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Home My WebLink AboutLog229 . e 273 South Bay Lane Port Ludlow, Washington 98365-9562 10 November 2006 Al Scalf, Director Jefferson County Department of Community Development 621 Sheridan Street Port Townsend, Washington (R\E(~EIVEO NOV 1 3 2D05 JttttHSUN I;U"NfV dtO Dear Mr. Scalf: This letter provides our comments on the Trendwest/W orldMark facility proposed for Port Ludlow. As a point of clarification, Trendwest is an Oregon corporation established to acquire and market resort properties and recreation facilities. When a Trendwest property is developed, it is transferred to W orldMark, The Club, a nonprofit mutual benefit corporation. The specific primary purpose of WorldMark is to care for, own, lease, maintain, operate, and manage the real property and improvements thereon and personal property therein, which it owns and which has been dedicated to the W orldMark, The Club, vacation owner program. The club program is designed for resort condominium-type vacations and is structured to offer the greatest potential flexibility in vacation length and location. (Source: WorldMark's State of Washington Public Offering Statement, 31 October 2003). My wife and I reside at 273 South Bay Lane, Port Ludlow. We have been residents of Port Ludlow since May 1999. But I first came here in the 1940s to visit my aunt, cousins, and my uncle who drove a logging truck for Pope and Talbot. Then, in the 1970s, we came here to visit our daughter who organized and ran the conferences at Port Ludlow, and four granddaughters, who worked at the Admiralty/Harbormaster as wait staff or assisted with bookkeeping. Also, I'm a member of the SBCA Architectural Review Committee. Thus, we have a long-time and ongoing interest in ensuring that Port Ludlow is a quality place to live for now and in the future. We have been members of Trendwest/WorldMark for about 3 years. We support th~.:P~~E~~al. ____''''-,.''''.,''~''"F'''''' c_, Aside from the legal issues (e.g., zoning, definitions of times hares), which we won't attempt to discuss here, it seems like two questions need answers: (1) Is a TrendwestIWorldMark facility appropriate for Port Ludlow and (2) Will its benefits exceed its adverse impacts? Many aspects of these two questions were discussed at the hearing on Friday, 03 November 2006. My feeling from the hearing was that most Port Ludlow residents believed the TrendwestIWorldMark facility is appropriate and beneficial. We'd like to address two issues people have raised against the proposal: signs and "transients." Another issue-traffic--has been well addressed by the contractor working for Port Ludlow Associates or Trendwest. Transients: One argument against Trendwest/W orldMark is that the area proposed for it is not zoned for transient use. We find that hard to believe, because Port Ludlow, as an entity, is defined as a Master Planned Resort. And what is a resort? By definition a resort is "a place providing recreation and entertainment esp. to vacationers." (Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary). And what are vacationers? Transients. ;za<!1, I ((," " 2~ . e Port Ludlow has many transients now, has in the past, and will in the future. Many Port Ludlow residents are temporary residents (i.e. transients) who live here during the warmer part of the year, then move to Southern California or Arizona during the colder parts. Then there is The Inn at Port Ludlow (nee The Heron Beach Inn), which primarily was built for and has been and will be operated for transients. Some of the Admiralty Condos are available for rent to transients (check with Admiralty Property Management). In addition, there are transients at the RV park, and at the marina (one whole float devoted to transients, plus there are boat and kayak rentals for transients and boats for charters). Further, the golf course attracts transients. Also, there are others who drive through Port Ludlow for sightseeing, house hunting, dining, and shopping. Finally, if the space planned for the Trendwest/WorldMark facility is instead used for a number of single family homes or condos, as originally planned, many of the owners of those properties would be "transients." In conclusion, the Trendwest/WorldMark facility--with its transients--would fit in well with what is already going on in Port Ludlow. Signs: My wife and I have visited five different Trendwest/W orldMark facilities over the past several years. In our experience, it is somewhat difficult to find a Trendwest facility if you don't know where it is. For example, the Trendwest facility in Leavenworth, Washington, has no signs indicating where it is as far as we could tell, and it took us some time trying to find it even when we had the address. We just returned from the Trendwest facility on the Long Beach peninsula where we saw two small signs directing people to the facility. Both signs were about 2-feet by 3- feet in size. One was located at an intersection of the road about 1 mile from the facility; the other was located at the intersection at the comer of the facility. The sign at Discovery Bay, which opponents have used as an example, is unique in being so large. Trendwest/W orldMark facilities don't need large signs to advertise, they're not trying to attract passers-by; instead, they use indicator signs to direct the W orldMark time-share owners to their properties. We believe the benefits of the facility are many and most have been expounded on by PLA, Trendwest, and others. As W orldMark owners, we believe a facility at Port Ludlow would be a nice additio~~hoice for other W orldMark owners, and a better choice, in our opinion, than the one at Discovery Bay because of the nearby golf course and marina. Sincerely, /) ~n/ /J /1 UV~n/r(, U~~~ A ven M. ;;\ndersen ~ ~/'."\ // ,i ./" /'. ,/'\. J 1:1 _~ ....... :/... il ~b.I_-:-G"t""1 ,///4/1 (/ _. -." O. (,J CX:1l.-1!U/~~____ Shirley J. Andersen Cc: PLA, SBCA. r."" \"""E-:M" ,..lit=: ' I . '" I . . ---, C1 h"", __:2:.:-~..L_~- p a.p f(,,__~.of _::-_ lRE( 'RIVEn NOV 1 3 2006 JtfffflSUN ';UUNIY ,,~,~