January 12th, 2008
Resort receives conditional backing
Broughton Lumber Co. would be permitted to build a large resort on the site of its former mill west of White Salmon, but all units would have to be rented as short-term tourist accommodations.
Saturday, January 12, 2008
BY KATHIE DURBIN, Columbian staff writer
That's the recommendation released late Thursday by Jill Arens, executive director of the Columbia River Gorge Commission. Arens' proposed language would prohibit any party from occupying a unit for more than 30 weeks of any calendar year.
Broughton President Jason Spadaro has proposed that 30 percent of units at the Broughton Landing resort be sold as permanent residences to promote year-round use and assure long-term profitability for the venture.
"It's a very delicate issue because of the economics of the project," Spadaro said Friday. "It could be a deal-breaker if it's overly restrictive."
The good news for Broughton is that Arens recommends lifting restrictions on the maximum number of units the resort may include - as long as they all fit within the footprint of the original mill complex. She also recommends allowing individual units to be up to 1,600 square feet in size.
The company has proposed a resort of about 250 units; the gorge commission earlier circulated a proposed amendment to the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area Management Plan calling for a resort of no more than 210 units.
"If they've given us flexibility by not determining an arbitrary number, that's a good thing," Spadaro said.
Under existing commercial recreational zoning, Broughton would be allowed to develop the site with 175 camping or recreational vehicle spaces and up to 35 cabins, each no larger than 1,000 square feet.
The company has said it is not interested in developing a small-scale resort of the type currently allowed.
Conditions in the gorge have changed since Congress established the national scenic area in 1986, warranting a plan amendment that would allow a large destination resort on the site, Arens said in her director's report.
"First, there has been a major and continued decline in timber harvest, particularly on public lands, resulting in significant socioeconomic impacts to the gorge," she wrote. "At the same time, the role of tourism has substantially increased in importance to the local economy. Together, these changes reflect a greater diversification in the gorge economy and a decreased dependence on forestry and related manufacturing activity."
It would be in the best interest of the scenic area to replace the largely abandoned and likely contaminated industrial site with a resort that would contribute to the gorge economy and enhance scenic and recreational values, Arens argued.
"What was once considered an economic asset when the management plan was adopted is now a potentially contaminated eyesore in the middle of the scenic area," she said.
Master plan required
Under her proposal, Broughton would be required to develop a master plan covering every aspect of the project for gorge commission staff review. The company would be required to conduct an inventory of Native American and other cultural resources. Columbia Basin tribes would retain all treaty rights they now hold in the area.
Arens called the Broughton Landing proposal "a unique and challenging land use issue," and she acknowledged that public comment has been running strongly against it.
"Many cited the precedent the commission could be setting if it amended the plan for economic reasons, and that such a decision would be an invitation to other people to demand new plan provisions to allow development of their land for different or more intensive uses than currently allowed," she wrote.
Arens' recommendation does not bind the 12 voting members of the gorge commission, which has scheduled a public hearing on the issue for Feb. 12 in Hood River, Ore.
Gorge Commissioner Joe Palena, a Vancouver financial adviser and an unabashed supporter of the Broughton Landing proposal, said he could support Arens' conditions. But he said he did not want to risk losing the resort and the public amenities it would bring to the scenic area, including 200 acres of public easements the company has offered to provide on the ridge behind the mill buildings.
"This is a gift," Palena said. "Not to grab this opportunity would be absolutely insane."
Michael Lang, conservation director of Friends of the Columbia Gorge, said approval of an urban-scale resort within a rural portion of the national scenic area would continue a pattern of commercial development that Congress hoped to prevent when it established the national scenic area.
"This should be a wake-up call," he said. "This should be an alarm for everyone who cares about the gorge and wants to see its natural scenic beauty and rural character protected for future generations. Congress intended for this kind of development to be in urban areas."
Lang said that if the gorge commission approves the plan amendment as proposed, Friends of the Gorge will be prepared to challenge its action in court.
www.gorgecommission.org
Look on the home page for a link to the director's report.
