(emailed May 28, 2025)
I want to start by asking for a few minutes of your time. Even if you don’t have time to read this entire email, please skip to the bold, italic paragraphs below. We hope that everyone who receives this email will help us in our efforts by taking the time to respond to this request. Thank you!
Before getting to our request, we have two events to report. First, early in the week of May 5th, a real estate listing went live offering 400 acres of undeveloped land on Chelan Butte just above the roughly 900 acres under threat of development currently owned by Golden Gate Ventures (GGV). This 400 acres was owned by Daybreak Golf Founders (see link to map showing these properties). By May 7th, several members of the public had made CBC aware of this listing, and we had made a decision to try to preserve this land, which is adjacent to the Chelan Butte Wildlife Unit that is managed by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW).
A flurry of activity ensued, and we had set up a call with WDFW staff on May 12th and the Trust for Public Land for May 14th. Both entities were interested in seeing what could be done. The call with WDFW was extremely positive – they indicated that they were interested in acquiring and stewarding the land as part of the Chelan Butte Wildlife Unit. This meeting was so positive that CBC decided to go ahead and reach out to the listing agent for the property in the afternoon of May 12th.
Sadly, we were informed by the listing agent that a purchase agreement had already been signed by both a buyer and the seller. We found out later that day that the buyer was Raja Venugopal, the potential developer of the GGV properties. We contacted the seller directly to confirm that the paperwork was final, and he confirmed that it was. He indicated that he would have liked to see the property acquired for 100% conservation and was disappointed that it did not work out that way (he doesn’t live in the area and was not familiar with CBC). All I can say is that we did everything possible to make this happen, and I am confident that WDFW would have ended up with all 400 acres of this land for habitat preservation if not for Mr. Venugopal. CBC does intend to introduce Mr. Venugopal to WDFW staff in case something can yet be worked out between them.
The second event to report is that Mr. Venugopal (on behalf of GGV) again tried to obtain three building permits on the GGV land (see our last update for more information on the initial attempt). However, on May 6th the City of Chelan issued three Notice of Continued Incomplete Application letters, again confirming that the houses would need to hook into the City municipal water and sewer systems to meet City code requirements (as opposed to using water wells and on-site septic systems). Although both the City and CBC have long been aware that this is the code requirement, Mr. Venugopal continues to try to find a way around it.
Now for our request. Even though over 3,200 people have signed our online petition in support of preserving the Butte, Mr. Venugopal continues to tell people that only a handful of community members are against development of the Butte and those who are comprise “just [a] few rich people who recently moved to the valley and wanted their views preserved”. We know that this is not true and, with your help, we would like to document the community’s passion concerning the preservation of the Butte.
We have set up an email address specifically for this purpose (LoveChelanButte@gmail.com). We’re asking people to email us a personal message stating their desire to see the Butte acquired by the public and remain undeveloped, without the addition of short-term rentals (STRs) as is being planned. You’ll be letting Mr. Venugopal, and anyone else who wants to see STRs up there, know what the Butte means to you.
This could be as simple as saying that you are a resident in (or visitor to) the Lake Chelan Valley, and you strongly desire that the Butte be left in its natural state; or as detailed as describing what the Butte has meant to you over the years and why development of this land is not right for the Lake Chelan Valley.
If you’re willing, please include your name and indicate the city you live in (addresses not needed). We would like to eventually compile all of these statements into a single document. It’s your voice that gives the effort to preserve the Butte strength. We will not disclose anyone’s email address. Let us know if you have any questions about this request.
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 Updates can be found on our website. Thanks as always for your interest in, and support for, this important endeavor affecting the permanent future of the Lake Chelan Valley. Please see our Facebook and web site (links below) for more information about CBC.
Brian Patterson
Chelan Basin Conservancy President
on behalf of the CBC board:
Lisa Garvich – Vice President
Tony Crosetto – Treasurer
Debra Patterson – Secretary
Mike Cochran