Short plats, subdivisions on upswing

If you don’t look now, you might miss some of those rural views of farmland, forest and waterfront that we enjoy in Wahkiakum County.

Construction of new residences and dividing land for them has skyrocketed in the past two or three years.

It’s evident on Puget Island where new houses block water front views and sprout on former dairy farm pastures. Farms in all the valleys of the county seem to be sprouting houses.

In 2005, the county set a record for building permits, 107; the Permit Coordinator’s Office reported 103 for 2006. In previous years, the highest number had been 83 in 1995; from 2000 to 2004, the highest number was 63 in 2001.

Of the 103 permits in 2006, 57 were for new or manufactured homes; there were 50 in 2005.

In 2004 there were 31 permits for new homes, in 2003, 42; in 2002, 32; in 2001, 20, 2000, 30, and 1999, 41.

The county is also seeing an increase in subdivisions with six lots or more and short plats with five lots or less.

So far this year, there have been two applications for short plats, each with four lots. One is in the Elochoman Valley; the other is east of Skamokawa off SR 4.

In 2006, there were 17 short plat applications, of which 12 have been completed, said Permit Coordinator Chuck Beyer.

In 2005, there were 36 short plat applications, of which six haven’t been completed.

Between 1997 and 2000, there were three subdivisions proposed in the county. Two at Nassa Point and West Sunny Sands are underway; the third, near the Grays River Covered Bridge has been withdrawn.

In 2004 there were two subdivision applications which are active or in process. One, on Greenwood Road, is for 16 lots, the other, in the Elochoman Valley, is for six lots.

There were two subdivision applications in 2005; one was not completed, the other, six lots east of Cathlamet, is in process.

There were three applications, each for six lots, in 2006. Two are in the Elochoman Valley; the other is on Fern Hill. The county board of commissioners will hold public hearings on one in the valley and on Fern Hill on February 20.

This kind of residential grown poses many changes and much challenge for the county, Richard Erickson, executive director of the Lower Columbia Economic Development Council, said Monday.

“They are coming,” he said. “The baby boomers are moving into the rural areas. We have to try to prepare for them the best we can.”

With the county’s traditional natural resource based economy in decline, development and population growth are a different type of economic development focusing on construction, service and professional jobs, he said.

Infrastructure is one of the major challenges for rural areas, he added. So many times, maintenance or replacement of facilities is underfunded or put off, and facilities such as streets, water plants, and sewer systems deteriorate.

“There is now a need to repair them, and the new people can share in the cost,” he said.

Cathlamet Mayor Dick Swart said Monday he and the town council are concerned about the ability of the town water system, which supplies Wahkiakum PUD’s Puget Island Water System, and the town sewer plant to meet the demands of a growing population.

“Accelerating growth is creating demands for water that will probably overtake the towns water supply and treatment plant capacity,” he said in a state-of-the-town message this week. “Cathlamet has no choice but to press on with its efforts to design and build a wastewater treatment plant that meets federal and state quality and emission regulations.

“The town has made repairs to the existing plant and pipes that are cost effective for the short term but will not accommodate growing demands on the system.”

Swart has proposed the town update its water plan to identify new needs and trends.

Swart visited the PUD and Wahkiakum County boards of commissioners last week to propose establishing a board, committee or process to tabulate and track residential construction.

“It’s a fragmented process,” he said. “I want us to work with the PUD and the county to have a better handle on it.”