Residents offer ideas for land near Highway 9

Published 11:16 pm Sunday, April 6, 2008

LAKE STEVENS — If Lake Stevens or Snohomish were to grow into the area between the two cities, the people who live in at least part of that area would apparently rather it be Snohomish.

And they don’t want to see it develop — they want it to stay mostly rural.

Such are the two themes emerging from the city of Lake Stevens’ “visioning” process for the area west of Highway 9, east and north of U.S. 2 and south of 24th Street NE. The comments were gathered in three meetings in February and March.

Lake Stevens would like to add the unincorporated area within its boundaries. The city of Snohomish would like to add part of the same area to its control as well.

Lake Stevens will use the comments to form a plan for the area, should it become part of the city. That plan is expected to be done later this year and forwarded to Snohomish County, which will decide in 2009 whether the area should belong to Lake Stevens’ growth area or that of Snohomish. Actually adding the territory to either city would then be up to the city and residents themselves.

Lake Stevens is paying an urban design consulting firm, AHBL of Tacoma, $150,000 to study land use and transportation in the area, a little less than 2 square miles in size. The meetings, which involved staff presentations, group discussions and collection of written comments, were part of that study. About 50 to 80 people attended each meeting, city planner Becky Ableman said. Another meeting is tentatively scheduled for May.

Lake Stevens has yet to boil down the comments gathered so far, along with letters sent to the city, into a cohesive summary. Many of the comments contradict each other — for example, some say they’d like more parks, while others say the open space in the area is enough. Most want no development; some say it’s OK.

Still, the predominant themes can be summed up in the following anonymous comments:

“Lake Stevens, go away.”

“Remain rural.”

The area has a rural feel but is growing and will likely continue to do so, and planning can help guide that growth, Lake Stevens officials say.

“This is a rural-suburban transition area,” Ableman said. And, U.S. 2 forms a natural boundary, officials have said.

Many in the southern part of the study area disagree. The city has received several letters from this group, including Rob Hill, who with his family runs the Frontier Lumber business in the area.

“Please ask the question directly, ‘Is this a Lake Stevens or Snohomish neighborhood?’ The answer is ‘Snohomish’ — I know of no one who disputes this who lives, owns property or works locally,” Hill wrote.

Most of the comments gathered at the meetings were written anonymously on large pieces of paper set out for that purpose, so it’s hard to tell whether the sentiments toward Snohomish are spread evenly through the area.

Independent of the comments gathered at the meeting, others have written Lake Stevens and said they’d like to be part of that city, Ableman said.

The new Cavelero Mid High School, where the meetings have taken place, is just inside the study area at 8220 24th St. SE. It’s part of the Lake Stevens School District, while the southern part of the study area is served by the Snohomish School District.

About 40 acres, just outside the area along 20th Street SE and within Lake Stevens’ current growth area, is still a long-shot possibility for a University of Washington branch campus. That decision isn’t expected to be made until next year at the earliest.

Lake Stevens would like to see more high-paying jobs created in the area. Most of the jobs within the city are service jobs, and most of the people who live in Lake Stevens work elsewhere, city planner Becky Ableman said.

A Bellevue company doing business as SR 9/US 2 LLC hopes to develop part of the southern portion near Snohomish with homes and businesses. The company is a joint applicant with the city of Snohomish in asking the county to include the 350-acre area in the city’s growth area. The developer is paying for the study of that area.

One possible development scenario would involve clustered housing and business, possibly office park or light industrial, with a lot of open space in between, Ableman said.

Reporter Bill Sheets: 425-339-3439 or sheets@heraldnet.com.

What people had to say

Following are some of the comments received from those at recent community meetings regarding the future of an area southwest of Lake Stevens:

n Say no to developers.

n All areas of trees and brush need to be conserved.

n Trees; no noise; big private yards; no covenants.

n My yard is my open space.

n Allow rural areas to remain rural. Then you don’t need so many parks.

n Don’t make our area like Marysville. Send people away.

n We also need more ball fields.

n No sidewalks. No college. Go away! No changes!

n Mixed use with lots of open space.

n Better planned communities.