Evan Smith: "Save Richmond Beach" calls legislative agreement ‘a step in the right direction’

By Evan Smith

ShorelineAreaNews Politics Writer

The Save Richmond Beach organization calls the agreement over Point Wells “a step in the right direction.”

“While the agreement is not exactly what we would have liked, it is a step in the right direction that the City of Shoreline and Snohomish County are at least collaborating on the impacts,” a Save-Richmond Beach spokeswoman told me Friday. “To date the decisions being made about the impacts of Point Wells have been forced on us by a governing body that is not responsible for making decisions for our community. The agreement, while putting the City of Shoreline at the table, does not necessarily guarantee the results that are appropriate; it simply requires the County to share information. However, it will at least help to ensure that the evaluation of the impacts will be conducted in a legitimate way.”

State legislators announced Thursday that they had dropped consideration of a bill that would force Snohomish County to give the cities of Shoreline and Woodway a leading role in deciding on the impacts of the Point Wells development after officials from Shoreline and Snohomish County had agreed to share responsibility for the project.

Democratic State Sen. Craig Pridemore, chairman of the Senate committee on government operations, said Tuesday that he was halting action on the legislation

In an e-mail to Shoreline and Snohomish County officials and to local legislators, Pridemore said that the City, the County and the legislators had agreed in a meeting early in the week to the following:

1. “Snohomish County agrees to allow Shoreline to consult on the selection of the consultants who will prepare the traffic impact study. The goal will be to try to find someone who can be equally trusted on both sides, possibly including a consultant who has had past relationships with both the city and the county. 
2. As the traffic study goes forward, the county agrees to cc: the City on all written communications regarding traffic impacts on Richmond Beach between the County and the consultant. Where practicable and reasonable, the County will invite the City to participate in meetings between them and the consultant on Richmond Beach traffic impacts, particularly on substantive issues and discussions. 
3. On a timely basis, the City will provide the County with comments on project impacts through the State-Environmental-Protection-Act process, including recommending reasonable mitigation measures for the County to consider. The County agrees to fully consider all such comments and recommendations and to levy them, as the project impacts require. 
4. The City and County will work together to ensure that Shoreline residents are educated and kept informed of project impacts on Shoreline. If appropriate, this may involve three-way public meetings sponsored by the City, County and project developers. The County will make an extra effort to do this, respecting that they cannot do more for Shoreline than they do for their own residents. It was recognized at the meeting that there are positive impacts of the development for Shoreline residents, including public amenities, shoreline access and cleanup of a brownfield site. These positive impacts should be presented just as possible negative ones are. 
5. When legal and appropriate, the Snohomish County Council will consider holding a public hearing on the project in or near Shoreline specifically to hear residents’ concerns. 
6. Both sides will make definitive efforts to communicate on a regular basis (perhaps biweekly) regarding the project. 
7. Both sides agree to engage in trust-building efforts and to avoid actions that might cause distrust. In an appropriate manner and at an appropriate time, Shoreline will review its current level of service on Richmond Beach and establish it at a level that is consistent with City and King County policy and that meets the reasonable needs of the community. 
8. Both sides agree to do everything in their power to resolve areas of disagreement to the best of their ability without putting the other in difficult public positions. If necessary, the City and County will call in a neutral third party to restore discussions and to promote resolution of areas of disagreement. 
9. The Washington State Legislature will not act further on House Bill 1265." ( House Bill 1265 is the bill presented by 32nd District Rep. Ruth Kagi and co-sponsored by Rep. Cindy Ryu.)