Trendwest buys land for Kittitas resort

The vast MountainStar Resort near Roslyn has taken a step forward: Trendwest Resorts announced yesterday it is buying 6,200 acres of land from its majority shareholder for $47.6 million.

Redmond-based Trendwest has been working for years to develop the Kittitas County resort, billed as the largest resort in the Pacific Northwest. More than three years after plans were announced, bulldozers still aren't moving, and they won't be for at least a few weeks.

Opposition to the project remains strong. The resort will include two golf courses, a 300-unit hotel, 3,300 vacation homes, 850 condominiums, historical parks, hiking and biking trails, a restaurant, fitness center, retail shops and a conference center over the next two decades.

It would also bring the equivalent of more than 1,400 full-time jobs to Kittitas County - a mostly rural place that has missed much of the last decade's prosperity.

"This is going to be a very significant resort," said Tim O'Neil, Trendwest's chief financial officer. "I don't know if anything in Washington will approach it."

As definitive as that sounds, others talk of the project in less convincing terms.

The Yakama Indian Nation, city of Roslyn, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, a Roslyn-based environmental group called RIDGE, and a labor group called REBOUND all have filed appeals with the Kittitas County Board of Commissioners. The groups will argue their case at hearings July 5-7.

After the hearings, commissioners will decide whether to grant a development permit, which company officials say they hope to get this summer.

Opponents argue that the project will destroy wildlife habitat and suck too much water from already stressed upstream portions of the Yakima River system.

"This is basically 7,000 acres of sprawl in what is now undeveloped land," said Doug Kilgore of RIDGE.

Trendwest, a time-share company, touts its main project as a boon to the community that is also attractive to nature lovers.

On its Web site, the company describes the "sunny skies" within a 90-minute drive of Puget Sound, dazzling wildflowers and prevalent wildlife. It also talks about using low-flow plumbing, limiting lawn areas and adopting other techniques to conserve water.

Perry Huston, chairman of the Kittitas County Board of Commissioners, said that while some people are strongly for or against the project, many people are taking a wait-and-see approach.

"If I had to identify the largest group out there, it would be those who say, `It might be OK if they do it right,' " Huston said. "The question is if they can do it right."

Luke Timmerman's phone message number is 206-515-5644. His e-mail address is ltimmerman@seattletimes.com.