March 9 2009 Draft City of Shoreline CPA for Point Wells

DRAFT 3/9/09 draft

Point Wells Subarea Plan

Point Wells is an unincorporated island of approximately 100 acres in the
southwesternmost corner of Snohomish County, bordered on the west by Puget
Sound, on the east by the Town of Woodway (shown in yellow on Fig. 1), and on the
south by the City of Shoreline (shown in blue on Fig. 1). The island is bisected
roughly north-south by the Burlington Northern Railroad (B.N.R.R.) right-of-way.

The only vehicular access to the lowland portion of this island (shown in purple on
Fig. 1) is to Richmond Beach Road and the regional road network via the City of
Shoreline. There is a small segment of Richmond Beach Road within the corporate
limits of the Town of Woodway, however, that segment does not connect to any other
public road in Woodway.

The upland portion of the Point Wells Island (shown in white on Fig. 1) does not have
access to Richmond Beach Road due to very steep environmentally sensitive slopes
that separate the upland portion from the lowland portion. However, the upland
portion does have potential easterly access through the Town of Woodway via 238th
St. SW.

All of the Point Wells Island was previously designated by the City of Shoreline as a
“Potential Annexation Area” (PAA). The Town of Woodway, and Snohomish County,
have previously identified all of the Point Wells unincorporated island as within the
Woodway “Municipal Urban Growth Area” (MUGA). The Washington State Court of
Appeals, in a 2004 decision, determined that the overlap of Shoreline’s PAA and
Woodway’s MUGA does not violate the provisions of the Growth Management Act.

Upon a review of the topography and access options for Point Wells documented in
the Draft Environmental Impact Statement issued by Snohomish County in 2009, the
City of Shoreline no longer wishes to include the upland portion of this
unincorporated island within its designated urban growth area. Because of the
upland portion’s geographic proximity and potential for direct vehicular access to the Town of Woodway, the City of Shoreline concludes that the upland portion should be exclusively within the Town of Woodway’s future urban growth area. Any people
living in future developments in the upland portion of the Point Wells Island would
feel a part of the Woodway community because they would share parks, schools,
and other associations facilitated by a shared street grid.

Applying the same rationale to the lowland portion of the Point Wells Island, the City of Shoreline wishes to reiterate and clarify its policies. These lands all presently connect to the regional road network only via Richmond Beach Road in the City of Shoreline. Any enhanced governmental services to future redevelopment of this
area could only be provided by the City of Shoreline and its public safety partners,
the Shoreline Fire Department and Shoreline Police Department. Neither Snohomish
County nor the Town of Woodway now provide police, fire, parks, code compliance,
or utility services to the lowland areas, nor have they indicated their interest or ability to provide such urban services in the future.

The City of Shoreline will not issue street cut or right-of-way permits to any utility district to increase the capacity of water or sewer to unincorporated urban
development north of the city limits. Because the City of Shoreline, the Shoreline
Police Department and Shoreline Fire Department have all stated they will not
provide urban governmental services to more intensive development outside the city
limits, the City opposes the designation by Snohomish County of Point Wells as an
Urban Center. A development of such magnitude is inappropriate regardless of the
governing jurisdiction.

At such time as these lands annex into the City of Shoreline, they would immediately
receive urban levels of police and fire protection, as well as the full range of other local governmental services, including land use and development permitting and
code enforcement, access to parks, recreation and cultural services, and public
works roads maintenance. Any future businesses or residents of the lowland portion
of Point Wells would become a part of the broader Richmond Beach and Shoreline
communities by virtue of the shared parks, schools, libraries, shopping districts and
road grid.

The future geometry and operation of Richmond Beach Road to Point Wells is a major issue for the City, regardless of the ultimate uses or jurisdictions involved in the development of that property. The City wishes to improve safety for local resident traffic as well as pedestrians and will identify appropriate measures to mitigate the traffic impacts of any future development at Point Wells, including but not limited to improvements to road segments and intersections.

The City continues to support a mix of land uses at Point Wells, including but not
limited to residential, retail, restaurant, office, service and recreational uses. A public access trail should be provided and appropriate signage installed along the entire Puget Sound shoreline and secured with an appropriate public access easement
document. Building size and placement should be evaluated and approved pursuant
to an adopted Master Development Plan with particular attention paid to creation of
public views to the Sound, building and site design standards to minimize off-site
visual impacts. The maximum number of dwelling units, building height, and
maximum floor area of commercial uses should be set forth in a pre-annexation
zoning document prepared with the input of the property owner, the City’s public
safety partners, the Town of Woodway, Snohomish County, and the Richmond
Beach Neighborhood. The Shoreline Planning Commission should conduct public
hearings on the proposed pre-annexation zoning document and provide a
recommendation to the Shoreline City Council.

Interjurisdictional Coordination
The City should work with the Town of Woodway to identify ways in which potential
future development in the lowland portion of Point Wells could be configured or
mitigated to reduce potential impacts on Woodway. Access to Point Wells waterfront
should be afforded to both Shoreline and Woodway residents by bicycle and
pedestrian facilities.