During its Tuesday evening meeting, the Centralia City Council approved a proposed 86-unit development called Kresky Landing in south Centralia.
Sandwiched between Kresky and Pacific avenues north of Fair Street, the proposed development will consist of 78 single-family homes and four duplex-style homes.
Centralia Community Development Director Emil Pierson explained some of Kresky Landing’s details. The owner of the development is RAP Real Estate Services, LLC.
Kresky Landing sits on five parcels of land totalling 15.51 acres. Each single-family home will sit on its own lot of at least 4,000 square feet. Twin homes will be on lots as large as 9,904 square feet.
The homes will have two stories and three bedrooms, totalling nearly 2,600 square feet internally. Each house will have a two-car garage, a front porch and a backyard.
“They do have a number of different housing types … One of the things they did try to do is have articulation on the street, so the homes will go back and forth and you won’t have a straight line of homes,” Pierson said.
Centralia Mayor Kelly Smith Johnston asked what flood mitigation steps had been taken for the development. Chris Aldrich, a consultant from RB Engineering, which helped create Kresky Landing, explained the development abides by city codes when it comes to flood mitigation.
“The stormwater manual has a set criteria — you cannot increase the amount of water going off a developed site from its pre-developed condition,” Aldrich said.
While the area originally was in a flood zone, prior fill of the area had been conducted and raised it out of the flood zone. Even with that, a stormwater system with drainage has been implemented and includes metered release.
“When it’s raining and it’s flooding, the stormwater system still works and still releases the pre-developed flow,” said Aldrich.
Additionally, water draining off the roofs of new homes will be contained on-site through infiltration wells in each yard where water will be diffused underground into the soil.
State Environmental Policy Act, traffic and other studies have been completed. A 0.9-acre section of the development is being preserved as wetlands.
The Centralia School District submitted a request for school mitigation fees to the tune of $4,700 per dwelling unit to account for the anticipated rise in students as a result of more families moving into the city. RAP Real Estate will have to pay these fees before a building permit is issued.
As for the new neighborhood itself, it will have a Homeowners Association to help manage it. Now that the project has been approved, it is moving into the permitting phase and the developers will choose a contractor to construct the homes.
Aldrich expects permitting to be completed by next summer, and groundbreaking to occur thereafter
While no price-point on the homes was given, the homes are meant to fill the higher area median income gaps in housing identified by Centralia Housing Assessment and Action Plan (CHAAP).
The biggest housing gaps identified by the CHAAP were for those making 50% to 80% of the area median income and those making 120% or more of the area median income. To view the CHAAP, visit https://bit.ly/48UT1A0.
For more information on Kresky Landing, view the Centralia City Council agenda report at https://bit.ly/3PRWl6p and scroll to page 14.
