Leavenworth City Council restarts annexation of Pine Valley KOA

A public hearing was held by the Leavenworth City Council Tuesday, July 10 before its regular meeting regarding “27 acres at the end of River Bend Drive,” (aka) Pine Valley KOA*.

Despite community agreement, the complex will have to go back through the annexation process by the city of Leavenworth due to bureaucratic red tape courtesy of Chelan County Assessor Deanna C. Walter’s office.

Technicalities were the cause, but the gist of the matter is that proper documentation, signatures and language and especially dates and deadlines are always required, actually insisted on by the county, whenever a city annexes private property.

This time around, the city has a letter of wholehearted endorsement from the River Bend Park Association as signed by its President, Dawn Vyvyan and addressed to Walter.

“... we believe our Association as a whole will support that this current annexation should be done and seen to its conclusion,” it stated.

The heart of the letter, dated July 7, acknowledges that the Association, City of Leavenworth and the Pine Valley KOA all agree that the annexation is in the best interests of all parties. 

Citing better fire safety because of new fire hydrants, better septic services to mitigate odors and possible pollution of the Wenatchee River, and an answer to traffic issues. The letter goes on to state how the members of the Association, “ ... have been waiting years for this relief,” and wondered aloud why it was necessary to delay their request for “several months.” 

Vyvyan states she has “walked the property and seen the work that is being done to alleviate this problem with traffic, as a Board we were encouraged at the progress being made.” 

New KOA owner Al Johnson was at the meeting and briefly took the podium to say he was from South Dakota and has invested “millions” and a few years of our lives into the refurbishment of the campground on behalf of his Recreational Adventures Company, headquartered in Hill City, South Dakota. The company has more than 10 other parks in its inventory. Johnson reassured the council that RV parks were his company’s specialty and it would continue improving Pine Valley.

“To the extent that you have the authority to make this determination, we encourage you to accept and certify the existing petition for annexation,” concluded the letter.

The council voted 7-0 in favor of accepting the annexation request.

The meeting ended by another unanimous vote to cancel the Tuesday, July 24 meeting as many councilmembers will be otherwise disposed and a quorum will not be achieved. 

Be sure to read next week’s Leavenworth Echo for more on the July 11 city council meeting. 

*KOA stands for Kampgrounds of America and is the world’s largest system of privately held campgrounds with almost 500 locations across North America. Founded in 1962, it is based in Billings, Montana.