White Horse plods along

Published 12:00 pm Wednesday, September 27, 2006

INDIANOLA — Even after debates, permits and water concerns, the White Horse development and golf course are trotting along at a steady pace. Property owner Bob Screen said he is pleased with the progress, and added that groundwater and trail issues are being addressed.

Screen said he is also getting ready to make a public announcement about the golf course’s back nine holes.

“We’re selling lots and making progress,” Screen said, noting that of the 65 lots in Phase I of the 450-acre development off South Kingston Road, 60 have been sold. “There are 224 lots grand total, which will be sold in the next three or four years.”

Concerns raised by the neighboring Indianola community are being addressed, said Kitsap County Department of Community Development assistant director of permitting Jeff Rowe-Hornbaker. Specifically, residents were worried about water quality and the trails that would accompany the development.

“There were a lot of people really concerned about the issue of groundwater,” said Indianola resident Bo Blakey, noting that White Horse is located on top of the water supply that feeds many of Indianola’s wells.

Residents also took issue with the White Horse trailhead that would start in Indianola, voicing concerns about increased parking near the trail.

“Progress is being made on the trail,” said DCD planner Dennis Oost, adding that he visited the site recently with Screen to look at the trail area more closely in terms of issuing the site development activity permit. “It’ll provide the most detailed map we have of the trail yet.”

“Dennis walked the site with me (a few weeks ago),” Screen said. “He said everything was looking good and in order.”

The trail is expected to receive approval from the Kitsap County Commissioners this fall, he added. The soonest any part of it will be open and available will be sometime next year.

Residents’ other primary concern, water quality, is also being handled, Screen, Oost and Rowe-Hornbaker agreed.

“There are three elements to the groundwater plan,” Rowe-Hornbaker said. “One is the turf management plan, involving the golf course. The other two involve the surface water and the groundwater.”

“So far, the three groundwater monitors we’ve installed are clean as a whistle,” Screen said.

Oost added that a baseline is being established that will be used to compare future groundwater samples in the monitored area. Since the monitoring began in mid-summer, there haven’t been any deviations, he said.

“As soon as we have the numbers back, the public can review it as well,” Rowe-Hornbaker said. “It’s a balance of those three elements that is needed to have good (water quality).”

“We believe that the county has not done a good job of holding the developers’ feet to the fire,” Blakey said, adding that many residents feel White Horse has pranced ahead in spite their concerns, and feel the only reason the well monitors were put in place was because they pushed for them.

Within White Horse, of the 60 lots that have been sold already there are five occupied houses, six are ready to be sold and 15 that are under construction.