Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
Cluster zone
The matter of a landowner’s request to extend a farming/residential opportunity zone came before the county commissioners Monday.
After hearing testimony from Whitman County Planner Alan Thomson and Planning Commission member Mary Collins, who happened to be at the meeting, the three commissioners decided to wait on the planning commission’s recommendation.
A public hearing will be Nov. 5 for input on the matter.
Subject of the debate is a request by the Evangelical Free Church of Pullman to expand the Cluster Opportunity Zone to include a 97-acre parcel it owns along Airport Road northwest of Pullman.
The Cluster Opportunity Zone, which was created in 2003, forms a ribbon around Pullman, establishing an area that allows landowners of 20 acres or more the opportunity to develop the property for housing subject to approval.
The purpose of the zone is to allow people to build houses in open space while limiting the practice to an area near Pullman.
“To preserve farmland, but also to build houses, so they would be clustered together instead of spread across the county,” Thomson said.
The hearing Monday began with Thomson asking for confirmation of what the commissioners intended to do regarding the church’s request.
Commissioner Michael Largent asked Collins to comment.
“As a member of the Planning Commission, I think we should vote and give a recommendation,” she said, as part of her statement. “Then what you do with it is your business.”
Thomson suggested that the concept of the cluster zones, which has been the subject of disagreement on the planning commission, is a settled issue.
“This is a matter of county code and we have to deal with county code going forward,” he said. “And that is a zoning issue… this is no different than creating a light industrial district. My recommendation is to approve for expansion.”
Largent referred to the minutes of the Sept. 17 planning commission meeting.
“There has to be some fairly compelling reasons for me to ever vote against a planning commission recommendation,” he said. “That’s the delicate thing I’m trying to walk right now. It’s hard for me to determine the consensus of the planning commission from this.”
Commissioner Art Swannack indicated that he didn’t have an issue with the planning commission having its vote first.
“But it needs to be very clear; here are the reasons, here is the information that backs that up,” he said.
Thomson then noted his own disagreement with members of the commission, suggesting that reasons to deny the request may not be legally defensible.
“My recommendation is in opposition to the direction they’re leaning,” he said. “I would recommend this be approved. I think it’s entirely appropriate.”
Largent then suggested the planning commission have a specific discussion within the scope of what the commissioners talked about – the matter of the church’s request.
Commissioner Dean Kinzer concurred.
“Another facet of this is that Airport Road qualifies to be a three-lane road,” said Kinzer. “If we end up accepting the additional area for a cluster zone, would that qualify it for a five-lane road?”
Swannack soon concluded the matter; the commissioners allowing for the planning commission to convene at a Nov. 5 public hearing and come forth with a recommendation.
The Cluster Opportunity Zone ribbon around Pullman is made up of 160-acre squares. The church’s request, if approved, would expand the zone by just 97 acres.
“Kind of like a surgical exercise,” Thomson said.
The bottom third of the square in question has already been developed.
The Cluster Opportunity Zone was expanded once before in 2004 when a 53-acre plot was added to the 69 cluster-zone acres of a landowner’s property east of Pullman.
Garth Meyer is a former Whitman County Gazette reporter.
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