Council approves The Bluffs preliminary plat for 406 lots north of Rupert Road

The West Richland City Council on Tuesday approved a preliminary plat application for The Bluffs, a multi‑phase residential subdivision north of Rupert Road that staff described as a 4.8‑acre project to be developed in phases producing 406 residential lots.

Alicia Ransom, the city planner, summarized the staff report and said the applicant is PBS Environmental and Engineering representing the developer Frank Teague's LLC. “The property is a 4.8 acres, and it's to be developed in 9 phases, with 406 residential lots,” Ransom said.

Ransom told the council that the application included a site‑specific traffic impact analysis (TIA) accepted by Public Works in April 2025 and that the project had been subject to SEPA review. Ransom said the city issued a mitigated determination of nonsignificance (MDNS) on April 20, 2025, and noted that the draft record includes agency comments from the Washington State Department of Transportation, Bonneville Power Administration, the Department of Archaeology and Historic Preservation and the Yakama Nation.

Staff recommended and the planning commission recommended approval with conditions. Key conditions the council accepted include: a traffic-impact-fee mitigation agreement per Title 16 requiring construction of Rupert Road frontage to city standards (70 feet of right-of-way); requirement to install a six‑foot CMU (concrete masonry unit) block wall along the Rupert Road frontage to screen the development; compliance with city noise and lighting standards (West Richland Municipal Code chapter 9.38 and chapter 17.55); and a park-impact mitigation agreement to construct a greenbelt trail, landscaped drought-tolerant areas, picnic areas and connections to existing and future trails.

Ransom said the project’s critical‑areas report found no pristine shrub‑steppe habitat as defined in Title 18 of the West Richland Municipal Code and therefore concluded that specific shrub‑steppe mitigation was not required under city code. She said a cultural‑resources report prepared in December 2024 will be submitted to the Washington State Department of Archaeology and Historic Preservation and to the Yakama Nation for review and that an inadvertent‑discovery plan is required if artifacts are found during construction.

Council members asked staff to clarify several items during the public hearing: whether Rupert Road improvements would include curb, gutter, sidewalks and streetlighting (Roscoe Slate, public works director, said the improvements will be built to full city standards including a three‑lane arterial cross section where appropriate and separate north‑side pathway); placement of mailboxes (staff said the developer must coordinate with the U.S. Postal Service and relocate mailboxes off Rupert Road into private drives or interior streets where possible); water and wells (staff said exempt private wells draw from a shallow aquifer distinct from the deeper municipal supply and that Public Works determined the city has enough water to serve the development); and Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) easement requirements for any improvements in the BPA corridor.

Ransom acknowledged written public comments raising concerns about noise, traffic, light pollution, mailboxes and density. She noted that the proposed lots meet the parcel’s RM‑6 zoning and the comprehensive‑plan medium‑density residential designation; she reported the average lot size in the plat is 7,120 square feet and that lots meet minimum sizes specified in city code (6,000 square feet; 7,500 square feet for corner lots).

Councilmember discussion included questions about potential dust control during construction (Ransom said standard erosion and dust‑control measures, proof-of‑contact and hydroseeding of disturbed soils are required), the parks and greenbelt maintenance (the park‑impact mitigation agreement requires HOA maintenance while the greenbelt must remain open to the public), and the BPA corridor (Ransom said any trail or road crossings in the easement require BPA review and permitting).

After public-notice procedures and the closed‑record hearing, a councilmember moved to approve preliminary plat Plat‑002‑2024, The Bluffs “based upon the findings of fact, conclusions of law, conditions of approval and as recommended by the planning commission.” A voice vote was taken; the motion carried unanimously.

The approval is conditioned on the items in staff’s recommendation and the planning‑commission report; council did not adopt new modifications to those conditions during the hearing. Several council members and staff said they expect additional coordination with county agencies, BPA and the U.S. Postal Service as design and permitting proceed.