Recent discussions about Stanwood’s location of a potential new library, as well as related siting questions concerning a new City Hall complex, have larger implications than the mere question of the expediency of moving out the city’s floodplain. (“Thursday article, “Stanwood city leaders debate site of future library.”)
All communities need a strong, vibrant “core” or central area. The study a few years ago of Stanwood’s central business area by the American Institute of Architects stressed the importance of planning actions to build on the existing strengths of this area.
Any major public investment has, beyond the benefits of the immediate facility, the potential to spur further private development in the adjacent areas. To move important public facilities out of the core area will encourage a lack of focus and eventual deterioration of the historic center of the community. As indicated by recent new private development, the fact that this area is in the 100-year flood plain does not preclude meaningful development — it simply means some marginal additional costs to raise the new structures above the potential flood level.
As the steward of the city’s future, Stanwood’s City Council has the responsibility to take the “long view” of its decisions and not be unduly constrained by immediate budgetary considerations. To weaken the core area by relocating these major public facilities to other locations, while perhaps expedient and “price wise,” would in all probability be “pound foolish” and a mistake.
Robert Grossman, architect
Camano Island
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