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blue_tuberosa
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Joined: 07 Jul 2004
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blue_tuberosa
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PostWed Oct 06, 2004 9:18 am 
FYI Ya'll- I was involved in pulling off this deal as a part of RIDGE. This piece of land completes putting the entire forested perrimeter of Roslyn into conservation. The timing is also perfect as land is being rezoned at incredible rates in the area. About 3000 acres between Cle Elum & Salmon La Sac have been rezoned from 20 acre lots down to 3 acre lots in the last year. For Immediate Release October 1, 2004 Contacts: Suncadia, Ellen Howe 509-925-5771 RIDGE, Peg Bryant, 509-649-3137 City of Roslyn, Mayor Jeri Porter, 509-260-0976 Cascade Land Conservancy, Gene Duvernoy, 206-292-5907 Suncadia, RIDGE and Roslyn unite to protect the Roslyn Ridge ROSLYN, Wash. -- On October 1, 2004 the historic town of Roslyn formally accepted the gift of 302 acres of forested lands within its city from Suncadia Resort. The acquisition was first announced in April after citizen’s group RIDGE and Suncadia Resort (formerly known as MountainStar), worked together to achieve the land transfer, which also includes an additional 23 acres of land slated for future development. As a result of discussions with local community group RIDGE, Suncadia offered to purchase the wooded 302 acre ridgeline overlooking Roslyn and to donate it to the City. The community has long valued the property for recreation and as a view shed. Proposals had been made by the previous owner to log and develop the land. Suncadia contributed approximately $2.4 million toward acquiring and donating the property. This follows nearly $28 million in previous capitol contributions and advances for a new community water filtration facility and for sewage treatment upgrades. “The transfer of this important view shed and recreation area into public hands benefits everyone,” said Suncadia Managing Director Bill Hunt. “Like most other Upper County residents, Suncadia felt it was best to keep the ridge un-logged and undeveloped. To do otherwise would have forever changed the look and feel of the community.” RIDGE president Peg Bryant said, “This land transfer signifies a new phase in our partnership with Suncadia.” A conservation easement will prevent the ridge property from being developed and will assure continued public access to its popular trails. Timber management will be allowed only under an approved Land Stewardship Plan. The City of Roslyn and Suncadia will work in concert to guide the planning of the 23 acres of new development area created by the land transfer. Councilperson Cordy Cooke states, “We look forward to working with Suncadia to establish a new development that will enhance the whole of Roslyn.” “This is a monumental milestone for the city of Roslyn which unifies and excites our community” said Jeri Porter mayor of Roslyn. The transfer of these lands creates a new relationship and partnership between Roslyn, RIDGE, and Suncadia. A further example of this cooperation is Suncadia agreeing to allow public access to the resort’s proposed loop trail system. Cascade Land Conservancy contributes $150,000 $150,000 for the land purchase came from the Cascade Land Conservancy, which has offices in four counties and recently opened a branch in Ellensburg. “Preserving the Roslyn ridgeline has extraordinary benefits for the citizens of Roslyn and the region, so we wanted to do our part,” said Gene Duvernoy, Conservancy president. “This is another building block in our continued partnership with the communities and landowners of Kittitas County.” Facts about Suncadia Resort Suncadia includes 6,000 acres of land in the Cascade foothills, but development will occur on only a small percentage of the total acreage. Resort plans include a village with retail services, a rustic lodge overlooking the Cle Elum River, a spa, condominium residences, and custom home sites. Prospector, the resort’s first golf course, designed by Arnold Palmer Course Design Company, opened this summer. The resort will eventually have up to three championship courses, one of which will be private. Suncadia is located in the center of an all-season recreation area, with boating, hiking, biking, fishing, horseback riding, skiing, snow shoeing and snowmobiling. The resort community design emphasizes the natural environment and preservation of open space, and includes a 1,215-acre conservation easement corridor along the Cle Elum River. Suncadia is a joint venture between JELD-WEN, inc. of Klamath Falls, Oregon, and Lowe Enterprises of Los Angeles, Calif. Lowe manages, develops and redevelops some of North America’s most exceptional properties, including Sunriver in Oregon and the Royal Palms Resort and Spa in Arizona, the Argent Hotel in San Francisco, L’Auberge Hotel in Del Mar, Calif., Vail Cascade Resort in Colorado and the Palm Coast Golf Resort in Florida. JELD-WEN is the world’s leading manufacturer of reliable and energy efficient windows and doors. ###

Most of the things worth doing in the world had been declared impossible before they were done. - Justice Louis Brandeis
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Dogpatch
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PostWed Oct 06, 2004 9:31 am 
Blue, Congratulations on helping pull this off!

"Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside of a dog, it's too dark to read." – Groucho Marx
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MCaver
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PostWed Oct 06, 2004 9:55 am 
Sounds like community and business working together so that everyone is happy. Good job! up.gif

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MtnGoat
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PostWed Oct 06, 2004 12:03 pm 
Won't this drive up housing prices as land available for building is locked up?

Diplomacy is the art of saying 'Nice doggie' until you can find a rock. - Will Rogers
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Damian
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PostWed Oct 06, 2004 12:52 pm 
I can only imagine it must be a nightmare negotiating a deal like that. Way to go Blue!

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blue_tuberosa
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blue_tuberosa
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PostWed Oct 06, 2004 2:32 pm 
Thanks Damian. It was pretty intense. It took 10 months and towards the end, meetings were more than 12 hours long. However, there were a lot of incredible people on our team (and theirs) working to pull this off. To try and answer the question about driving up housing costs... well, yes and no... for some reason I'm thinking in bullet format, so here they come; *3000 acres in the area have just been rezoned and are available for development... so there is not shortage of land... but those 3000 are outside of Roslyn city limits. *23 acres in town were set aside as a part of the negotiation for future development. It's a bit up in the air as to how this will come together as Suncadia ultimately owns the property (and development rights) however it was set aside in the spirit of creating mixed use business and housing options... most likely light industrial with condos and/or affordable housing above. *Property/Housing values are going up regardless. I bought property in town 3 years ago and it's value has already increased significatly. I think Kittitas County is the 5th fastest growing county in the State, with like 85% of the growth happening in unincorporated Kittitas County. So that means it's primarily vacation cabins on those newly rezoned lots above the lake. *As for no more land available in town... there are a few undeveloped lots and houses for sale and so far... the prices are still reasonable. There are plenty of fixer-uppers. I don't see huge price jumps in the near future... although land speculation has been slowly driving up values for the last 10 years with the planning and development on Suncadia Resort. *Lastly, this is what the people want - no, I can't prove that 100% of the Roslyn Residents want this. However, This land is very important to locals... generations grew up playing on it... building tree forts etc. When we announced the deal at a city council meeting and asked the city to consider accepting the 302 acre gift - people started to cry. Everyone had been fearful because logging had already been approved and could have begun at any time. It is also essential for stormwater run off. Each time sections of the ridge is logged, we see more flooding happening in the low areas of town. The trees hold the snow and the shade keeps it as snow in the springtime so it percolates down rather that all melting at once. *Oh yeah, also Roslyn only has about another 30 utility hook-up available. We're actually just about at capacity. So it was unclear where or how we would provide new utilities for a development on the ridge. Sorry to be so long-winded, but it was a good question and the answer is complicated.

Most of the things worth doing in the world had been declared impossible before they were done. - Justice Louis Brandeis
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MtnGoat
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PostWed Oct 06, 2004 3:37 pm 
thanks for the straight answers, blue!

Diplomacy is the art of saying 'Nice doggie' until you can find a rock. - Will Rogers
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mgd
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PostWed Oct 06, 2004 7:42 pm 
I would think the limiting factor on any development in that area would be water. I am surprised they have enough water for three golf courses. Maybe the golf courses have extra large sand traps or something. Oops, maybe I should shut my trap. mum.gif Sounds like you did alot of hard work BT. up.gif I like driving up that road to Salmon La Sac. It's a beautiful area.

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Dayhike Mike
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Dayhike Mike
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PostWed Oct 06, 2004 9:49 pm 
Congratulations BT! I know it's been a long time in the making...guessing this is a big relief for you?

"There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke "Ignorance is natural. Stupidity takes commitment." -Solomon Short
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blue_tuberosa
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blue_tuberosa
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PostWed Oct 06, 2004 11:55 pm 
Hey there DHM! Yeah, it is a relief to have it 100% finalized.. although we finished negotiations back in April. The 6 months that followed were spent handling easements, land management stuff and final transfers. It is a crazy process! No worries MGD... the water IS a big issue. Water was being rationed to locals this summer. Suncadia pulled it off by purchasing lots of water rights over the last 10 years. For any of you sicko's that love detail, let me know and I'll email you the online link to the settlement agreement between RIDGE and Suncadia. It's public record and interesting... to those of you who find giant legal docs interesting. Thanks again for all the kind words!

Most of the things worth doing in the world had been declared impossible before they were done. - Justice Louis Brandeis
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hopalong
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hopalong
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PostThu Oct 07, 2004 12:07 am 
Congratulations. Nice work. up.gif biggrin.gif

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