2019_KittitasCountyHMP_Volume2_For Adoption

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CHAPTER 3. CITY OF CLE ELUM ANNEX 2 town began to grow rapidly. In 1913, steps were taken to improve automobile access across the Cascade Mountains via Snoqualmie Pass. A $1,500,000 levy was approved in 1913 to improve and expand the state’s highways. The majority of the levy ($590,743) went to construction of the Sunset Highway between Spokane and Seattle. This major cross-state highway would pass directly through Cle Elum’s business district. As one of the first towns reached after traveling east across the pass, Cle Elum would benefit from the road’s construction. That same year, reflecting on the prosperity of the coal mines, the city’s second bank was chartered. By 1914, Cle Elum’s population had risen to 3,000 from about 100 at the turn of the century. Cle Elum’s greatest disaster occurred on June 25, 1918 when a fire wiped out over 70 acres of the city (29 city blocks), with over $500,000 dollars in damage. The cause was determined to be a discarded cigarette butt thrown into a pile of garbage behind a theater. Thirty businesses and 205 houses were destroyed, leaving more than 1,800 people homeless. Following the incident, aid poured in from across the state. The Red Cross brought tents from Camp Lewis to house misplaced citizens while soldiers were sent from Ellensburg to guard businesses. Yakima and Portland, Oregon also sent aid to the city. Fortunately no lives were lost in the incident. High insurance rates on Cle Elum’s many wooden structures inhibited many people from purchasing it. One of the few buildings in downtown Cle Elum to survive the fire was the Cle Elum State Bank Building, built in 1906 and still standing today. The rest of downtown was quickly rebuilt of brick and many of these buildings still stand. • Climate - Cle Elum gets 22 inches of rain per year. Snowfall is 81 inches. The number of days with any measurable precipitation is 117. On average, there are 199 sunny days per year in Cle Elum. The July high is around 81 degrees. The January low is 20. The city’s comfort index, which is based on humidity during the hot months, is a 75 out of 100, where higher is more comfortable. The US average on the comfort index is 44. • Governing Body Format - The City of Cle Elum is governed by a mayor and a seven person council. • Development Trends - With its proximity to the Seattle metropolitan area and vast supply of recreational land, Kittitas County has been called “Seattle’s backyard.” The majority of development in the Cle Elum area has been for recreational or second homes. Historically, most of the development has occurred in mountainous and forested areas, and many hillsides have been cleared and roads constructed to provide access to these lands. The County has also seen a rise over the past decade of families buying houses in the Cle Elum area and commuting daily to the Seattle area. 3.3. JURISDICTION-SPECIFIC NATURAL HAZARD EVENT HISTORY Table 3-1 lists all past occurrences of natural hazards in the county. Repetitive loss records are as follows: – Number of FEMA Identified Repetitive Flood Loss Properties: 2 – Number of Repetitive Flood Loss Properties that have been mitigated: 0 3.4. HAZARD RISK RANKING Table 3-2 presents the ranking of the hazards of concern. 3.5. CAPABILITY ASSESSMENT The assessment of the jurisdiction’s legal and regulatory capabilities is presented in Table 3-3. The assessment of the jurisdiction’s administrative and technical capabilities is presented in Table 3-4. The