CBC Efforts to Preserve Chelan Butte – Update #15 (1/9/2025)

(emailed January 9, 2025)

Happy New Year! We hope that 2025 brings good things for you and yours.

We have two things to share. First, as we indicated we would do in our Update #14 email, CBC has moved forward to complete our own version of the Chelan Butte Acquisition Feasibility Study (Study). The full study can be found here (link). The document has an Executive Summary for those who do not want to read the full study.

Briefly, CBC contacted a multitude of organizations that have already acquired, developed, and maintained public open space land. In the Study, we utilized the information gathered from these organizations to estimate the costs associated with the ownership of 900 acres of public open space land on the Chelan Butte. We also utilized information already compiled by the Trust for Public Land to provide a discussion of how the acquisition of a large parcel of land on the Butte might be funded.

The primary purposes of completing the Study were to a) demonstrate to the City of Chelan the likely issues and costs associated with the ownership of public land on the Butte, and b) demonstrate to a potential land seller (whether that be Golden Gate Ventures or Mr. Venugopal) that there is a viable pathway for public ownership of significant open space land on the Butte.

Second, CBC met with Chelan mayor Erin McCardle, City Administrator Wade Farris, and Community Development Director John Ajax in early December. The purpose of the meeting was to review the Study and discuss a potential ownership structure for public open space on the Butte. The City acknowledged it’s ongoing desire to see a large portion of the Butte preserved for public use. Mayor McCardle suggested that perhaps a consortium of entities, including the City, might be the best option to ensure reliable stewardship of the land. A number of potential entities were discussed and CBC plans to follow up with several of them in early 2025 to garner support for stewardship of open space land on the Butte.

As you are aware, the 900 acres of land on the Butte that CBC would like to see preserved on behalf of the public is not currently available for purchase. The option to purchase this land has been held by Mr. Raja Venugopal for over two years. He has not provided any specific land use plans to date. CBC is aware of some potential actions that he may take in the near future and we are keeping a lookout for these. We continue to be optimistic that whatever his future plans are, they will take into account the community’s strong desire to see the majority of the north face of the Butte preserved for public recreational use and habitat preservation. As always, we will keep you apprised of what happens.

I’ll leave it here for now, but please do not hesitate to reach out to us by responding to this email if you have any questions or comments. Note that previous Chelan Butte Update emails can be found on our website. Thanks as always for your interest and support.

Brian Patterson
Chelan Basin Conservancy President

on behalf of the CBC board:

Lisa Garvich – Vice President
Tony Crosetto – Treasurer
Debra Patterson – Secretary
Mike Cochran

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PO Box 1073
Chelan WA 98816

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