New Yakima development draws ire of neighbors

Former Yakima mayor John Puccinelli dropped the W-bomb during a hearing Thursday at City Hall over the future of a proposed gated community known as Toscanna.

"This could be the next Wal-Mart," Puccinelli warned, referring to a legal battle over a proposed Wal-Mart store in the West Valley that has cost the city millions of dollars in attorney fees.

At issue is whether city planners were right to approve Toscanna, a proposed $40 million housing development in the 4200 block of Castlevale Avenue just west of North 40th Avenue.

The 30-acre site sits below Carriage Hill, one of the city's classier neighborhoods. Developer David Sjule wants to build 42 duplexes and 96 apartment units comprising 15 apartment buildings on the site, a former orchard.

But neighbors said they don't trust Sjule and his talk of "Tuscany with a Southwestern flair." They fear the development is really just rental housing with a fancy name.

Their decision to appeal the city's approval of the development set the stage for Thursday's hearing, hosted by city Hearings Examiner Gary Cuillier.

In a presentation that lasted well over an hour, Sjule and architect Paul Casey didn't address the density issue that's central to the complaints of the neighbors. Instead, they complained to Cuillier about several conditions imposed by city planners.

Opponents of the project wasted no time getting to the core of the controversy: Whether duplexes and apartments are compatible in a neighborhood like Carriage Hill.

City planners say they are, at least in this case. But the neighbors argued the development doesn't fit and will cause noise and light pollution, lower property values and create increased traffic.

"Apartments are totally out of the question," complained Ron Hatfield, who lives on Conestoga Boulevard. "You just don't see any apartments around here."

Added his son, local attorney Chad Hatfield, "This is really a rezone request."

On that point, the neighbors may have found a very credible friend in Puccinelli, who served two years as mayor while a member of the City Council from 1997 to 2003.

Puccinelli, who lives in the area, testified the City Council rezoned the orchard about 10 years ago and the intent was a low- to medium-density mix of housing, i.e. single-family homes and duplexes.

"At no time were there ever apartments to be there," he told Cuillier, adding, "I know assurances were given to these people."

At the conclusion of the hearing, Cuillier asked opponents of the project to find tapes of council hearings that proved Puccinelli's memory. A decision is not expected for several weeks and can be appealed up the chain to the City Council and Yakima County Superior Court.

Afterwards, a visibly annoyed Sjule, who bought the property last year for $1.85 million, threatened to install manufactured homes on the site and build them as high as zoning regulations would allow, 35 feet, to mar Carriage Hill views of the city.

It was a remarkably similar threat to one issued last year by another developer over a similar zoning dispute across town at 24th and Mead avenues.

"They can have beautiful," Sjule said, "or they can have crap."

* Chris Bristol can be reached at 577-7748 or cbristol@yakimaherald.com.