The Langley City Council cleared the way Wednesday for work to begin on the Highlands, the largest housing development in the city’s history.

Amid reservations about the 53-home subdivision’s impact on Langley’s water supply – and the need for a piece of fairgrounds property for a secondary access road – council members unanimously approved the preliminary plat for the new neighborhood.

The council also adopted a four-page set of conditions for the development of the subdivision, which includes rules such as requiring the developer to prepare a plan for protecting trees on private lots in the Highlands, and a trails plan that includes design standards for public and private trails.

“I can’t tell you what a relief it is to get approval of the Highlands,” said Mayor Neil Colburn. “I’m excited about the potential.”

“This has been a very thorough process,” said Councilman Robert Gilman. “And I’m very pleased with the thoroughness from the city, the engagement with everybody — from the community, to the city, to the applicant, to us — trying to put this together.”

The Highlands will be built on a 14.57-acre property on Al Anderson Road.

Three clustered home groups with common courtyards are planned, along with 28 single-family lots. The neighborhood will also feature a new park, public trails and walkways and a community hall. RDA & Associates is the developer of the project.

With the preliminary plat now approved, the developer can finalize engineering drawings for the project, which may take 30 days or so, said Ryan Goodman, city engineer.

The developer can then begin installing utilities and road construction, which could take about two months. Approval of the final plat could come within three months, Goodman said.

Before the vote, council members sought assurances that the city’s water supply would not be damaged by the development.

“I still have concerns about the water,” said Councilwoman Faith Bushby.

“Because we have so many other areas to develop up there, why don’t we just leave this one alone and develop somewhere else?” Bushby asked.

All of Langley sits above the recharge area for the city’s aquifer, however, Colburn noted, and the city has taken steps to safeguard its water supply.

“We have more protections for this neighborhood than we have for your neighborhood,” Colburn told Bushby.

City planner Alice Schisel said the land was properly zoned for development. And while the city couldn’t guarantee there would be no risk to the city’s water supply, she noted the project will be served by sewer lines.

“It will be a safe development,” Schisel said.

Most of the discussion centered on the second access road to the subdivision.

Langley’s attempt to get an easement across the county fairgrounds to build Fairgrounds Road has led to a battle with the county fair board. The fair board has twice rejected the city’s request for an easement, leading the city to rescind its offer of making thousands of dollars of improvements to the fairgrounds as part of an easement deal.

After talks reached an impasse, the city decided to pursue a condemnation of the fairground land needed for the new road through the process of eminent domain.

Before approving the plan for the Highlands, city officials tried to dispel the notion that Langley was doing the bidding of the developer in fighting for the easement across the fairgrounds.

The new route, they said, is needed to serve a large chunk of undeveloped land at the city’s southern end that includes the Highlands property.

“The developer didn’t come to us and say ‘Please, let me build that road,’” Schisel said.

“It’s not just because of the Highlands; it’s because of all the potential development that’s up there,” Colburn added.

“The Highlands is the trigger,” he said. “It would be unwise and unsafe to allow all of that area to develop with only one source of egress.”

The developer of the Highlands will pay to construct fairgrounds road, and the city will eventually take it over and be responsible maintaining the roadway.

Ross Chapin, the architect for the Highlands, said the developer was worried about getting stuck with a “blank check” for building the road through the fairgrounds if the city decides to use a different route that would be more costly to build.

Chapin said the developer wanted an assurance from the city that the road would follow the route across the fairgrounds that had been already been mapped.

Colburn, though, said there weren’t ironclad guarantees in life, but the city had been as specific as possible about the location of the road.

“The sky could fall. Poop from airplanes could hit you,” Colburn said.

“I don’t know how we could possibly be more clear,” Colburn said.

Brian Kelly can be reached at 221-5300 or bkelly@southwhidbeyrecord.com.