Stop 47 Degrees North

Citizens of Cle Elum and Upper Kittitas County are working to defeat a proposed development.

Suggested Comment Letter

Letters / by

47 Degrees North suggested comment letter/Email to the City of Cle Elum.

  • Email addresses for Cle Elum planning department and elected officials are provided at the bottom, use these to email the letter.
  • Don’t forget to put “47 Degrees North” in the subject line of your email or letter and your name and address at the top.
CLICK HERE TO Download EDITABLE WORD Version

Name: ___________________________________ Date: ____________________

Address: __________________________________________________________

Email: ______________________________

Phone: ______________________________

To: City of Cle Elum – Mayor, City Council members, Planning Department,

119 West First Street, Cle Elum, WA 98922

Re: 47 Degrees North Major Amendment proposal

I am writing to inform the city of my very strong opposition to the Sun Communities 47° North proposal for the Bullfrog flats property.  The proposed manufactured home / RV community:

  • Is in clear violation of the vision for the property adopted by the city and presented to the public as a condition for annexing Bullfrog Flats into the city.  It’s not in character with the City of Cle Elum and does not comply with fundamental requirements of the city’s comprehensive plan, the development agreement, or zoning for the property.
  • Instead of traditional neighborhoods that were planned to be connected to and a natural extension of the city, supporting the rest of the city, 47 Degrees North would create a private for-profit community and tourist resort with gates, private roads and utilities which will be separated from the rest of the city.  It will create a private city within a city, forever.
  • Fiscal studies of 47 Degrees North show that it will not create sufficient tax revenue to cover the city’s cost to serve it.  Unless the developer agrees to financially cover the substantial deficits, forever, existing city taxpayers will be required to subsidize Sun’s development and taxes will go up.
  • Sun’s 47 Degrees North will be in its entirety a private business not a natural neighborhood (no lots sold, all spots leased), wholly owned by a massive out-of-state publicly traded corporation who’s fiduciary duty is to its shareholders, not city taxpayers.  Any subsidies of the project would be a gift of public funds to a private entity.
  • Is not housing as contemplated for the Bullfrog UGA. It will displace half of the actual housing planned for the area and replace it with a private park designed as a transient playground.
  • Will be the largest manufactured home/RV park on the West Coast and will double the population of Cle Elum. Parks of this magnitude have no place in a town as small as Cle Elum. Wrong Place Wrong Size.
  • Sun has eliminated the industrial park component of the approved plan and is proposing a major new retail center to the project which would compete with existing city businesses and will seriously damage Cle Elum’s downtown, which the city has invested millions of dollars to reinvigorate. The retail center is in direct conflict with the city’s comprehensive plan which states that the Bullfrog Flats Master Plan….”is intended to elevate the DTC (downtown core) as the primary retail and activity nexus for Cle Elum”.  Current rules for the Bullfrog Flats property prohibit a retail center on the property.
  • Provides no significant benefits to city or UKC residents, but creates serious and significant impacts on roads, police, fire, schools, emergency services, hospitals and other public services that can’t be (or won’t be) fully mitigated by the developer, and,
  • Will create extensive traffic congestion and gridlock conditions and an overall reduction in levels of service of upper county services which will require public expenditures and increased upper county taxes to pay for. Any such increase in taxes will effectively translate to a subsidy for a private business,
  • Denial of 47 Degrees North will not take away or reduce underlying property rights. It will simply require Sun Communities to comply with city’s current rules, regulations and comprehensive plan for the property.   The original underlying zoning approval and development agreement already allows development of this site, just not as a private resort/manufactured home community/retail center.

For all of these reasons, and others, I implore the City to DENY this proposed major amendment and retain the current approved land use for the property.

Respectfully,

_____________________________________________

Signature

CLICK HERE TO Download EDITABLE WORD Version

Email Addresses:

Emailed comments must go to:

planning@cleelum.gov


You should also copy the Mayor and city council members with your emailed comments at the addresses below:

If you prefer a mailed letter:  letters may be mailed to: City of Cle Elum, Attention: Planning Department/47 Degrees North, 119 West First Street, Cle Elum, WA 98922.