Development's evolution leads to confusion

"It’s a mess! Everything is confused. It’s Balkanized."

These are just a few terms used by residents and those familiar with the controversy to describe the problems at the Columbia Ridge Estates (CRE) in the Town of Cathlamet. The development, just off Columbia Street, is an unfinished housing subdivision started by Hanes/Zoller Joint Enterprises.

“The original development was to build a mobile-home park,” said Building and Planning Manager Charles Beyer.

He said he was the county’s building inspector at the time. Early in the development the town of Cathlamet approved a variance that allowed developer Mark Zoller to switch his building permit from the mobile home park permit to a permit that let him develop a planned subdivision.

Construction is taking place in two stages. Phase I currently includes 30 single family homes along Glengate Drive and on Glen Lane and Hill Drive.

Zoller declared Phase I complete in 2006. After that, former Mayor Richard Swart told the town council that the planning commission recommended allowing Hanes/Zoller Joint Enterprises to complete Phase II of the project.

Some residents living in Phase II of the development said they were unaware they were buying into a planned community development with covenants, conditions, easements and restrictions.

“There were no covenants attached to my sales contract,” said CRE resident Starla Hanson. Hanson said she bought her home through a real-estate agent a year ago and has never seen a copy of the CCE&Rs.

Cathlamet Mayor George Wehrfritz said the town views the Phase I and II descriptions that define CRE as one part of a very convoluted problem.

“Its like this: Columbia Ridge Estates is one entity and the Phase I and II definitions within CRE and are simply constructs of the builders,” he said.

After the housing bubble in 2008, Zoller sold his interest in Phase II to developer Scott Espedal for one dollar. The Phase II sale included the homes on Glen Loop Lane and all the land east of the road.

From here the story gets a little murky with Columbia Ridge Estates Phase I residents arguing with developers over who’s responsible for what phase of the development.

“The question is, ‘Have the developer’s fulfilled their responsibilities as outlined in their contracts?” asked Wehrfritz. “And does CRE have a legal Home Owners Association?”

The dispute between Zoller and CRE Phase I residents stems from disagreements over several issues. Washington State has a requirement that a Home Owner’s Association (HOA) be part of any ‘planned community’ development.

By establishing Columbia Ridge Estates as a planned community, Zoller could save money. The city gave Zoller several variances that let him reduce the lot size for each house. The variances also allowed him to install smaller driveways, sidewalks and streets. He could also install street lighting of his choice and he could forgo any public spaces that might be required by the Town of Cathlamet’s building department.

“The lots in CRE are significantly smaller than allowed in Cathlamet,” said Wehrfritz. “Zoller was also told that all the infrastructure and public space would be the CRE’s responsibility.”

Zoller has outlined this in his CCE&R as each property is sold.

To buy in to CRE, residents had to agree to Zoller’s CCE&R guidelines.

The rules are simple: The planned community is responsible for all of its maintenance. The catch, according to residents, is that Zoller’s covenants say there can’t be a formal HOA until residents have 75 percent of the vote. Until then he and Espedal control what goes on at CRE, and that irks some residents.

“According to the CCE&R the votes are counted based on the number of lots you own. The developers have taken over and formed, not an HOA, but something they are calling a “neighborhood association,” said CRE resident Marjie McConough, “and they can rightfully do so because they own all the empty lots and have most of the votes.”

“These are ownership votes, and normally what happens in the beginning is the developer owns all the lots, so he has all the votes and controls the association,” said Wehrfritz. He said eventually, a hand-off occurs and residents gain control after the majority of lots are sold and the developer no longer has the votes.

Zoller and Scott Espedal jointly own 22 lots and homes in the CRE. McConough said she knew of Zoller’s CCE&R requirements when she purchased her home. She was also aware there weren’t enough home owners to form a HOA and so she said residents formed a co-op and began paying into a maintenance fund as required by the CCE&R.

Currently each resident pays $20 a month into the co-op after purchasing their properties.

“We have about $16,000 in the fund now,” said McConough. But some residents feel Zoller is trying to acquire the funds to help Scott Espedal build the infrastructure for Phase II of the CRE.

On May 3 of this year Zoller called a neighborhood meeting of Phase I residents to formally establish a neighborhood association.

The group voted to place their funds with an account until the new treasurer could be elected, but, said McConough, “the money is sitting there, and it’s thought Mark Zoller wants to use it for Phase II.”

Because a legal HOA was never established, 18 residents presented Zoller with a petition during the May 3 meeting demanding he forget about requiring a HOA, quit calling meetings and stop requiring them to pay dues.

Speaking to the association issue Wehrfritz said, “That’s another problem: ‘Who’s representing the homeowners? Who’s collecting the money? How is it being managed? It’s that fundamental.”

The Columbia Ridge Estate’s controversy has led the town of Cathlamet to pass Resolution Number 280-10 in May. The resolution imposes a six-month moratorium on further construction in the Columbia Ridge Estate subdivision until the roadways are finished.

The moratorium will also remain in place until a functioning HOA is established.

In 2006, when former Mayor Swart recommended Zoller be allowed to complete Phase II. Zoller soon came back to the city council with another request. The minutes of the regular Cathlamet city council meeting on August 21 of that year show that Zoller requested the town council take over the maintenance of the streets and lighting in the CRE development.

“That’s what I’d like to see happen,” said McConough. “I think the town should take over. We pay our taxes to the town and even if our sidewalks are a little small, we have them, unlike some areas of the town.”

“Think about it,” said Wehrfritz, “if the town told everyone who wanted to build ‘Sure we’ll take over the maintenance of your subdivision.’ then it would have to do it for anyone who wanted to build on an undersized lot.”

Wehrfritz said if that happened, the whole zoning and building code structure of the town of Cathlamet would break down.

Wehrfritz said that what’s happened at the CRE is that the developer and residents have been “Balkanized.” “They don’t see themselves as one community,” said Wehrfritz.

Zoller and Espedal hadn't responded to requests for interviews by press time.