Laserfiche WebLink
<br />Marian Meadows Rezone and Subdivision Final Environmental Impact Statement 3-95 <br />Maintenance <br />Maintenance needs and costs are most influenced by the construction standards for new facilities. In <br />general, the higher the standards for subsurface, drainage, and road surface, the more durable they are, the <br />less they are subject to failure, and the life-cycle maintenance costs are less. Effective maintenance <br />requires preventative measures to avoid failure. This effort includes controlling the action of water, <br />which can erode ditches, roads, and repair work to the road surface. <br />The cumulative effects of the project and development of the surrounding areas would increase <br />maintenance costs related to traffic volumes and may lead to demand for a higher level of ongoing <br />maintenance responsibilities. <br />Kittitas County maintenance costs on Railroad Street and Sparks Road could be reduced somewhat by <br />upgrading of those facilities as the result of contributions by new development. This can be done by an <br />impact fee system, which the county does not currently have, or by mitigation required under SEPA <br />authority for larger projects. The latter approach would not address impacts of exempt development, <br />including subdivision into four or fewer lots, which would be likely for development of many lots in the <br />area. <br />Construction of new roads to higher standards and reconstruction of existing roads to provide bituminous <br />surface treatment would improve serviceability with related increases in maintenance costs. The cost per <br />residence would increase under the cumulative scenario with rural development, but the effect would be <br />less with PUD densities because of the greater number of lots assessed. Upgrading existing roads <br />affected by PUD density development, such as Country Drive and Hawthorn Lane, to include all-weather <br />pavement would reduce the effects of additional traffic on a gravel road including pot holes and dust. <br />However, this upgrade may be difficult to accomplish because multiple parties use the roads and not all <br />are legally obligated to contribute to maintenance or upgrading. <br />Additional development in the area may lead to a desire by local residents to have Kittitas County assume <br />maintenance because their ability to assess all users their fair share is limited by current maintenance <br />agreements. <br />A key element in ensuring road maintenance with the existing county policy that requires homeowner <br />associations to maintain many of the roads is to require agreements to participate in maintenance, with <br />clear means of assessing costs and resolving disputes as a condition of approval of new development. <br />Improvements of the overall road system in the area could be accomplished through a county road <br />improvement district for the acquisition of rights-of-way, improvement of county roads, and improvement <br />of existing private roads that would become county roads as a result of the improvement district process. <br />Such a system of improvements might reduce overall maintenance costs of multiple homeowner <br />associations; however, the long-term costs to the county probably would be increased because of the <br />additional life-cycle costs of maintaining additional road-miles. The state does not allow formation of <br />special districts to pay for road maintenance.