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<br />Marian Meadows Rezone and Subdivision Final Environmental Impact Statement 3-4 <br />According to Kittitas County <br />Assessor’s records, approximately <br />half the lots in this area include <br />improvements of sufficient value to <br />indicate that a housing unit has <br />been constructed. Of those with <br />improvements, about half have a <br />taxpayer address outside Kittitas <br />County zip codes, indicating <br />probable seasonal use. <br />What types of land uses are allowed in land <br />zoned R-3? <br />A variety of land uses are allowed in <br />the <br />R-3 zone, ranging from single-family <br />homes and mobile homes to lodges <br />and community clubhouses. <br />Resource land uses such as <br />agriculture and forestry are also <br />allowed. Mining is allowed in an <br />established mining district, with a <br />new mining use requiring a <br />conditional use permit. A variety of <br />other conditional uses include <br />campgrounds, guest ranches, group <br />homes, retreat centers, golf courses, <br />and gas and oil exploration and <br />production. <br />Easton Vicinity <br />The unincorporated townsite of Easton was established by the <br />Northern Pacific Railroad on the east side of the Stampede Pass <br />tunnel at the Cascade Mountains divide after the tunnel opened in <br />1888. Easton was the site of a small depot and roundhouse with <br />additional locomotives to provide extra traction power to move <br />trains over the steeper section of track to the divide as well as <br />providing resting quarters for the railroad crew. Most railroad <br />facilities in Easton were closed in the 1970s (Phillips and Alldredge <br />2000). The Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) Railroad <br />mothballed the rail line in 1984 and reopened it to limited traffic in <br />1996. A portion of the town of Easton is currently occupied by the <br />Easton School District. Main Street and Railroad Avenue contain <br />several businesses. North of the school are 25 houses with an estimated population of 60 residents. <br />The townsite of Easton should not be confused with the Easton Census Designated Place (CDP), which <br />covers a larger area. The Easton CDP includes all the land between the BNSF Railroad on the south side <br />of I-90 from Lake Easton State Park to Exit 71. It also includes the area north of I-90, which is north of <br />Sparks Road and east of Country Drive. The CDP is smaller than the Easton Vicinity discussed in this <br />document because it excludes land on the south of Sparks Road and east of Country Drive (including the <br />Marian Meadows site). According to the 2000 U.S. Census, the Easton CDP had a population of 338 in <br />151 households with 228 housing units. The difference between 228 housing units and 151 households <br />indicates that 77 housing units, or approximately one-third of the housing units in the Easton CDP, were <br />either classified as vacant or seasonally occupied at the time of the 2000 census. <br />On the south side of I-90, most of Lake Easton is surrounded by Lake Easton State Park, except for an 8- <br />acre site containing the Lake Easton Resort and Outdoor Recreation Club. South of the townsite of <br />Easton, there is a development of approximately 40 lots, each 5 to 10 acres, about half of which include <br />homes. West of Easton, development on Cabin Creek Road consists of approximately 30 lots. <br />North of I-90 is the Sun Island Park subdivision located just east of Exit 71, which consists of <br />approximately 150 lots, averaging 1.50 acre, between two <br />channels of the Yakima River. Approximately 115 lots are <br />developed and two-thirds are estimated to be occupied seasonally <br />(Anderson 2008). <br />Area of Influence <br />For the purposes of this land use analysis, the Area of Influence <br />includes the area addressed in the Upper Kittitas County Vision <br />Plan, prepared in 2005, and extends roughly from Cle Elum to