Highway

20 clearing: WSDOT closing the gap

Wrapping up its fourth week of clearing the North Cascades Scenic Highway for traffic, the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) reported on April 22 that its eastside crew (working from the Methow Valley side) cut a single path to the summit of Washington Pass.

“Snow depths of nearly 8 feet on the highway at the top of the pass means the SnoCat and loader need to knock

Library

From Page A1 a national campaign to generate business, and contacted other entities in the Methow Valley about installing charging stations here.

At last week’s council meeting, Mayor Sally Ranzau said the two parking spaces that would have charging stations (out of 42 total spaces in the library parking lot) could be used by anyone if no vehicles were being charged.

Ranzau said the proposed 10-year agreement with Rivian would be a “decent option” for the town, which would not be responsible for any costs. But several council members expressed concern that the proposed arrangement was reached “under the radar” without a chance for local interest or participation, giving an unfair advantage to Rivian.

Council members supported developing a “request for proposals” to provide charging stations. Public Works Director Jeff Sarvis said he had not previously put together such requests, so some research would be required. “We’ll need someone with experience,” he said.

Ranzau said the town staff would come up with a requestfor-proposals in the near future. “We’ll see if we can get some more takers,” she said.

“From the early days of construction, members of the community approached FOWL requesting that we provide electric vehicle charging capa- down and move snow to about 6 feet for the blower to clear a path on the roadway,” WSDOT reported.

On the west side, crews reached milepost 153, leaving about 10 miles between the two crews, WSDOT said.

“The entire road width and shoulders must be cleared and any pavement and guardrail damage must be repaired. We know many of you are eagerly waiting for your first trip over bility,” Sheley said in an email to the Methow Valley News. “We researched the various options and technical requirements, and we concluded that we could cost effectively install the necessary infrastructure for two Level 2 charging stations, with the potential to expand to four Level 2 charging stations. Various pathways exist to meet our environmental sustainability goals, including installing EV charging stations. As we look forward to the many ways our new library will serve our community of residents and visitors for years to come, we hope the Town will take advantage of the infrastructure we’ve provided and install Level 2 EV charging stations.”

In other business, the council:

• Endorsed the Winthrop Planning Commission’s approval of the Methow Housing Trust’s Cascade Meadows North planned development. The 8.4acre planned development will create 26 lots for affordable single-family homes of one, two and three bedrooms, and a 22-unit multi-family complex being developed in partnership with the Housing Authority of Okanogan County. About 37% of the development would be open space.

• Supported authorizing the use of Lodging Tax Advisory Committee (LTAC) funds, which are generated by hotelmotel occupancy taxes and must be used to promote tourism, for expenditures related to the upcoming Winthrop ’49er Days celebration. AbbyCreek Inn owner Josh Buehler, repre - the North Cross this year, but we’re still too far out to say when we will reopen for sure,” WSDOT said. senting the Winthrop Chamber of Commerce, asked for $1,500 for the band that will play at Saturday night’s street dance, $1,700 to rent a mechanical bull that will provide free rides, and $600 for dresses for the celebration’s royalty. Organizers of the event told the council they would do a better job in the future of bringing such requests to the LTAC and council with more advance notice.

The road remains closed at the Ross Dam Trailhead at milepost 134 on the west side and at the Silver Star gate at milepost 171 on the east (Methow Valley) side. Snowclearing work began on March 28 this year. Last year, clearing began on April 5 and the route opened on May 5.

• Agreed to submit a joint application with the Town of Twisp for a state Department of Commerce grant, totaling $50,000, that would be used to “develop an action plan to encourage the creation of additional affordable and market rate housing, targeted to increase the housing stock for those that live and work in the Methow Valley,” according to the grant application. Culp said the towns would hire a consultant to conduct the wideranging study. The Twisp Town Council earlier approved the joint application.

The scope of work proposed for 2022 would include a survey of existing conditions including economic factors affecting the local housing market, a review of current and anticipated needs, and an inventory of existing housing that would “identify areas or existing rentals that may be higher risk of displacement/ conversion to short-term rentals from market forces.” The target date for completing the report would be Aug. 1.

• Approved appointment of Ardis Bynum to the Westernization Design Review Board.

Moratorium movement

Until recently, overnight housing rentals weren’t much of an issue in Twisp. There aren’t many licensed in the town, and not all of them are currently operating as overnights.

It only took one new application — which will convert an existing rental house in a single-family residential neighborhood to a nightly rental — to change all that.

The nearby residents of West Twisp Avenue not only took notice, they also took action, and got other residents involved as well. They began to organize opposition and raise questions, write letters, speak at Town Council meetings and gather petition signatures. Their communications have been forceful but also thoughtful, articulate, informed and respectful. Now, thanks to that classic grassroots movement — activism, Twisp-style — the town is on the verge of taking a six-month breather from accepting conversion applications.

A proposed moratorium ordinance was on the agenda for this week’s Town Council meeting, and may already be approved by the time you read this. It would be a good move, for many reasons — starting with the willingness of Town Hall leadership to listen to its constituency. The idea for a moratorium came from directly from the citizenry. Attention must be paid.

Some have argued that because there are so few overnight rentals in Twisp, and so little interest in them until recently, there’s no cause for alarm or action, and thus no sense of urgency.

In the current political climate, that feels like backwards thinking. The prevailing argument, thankfully, seems to be that now is exactly the right time to consider the future of overnight rentals in Twisp, before it turns into the kind of problem that many other towns in the West — including Winthrop — have found themselves hastily struggling to catch up with.

A six-month moratorium on conversion applications would likely not be an onerous hardship, and would give the town and its residents time to consider, as more than one person has said, what kind of place Twisp wants to be.

The main concerns raised about overnight rentals — which some residents believe should be banned outright — are that they undermine an already depleted housing stock that doesn’t meet the needs of people who already live and work here; that random overnight rentals in the midst of established neighborhoods will deteriorate the existing residents’ quality of life; and that they compete with other lodging options in town. All are legitimate questions.

A few years back, faced with a growing number of conversions and loss of local housing stock, the Town of Winthrop imposed a couple of moratoria before revising its overnight rental policies. Overnights are not banned, but were certainly prescribed in a way that addressed neighborhood concerns. Twisp has been looking at how Winthrop dealt with the process, and may find some helpful guidance there.

A moratorium would also be a good launch for the kind of productive discussions we are confident can happen in Twisp.

A lot of smart, well-meaning people have already invested time and energy into moving this issue to the forefront, and likely intend to keep it there. It’s been suggested that an ad hoc advisory committee could be formed to develop ideas about how the town might respond. That would be wise and inclusive way to take advantage of citizen interest and involvement, and perhaps help ensure buy-in to the town’s formal process.

The Twisp Town Council hasn’t exactly been eager to embrace the overnight rentals topic — to be fair, it hasn’t been a hot-button issue until a few weeks ago, and the council is dealing with a lot of other challenges, most of them pressing. But public sentiment on overnight rentals has been powerfully voiced and consistently on message: this is a concern, and people who live in Twisp think the town’s leaders need to acknowledge and respond.

They’re right about that, and the council seems to be on board with considering a moratorium. At a previous meeting, even though the vote was 3-1 in favor of initiating the process for a moratorium, the Town Council was essentially unanimous. The one dissenting vote reflected disagreement with the possible inclusion of certain exceptions in whatever restrictions a moratorium might impose.

A moratorium would be only the beginning point, and addressing the overnight rentals question — especially within the context of the valley’s vexing housing issues —won’t be a fast or easy exercise. And it’s too soon to assume outcomes. Patience, persistence and good faith will be required. Twisp is up to it.

Box 97: Letters to the editor

‘No’ to Twisp Restoration

Dear Editor:

I am adamantly opposed to the Twisp Restoration Project, currently planned to begin next month. I live on the Twisp River Road and this road is a quiet, winding road that I and many other people use for walking and bicycling, in addition to the occasional car and truck traffic. The logging traffic detailed in the Methow Valley News on April 13 coming down this bucolic road, and then on Highway 20 through Twisp and Winthrop, will be nothing short of dangerous and destructive to our way of life here.

In addition to the noise, pollution and danger the logging trucks will create, this project is not based in grounded science. Mechanical forest thinning does not decrease the chances of forest fires. In fact, this type of thinning often increases fire spread by putting more fine fuels on the ground. Additionally, thinning in some instances can increase fire spread by exposing the forest floor’s fuels to greater sun drying and greater penetration by wind through the open forest stands. It is literally drying out the forest floor, making it much more fire prone.

Please call the ranger district, Hampton Lumber and tell them “no” to their lumber trucks storming through the Methow Valley.

Tamar Baber Twisp

Getting the litter

Dear Editor:

It’s litter pick-up season for several teams who take care of Highway 153 and other roadsides. Thank you to everyone who cleans up. The roadsides I walked this year were really clean! Way to go, Methow! Thanks for tying down or securing your loads.