Hood River County has approved a ski resort’s park and ride planned for the community of Mt. Hood, but the lead opponent of the project has already announced she intends to appeal the decision.
Mt. Hood Meadows Ski Resort received approval from the Hood River County Planning Department late last month for a commercial land use permit to construct a 179-space park and ride on property located off Corner Loop Road near the intersection of Highway 35 and Cooper Spur Road. Meadows plans to use the park and ride on peak days to shuttle guests and employees 21 miles south to the resort when parking lots at the resort are full.
The project has attracted some controversy in Mt. Hood, particularly from Libby Rossknecht, who owns a family vacation rental called Mt. Hood Guest House adjacent to the property where the park and ride is proposed. Rossknecht has raised concerns over the noise and traffic congestion she says the park and ride will cause and has characterized the development as one that is out of place in the small community.
Rossknecht has also criticized the way the county has processed the application particularly the lack of public notification. Originally, the county approved a 249-space park and ride back in June, but approved the application by way of a ministerial action, not an administrative action, which would have required that adjacent property owners be notified of the application.
The county explained a “discrepancy” contained in the language within its own zoning ordinance led to this difference in interpretation and made Meadows aware. The resort submitted a new application that reduced the number of spaces of the park and ride — in part because some spaces were located within the Corner Loop Road right of way — and requested the county rescind its decision to approve the previous application and process the new application by way of an administrative action, which the county honored.
Though the county rescinded its decision to approve the original application, Rossknecht still has an appeal with the Oregon Land Use Board of Appeals (LUBA) challenging the approval, arguing that the county “has still not filed a formal withdrawal of their decision to LUBA.” In September, the county filed with LUBA a motion to dismiss Rossknecht’s appeal, but has not received word of a decision yet from LUBA.
Rossknecht told the News she also plans to appeal the county’s most recent decision regarding the approval of the 179-space park and ride. Rossknecht did not respond to further questions regarding the appeal as of press time. According to Eric Walker, principal planner with the county, the appeal deadline is Oct. 13 at 5 p.m.
The approval of the park and ride comes with a set of 15 conditions for Meadows, some of which include provisions in an attempt to reduce the potential impacts of the park and ride on neighboring properties. These conditions include:
Dave Tragethon, executive director of social media and public relations for the resort, was contacted by email regarding the approval, but had not responded as of press time. In a previous interview, Tragethon stated the resort had planned to construct the park and ride soon in order to use it for the upcoming winter recreation season.
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