By DAVID TELLER
Staff Reporter
The Cheney Planning Commission voted to continue the hearing on the proposed Harvest Bluff to their next meeting after a flurry of concerns emerged during the meeting on July 14.
Aside from concerns about the wetlands and having another park, most of the issues addressed at the meeting focused on pedestrians crossing Betz Road, especially children that attend Cheney Middle School.
“How are you going to get kids across the road safely when 6,000 to 8,000 cars travel that road daily?” Commissioner Graeme Webster challenged the planning department.
He added that turning onto Betz Road is difficult because of the flow of traffic and that would be problematic. He suggested a turn lane or a traffic light for safety.
Cheney Planner Elisa Rodriguez said a traffic analysis had been done in years past, but the details were beyond her involvement. She added the public works department said that a right hand turn lane from Betz Road onto Murphy Road was not necessary.
Rodriguez said the traffic engineer performing the analysis said there was not enough volume on Betz Road to have a light. She added that the engineer said pedestrians, schools, accidents and delays are not viable issues in regards to installing a traffic light.
Ray Sawyer who lives next to the proposed development questioned Webster's figures of traffic volume. Sawyer believes the number is closer to 14,000 a day.
“There's no way little kids can go across that street,” Sawyer said.
He also mentioned that the back of the lot, which is still agricultural land, gets a lot of sprays before planting and that may be an issue with the home owners at the back of the lot after their homes are built.
“Those people will never have a shrub in their back yard,” Sawyer said.
Aside the concerns of public safety, the expense of a renovation on Betz was brought up. Commissioner Dave Rey said Cheney needs to be prepared to make investment on Betz Road if the development goes in.
About all of the citizen comments reflected concerns about pedestrian safety.
“A walk across Betz Road is not going to do,” Cheney resident Bill Clark said.
Supporters of the development want to see the planning and design of Harvest Bluff done right.
“We don't sell houses and we don't sell lots if we do a lousy job,” Mike Hume said of the planning process.
The project got off to a slow start. Now that plans have been done, the owner wants to keep the momentum.
“Let's try to get this to a point we can move this along,” Mitch Swenson, a representative for Patsy McCardel said of the three years that the planning and design has already taken.
An exchange in the proposal is reducing the size of the minimum lots from 7,000 square feet to 6,600 square feet in exchange for the wetlands park.
A concern of the Planning Commission is the use of the word “park.” Part of the trade-off the developer is offering is removing one wetland and expanding another and making it a neighborhood park.
Rey questioned the use of the word park, stating the definition of a park seems ambiguous. He asked, when does a park become a park?
The close proximity of the proposed development to Betz Park complicated the issue further.
“I wonder if it makes sense to have a (neighborhood) park next to (Betz Park),” Rey said. “What is the value?”
Rodriguez acknowledged the presence of the proposed Betz Park. Although it is a foregone conclusion, the park isn't built yet.
“We have to plan, just in case,” Rodriguez said.
Other commissioners were not moved by the trade-offs offered by the developer.
“I don't see that they're giving us anything,” commissioner Randall Butler said. “They're just building smaller lots.”
David Teller can be reached at [email protected]
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