Point Wells prime topic at February General Meeting

A spirited discussion of the Point Wells project dominated the February General Meeting of the Richmond Beach Com¬munity Association. Joe Tovar, Planning Director for the City of Shoreline, spoke and responded to questions from the approxi¬mately 75 people who attended, although some questions do not yet have answers.

Tovar stated that both the City of Shoreline and the Town of Woodway are interested in annexing the Point Wells property. However, annexation would hap¬pen only if the property owner, Paramount Northwest, wishes it to happen. The prop¬erty lies in Snohomish County, and would remain there, even if it were to be annexed by Shoreline. It is not unprecedented for a city to extend across two counties. Scope of project questioned

Snohomish County states that the property is appropriate for mixed urban use, and has drafted a Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (DSEIS), which will be published in March. Their Comprehensive Plan Amendment would change the site from “Urban Industrial” to “Urban Center.” The current version, a 646-page document, is available through the City of Shoreline website: http://shore-linewa.gov/index.aspx?page=176.

Paramount’s initial proposal was for 1400 residential dwellings. However, their rezoning application to Snohomish County indicated the project might include up to 3500 residential dwellings, a population of 6400, between 60,000 and 70,000 square feet of commercial space (largely of¬fice), and additional retail space. This is an increase of two to three times what Paramount initially estimated. Mark Wells, a rep-resentat ive f rom Paramount, said these are the company’s theoretical numbers, which they included in their application to cover the absolute maximum, but they are not necessarily planning that the development will be that large. The project is in its very early stages, and it will be some time before all legal requirements have been resolved. Plans have yet to be drawn up. A cleanup of the site to make it safe for construction would also be time-consuming.

Fire, police and ambulance service a concern.
Emergency service to the development was discussed extensively. If the property is annexed by Woodway, that town would be responsible for fire, police, and am¬bulance coverage. However, there is no quick access to Point Wells from Woodway, and because of the steep, 250-foot-high embankment between them it is unlikely that a road could be put through to di¬rectly connect them. Emergency vehicles would have to reach the property from Richmond Beach Road, which would be a time-consuming trip.

Two of Woodway’s concerns are that the development might block views, and it might emit enough light to pollute their dark evenings—both of which are prized by residents and add to property values.

If the property is annexed by the City of Shoreline, Shore¬line would assume emergency service. Currently, EMTs from Shoreline or King County are not authorized to go into Snohomish County. The five residences in the unincorporated area are now served only by Snohomish County EMTs.

County taxes from the property would go to Sno¬homish County, but city taxes would go to whichever city annexes it. How¬ever, tax revenue is not the main con¬cern for Shoreline. Whichever city annexes the property could draft regulations to control the height and extent of the project, but this could not be done if the property were to be developed prior to any annexation.

Increased traffic a major issue
A second major issue is the traffic impact on the Richmond Beach community. Currently, Richmond Beach Road is rated as underutilized; with the addition of a 4-way stop light at the intersection of 15th NW, traffic experts say it could handle significantly more traffic. Residents might feel otherwise. The addition of a Sounder station at Point Wells might pos¬sibly alleviate some of the traffic.

The Snohomish County Council held a meeting on February 24 in which the project was to be discussed. A number of items were planned to be covered in the meeting, and there was no assurance how much time would be spent on Point Wells. Unfortunately, this newspaper was at the printer by that time—too early to provide coverage of the meeting, and too late to no¬tify those who would have liked to attend. For news regarding that meeting go to the Snohomish County or RBCA web sites.

Richmond Beach does not have the funds for legal representation, and there is no assurance that the City of Shoreline will have the same concerns as we at Richmond Beach do. It is vital that residents make their views known. We need to present a strong, coordinated voice to the Snohomish City Council, stating the views of Richmond Beach residents. There is still some limited time for public input after the February 24th meeting, but the exact cut off date for public comment is a little uncertain, so the sooner you act, the better.


Richmond Beach News - Point Wells Project update


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