using a banned pesticide. The access via Riverbend Drive is like the banned pesticide,” Demarest wrote. “The original Conditional Use Permit says it must be closed. The 2013 Conditional Use Permit reiterated the closure requirement and referenced the city code. The city code prohibits its use. The River Bend owners are not complaining about the lawful uses by KOA. They are complaining about the unlawful use of the old access once the new access is finished.”
RBPA President Dan Labriola said homeowners purchased there with the knowledge that a Chelan County Conditional Use Permit requires KOA traffic be removed from their street with the completion of the new KOA exit road behind Safeway.
“For years, the mayor and city government confirmed and promised that they would abide by this legally binding CUP when the KOA is annexed to the city and even signed confirming agreements stating just that,” Labriola wrote, via March 29 email. “Now, the city has reversed itself and wants to dump this traffic on our street with the potential for significantly more traffic given their aspirations to further increase density.”
Labriola said the city code and CUP were put in place because RV Park traffic is not the same as Sunday school traffic.
“It is not compatible with a residential street with families and children. To give you a clear visual of what this means, our members currently endure frequent reckless and obviously drunk driving, trash in our front yards including condoms, drug paraphernalia, beer bottles and worse” Labriola wrote.
Michael Cleghorn said his family has owned their home on River Bend Drive for 50 years.
“Apparently, there are some folks in the Leavenworth city government that think that our concern over our neighborhood is unfounded because we knew there was a campground there when we purchased the property,” Cleghorn wrote, via March 29 email. “Yes, we did know there was a campground, however, one of the original owners of said campground, George Fitzsimmons, now the Pine Village KOA, personally told my father and I, in 1967, that this entrance was only a temporary entrance.”
Martin Emster said they had all been assured that the River Bend Drive entrance to KOA would be closed when the new entrance was built.
“The language describing the prohibition of commercial traffic through residential neighborhoods is neither vague nor unclear. Senior planner Nathan Pate is using his desire to side with commercial interests against the residents because he can think of no legal grounds for his actions and is left with ‘vague’ as his only defense. We cannot rely on his or his staff’s interpretation of this language as ‘vague,’ and a neutral outside legal opinion should be sought as to the clarity of this language,” Emster wrote, via March 29 email.
Jerry Iselin said took issue with the context of the mayor’s statement and analogy regarding knowing what they were getting into when they bought their homes in the River Bend Park community.  
“We did know what we were getting into. We knew of the agreements and legal documents ensuring the KOA would no longer use River Bend Drive as an access when the adjoining property was developed.  All these agreements have been negotiated, agreed upon and legally documented. Even the recent SEPA submitted to the City for the new entrance to the KOA made multiple references to the elimination of KOA traffic on River Bend Drive,” Iselin said.
Ian Dunn can be reached at 548-5286 or editor@leavenworthecho.com.