Cashmere Boundary Review

WENATCHEE— In a 4-0 decision, the Chelan County Boundary Review Board voted to approve City of Cashmere Notice of Intent 2023.001 in a public hearing on June 28. This motion annexed a 25-acre property bordered by Kimber Road and Evergreen Drive into Cashmere’s city limits. The decision came after five concerned residents voiced their opposition in the public comments portion of the meeting citing, among other things, safety considerations. About a dozen or so citizens attended the meeting in total. “Now I know that’s not the outcome you were looking for. I know that. But I have to appreciate all of your comments,” Board Chair Dennis Johnson said to the assembled group. “It is a safety issue and I think we recognize that, but it’s something that’s not within our jurisdiction of denying an annexation because of.”

Also voting on the matter with Johnson were Duane Goehner, Larry Cordes and Carl Blum. Vice Chairman Aaron Young did not attend the meeting as he was in transit between Twisp and Wenatchee. Goehner empathized with the opponents of the annexation but stressed the importance of heeding guidelines. “I’ve had these experiences myself. I think the right direction is to follow the law,” Goehner said. “We have to follow the rules and regulations, and this is mapping to what our expectations are. I think it’s valuable. Hopefully the city’s heard some things to consider those safety concerns.”

Besides Christ Center Church, which is a property of over 20 acres, the other applicant for annexation of the property was Mark Spears, whose property borders Kimber and Evergreen. The annexation includes the roads bordering the frontage of both properties. Neither applicant attended the meeting. The City of Cashmere owns a portion of Evergreen right to the corner of that road and Kimber. Tammy Miller is the Planning Director for the City of Cashmere. She addressed the Board and mentioned that both properties fall within the City’s urban growth boundaries. There has been an agreement between Cashmere and Chelan County about the zoning. As for the church property, the zoning is for 7,000 square feet for single family only. Mark Spears’ property has 11 sites.  “We’ve gone through the process and there’s really nothing standing in the way,” Miller said. “Our code states that we have the option to annex in. Our lowest density of annexing the zoning in single family and these properties can be zoned as single family.” Gina Quinn lives on Kimber Road and shares a fence line with Christ Center Church. During her public comments, she brought up issues of safety and the potential environmental impact of the annexation, particularly protections to Brender Creek and the Wenatchee River. ”The Boundary Review Board was very empathetic and courteous; however, our concerns and oppositional statements were not in their pervue so, they couldn’t act on them. This would now become the City of Cashmere’s responsibility. Personally, I feel disheartened and disillusioned. On the positive side: It was apparent there is significant UGA neighborhood concern regarding these developments going forward ”. Ann Radoslovich of Cashmere said she worried about increased traffic in an area that experiences speeding by drivers. Also speaking was Joshua Price, who recently served as the president of the Cashmere Chamber of Commerce. Price expressed concern that the small town will become crowded and lose its quiet, rural nature.

“I can’t do anything about the properties being developed. They are zoned in an urban growth area. They can build. I understand that. But they do not need to be annexed in the city limits,” Price said.  “Please don’t set the precedent that next year I come back here again and say that there’s another orchard across the street, that there’s another lot that wants to be annexed into the city, so they can build smaller lots. It will continue to happen, but no matter what, I will continue to be here.”  Price also pointed out the absence of Spears and the any Christ Center Church representatives.  “They felt like they have requested the annexation, they own 100 percent of the property, and there’s nothing that they could say that would change their request for the annexation,” Miller said. Another issue of the meeting was Christ Center’s soccer field which Julie Radoslovich, a New Mexico resident who frequently visits Cashmere, mentioned. In 2021, the church received an occupancy permit. The next year, the church added an unpermitted soccer field which experiences a lot of public use. Radoslovich mentioned that the soccer field was included in the second phase, not the first phase, of the proposed Christ Center complex. She added that the code violation was submitted to Chelan County Community Development and Code enforcement on March 14. The code violation was forwarded to City of Cashmere on April 14 and the matter has not been formally resolved. Miller said she was unaware of the code violation until recently. While she has received a file about it, she has not looked at it since it’s outside her purview. She added that playfields are allowed in that particular zone.

“It is not the City’s place to address a code violation,” Miller said. “That’s not in our jurisdiction. The County takes care of codes in these suburban residential areas.” Susan Hinkle is a Chelan County Deputy Prosecuting Attorney. Johnson asked her to address the code violation matter.

“When a zoning code violation is created, or reported, the Sherriff’s office actually investigates code enforcement violations, not the community development department,” Hinkle said. “So, the status of the investigation and the recommendation of the investigators would be created by the Sherriff’s office code enforcement officers and presented to the county prosecutor’s office and the code enforcement officer may first communicate directly with the violator.”

Hinkle said she didn’t know in what stage the investigation was in. “I’d love to have the applicant there because I’d love to know why they want to be annexed,” Blum said. “My question for the Christ Church is are you wanting you to come into the city because of the impending code violations? Do they think that the City would be more lenient?”

Now that the Board has approved the annexation, the matter falls into city jurisdiction. The land is still considered undeveloped with a single-family classification. If Spears or Christ Center wanted to subdivide, they would bring an application to the City of Cashmere and go through a hearing process. “This is dealing with annexation boundaries at the higher level,” Cordes told those in attendance. “But hang on to your concerns. You’ll have an opportunity to take this forward to the City or the County.”