Thompson Hill developer wants another shot at adding hotel, condos to Tri-Cities hillside
It’s back to the drawing board for a long in the works development on Thompson Hill, and residents are not happy to see him trying again.
While the area around the Kennewick hill has seen exponential growth in recent years, permitting continues to elude Jose Chavallo. He’s been trying for more than a decade to convert his hilltop home into a hotel and develop condos on 40 acres of the south side of the hill.
Earlier this year, he tried a different approach, asking the city to allow for a boutique hotel definition that would meet his needs for the hilltop property, but he has since withdrawn that request, according to Kennewick Community Planning Director Anthony Maui.
He’s now back to asking for his property to be rezoned to high density residential.
While he has no plans currently submitted for development, the request says that the intent is to eventually develop 360 homes and turn the hilltop home into a 60-unit hotel.
The zoning change could allow for as many as 441 homes.
Neighborhood pushback
That isn’t likely to pass though, as city staff and residents are still pushing back.
Complaints already have been received by the city from residents in the Creekstone, Windsong, Panoramic Heights neighborhoods and other nearby communities.
By the end of July, there were 26 responses, according to the city’s assessment. Panoramic Heights Homeowners Association President Bill Dixon told the Herald that number has now climbed to 54.
Dixon said one of the primary concerns of the nearby residents is that the density rules could allow for up to 557 multi-family homes in an area that would otherwise only allow 150 single-family homes. The zoning changes could also open the door for a hotel of any size on top of the hill.
Dixon said neighbors are said to have concerns in virtually every aspect of the project’s potential impact, which includes: increased traffic; incompatibility with existing neighborhoods; decreases in property values; steep slopes, runoff and landslides; noise and light pollution; increased crime; and neighborhood safety.
“Will this never end? One ‘modification’ after the next it seems,” Robert Langendorfer wrote.
Langendorfer said he is a retired police officer and is concerned about the potential increase in traffic and crime, and decrease in property value as he believes the proposal is incompatible with nearby neighborhoods.
“I could have checked all of the above for my concerns about this proposal, which by my accounting is the 4th or 5th time this developer has tried to get around the (to date) consistent rejections of his proposal,” Bertha Garza wrote.
“Unfortunately, with new council members, I fear that his persistence will be rewarded to the detriment of the wider community,” she wrote.
The proposed zoning changes will be discussed at the Kennewick Planning Commission’s Sept. 19 meeting. Residents can attend the meeting online or in person at Kennewick City Hall.
According to the commission’s agenda packet, city staff has recommended the city council once again deny the request.
Chavallo could not be reached by the Herald about his renewed request.
Thompson Hill property
Property records show Chavallo bought the home perched on top of the hill south Kennewick for $850,000 in February 2009.
At the time, it was known as 360 Cellars Estate Bed & Breakfast. His first attempt to develop the property came the same year, and would have included changes to allow a boutique hotel complex, fine dining restaurant, meeting/ballroom facility, day spa, wine tasting shops and small resort-related retail shops.
That bid failed but he tried again in 2010 and 2011, and was voted down each time.
The 3,400-square-foot home, built in 1971 by Ken Thompson, was listed for sale about eight years ago, but never sold. Last year, Chavallo brought the city a more ambitious plan to develop 40 acres, including adding the hotel.
Chavallo asked for the city to rezone the land from low-density to high-density residential to allow a hotel with a restaurant, spa and high-end meeting spaces, as well as a development that would have included 350 high-end condos on the south side.
Neighbors, particularly in Panoramic Heights, fiercely opposed the high-density designation, fearing the land use change could allow as many as 1,100 apartments or other housing units on the hillside.
And in May 2021, the city council voted 5-1 to deny the zoning change though several said they supported aspects of the project.
Two of those members who voted against the project are no longer on the city council. Bill McKay, who is now Kennewick’s mayor, was the only vote in favor, and indicated support for finding a way forward.
This story was originally published September 9, 2022 at 12:54 PM.
