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In 1918, a major fire destroyed most of the original downtown. When rebuilt, the <br />downtown was oriented in an east-west direction along an approximate five-block area of <br />First Street, between Oakes Avenue and Peoh Avenue. First Street, paralleling the <br />Railroad, then became the major commercial street. Over time, as ties to the Northern <br />Pacific Railroad weakened and the importance of the automobile increased, First <br />StreetlSR903 became the major highway through town. Commercial (and some <br />industrial) development spread, in strip fashion, along the full length of First Street. This <br />strip development consists of both older residential uses converted to commercial use and <br />new construction. Construction of Interstate 90 with its associated interchanges at each <br />end of the City and partial interchange at Oakes Street reinforced the existing linear <br />development pattern. Highway..ori ented commercial uses then also developed around the <br />interchanges at each end of the city. Industrially zoned land which is mostly vacant, <br />occupies the area between the Railroad and Intestate 90; however development is <br />constrained by limited access, lack of utilities and its location in a floodplain. Most of <br />this area is not suitable for building due to flooding. <br />The older areas ofCle Elum are platted in a traditional grid pattern, with lots generally <br />fronting the east-west streets. Most commercial lots are 25-feet in width x 120-feet in <br />length, and most residential lots, 50-feet x 120-feet. Ten to twenty-foot wide alleys bisect <br />the blocks in an east-west direction. Properties at the east and west ends of the City were <br />subdivided later and included a mix oflot sizes with a less rigidly developed street <br />pattern. Streets within the original downtown are generotisly wide -First Street, Oakes <br />Avenue, Pennsylvania Avenue, Harris Avenue, and Bullitt Avenue have 1000foot rights- <br />way. Second Avenue, Billings Street, Wright Avenue, and Peoh Avenue have 80-foot <br />right-way. <br />Many of the existing, older commercial and residential structures show signs of age and <br />''historically inappropriate" techniques and materials have been widely used in <br />maintenance and repair. Revitalizing the City's character and charm will require special <br />attention to the rehabilitation and reconstruction of these existing structures in the CBD. <br />To that end the City is reluctant to zone additiona11ands within close proximity to its <br />Historic CBD "commercial". This C omprehensive Plans Land Use Analysis demonstrates <br />that ample opportunity exists within the CBD for development/re-development. A <br />challenge of paramount importance to the City is to integrate the pressures of new <br />development with our historic commercial and residential core. <br />Characteristics of Existing Land UseslLand Use Inventory <br />The Growth Management Act requires the preparation of a Land Use Element that <br />identifies the existing general distribution and location of various land uses, and the <br />approximate acreage and density of existing land uses. <br />The inventory of existing land uses can be used to gauge the proportion of total land area <br />that the city may need to devote to specific uses in the future. The existing proportions <br />and distribution of land uses may be adjusted for shifts in the desires and needs of the <br />community, or to accommodate projected future needs. Table 1 below provides the <br />City of Cle Blum -Land Use Plan 6