News Articles
New Development Final - Apple Valley Ranch
Posted on Oct 16th, 2010
Your HOA would like you to be informed that on September 21, 2010, Kirk Rathbun filed an application for a preliminary plat approval to subdivide a 4.24-acre parcel into 11 single family residential lots called the Apple Valley Ranch. This property is located west of Applewood Estates and east of The Vineyards. Chardonnay Dr will go through connecting both communities. Attached is the notice of hearing and map.
The Richland Planning Commission, on Wednesday, October 27th will conduct a public hearing and review of the application at 7:00 p.m. at City Hall. All interested homeowners are encouraged to attend. You may also express your views/concerns to Rick Simon, Development Services Manager, 840 Northgate Drive, P.O. Box 190, Richland, WA 99352. Comments may also be faxed to (509) 942-7764. Written comments should be received no later than 5:00 p.m. on October 19th to be included in the material that is distributed to the Planning Commission prior to their meeting.
We look forward to having this area developed but have some concerns that should be address at the meeting. They are:
- Traffic from The Vinyards and development east bound down the hill on Chardonnay Dr
- The width Chardonnay and Apple Cider Court
- Water run-off issues during construction and completed lots
- Covenants consistent with Applewood & The Vinyards
- Home values in Apple Valley Ranch
(***Update***)
Your HOA attended the Planning Commission meeting on October 27th regarding the request for a preliminary plat approval for Apple Valley Ranch. A few homeowners from The Vinyards and Applewood Estates attended, but there was not a large turnout. The developer assured the commission that the 11 homes in the development would be single family homes and the home values would be consistent with area homes. He also assured the commission that Apple Valley would have similar covenants to that of the Vinyards and Applewood.
There were improvements to the sidewalks, intersection and landscaping of Apple Cider Court. Most important is that the street will preclude from becoming an access street for any future development up the hill in the cherry orchard. This will make Chardonnay Dr and Vintage Ave (in The Vinyards) the only roads for access to Shockley and the traffic light at Shockley and Keene. By looking at the map, homeowners from Apple Valley Ranch would use Vintage Ave and not drive through Appplewood Estates.
The last and most important issue was water run-off. The staff report did acknowledge under the State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA) that high ground water has been identified as an issue in the surrounding subdivisions. Conditions of approval have been included in the Technical Advisory Committee recommendation that will require the developer to address this issue as part of the geotechnical and grading work as well as the storm water system design. I also talked to the developer, Kirk Rathbun, about this issue and recommended that he pay close attention to the report to avoid any future legal issues. Over all, the commission and homeowners were pleased with the design of the development due to the odd size of the land. Applewood HOA sent a letter to the City to remind them of this issue.
The commission voted for approval of the preliminary plat and will recommend this to the city council. If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact any board member.