‘Barrel Springs’ subdivision rolls forward

Specifically, the Planning Commission said construction can’t begin until applicants prove the city is “willing or obligated” to connect the property to an existing 8-inch municipal sewer line on Belmont Road.

Sewer utilities have cropped up as the biggest hurdle for Barrel Springs, a 3.7-acre residential neighborhood slated for the corner of Belmont Avenue and Avalon Drive.

Developer Cody Johnecheck and other representatives of Lake Oswego-based Consolidated Lands & Cattle LLC have argued the subdivision needs municipal sewer access; however, the property sits roughly 800 feet outside the nearest city boundary — still inside the urban growth boundary, but not “contiguous” with city limits.

City staff have said Barrel Springs, and similar construction projects proposed nearby, must be annexed into the city in order to garner sanitary sewer use.

Discussion on that sticking point has inched ahead.

Hood River City Council on Feb. 8 directed City Manager Steve Wheeler to continue working with Barrel Springs attorneys on reaching a solution regarding annexation.

Land use approval, however, took a large step forward with the county’s affirmative decision Wednesday night.

Johnecheck appeared at the Planning Commission hearing with members of Barrel Springs’ investment group, including attorneys Andrew Stamp and Bruce Vincent.

Most of the group’s testimony covered the sewer question.

“We’re between a rock and a hard place,” Stamp said.

Stamp said the city recently changed its annexation policy. For the last 20-30 years, he said, the city allowed nearby properties to be “annexed in” as long as they sign consent-to-annexation agreements, which essentially say the property owner agrees the site will be absorbed into the city eventually.

The Barrel Springs group urged planners to conditionally approve the application and allow it to move forward.

Judie Hanel, a neighboring resident, testified against the housing subdivision due to destruction of trees and traffic concerns.

“I strongly feel that the county needs to take a serious look at the traffic in the area — not just asking for a traffic assessment letter but a traffic impact study,” Hanel said.

Several neighbors filed written letters similar in tone in the months after Barrel Springs was proposed, in late 2015.

Planning commissioners quizzed the Barrel Springs group Wednesday about what the homes would look like, and what measures the applicants would take to ease neighbors’ concerns.

“The market really dictates the final price,” Johnecheck said, so he couldn’t speak to details of what the neighborhood would look like.

As to neighborhood sentiments, Johnecheck said he had talked to nearby residents during the first time Barrel Springs came before the county, in 2007.

During deliberation, commissioners shared reservations about letting Barrel Springs go through with no checks on sewer access.

After some back and forth over their legal language, the board settled on approval — attached with a requirement that Barrel Springs work with the city on its utility needs.