Editorials

<< Previous   of   Next >>   ADVERTISEMENT   HAVE YOUR SAY Feel strongly about something? Share it with the community by writing a letter to the editor. You’ll need to include your name, address and daytime phone number. (We’ll only publish your name and hometown.) We reserve the right to edit letters, but if you keep yours to 300 words or less, we won’t ask you to shorten it. If your letter is published, please wait 30 days before submitting another. Send it to: E-mail: letters@heraldnet.com Mail: Letters section The Herald P.O. Box 930 Everett, WA 98206 Fax: 425-339-3458 Have a question about letters? Contact Carol MacPherson (cmacpherson@heraldnet.com or 425-339-3472).   Published: Thursday, May 15, 2008 Reardon offers exciting vision for Cathcart site Aaron Reardon's proposal to turn hundreds of county-owned acres near Highway 9 and Cathcart Way into an environmentally friendly hub for homes, jobs, services and transit is a thoughtful and welcome one. So is the open, inclusive process the Snohomish County executive plans for finding out what the community thinks of it. The county's Cathcart property, a 350-acre site that includes a closed landfill and sensitive wetlands, has been sitting without a plan since the County Council bought it from the county's solid waste department in 2005 for $31 million. In the meantime, it has cost the county general fund about $1.4 million in annual interest payments. Reardon's plan would pay off the debt by selling approximately 120 acres to private developers -- subject to a careful county planning process -- leaving 80 percent of the original parcel in public use. The acreage sold would be developed under a master plan that Reardon envisions as a significant new model for green building practices and a hub for jobs and services in one of the county's most densely-populated areas. The acreage left in public use, which includes the existing Willis Tucker Park (90 acres) and the Snohomish School District's new Glacier Peak High School and Little Cedars Elementary School (62 acres), would also provide 168 acres of wildlife habitat and trails, along with space for an important new transit hub near the bustling intersection of Highway 9 and Cathcart Way. This kind of urban center, surrounded by ample green space, makes perfect sense in this location, where the population has boomed by more than 31 percent since 2002, according to county estimates. And, as Reardon points out, planning and providing better transit options along Cathcart Way can keep this major east-west arterial from becoming a repeat of gridlocked 164th Street. Offering jobs and services closer to these existing neighborhoods, and new multi-family housing, will also help cut congestion. Because of the current building slowdown, Reardon says, "we have a chance to sit down and thoughtfully write our code and be proactive rather than reactive." The community is being asked to get involved in that process, with town hall meetings being planned for next month, followed by monthly meetings with county officials and community members on conceptual designs. The results would become part of the county's annual planning process, with County Council approval as early as next spring. This is an exceptionally forward-thinking plan, and an inclusive process that deserves the active support of the County Council, area residents and other stakeholders. If you've ever wanted to have a positive impact on development, here's a great opportunity.

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