The last free housing development

Freeland plat, ready for building, last approved prior to GMA zoning

Watch Freeland grow.

The last proposed Freeland housing development approved prior to Island County’s drafting of its Growth Management Act-oriented comprehensive land use plan in 1999, will soon sprout on a Woodard Road hillside.

The 24-lot, 10-acre development west of Highway 525 — which is slated for housing construction to begin this year — was platted in 1984, when the area was zoned residential and was within Freeland’s rural area of intense development or RAID. Though the size of that RAID was later reduced, the plat was already vested at a density of three houses per acre.

Final approval on development plans for the project is expected by spring.

Developing the property in Morningside Hill is real estate agent Wayne Tippery. Tippery has owned the 10-acre parcel since the 1970s.

Last month, contractors finished surveying and clearing lots, then built paved roads to the hilly site. An existing house on the property will also be sold as part of the development

Tippery said this week that lots sell between $60,000 and $100,000. He will not be building homes in the development. A storm water retention system was constructed as part of the final approval. Access to the site is provided via a two-lane road off Woodard.

The development is the newest part of a buildup at the Woodard-Highway 525 corner that has increased traffic levels in the area. The state Department of Transportation is currently conducting a highway study that includes Highway 525 from Fish Road to Woodward Road. Marco Foster, the northwest area manager for the DOT, said this week some changes will be needed to make for safe traffic flow at the intersection. Those changes could include highway turn lanes in both northbound and southbound directions,.

“We see a need to make improvements at Highway 525 and Woodward and to the park and ride lot at Trinity Lutheran Church,” Foster said.

However, funding is a problem. Foster said there isn’t any money to do the work during the current biennium. He said the only way to get it done soon would be to get financial help from Island County.

Island County Commissioner Mike Shelton said he has had extensive conversations with DOT about Woodward and access to and from the park and ride lot. He also acknowledges this week that the spot is the site of numerous rear-end collisions.

The county has earmarks some money to be used for traffic improvements in the area. Island County’s comprehensive road plan calls for the reconstruction of Woodard Road to improve sight distance approaching the highway. Shelton said the money for that project could be better used.

“I would rather use that money to construct center turn lanes onto Woodward Road,” he said.

Shelton said there should be a turn lane down the center of Highway 525 between the stoplight at Fish Road and Woodard Road.

Two other projects in Freeland were vested under previous zoning standards: the Shell gas station at Fish Road and a mini storage unit on Woodard Road.

The new development will be inside the Freeland Water District. The district has 360 hookups, but can accommodate up to 550. Each home in Tippery’s new development will be served by its own septic system.

Though the Freeland Water District is currently formulating a sewer plan for Freeland, it likely will not include Tippery’s land. Phil Bakke, Island County’s planning director, said this week “building a sewer west of the highway is years and years away, if ever.”