RZ-07-00008 Dunford FDP Ordinance 2010-013

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1. This proposal will be using an expanded Group A Water System. The water system is called the Hidden Valley Group A Water System and will be designed with enough capacity to serve the Hidden Valley Guest Ranch, Swank Pines subdivision, the Ranch on Swauk Creek Planned Unit Development and this current proposal. The infrastructure will need to be expanded to provide water service to this proposal. 2. The Hidden Valley Water System will be designed to provide fire protection to the Hidden Valley Guest Ranch, Swauk Pines subdivision, and the Ranch on Swank Creek Planned Unit Development and the current proposal. Approval of this application will allow the redirection of a portion of the projected population growth from other rural areas of the county which has no fire suppression storage, no ability to deliver fire fighting water, and no fire hydrants to an area that will provide fire hydrants with adequate fire flows. 3. In addition, this proposal will provide safe year round access for health and personal safety emergencies on paved and well maintained private roads. Under Kittitas County Road Standards, the roads for this proposal must meet or exceed private road standards and will be constructed to a higher standard and provide greater public safety than is typically found in other rural areas of the county. These improved roads not only reduce the risks to individual users, but also reduce the risks to the community at large. This is because county resources such as police, fire, and ambulances are able to serve these residences more efficiently than the same number of residential units spread out over a larger area of three to twenty acre tracts in other rural portions of the county. There is a higher potential for fire to get out of hand in an area without adequate water supplies or without easy access road access. Any of the above mentioned components of the project by themselves meets the criteria for providing Public Safety benefits and combined, provide a standard that cannot be achieved in many other areas of the rural county. The Public Welfare of the county will also be benefited by approval of this proposal. As stated above, the County has adopted the high population projections as provided by the Washington State Office of Financial Management. These projections provide for substantial growth in the county outside of the Cities, UGAs and UGNs. The county, through its adoption of the Kittitas County Comprehensive Plan, has provided for growth within the Rural Lands of the county. With the adoption of the current population projections, the county has determined that 18.5% of Z-07-08 and LL -08-02 Dunford PUD Rezone and Preliminary Large Lot Subdivision Page 9 of 28