Woodway and community group sue over proposed Point Wells condo project

The Town of Woodway and a community group filed a lawsuit Monday against Snohomish County and a developer over a proposed high-rise condo project on Puget Sound.

The suit seeks to stop county planners from processing Blue Square Real Estate’s application to build the 3,081-unit project. Before any development goes forward, Woodway and Save Richmond Beach want the county to rewrite part of its zoning regulations.

“Our goal all along is to reduce the size of the project,” Woodway Town Administrator Eric Faison said. “Obviously, if we prevail in this project, it will have a significant result as to whether they’re able to proceed.”

The lawsuit filed in King County Superior Court names as defendants the county and BSRE Point Wells, a local company that’s part of Blue Square Real Estate, which belongs to an Israeli conglomerate.

The legal maneuver by Woodway and Save Richmond Beach comes just as the city of Shoreline, which, like Woodway, borders the disputed site, is trying to negotiate with the developer. The city has asked Blue Square for an agreement to help it with a future annexation of the property.

As of Monday, county attorneys had yet to be formally served with the complaint.

“When we’re served with it, we’ll sit down, review the complaint and determine what our next steps are,” Chief Civil Deputy Prosecutor Jason Cummings said.

Gary Huff, an attorney for Blue Square Real Estate, said he had not yet seen the complaint.

Point Wells is a century-old industrial site that hosts a marine-fuel depot and an asphalt plant. It’s surrounded on three sides by Woodway. Though it sits entirely within unincorporated Snohomish County, the only way car traffic can reach it is a two-lane road in Shoreline, which is in King County.

Leaders in both Shoreline and Woodway have expressed interest in one day annexing the property.

Chief among the neighbors’ concerns are traffic and how the development would change the character of the area of upscale single-family homes.

Monday’s lawsuit follows an April ruling by the state Growth Management Hearings Board. The board decided that the county failed to follow state growth laws and its own policies when it allowed a type of high-density zoning called an urban center at Point Wells.

By the time the board issued its decision, county planners had already accepted the developer’s initial application. The county and the developer have said the project is locked in under the old rules.

Among other points of contention, the board considered the transit access to Point Wells.

Unlike other urban centers, Point Wells has no highway or freeway running nearby. The county said its urban centers code allowed Point Wells to count the Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad tracks as a high-capacity transit route. There are no definite plans by Sound Transit to build a rail station there. BSRE representatives, however, have offered to build a station.

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

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Local News

Traffic idles while waiting for the lights to change along 33rd Avenue West on Tuesday, April 2, 2024 in Lynnwood, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Lynnwood seeks solutions to Costco traffic boondoggle

Let’s take a look at the troublesome intersection of 33rd Avenue W and 30th Place W, as Lynnwood weighs options for better traffic flow.

A memorial with small gifts surrounded a utility pole with a photograph of Ariel Garcia at the corner of Alpine Drive and Vesper Drive ion Wednesday, April 10, 2024 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Death of Everett boy, 4, spurs questions over lack of Amber Alert

Local police and court authorities were reluctant to address some key questions, when asked by a Daily Herald reporter this week.

The new Amazon fulfillment center under construction along 172nd Street NE in Arlington, just south of Arlington Municipal Airport. (Chuck Taylor / The Herald) 20210708
Frito-Lay leases massive building at Marysville business park

The company will move next door to Tesla and occupy a 300,0000-square-foot building at the Marysville business park.

The oldest known meteor shower, Lyrid, will be falling across the skies in mid- to late April 2024. (Photo courtesy of Pixabay)
Clouds to dampen Lyrid meteor shower views in Western Washington

Forecasters expect a storm will obstruct peak viewing Sunday. Locals’ best chance at viewing could be on the coast. Or east.

Everett police officers on the scene of a single-vehicle collision on Evergreen Way and Olivia Park Road Wednesday, July 5, 2023 in Everett, Washington. (Photo provided by Everett Police Department)
Everett man gets 3 years for driving high on fentanyl, killing passenger

In July, Hunter Gidney crashed into a traffic pole on Evergreen Way. A passenger, Drew Hallam, died at the scene.

FILE - Then-Rep. Dave Reichert, R-Wash., speaks on Nov. 6, 2018, at a Republican party election night gathering in Issaquah, Wash. Reichert filed campaign paperwork with the state Public Disclosure Commission on Friday, June 30, 2023, to run as a Republican candidate. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren, File)
6 storylines to watch with Washington GOP convention this weekend

Purist or pragmatist? That may be the biggest question as Republicans decide who to endorse in the upcoming elections.

Keyshawn Whitehorse moves with the bull Tijuana Two-Step to stay on during PBR Everett at Angel of the Winds Arena on Wednesday, April 17, 2024 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
PBR bull riders kick up dirt in Everett Stampede headliner

Angel of the Winds Arena played host to the first night of the PBR’s two-day competition in Everett, part of a new weeklong event.

Simreet Dhaliwal speaks after winning during the 2024 Snohomish County Emerging Leaders Awards Presentation on Wednesday, April 17, 2024, in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Simreet Dhaliwal wins The Herald’s 2024 Emerging Leaders Award

Dhaliwal, an economic development and tourism specialist, was one of 12 finalists for the award celebrating young leaders in Snohomish County.

In this Jan. 12, 2018 photo, Ben Garrison, of Puyallup, Wash., wears his Kel-Tec RDB gun, and several magazines of ammunition, during a gun rights rally at the Capitol in Olympia, Wash. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)
With gun reform law in limbo, Edmonds rep is ‘confident’ it will prevail

Despite a two-hour legal period last week, the high-capacity ammunition magazine ban remains in place.

Everett Fire Department and Everett Police on scene of a multiple vehicle collision with injuries in the 1400 block of 41st Street. (Photo provided by Everett Fire Department)
1 in critical condition after crash with box truck, semi in Everett

Police closed 41st Street between Rucker and Colby avenues on Wednesday afternoon, right before rush hour.

The Arlington Public Schools Administration Building is pictured on Tuesday, April 16, 2024, in Arlington, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
$2.5M deficit in Arlington schools could mean dozens of cut positions

The state funding model and inflation have led to Arlington’s money problems, school finance director Gina Zeutenhorst said Tuesday.

Lily Gladstone poses at the premiere of the Hulu miniseries "Under the Bridge" at the DGA Theatre, Monday, April 15, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)
Mountlake Terrace’s Lily Gladstone plays cop in Hulu’s ‘Under the Bridge’

The true-crime drama started streaming Wednesday. It’s Gladstone’s first part since her star turn in “Killers of the Flower Moon.”

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.