Save Richmond Beach asks state supreme court to review decision on Point Wells
Tuesday, March 5, 2013
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| Architect's drawing of part of the planned "urban village" at Point Wells in Snohomish county |
Save Richmond Beach and Woodway have asked the Washington State Supreme Court to review the Court of Appeals decision allowing an Urban Center at Point Wells, which would have the Court taking a fresh look at the validity of BSRE's application.
Woodway has joined SRB in challenging the Court of Appeals decision, and both are asking the City Council of Shoreline to file a "friend of the court" (amicus curiae) brief on behalf of Save Richmond Beach / Woodway.
An amicus curiae brief from the Shoreline City Council to the State Supreme Court would help to persuade the Court to take our case for review.
BSRE plans to clean up the Paramount Oil storage facility at Point Wells and gradually build a mega-apartment high-rise village on the site. The site is fully within Snohomish County but the only access is through Shoreline.
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8 comments:
BSRE does not have a permit for an urban village. They have a permit for an urban center, which would be much larger. Snohomish County issued the permit immediately after designating Point Wells an urban center. The courts threw the designation and the permit out. But on appeal, held that BSRE's was vested, as was expected given the state's long case history on vesting. Save Richmond Beach and Woodway are appealing this to the State Supreme Court,which is another long shot. The City of Shoreline wants nothing to do with it because they have been in negotiations with BSRE for the past year and a half. The City says they have no bargaining chips, that Snohomish County holds all the cards, yet they anticipate they will reach a deal with BSRE this year. Go figure.
To repeat, this planned development is NOT and urban village, but an urban center. And if I am not mistaken, the architect drawing attached to this article is a scaled down urban village, not the monstrosity BSRE currently has planned to affix to the tranquil neighborhood that is Richmond Beach.
What is a mega-apartment high rise community?
High rise means greater than 9 stories. Are these 9 story buildings?
What is a mega-apartment? I understand you want to convey the contrast between this mixed use urban development with the surrounding single family residences, but exaggeration is not the way to go.
Urban centers and mixed development are great densifyers, and that site needs remediation. However, the roads in the single family neighborhood are designed for low density traffic, as is all of the infrastructure feeding (electrical, water, gas) and conveying (sewer) at this location. It simply doesnt make sense to create an urban setting where it is not urban. Pretty simple.
I like this project concept, the environmental idea, the densification, the brownfield reuse, the mixed use core. But, it just doesnt align with the existing utilities and access points.
Completely ignoring the "it'll wreck my view and lower my home value" NIMBY issue, it just doesn't work for the site. Not that a view of an oil tanker farm is pristine now...
If the only access to Point Wells is through Shoreline, then by that logic Vashon Island has no access at all. Yet its 10,000+ residents somehow manage to come and go. It is time to stop repeating the City's self-serving talking points.
I suggest that we have a "drive in" one Saturday and as many Shoreline residents as possible spend an hour driving from Fred Meyer to Point Wells over and over again. This will give us a true picture of what's in store for Shoreline ( not just RB). if this monstrous development occurs.
The city council just had a retreat last weekend and Point Wells was not discussed, that should give the folks in Richmond Beach some pause to think about what is going on in City Hall. Furthermore, new King County Councilmember Rod Dembowski's law firm, Foster Pepper, is the firm that the City has engaged to negotiate with SnoCo with BSRE, but the citizens have not heard word one since that process has begun. There is a city council goal to improve communications with the community, I submit that they have failed (and not on this issue alone).
Read it and weep.
Force the developer to build infrastructure first... be it improved roads, rail, ect... then get aproval... see how far the project goes then.
NIMBY means acknowledging a proposed development (such as a school or jail) as a public necessity, while pleading that it be built anywhere else, just Not In My Back Yard.
But that is not the case here. This 3000+ luxury condo/commercial plaza is no public necessity and no NIMBY. Not wanting their neighborhood destroyed, the fronts of their homes lopped off, or their traffic increased from 500 vehicle trips per day to 17000+ trips is not a case of NIMBY.
No, our Pavlovian government bureaucrats on both sides of the county line, hearing the dinner bill for their fiscal gravy train, are salivating over the serendipity that has been thrown into their food dish, courtesy of the Israeli billionaire, Shraga Biran, his international congolomerate, Alon, and its subsidiary, BSRE. And they are willing to trample over the residents of Shoreline to get to it.
The Richmond Beach residents and the rest of the Shoreline community who walk, run and ride along Richmond Beach Drive with their toddlers, dogs, and bikes do not wish this in their neighborhood, or anywhere else in Shoreline. And they would really like the government of the City of Shoreline to be on their side on this one.
The Shoreline City Council has had years now to study and solve this predicament. What have they learned? Zip. What have they solved? Nada. They are way behind and running in the opposite direction, toward financial ruin and disincorporation. They had the time to stop this mess, but they chose to squander precious city resources championing wedding toasts ("Is champagne a wine?")in the park and the like.
Send the incumbents seeking reelection in November a strong message.
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