Washington State Supreme Court Upholds Court of Appeals Decision on Point Wells Project Vesting

On April 10, 2014, in a 6-3 decision, the Washington State Supreme Court upheld the Court of Appeals' decision that BSRE's Point Wells project applications were vested under Snohomish County's "Urban Center" zoning designation. With this decision, BSRE's permit applications for the Point Wells site will continue to be processed by Snohomish County under this zoning designation. To read the Supreme Court decision, click on this link. 

As noted in the opinion, the Supreme Court concluded that, "BSRE's development rights vested to the plans and regulations in place at the time it submitted its permit applications." The Court went on to say, "Developers' rights vest to the ordinances in effect when a complete permit application is submitted. The plain language of the GMA (State Growth Management Act) indicates that a later finding of noncompliance under SEPA (State Environmental Policy Act) does not affect rights that have already been vested".

The City of Shoreline has been working with the Shoreline community and BSRE to identify improvements that will be needed to Richmond Beach Drive, Richmond Beach Road and the surrounding transportation grid to mitigate anticipated traffic impacts as a result of a potential development at Point Wells. The final workshop is scheduled for April 16 at 6:30 p.m. at Shoreline City Hall. The final workshop will be an opportunity for City staff to share a list of recommended improvements based on the feedback received at prior workshops. To review materials and comments from the first five transportation workshops, visit this webpage.