MATTAWA — Mattawa City Council members may decide Jan. 5 to accept or reject a petition to annex 40 acres into the city. Setting a tentative date followed a two-hour discussion of the development agreement stipulations at the council’s regular meeting Thursday.

Rachelle Bradley of SPJ Alliance, the city planners, laid out a timeline.

“We still need to go through the negotiation side with the developer, and there’s a public comment period,” Bradley said. “Right now, I want to get this agreement into the developer’s hands (Friday), and we’ll give them about a two-week period to negotiate.”

If the negotiations are successful, city officials will advertise the annexation petition and ask for the opinions of city residents.

“The public comment period will open Dec. 22 and will be open for two weeks. Then the public comment will close, there will be a hearing and a decision,” Bradley said.

The annexation proposal was the subject of a lengthy discussion at the Oct. 20 council meeting, and council members announced a tentative date of Dec. 8 to make a decision. Council Member Wendy Lopez asked if the council still had to worry about the Dec. 8 date after Thursday’s discussion. Bradley said council members did not.

“Actually you met that obligation today,” Bradley said. “The way the (council) motion was worded, is to allow the city and the applicant time to negotiate a development agreement. We took a step toward that today, and so you met your obligation. That didn’t say you had to make a decision on Dec. 8 – that was the hope – but this is a process, and we’re trying to work as fast as we can.”

The applicant, CAD Homes, Moses Lake, is asking for the annexation of 40 acres north of Priest Rapids Drive next to Saddle Mountain Elementary. The company has announced plans to build homes on the property. A preliminary map shown during the council discussion showed five phases, with 18 to 20 homes per phase. About one-third of the property was left undeveloped in the preliminary map.

Council members decided to stipulate the project must be completed in five years, with the option to apply for a one-year extension. The applicant would be required to complete water and sewer lines, build sidewalks and pave the streets for the first three phases at the start of development.

The two entrances and exits were on Priest Rapids Drive, with no plan to develop an entrance and exit off Portage Avenue in the first phase. Portage Avenue borders the property to the west and runs along the section of land that doesn’t have plans for development.

“Something that’s been brought up by pretty much every agency or department is that it’s concerning that Portage Avenue isn’t included as an up-front access point in phase one,” Bradley said. “Especially from the police chief’s and the fire chief’s perspective, at minimum, those three access points need to be provided upfront.”

Wahluke School District officials also expressed concern about traffic along Priest Rapids Drive and in and out of the new development, Bradley said. Council member Tony Acosta said he agreed additional accommodation for traffic was required.

Council members decided to stipulate the development of Portage Avenue as another access road during the initial development phases. They also added a stipulation that the undeveloped section of the property must be developed before the five-year deadline, or be turned into a park or soccer fields.

“It needs another outlet there. That’s going to be a lot of traffic coming out of those two roads,” Acosta said.

“Or if there’s an emergency during school time,” said Council Member Brian Berghout. “It’s safety - public safety.”

Cheryl Schweizer may be reached at [email protected]. Access more of her stories on your mobile device by downloading the Columbia Basin Herald app – available on iOS and Android devices.