Building boom: Construction surges on in Grant County
CHERYL SCHWEIZER | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 4 years, 11 months AGO
Joel Gonzalez Jr. (left) maneuvers a section of garage door into place while Joel Gonzalez Sr. supports the other end. The door was being installed in a home under construction on Dune Lakes Road south of Moses Lake.
Cheryl Schweizer/Columbia Basin Herald
Joel Gonzalez Jr. (left) and Joel Gonzalez Sr. (right) lift a section of garage door prior to installation on a home under construction on Dune Lakes Road south of Moses Lake.
Joel Gonzalez Sr. installs a garage door in a home under construction on Dune Lakes Road south of Moses Lake.
Senior Reporter Cheryl Schweizer is a journalist with more than 30 years of experience serving small communities in the Pacific Northwest. She began her post-high-school education at Treasure Valley Community College and enerned her journalism degree at Oregon State University. After working for multiple publications, she has settled down at the Columbia Basin Herald and has been a staple of the newsroom for more than a decade. Schweizer’s dedication to her communities and profession has earned her the nickname “The Baroness of Bylines.” She covers a variety of beats including health, business and various municipalities. | April 14, 2021 1:00 AM
EPHRATA — The boom in construction is going strong in Grant County, at least in the unincorporated areas.
Grant County Development Services director Damien Hooper said last week county officials received 335 applications in the first quarter of 2021, compared to 204 in the first quarter of 2020.
State officials ordered businesses, including construction, to shut down in mid-March 2020 in an effort to combat the COVID-19 outbreak. However, that shutdown apparently had a minimal effect on building permit activity. Hooper said applications remained consistent in March 2020 compared to previous years.
The county received 108 building permit applications in January 2021, 102 in February and 86 in March. Hooper said applications for single family homes are outpacing applications in other categories about 5 to 1.
People are applying to build homes all around Grant County. Many of the applications are coming from the area around Moses Lake, already a significant residential center, Hooper said, but people also are applying to build in Crescent Bar, north of Quincy, and Desert Aire, south of Mattawa. Hooper said the county planning department has received about 40 applications for homes near the Cave B Estate Winery, southwest of Quincy.
“Everywhere,” Hooper said. “Everywhere.”
The extra building activity has come at a time when the state’s economy has been battered by the effects of the coronavirus pandemic and the measures taken to fight it.
“Construction-wise, we’ve weathered the storm really well,” Hooper said. “It (the construction boom) is a good problem to have.”
But the flood of applications has led to a delay in processing them. Hooper said the review and decision process for an application for a single-family home usually takes about three weeks. Currently it’s “four weeks and up in some cases,” he said.
“We’re behind on our normal timelines,” he said.
Employees cleared some of the backlog in March. Development services received 86 applications during the month and issued 114 permits. Permits were being issued faster than applications were being filed, Hooper said. Development services administrators are planning to hire two new employees, he said, to help speed up the process.
Cheryl Schweizer can be reached via email at [email protected].
ARTICLES BY CHERYL SCHWEIZER
Road closures, roundabout, mean construction season underway
EPHRATA — The grass is starting to turn green, the trees are starting to leaf out, construction crews are starting to build roundabouts – hey, it’s spring. At least one roundabout project is in its final phase, held over from fall 2025. The intersection of State Route 282 and Nat Washington Way will be closed the week of April 6 to allow crews to install permanent lights. “This really is the final (closure),” wrote Grant County Administrator Tom Gaines in a media release. “The roundabout will close at 6 a.m. Monday, and we plan to reopen by Friday, possibly sooner if the work finishes early.”
Ybarra announces run for Washington Senate
QUINCY — State Representative Alex Ybarra, R-Quincy, has announced his candidacy for the Washington Senate. If he’s elected, he would replace Judy Warnick, R-Moses Lake, who announced her retirement in March.
Othello Community Museum to open April 25
OTHELLO — With a couple of new exhibits, a new heating-cooling system, rearranged displays and a thorough cleaning, the Othello Community Museum will open for the summer April 25. The goal, said Molly Popchock, museum board secretary, is to operate for a full season.