Vantage to Pomona FEIS Index 34 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

Vantage to Pomona Heights Chapter 3 230 kV Transmission Line Project FEIS Affected Environment PAGE 3-214 the most noticeable temporary or long-term population increases will be those nearest the Action Alternatives in which housing for in-migrating workers is expected to be available. These include the Census County Divisions (CCDs) of: Sunnyside and Northeast Yakima County (Yakima County), Grant and Mattawa-Royal City (Grant County), and Kittitas (Kittitas County). In these CCDs are the incorporated communities of Moxee in Yakima County, George and Mattawa in Grant County, and unincorporated communities such as Vantage in Kittitas County and Beverly and Desert Aire in Grant County. 3.9.2.2 Population The three-county Project study area is relatively rural, with an average population density of 41.7 persons per square mile, compared to a statewide density of 106.3. Much of the lands within the Project study area are unoccupied and reserved for federal government use, such as the Joint Base Lewis-McChord Yakima Training Center (JBLM YTC). The three primary cities in the Project study area are Yakima (Yakima County), Ellensburg (Kittitas County), and Moses Lake (Grant County). Each city is the county seat of its respective county. Of the three major cities, Yakima is the closest to the southwestern route segments and Ellensburg is closest to the NNR Alternative and Manastash Ridge (MR) Subroute. The population of the three-county Project study area has increased steadily over the past two decades, from 270,346 in 1990 to 386,570 in 2015. This represented a 1.8 percent average annual growth rate, equal to the statewide average of 1.8 percent. Population data are shown in Table 3.9-1. Population is extremely sparse in the vicinity of the Action Alternatives. The three CCDs traversed by the Action Alternatives had a combined population of only 28,231 persons in 2010. The Action Alternatives are not located in close proximity to populated areas except at the Pomona Heights Substation (Figure 3.9-1). The nearest communities to the Action Alternatives are: Unincorporated Vantage (2010 population of 74) in Kittitas County; the small settlement of Beverly (Beverly is not defined as a Census area, but approximately 50 residences are located there) in Grant County; and the municipalities of Moxee (2015 population of 3,810), Yakima city (2015 population of 93,220), Union Gap (2015 population of 6,150), and Selah (2015 population of 7,495) in Yakima County.