This 6,296 s.f. commercial center is located in the 13800-block of Sultan
Basin Road, in the heart of residential and rural land. It is proposed
to be constructed just north of the Eagle Ridge residential community.
This development outlines plans for a mini-mart store on the ground floor,
with the 2nd allocated as commercial office (retail?) space.
The complex is slated for 33 parking stalls. Its ingress/egress will be
directly onto Sultan Basin Road.
Let the city know what you think about this "business" center:
We are asking residents to do the following, and request that they pass this request along to others:CALL: Christi Amrine, City Planner (360-793-2231) and tell her what you think of this project. If you cannot reach her, speak with either Roy Bysegger or Mayor Rowe.
SEND AN E-MAIL: Send a confirming e-mail of your conversation with her (or whomever you spoke with). Or, If you could not reach either Christi, Roy or C. H., state your opinion about this matter and send an e-mail. (Send copies to Roy Bysegger and the Mayor.) The only e-mail address the city has at the moment is a "group" e-mail, but you can stipulate on your e-mail that copies are to be sent to RB and CH. Please be sure to send us a copy of your e-mail so we can centrally coordinate communications being sent.
DELIVER A LETTER OR NOTE TO CITY HALL!
If you do not have access to e-mail, deliver a letter/note to city hall (319 Main St., 2nd floor), confirming your conversation. Or, if you could not reach anyone directly, deliver your letter/note to city hall. A hand-written note is fine. Take a copy of your note in with you, and get a signed receipt that it has been received by them.
WHAT'S WRONG WITH THIS PICTURE?
Simply put, the City's position is that this design
was a part of the original Eagle Ridge PUD project and that no public
hearing is required.
We have requested a copy of the full file on the original Eagle Ridge
residential development from the City, so we should have more information
to relate shortly. (As of 7/16, the city has not yet given us this file,
so we are missing a key piece of information on the propriety of this
building.) However, our understanding, based on monitoring the June 20th
Planning Commission meeting was that while mixed-use (residential and
commercial) construction was allowed and even encouraged in PUD's -- in
concept -- this building was not included as part of the original plat.
As such, it deviates significantly from the recorded (approved) plat,
and therefore, a public hearing is required.
Additionally, the original plan for the Eagle Ridge development stipulated
that there should be no access from a "tract" onto an existing
road, which this facility not only violates, but flies in the face of
recent cautions regarding traffic concerns on Sultan Basin Road.
Thirdly -- and most importantly -- the overloaded traffic infrastructure
which exists at the intersection of SR 2 and Sultan Basin/Cemetery Road,
the impacts of a commercial/retail establishment and the inherent traffic
complications make this proposed project appear to be extraordinarily
ill-conceived at best. At worst, it sets a milestone for commercial/industrial/retail
facilities in this strictly rural/residential environment.
WHAT'S NEXT?
The Sultan Planning Commission voted
unanimouslyJune 20th to request that the City Council hold a public hearing
on this issue. We do not yet know whether the council has received this
information from the city bureaucracy.
We are checking into the feasibility of filing an appeal on this project, if the city approves it.