EVERETT — Skotdal Real Estate seeks city approval to move an alley that runs between two parcels of its property.
Doing so would allow the Everett developer to eventually build a retail and housing development on the corner of Hoyt and Pacific avenues. It would also straighten an alley that takes a 90-degree turn in the middle of the block.
The land directly next to the proposed changes to right-of-way belongs to the Everett developer.
A neighbor, the Imagine Children’s Museum, is asking city leaders to deny the request, arguing the change would make it difficult to develop nearby property it owns, and create a safety hazard by forcing school buses loaded with children to exit onto busy Pacific Avenue.
A public hearing on the matter is scheduled for the Everett City Council at 6:30 tonight at 3002 Wetmore Ave.
“(The Children’s Museum is) presenting a case that we are taking something away,” said Craig Skotdal, president of Skotdal Real Estate. “They are proposing land be taken away from us that we already own and paid for.”
The alley in dispute runs through a block in downtown Everett that includes the museum and three other parcels it owns. Two other properties on the block are owned by Skotdal Real Estate.
The alley takes a 90-degree turn in the middle of the block, then runs straight through the Skotdal properties. The right-of-way was set up years ago to accommodate buses that served the former Greyhound bus station. That building is now owned by the Skotdals.
The developer proposes that the city vacate the alley right-of-way in exchange for another, smaller piece of its land. Under the terms of the agreement, Skotdal Real Estate would pay the going rate for the difference.
The proposal would leave a strip of Skotdal land sandwiched between the new alley and the museum’s property. Right now that land is a parking strip. Skotdal said his company may want to keep it as parking or eventually build three-story townhomes there.
The Skotdals have taken steps in the past few years to ready the proposed new alley, including knocking down part of the old bus station to clear a path from the existing right-of-way to Pacific Avenue.
Both sides agree this has caused cars to treat the area as an alley, which often ends badly when cars go across the sidewalk and flop off the curb onto Pacific.
The children’s museum is weeks away from breaking ground on an expansion project on the other side of the block. Museum officials consider the current alley a safe way to deliver the many elementary-age school children that visit to the back of the museum. The way the alley is configured now, buses can exit the block onto Hoyt Avenue, a quiet street with a stop light.
Museum officials also worry about their ability to develop a lot they purchased in 2008 on the corner of Colby and Pacific avenues, next to the Skotdal land. An old building sits in that space. The land could be developed and the proceeds benefit the nonprofit museum, board president Jason Cummings said.
“If we are going to correct something for one developer, let’s make sure all development on the block can flourish,” said Cummings, Snohomish County’s deputy prosecuting attorney.
The children’s museum also is floating a compromise. If the city agrees to move the alley, the museum suggests the Skotdals also give up part of that strip of land next to the new alley so their building can have access to utilities and a place to put a dumpster.
Museum officials should have realized that the property had no alley access when they bought their site, Skotdal said. “The changes in the alley in no way, shape or form change the museum’s existing access,” he said.
Debra Smith: 425-339-3197 or dsmith@heraldnet.com.
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