Centralia City Council Approves Apartment Complex

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The Centralia City Council on Tuesday unanimously approved plans for a new apartment complex that has been in the making for nearly a decade. 

Paul Sneed, of Sneed Construction, said he plans to build 28 980-square-foot apartments in seven fourplexes on 7 acres of land at 1500 North Pearl Street near the Skookumchuck River. 

The complex will also feature two playgrounds and a picnic area. 

The council approved the Parkins Landing PUD Apartments project 6-0; Councilor Lee Coumbs was absent. 

The project is not affiliated with a public utility district. 

Tammy Baraconi, with Centralia Community Development, said the project went before council because a 2007 city code requires a development of more than five units to be approved before construction can begin. 

“One struggle for jurisdictions is we want housing and apartments, but how do you ensure they are of a quality that it is a positive for a community and not a negative?” Baraconi said. “This is one of the ways we went about doing it.”

The code also requires a planned unit development to be built on a minimum of 2 acres.

“So someone can’t cram a bunch of units on a small space,” she said. 

The Centralia Planning Commission approved the project with 18 conditions relating to electrical, water, engineering and fire crew access. The developers told the council they agreed with all of them. 



The council unanimously voted to remove language that gave the developer the option to deed the 5 acres of wetlands to the city for a conservation easement. 

“We have enough property right now. We don’t need more,” Councilor Gabe Anzelini said. 

Former city councilor Dan Henderson first submitted an application to develop the site for a number of townhomes in September 2006. During the review phase, ownership of the project went to Sneed. 

The next year, the council approved the construction project, but that was just before the recession struck. 

“When I bought it, that’s when the market went south and banks got in trouble then they got skittish,” Sneed said. 

He had difficulty securing financing for the project until relatively recently.

 “That’s the way it goes,” he said. “(Getting) it was quite a relief. Now I get to start looking to spend money.”

Sneed said he expects construction to begin this summer with the project to be completed by next fall. He expects to rent the units for between $850 and $950 per month.