Growth spurt on way north of Kelso
Wednesday, June 20, 2007 6:46 AM PDT
By Tony Lystra
Printable version
E-mail this articleCowlitz County Commissioners on Tuesday gave their preliminary approval to an 80-home subdivision that will be built across West Side Highway from Castle Rock High School.
Commissioners said Vancouver Land Development's project, on just more than 16 acres, can go forward, provided the company meets certain conditions, including installing a crosswalk on the highway and filling the land in so it doesn't flood.
If the developer meets those conditions, it will be allowed to break ground on the 80 houses, each expected to cost around $200,000.
The development, known as Castle Rock Meadows, is the second large-scale subdivision to come before the commissioners this month. The board gave its final approval June 12 to Lexington Estates, an 85-lot subdivision on West Side Highway near the new Lexington Bridge.
"We're seeing growth rapidly," Commissioner Axel Swanson said. "For the economy, it's a good thing."
Still, he said, "The trick and the trouble is getting out ahead of it with planning."
He said he hopes to begin revising the county's comprehensive plan, which hasn't been updated since 1977, later this year.
Tony Plescia, Vancouver Land Development's vice president, said his company was attracted to the northern part of the county partly by construction of the Lexington Bridge, which will open later this year, as well as an influx of new residents.
"We just feel there's a pretty good market there," he said. "I don't know of another subdivision in Castle Rock in the last several years."
An engineer's report said that Castle Rock Meadows alone will generate 794 vehicle trips during a typical weekday. Nearby intersections, the report said, can handle the load.
On Tuesday, Glenda Godwin, who lives about a mile from the site, said the land where the Castle Rock homes will be built is often waterlogged and said she worries that neighboring homes would be affected by run-off if the land is filled.
"The displaced water has to go somewhere," she said.
Plescia said his company will hire a group of engineers to determine how much fill the Castle Rock site will need to prevent flooding. The data is subject to approval from the county, state Department of Ecology and the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
The company will probably break ground six or seven months from now, Plescia said.
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