Economic Development and a Point Wells update on the agenda for September RBCA meeting

This story has been updated.


By Tom Petersen

Recent events locally and nationally promise to turn the September 13 public meeting of the Richmond Beach Community Association into a pretty wild affair. The anticipated crowd may be so large that the meeting will be in the sanctuary at the Richmond Beach Congregational Church instead of in the basement. The church is at the corner of 15th Ave NW and Richmond Beach Road, and the meeting is open to all.

In the wake of the huge meeting/protest at Shoreline City Hall on August 31 and a possible repeat at the September 6 City Council meeting, the usual Point Wells Subcommittee report of the RBCA will be a another flashpoint on the crucial issue of a possible urban center at Point Wells. In August the City Council issued a Letter of Intent to BSRE, the developer, signaling the dropping of legal challenges if Point Wells might someday annex to Shoreline. Richmond Beach residents, who will find 5000+ Wellsians streaming through their burg daily via tiny Richmond Beach Drive believe that the City is abandoning its interests and responsibilities to the neighborhood.

The city councilpeople and those running against them in the November election have been invited to attend the September 13 meeting. They will all face Richmond Beach residents again at the October 11 Candidates Forum.

The actual “headliner” of the September 13 meeting is City of Shoreline Economic Development Program Manager Dan Eernessee, who will talk about business prospects in Shoreline and Richmond Beach amid the Great Recession. He will have a slide show and take some questions and suggestions from the audience. He will not talk about Point Wells, the economic impacts of which are purely speculative at this time.

The Tuesday, September 13, meeting will be at its usual time and location, 7:30 p.m. in the Richmond Beach Congregation Church. See you there!