Art Stubbs is resigned to becoming a resident of Vancouver. But the idea still worries him.
Like other residents of Green Meadows, he bought his house in the neighborhood in unincorporated Clark County decades before the area began to swell with growth. He said he gets along well with his neighbors who, at times, have filled his backyard eating hot dogs and ice cream.
“The area itself is like an island,” said Stubbs, 82, of the quiet and secluded area.
What’s been an anchor for the neighborhood’s sanguine character is an 18-hole, 6,400-yard golf course. Now, residents such as Stubbs worry that it’s a question of when, not if, the golf course will be ripped up to accommodate the county’s red-hot housing market.
What’s added to those concerns is how the city of Vancouver has dusted off its annexation plans, which were stalled by the 2008 recession. Those plans include annexing an 1,120-acre area that encompasses Green Meadows, which residents worry will be a precursor to growth.
There are no clear indications that the golf course will be developed into housing. But residents of the area point to one unexpected fact about the Club Green Meadows golf course that fuels their concerns: it’s zoned for residential development.
Dave Socolofsky, a resident of the area since 1976, likened the situation to a “freight train.”
“The reason it’s going to be developed is because this is one of the fastest growing areas of Washington,” he said.
Club Green Meadows began as a golf driving range in 1960. Since then, it has grown into a full golf course, and residential developments have sprung up around it.
Socolofsky bought his home in Green Meadows after living in 14 different cities while working in sales for Boise Cascade. He recalls the area being like a small town where the kids could run around or even ride horses on the street. They almost never worried about crime, he said.
“Compared to other parts of the country, this is damn near impossible to beat,” he said.
But as the community around the golf course grew, so did the city of Vancouver.
Teresa Brum, economic development division manager for the city of Vancouver, said that as the area has become increasingly urban, it becomes easier for the city to provide utilities, law enforcement and other services. The city already provides water, sewer and emergency services for the Van Mall North area, which is being considered for annexation and includes Green Meadows, according to Brum.
“It’s really about who provides services,” Brum said. The city has conducted outreach to residents and if the Vancouver City Council votes to move forward the area could be annexed next year.
Under state law, a city can annex an area if they have signatures from property owners who own at least 60 percent of its property value. The city obtained these signatures through covenants that residents signed when they purchased homes and connected to city services. Some residents complained they had no choice but to sign the agreements when seeking utilities and wrote “under duress” next to their signatures.
Currently, the zoning for the golf course is primarily for low-density housing, which allows lots of up to 6,000 square feet. There are two strips on the golf course that are zoned for high-density housing, which allows 43 units per acre.
However, the county’s Comprehensive Plan, which guides development, designates the area as “open space” to reflect its current use.
Gordon Euler, a program manager in the Clark County department of Community Planning, said the area was zoned in 1980, and the golf course is allowed as a conditional use in a residential area. But he acknowledges the apparent contradiction between the site’s zoning and planning designations.
“There’s not universal agreement as to which one takes precedent,” he said.
Brum said that annexing the area won’t make development easier or harder. If the area is annexed, it’ll be rezoned to the city’s equivalent, meaning that the lot size for areas zoned for low-density housing will change from 6,000 to 5,000 square feet.
Residents of Green Meadows worry that the area’s rapid growth and the golf course’s residential zoning designation will mean a more crowded neighborhood. Some residents have begun showing up at both city and county council meetings to voice their concerns.
“Our property values are at stake; our livability is at stake,” said Larry Cox at a recent Clark County council meeting. “I hope that’s important to the five of you.”
Alan Reese, general manager at Green Meadows, said that he is not aware of any plans to develop the golf course. County Council Chair Marc Boldt said he’s received no notification of any development plans but the owners of the golf course could build housing there if they wanted.
If plans to develop the golf course are hatched, residents will be ready.
“We’ve got a lot of fighters around here with nothing else to do,” said Socolofsky. “We’re retired.”
