Richland reluctantly approves Little Badger development

The Richland City Council approved a 203-home subdivision atop Little Badger Mountain over the objections of neighbors who fear it will open a new corridor across the hilltop and flood local streets with traffic.

The unanimous decision upholds earlier approval by a hearing examiner and gives developer Mark Bauder the thumbs up to proceed with Westcliffe Heights, a 140-acre project that sits between the Crested Hills and Falcon Heights subdivisions.

The approval process left no room for politics or public opinion.

Under Richland’s land use process, the council had to approve the project if it met the legal requirements. Refusal could have opened the city up to a lawsuit for diminishing the value of private property.

Councilwoman Sandra Kent, a government attorney who is up for re-election this year, told neighbors she wished she could vote against it.

“I would really like to vote ‘no.’ My heart is with you,” she said. “This is a transaction where a developer has the right to develop within the bounds of the law. And they actually asked for less than what they could have.”

Mayor Bob Thompson, also an attorney and also up for re-election, said he too looked for problems in the record and found none.

“The hearing examiner and developer have done everything they’re required to do,” he said. “We’re kind of on the classic horns of a dilemma.”

Craig Whiteley, representing the Crested Hills Homeowners Association, asked the council to require the developer to complete Queensgate Road as part of the project.

He said neighbors don’t object to the new homes, but are concerned a web of new road connections will create an over-the-hill route to Richland for the 750-plus homes in Kennewick’s El Rancho Reata community.

That could overload Morency Drive, an unusual street that climbs 510 feet from Gage Boulevard to the top of Little Badger through a series of steep rises and sharp switchbacks.

Wrecks are common and pedestrians, bicyclists and children use the road. It is unsuited to heavy traffic, neighbors said.

The council said the hearing examiner addressed the traffic issue in his findings. A representative for the developer said Westcliffe Heights won’t connect to Morency until one of the later phases.

Grading work has started on the future extension of Queensgate Drive over the saddle of Little Badger, one of the main conditions of the project.

Bauder is contributing a corridor across the property to the city for future trail development in lieu of park mitigation fees.

This story was originally published July 22, 2017 at 2:48 PM with the headline "Richland reluctantly approves Little Badger development."