Cashmere Pauses Filing and Accepting Building Permits for Downtown Business Zone

Cashmere city council recently put in place a moratorium on the filing and acceptance of building permits for residential use in the downtown business zoning district so the planning commission can revisit and possibly revise the current codes in place.

"We've had over the last several months various inquiries from developers looking at properties in Cashmere in the downtown business district and our zoning code requires that the first floor of those buildings all be used for retail businesses," said Mayor Jim Fletcher. "..they're saying 'we're not trying to build retail buildings, we're trying to build apartments'."

Developers have presented conceptual proposals to construct ground floor parking structure as the ground level and construct apartments above. With the influx of developers proposing different options other than retail, the code is being scrutinized to be potentially cleaned up to better fit the need.

"So our code then needs to be cleaned up to say under what conditions would we not require the first floor to be all retail business, but it could be some other form of business such as professional services or personal services or maybe just an office for people who are doing internet business. So we still want the business on the first floor, but maybe not retail," said Fletcher.

Fletcher emphasized while looking at setting new requirements and the standards, the city has a desire to keep a grasp on the smalltown feel of Cashmere while also promoting business and infill of apartments.

"The process is important for Cashmere because we really want to preserve that small town attribute, so having an open and honest discussion and the public knows what's being discussed is important," said Fletcher. "There will be hearings later on on whatever recommendations come out of the planning commission before the council takes a final action."

The downtown business zone district includes portions of Cottage, Aplets, Elberta, Woodring, Pleasant, Prospect, River and Perry Streets. The planning commission is meeting to discuss the topic Monday at 5 in City Hall and the public is invited. There will also be a public hearing on the moratorium at the November 25 city council meeting at 6.