The YMCA officially purchased 500 acres of land north of Mineral Lake from Forecastle Timber in September 2021, but the time between the purchase and the opening day of summer camp could be about a decade.
The Lewis County Planning Commission held a workshop related to a rezone of the YMCA’s 500 acres Tuesday night. If the commission recommends it and it is approved by the Board of County Commissioners (BOCC), the land will be rezoned from a resource land designation to allow for the building of a “master planned resort.” The camp would hold up to 400 campers and 100 staff members at full capacity.
Zoning changes require an amendment to the countywide comprehensive plan, which is only done once a year by the BOCC, typically in the late fall.
Before it ever makes it to the BOCC, planning commissioners will have to understand the project, hear comments from the public and vote on whether or not to recommend the rezone.
The first of those steps was taken Tuesday night, where community development staff presented to the commission the first of two workshops to give them background on the project and rezone.
Site-specific rezones, such as the proposed YMCA camp rezone, are considered quasi-judicial matters. Just as a judge in a court case is expected to only make their decision based on what they hear in court, the planning commission’s understanding of the rezone should come only from the public planning commission meetings and hearings held. This process is meant to cut down on bias by the decision makers.
When the record is open for public comment — which will happen after the second workshop in late May — commissioners are asked to disclose any other background information they may have gathered outside of the public meetings. In this case, that could include any correspondence with the rezone applicants or Mineral residents.
When asked by commissioner Frank Corbin whether or not reading an article in The Chronicle would be considered outside research, Eric Eisenberg from the prosecutor's office said it was more to do with what truly influenced opinion. So, if the article stood out to him and weighed on him, he should disclose the fact that he read it. If not, then it did not need to be disclosed.
“You're a human being. You're allowed to have feelings. It's important that you, nevertheless, listen to all the stuff in the record and everything at hearing so that, with an open mind, you can consider it, in case it changes your mind,” Eisenberg said.
Eisenberg and Mindy Brooks, senior long range planner for Lewis County, fielded questions from the commissioners Tuesday both on the requirements for quasi-judicial matters and on the rezone itself.
Public comments have already been made on record related to the project, ranging from supportive to extremely resistant. However, Brooks said, these comments were made on the project level, not related to the rezone. That doesn’t mean they can’t be a part of the commissioners’ decision, but proper permitting will have to be done by the YMCA before any buildings start popping up or campers start coming in to canoe on Mineral Lake.
“We have a comprehensive binding site plan that (we) will need to do, and that involves studies. When we think about roadways, when we think about emergency services, when we think about water. So all of those pieces take time. And so that's what our commitment is there. And so I would say that we're probably in that 5 to 7 year (timeline),” Gwen Ichinose Bagley, a representative with the YMCA of Greater Seattle told The Chronicle this week.
She and a consultant with the project added that they wanted to dispel any beliefs that a camp was just going to pop up overnight.
“We're at the very beginning stages,” Ichinose Bagley said. “But we are committed to working with and alongside the community as we talk through this.”
After some of the public comments made to community development last summer suggested the process was happening behind the backs of Mineral residents, the Y held a few informational meetings in Mineral to discuss the project.
Representatives with the Y have been met with angry comments from Mineral residents including about noise and traffic increases, impacts to the environment and other factors. However, some entities have expressed excitement about the project. The Lewis County Economic Alliance (formerly the economic development council), Centralia College, Cispus Learning Center and the Mineral School — a writing residency program — have all endorsed the project for its potential benefits to youth and education.
As for environmental impacts, a State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA) application will have to be submitted before building can take place on the site. Already, the applicants went through the SEPA process once ahead of the rezone, which was determined to be nonsignificant to the environment, provided there is proper mitigation.
