Palouse development approved

The Palouse city council granted preliminary approval Sept. 23 to the town’s planning commission regarding the proposed Palouse Cove development.

Developer Roy Druffel of Sand Road Land Company will now proceed with a final development plan to go before the city council.

“Stay tuned,” said mayor Michael Echanove.

Druffel’s engineer, Munir Daud of Pullman, has supplied the city of Palouse with a water and sewer plan to review.

The 21 lots would be phase one of what Druffel intends as a two-phase, 42-lot development on Cove Road south of town.

Existing homes adjacent to the site were developed by previous landowners Bruce and Joyce Beeson. Sand Road bought the land from them earlier this spring.

The company also bought seven acres of rail property below it, owned by the Davis Land Group.

The city’s building code requires the lots to average 10,000 square feet.

In July, Sand Road hired a crew to put a subdivision subgrade road in, which would be followed by storm drains and further infrastructure.

If the project is ultimately approved by the Palouse city council, a contractor would finish the road, then gravel, rock and curb it.

The Beesons first developed senior living apartments on two acres and sold one acre to Community Action. The farmland had long been in the family and set aside in grass for 15 years leading up to development.