Soap Lake hosts meeting regarding Purple Sage Meadows development

Mar. 6—SOAP LAKE — A public hearing regarding a 236-lot manufactured home condominium development was held at the Soap Lake Community and Senior Center on Friday. The meeting had a large turnout of about 50 people, who had questions and concerns regarding the development.

"This will give the first-time homebuyer an opportunity to build equity far faster than if they were buying a trailer in a rental park or if they were renting," said real estate agent and former Soap Lake Mayor Raymond Gravelle, who represented the developer, North Pacific Investments Inc., at the meeting.

The development, called Purple Sage Meadows, sits on about 39 acres along Division Street South, on the west side of the street between Eighth Avenue Southeast and SR 28. The site had originally gone through a process to become a 189-stall RV park before changing gears to the currently proposed development.

The meeting was conducted by Soap Lake City Planner Alex Kovach, who explained the meeting's format.

"This isn't a forum so this isn't an opportunity to spend a lot of time discussing back and forth," Kovach said.

Gravelle went over a packet for attendees and explained what the project would entail.

According to the packet, the property would feature 236 custom-manufactured homes with several shared spaces that included outdoor cooking areas, parking lots, gardens, walking areas, a pool and pickleball courts.

Gravelle explained that the development would feature a showroom at the entrance to the property where prospective buyers could pick their customizations for their home, after which the home would be manufactured in Yakima and be delivered to their lot three weeks later.

The base cost of the homes is in the $270,000 range, the packet states, and the homes would qualify for the Fair Housing Act, Veterans Affairs aid, U.S. Department of Agriculture assistance, state down payment assistance and other financing options.

"For comparison, the average new Hayden home in Moses Lake is $285,000," according to the packet. "Those are a lesser-quality tract home with zero amenities."

Hayden Homes' website lists starting prices at $289,900 for The Refuge at Mae Valley in Moses Lake, and $249,900 for the Maple Grove development in Moses Lake, prior to any custom options.

Gravelle echoed the packet in the meeting and emphasized it would be an affordable housing development, not low-income housing.

"You pick it out, you pick out the lot that you want, put your deposit down — held in escrow by the developer — and that order goes to the factory and three weeks later a custom-built factory home higher than stick-built standards will be set on a site that has already been prepped for foundation," Gravelle told attendees.

He also talked about the security features of the development like the six-foot-tall fence that will border the development, the security gate at the main and only public entrance to the development and a medevac helicopter pad.

He noted that the development will be focused on creating a sense of community, especially through the resident-run homeowners association that will manage the development. There will also be community covenants disallowing any short- or long-term rentals in the development, the packet states.

The development would progress in three phases starting at the northern side of the development and working south.

The floor of the meeting was then opened up for attendees to go on the record with any questions or concerns. After everyone who had wanted to go on the record had spoken, Gravelle and Kovach tried to answer as many questions as they could.

Many of the questions related to the impact on the city's water and sewer system. Some questioned if the system could handle it, due to a declaration of emergency by Soap Lake Mayor Michelle Agliano in January over a leaking sewer pump.

One resident, Keith Morehouse, mentioned the growth they had seen in the city over the last few years and how there are foundations all over town.

"One thing about that is that they're drawing off our aquifer," said Morehouse. "We have an aquifer down under this town and our wells go down to it and if they're drawing off and supplying water to probably 30 new homes, there will be an existential drain on our system."

He went on to also say that Moses Lake has wells that are running dry and wondered if each home will have its own water meter or if the development will have one meter for the whole thing.

Several times throughout the meeting attendees tried to ask questions or comment outside of their time on the record, some in response to Gravelle's attempts to answer questions, whereupon Kovach or Agliano reminded them that they were not allowed to.

Toward the end of the hearing, people in attendance started expressing their frustrations that they felt Gravelle was not answering their questions appropriately, or at all in some cases, especially since they weren't permitted to carry on a dialog with him.

"You never answered one of my questions, Raymond," an attendee said loudly. "How come you didn't answer about the aquifer, how come you didn't answer any of those?"

There was no response from Gravelle and Kovach took over answering questions he had written down from the crowd regarding things like lot sizes and emergency access to the site.

Lot sizes will average between 4,800 and 5,500 square feet, according to the packet, which Kovach said met city code requirements. Emergency access was addressed, according to Kovach, by creating an emergency access-only entrance/exit on the southern side of the development.

"Through the development, for every ERU — equivalent residential unit — there is a general facility charge that is used to help support our wastewater treatment plants and our infrastructure," said Kovach.

The Herald spoke to Gravelle after the meeting and asked what was to become of the rest of the development if not enough people bought into the development to complete the whole 236-lot plan for the property.

"We would sit on the 50 (lots) we have developed until they do sell and it's a 50-unit development," Gravelle said.

Rebecca Pettingill may be reached at rpettingill@columbiabasinherald.com.