Fast growth fought in Walla Walla
WALLA WALLA – Daniel Clark is bent on preventing this town from turning into Bend, the fast-growing city in central Oregon.
Clark, a lawyer in this 30,000-population town, said Bend has become a code word for the kind of explosive growth that at least some people in Walla Walla don’t want. They’ve summed up their opposition with a bumper sticker that reads: “Don’t Bend Walla Walla.”
“(Bend) certainly has a reputation for that type of very rapid growth that has overwhelmed the pre-existing community,” Clark said. “That’s not something that people who value their community and their culture and their environment really ask for.”
For nearly 30 years, Walla Walla’s population has sat between 25,000 and 30,000 people. That’s starting to change, as the town has earned the reputation as a hot spot for top-notch wines. Sunset magazine named Walla Walla its 2005 “Wine Destination of the Year” and a host of other publications have written about the town.
The interest is similar to that of Bend and other rural towns that have been discovered by a national audience, said Walla Walla County Community Development Director Scott Revell.
“It is no different in any community that grows,” Revell said. “Go to Telluride (Colo.), go to Durango (Colo.), go to Bozeman, Montana.”
But there are no signs here reading “Don’t Durango Walla Walla.” The reason opponents are using Bend is Illahee, a 365-home development proposed by Bend developer Abito, formerly called Pennbrook Homes.
Pennbrook built several projects in Deschutes County, including Highland Parks, near Eagle Crest, and the 12-home Shevlin Reserve development on Bend’s west side. Last month, the company changed its name to Abito, an Italian word meaning “to live.”
Abito plans to build Walla Walla’s first big resort on a former hay farm about two miles outside the city.
“The reality is this area is a very attractive area,” said Steve Robertson, president and co-owner of Abito. “The wine industry just makes it that much more attractive, and people from Seattle particularly are going to want to be in this environment under the sun.”
The opposition to Illahee is largely because it was the first big development proposed in Walla Walla, Robertson said.
“People are beginning to come around to the point that growth is going to happen,” Robertson said. “Let’s make sure it’s quality growth, and this project is of the highest quality.”
Illahee is slated to include 365 homes and townhouses, a public nine-hole golf course, a 60-room hotel, 10 miles of trails and a restaurant. If the project clears various administrative hurdles, the first houses could be finished at Illahee by late 2007 or early 2008, Robertson said.
But, as the bumper sticker suggests, not every one is looking forward to getting new neighbors.
Last month at Merchant’s Ltd., a popular downtown deli, two handmade signs reading “Don’t Bend Walla Walla” sat facing the street, while a petition by the door urged residents to oppose the Illahee development.
Merchant’s Ltd. owner Bob Austin said tourism has helped his business, but he liked his town better before its wine became famous.
“In a small town like this, those of us who’ve been here years and years used to be able to recognize and enjoy recognizing every face that we saw,” Austin said.