September Richmond Beach Community Association meeting features update on Point Wells

Things are happening fast at Point Wells, and if you snooze, you lose! So set your Point Wells alarm clock for Tuesday, Sept. 9, 7:30pm. At the appointed time, you will be awakened to what’s been happening on the Point Wells topic over the summer and what’s on the horizon for the rest of 2014 and beyond.

As our community played and basked in the warmth of our Shoreline summer, a community planning group worked quietly, persistently to stay on top of the many facets of the Point Wells scene. This coalition consisted of representatives from Richmond Beach Advocates, Save Richmond Beach, Shoreline Coalition for Open Government, plus individual community activists in the greater Richmond Beach area. At our September RBCA Community Meeting, this group will update you on a variety of Point Wells issues.

Traffic

Traffic continues to be a hotly contested topic. Several related traffic issues include:

• Transportation Corridor Study (TCS). Come learn about outcomes from summer meetings between the City of Shoreline officials and the Point Wells developer, plus get up to speed on the most recent City of Shoreline schedule of future TCS events that will lead to decisions by the City Council.

• Traffic Mitigation Plan. At the September 9 meeting, the community planning group will provide you with the latest on a variety of traffic mitigation issues, such as a three-lane vs. four-lane configuration for Richmond Beach Road, bike lanes and any proposed mitigation to address safety concerns arising from the increased traffic through our community.

• Status of Traffic Caps on Richmond Beach Drive. The City of Shoreline’s Comprehensive Plan currently places a traffic cap of 4,000 average daily trips (ADT) on Richmond Beach Drive. However, the City conceivably could approve a traffic analysis that has a cap in excess of 4,000 ADT and subsequently could adjust the Comprehensive Plan accordingly. At the September RBCA meeting, you will receive the latest information available on the ADT issue.

Second Public Road Access to Point Wells

It appears that Snohomish County code requires that there be two public access roads to the Point Wells development. The community planning group has been investigating the issue throughout the summer and will report on this at our RBCA meeting.

Environmental Impact Study

In mid-August, Snohomish County published a summary of the major issues raised during the scoping process. These issues will be reviewed at the RBCA meeting, and we will discuss the proposed timeline leading to the Final EIS (FEIS). The Snohomish County EIS Scoping Summary can be reviewed online. 

Community Involvement

Some residents mistakenly assume that there’s not much left on the Point Wells agenda that community members can influence. There is plenty left for you to do and, in fact, decisions that await action by the Shoreline City Council and Snohomish County will become critical to locking in the eventual scale and character of the Point Wells development. On many fronts, your active participation is needed now more than ever!

Community participation includes your ongoing financial contributions to help support our community efforts. Make checks payable to Richmond Beach Advocates and mail to P. O. Box 60186, Richmond Beach, WA 98160-0186 or donate online. 

Again, we encourage you to come to the September 9 meeting to learn how you can help! Mark your calendars for Tuesday, Sept. 9, 7:30pm, at the Richmond Beach Congregational Church, 1512 NW 195th Street.