Status of Point Wells still in limbo

WOODWAY — When locals first petitioned to incorporate a town here back in 1958, they included an oil-company’s property on Puget Sound within the boundaries.

Then-owner Standard Oil* objected. To Woodway’s dismay, the upscale residential community formed without the beachfront industrial property known as Point Wells.

It turned out to be a significant omission.

“Point Wells was viewed as being part of Woodway, even back then,” town administrator Eric Faison said. “Literally, they hand-drew these boundaries.”

Fast-forward 55 years, and a deep-pocketed developer is advancing plans to turn the old fuel facility into Snohomish County’s largest condo development, with some 3,000 luxury units, retail businesses and a public pier.

The coming transformation has set up a tug-of-war between local governments looking to annex the prime real estate.

Woodway is still eyeing the land as a future downtown. But Shoreline, south of the Snohomish County line, wants it, too. The King County city’s case rests largely on the fact that it will bear the brunt of the traffic, all of which is funneled down a two-land road through Shoreline.

Annexation is “really the only long-term funding source to take care of the impacts,” said Scott MacColl, Shoreline’s intergovernmental relations manager.

A flurry of changes to state annexation law while the Legislature was in session, after much back and forth, left the situation at Point Wells status quo — in limbo.

For now, the 61-acre parcel is likely to remain part of unincorporated Snohomish County. Until people start moving there, and would be able to petition for annexation, that leaves landowner Blue Square Real Estate at the controls.

“We won’t have residents for at least five years. It leaves us time to determine what will be the best option down the road,” said Gary Huff, a Seattle-based attorney representing Blue Square. “Future residents will have a say in whether the cities should be able to annex.”

Blue Square, operating locally as BSRE Point Wells, is part of Alon Group, a petroleum and real estate company with holdings in Israel, Europe and the United States.

The scale of the development is the subject of an ongoing lawsuit brought by Woodway and Save Richmond Beach, a nonprofit named for the neighborhood in the city of Shoreline, south of Point Wells. They sued Blue Square and the county in 2011, arguing that the project should adhere to stricter development rules that a state growth board had ordered the county to adopt. The county and the developer have said the project was submitted under the old development rules.

The state Supreme Court agreed to hear the case this fall. A decision is likely next year.

Blue Square and the county, meanwhile, are working through permits under denser zoning rules. Under those plans, the tallest of several high-rise buildings at Point Wells could reach 180 feet. The surrounding neighborhood is almost entirely single-family homes.

In a twist, many Shoreline residents say Woodway, and not the city they live in, is a better fit to absorb Point Wells.

Jerry Patterson, who lives along the road to Point Wells, said he would have preferred to support his city over a neighboring town in a different county.

“However, the track record has been that the city of Shoreline has used very little leverage to attempt to control the density or the scale of the project,” said Patterson, who was speaking on his own, not for the neighborhood board on which he serves. “Many of the residents have come to terms with the reality that the development will occur. So, therefore, the central concern to the residents is how large is it going to be, because of the cumulative impact on the quality of life of our neighborhood.”

Shoreline has sought to limit the project through the traffic impacts, rather than zoning, and is preparing to work with the developer on a traffic corridor study.

“Snohomish County is moving forward with the process and we can’t change the size of the permit. Woodway can’t either,” MacColl said. “What we’re trying to do is to mitigate the traffic impacts as they come into Shoreline, because that’s the biggest impact to our community.”

Blue Square plans to move ahead with an environmental review for Point Wells. It’s likely a year-long process that would begin with county notices inviting the public to comment on the scope of issues that should be reviewed.

Noah Haglund: 425-339-3465; nhaglund@heraldnet.com.

* Correction, July 16, 2013: This article originally incorrectly identified the former owner of the property.

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Local News

Alan Edward Dean, convicted of the 1993 murder of Melissa Lee, professes his innocence in the courtroom during his sentencing Wednesday, April 24, 2024, at Snohomish County Superior Court in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Bothell man gets 26 years in cold case murder of Melissa Lee, 15

“I’m innocent, not guilty. … They planted that DNA. I’ve been framed,” said Alan Edward Dean, as he was sentenced for the 1993 murder.

Bothell
Man gets 75 years for terrorizing exes in Bothell, Mukilteo

In 2021, Joseph Sims broke into his ex-girlfriend’s home in Bothell and assaulted her. He went on a crime spree from there.

A Tesla electric vehicle is seen at a Tesla electric vehicle charging station at Willow Festival shopping plaza parking lot in Northbrook, Ill., Saturday, Dec. 3, 2022. A Tesla driver who had set his car on Autopilot was “distracted” by his phone before reportedly hitting and killing a motorcyclist Friday on Highway 522, according to a new police report. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
Tesla driver on Autopilot caused fatal Highway 522 crash, police say

The driver was reportedly on his phone with his Tesla on Autopilot on Friday when he crashed into Jeffrey Nissen, killing him.

Merle Meyers, who worked at Boeing for nearly 30 years, in Everett, Wash., April 2, 2024. Meyers said the company's culture changed over the years to emphasize speed over quality. (Grant Hindsley/The New York Times)
Ex-Everett Boeing manager says workers mishandled parts to meet deadlines

Merle Meyers, who worked at Boeing for 30 years, said he was going public with his experience because he loved the company “fiercely.”

Two people in white protective suits move a large package out of Clare’s Place and into a storage container in the parking lot on Monday, Dec. 4, 2023 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Snohomish County to test for meth contamination in supportive housing

A new rule requires annual testing at Snohomish County-owned housing, after a 3-2 vote by the county council Wednesday.

Boeing firefighters union members and supporters hold an informational picket at Airport Road and Kasch Park Road on Monday, April 29, 2024 in Everett, Washington. (Annie Barker / The Herald)
Boeing: Firefighters face lockout if no deal by Saturday

A labor dispute has heated up: Boeing filed an unfair labor practice complaint against the firefighters union and threatened a lockout.

Mountain goats graze in the alpine of the Buckhorn Wilderness in the Olympic Mountains in July 2017. (Caleb Hutton / The Herald)
Almost all mountain goats died after airlift from Olympics to Cascades

Federal authorities moved hundreds of goats to the North Cascades. Tracking showed most died within five years. Now, tribes are trying to save the population.

Shannon & Wilson used a hand auger to sample for PFAS from a Big Gulch Creek drainage basin last year. The sampling found elevated levels of the forever chemicals in soil and surface water at the south end of the county’s Paine Field property. (Shannon & Wilson)
‘Not a finish line’: For water providers, new PFAS rule is first step

Eight county water systems have some PFAS, though the state deems them safe. Many smaller systems still lack protection.

The former Marysville City Hall building along State Avenue on Tuesday, April 30, 2024 in Marysville, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Marysville schools, city could swap old City Hall for district HQ

The school district’s $2 million in cash considerations from the deal could go to urgent building upgrades amid a budget crisis.

FILE - In this file photo taken April 11, 2017, a security officer stands on steps at the entrance to Western State Hospital, in Lakewood, Wash. When the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services conducted a surprise inspection at Western State Hospital in May 2018, they found so many glaring health and safety violations that they stripped the facility of its certification and cut its federal funding. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson, File)
Suspect in Marysville teen’s killing still not competent to stand trial

In 2002, Todd Brodahl was accused of beating Brady Sheary to death. After a brief release from Western State Hospital, he was readmitted this year.

This photo shows a sign at the headquarters for Washington state's Employment Security Department Tuesday, May 26, 2020, at the Capitol in Olympia, Wash. Washington state's rush to get unemployment benefits to residents who lost jobs due to the coronavirus outbreak left it vulnerable to criminals who made off with hundreds of millions of dollars in fraudulent claims. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)
Snohomish County tied for lowest unemployment rate in Washington

The state’s unemployment rate ticked up in March. King and Snohomish counties each recorded the lowest rates at 4.1%.

Patrick Lester Clay (Photo provided by the Department of Corrections)
Monroe prison escapee apprehended in Seattle

Patrick Lester Clay was taken into custody in Seattle’s Beacon Hill neighborhood Monday. Clay escaped three days earlier.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.