By JENNIFER CONWAY
Staff reporter
Developers proposing one of the largest housing projects ever on South Whidbey could increase the population of Langley by a third within the next few years.
The sudden announcement of a planned 80- to 100-home development dominated the talk at Langley City Hall Wednesday when a discussion of the project was added to the city council agenda at the last minute.
The talk was preliminary, as those interested in doing the Coles Road area project have not yet purchased land, nor applied for its annexation to the city. In fact, city officials did not divulge the names of the prospective developers.
Planned to be built on 40 acres owned by Gordon Iverson, the housing project would lie just south of the Langley Sewage Treatment Plant. If built, the housing area could bring 200 to 300 new residents to the city, swelling the size of the 1,050-person city.
Langley City Administrator Lynn Hicks said the property, which is in the city’s urban growth area, spans Coles Road, with about half the land next to the plant and the remainder across the road.
The land, according to council member Neal Colburn, was logged approximately 15 years ago.
At the council meeting, City Planner Jack Lynch said a pair of potential buyers is looking into building low-density housing on the land. In that case, the potential developers are interested in building houses on lots of approximately one-half acre each.
“They’re going to try and keep a number of those trees,” Lynch said.
The announcement of the project came a surprise.
“That was the first I heard about it,” Colburn said Friday.
A the meeting, Colburn questioned whether people would want to live so close to a sewage treatment plant. He later said he hopes that if development does occur in that area, a buffer or beltway would be between the sewage plant and the houses. He also mentioned the proximity of the Holmes Harbor Rod and Gun Club will also have to be considered, as noise could become an issue.
Colburn said because it is early in the process, no set plans have been made. The council made a motion Wednesday to allow the potential land buyers to ask city council to annex.
On Thursday, Mayor Lloyd Furman said talk about development on Coles Road came as no surprise to him.
“That’s been talked about for quite some time,” said Furman. “Talk is just talk.”
Yet, he was enthusiastic about the idea.
“I think it’s a good move for Langley,” Furman said.
Hicks said if the land purchase goes through and the new owners petition to the annex, only that acreage would be included in an annexation, not the entire road.
Furman said he felt the developers — whose names will not be released until they submit a site plan — would do a good job in mixing the components of a new development, including open space and the right amount of clustering and density for the area.
Colburn’s agreed with Furman. He said a development would fit in favorably with the urban growth plans for Langley. Under the state’s Growth Management Act, cities such as Langley are required to absorb more population growth than rural areas.
“It could be something nice for Langley,” said Colburn. “It would steer growth in a place that we could handle.”
He said as long as the plans are consistent to the standards of of the city, he didn’t see any problems with continuing discussion for developing the area.
