PD-17-00001 Marian Meadows Full Record with Index (2)

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Marian Meadows Rezone and Subdivision Final Environmental Impact Statement 3-27 An example of a rural community in which low housing costs have resulted in substantial growth, despite geographic isolation, is the Kendall community in eastern Whatcom County, Washington. This subdivision of several hundred lots was developed in the 1960s as recreational, secondary residences. In the 1980s and 1990s, it grew rapidly with most of the housing stock consisting of low-cost mobile homes. It attracted persons looking for inexpensive housing and notably attracted a high population of immigrants from Russia and Ukraine, which comprise an estimated 30 percent of the community. Seventy-one percent of children enrolled at Kendall Elementary School are now eligible for free or reduced price lunches. In the larger Kendall-North Fork area 24 percent of the population resides in households with incomes below the poverty line (NFCL 2007). Major out-of-county employment opportunities are located in King County, which is 40 to 60 miles to the west . The long commute times exhibited by current residents indicate that many working residents are willing to commute long distances.  Commute time was greater than 30 minutes for 55 percent of the workforce and 60 minutes or more for 40 percent of the workforce. A substantial portion of the existing population is willing to commute long distances to live in the Easton community. This fact indicates that a substantial component of full-time residents may be expected for the proposed development, assuming similar attractions are present. For persons who are retired, the same factors of cost in relation to income are relevant, although distance to workplace and cost of commuting are not a factor. Public services such as medical services, as well as unpredictable factors such as proximity to friends and relatives, tend to be more important to this demographic group. Amenities may also play a greater role in housing choice for retired persons, because they enjoy greater flexibility in location by not being tied to a specific workplace. For recreational housing, the factors that affect housing choice relate primarily to amenities. In this case, additional amenities that are likely to be important to the attractiveness of the area include:  Winter sport facilities such as downhill skiing in the Snoqualmie Pass resort area.  Summer boating and fishing opportunities at Lake Easton State Park, Kachess Lake, Keechelus Lake, and Cle Elum Lake, as well as the Yakima River.  Summer hiking and other opportunities in the National Forest in the area. An important resource in identifying the values that current residents of the community value are public meetings and survey results from the Upper Kittitas County Vision Plan, developed by the Kittitas County Conference of Governments in 2004 and 2005, discussed above. Other important resources are the values identified in a public meeting in Easton held in March 2005. The concerns expressed by residents at that time are also summarized above. For potential residents in the workforce, an important characteristic of the proposal is housing cost. The cost of purchasing a lot and the cost of placing a residence on the land can be a significant factor that can outweigh factors such as commuting cost.