Everett streetcar is crucial, some businesses say

Published 11:25 pm Sunday, May 4, 2008

If Everett decides to build a streetcar line it will first have to solve a classic chicken-or-egg conundrum.

Some people want the city now to figure out how to pay for a system expected to cost more than $100 million to build and millions more annually to operate.

Others, including Everett Mayor Ray Stephanson, say the city should wait. The mayor last month threatened to veto any attempt by the council to spend more money on streetcars.

His stance angered some downtown property owners who were buoyed by a report released this winter that said a streetcar line linking Everett Riverfront, downtown and the waterfront is achievable.

“I think there’s a disconnect between the mayor’s decision to tube this plan and the business community that understands the benefits of a fixed rail system,” said Tom Hoban of Coast Real Estate, who owns and manages properties downtown.

Hoban and other streetcar boosters point to Portland, Ore., and other cities with new streetcar lines that have leveraged private investment and spurred redevelopment along the route.

He said he is disappointed the city isn’t garnering public support for streetcars, which he acknowledges will be tough to sell because of the steep cost.

Still, he said the city should champion the cause, as it did with the Navy homeport, Comcast Arena at Everett Events Center and the recent effort to land a University of Washington branch campus near downtown.

Without a streetcar line connecting downtown with tony new districts planned for the Snohomish River and Port Gardner Bay, Hoban fears some of downtown’s recent revitalization will be lost as businesses and customers gravitate to the new mixed-use developments.

Downtown restaurateur Jim Staniford recently read a six-page letter to the City Council pleading with council members not to abandon streetcars.

Staniford owns Vintage Cafe at 1508 Hewitt Ave. and two century-old brick commercial buildings along the route.

He fears the Everett Riverfront and Port Gardner Wharf projects could cannibalize downtown, just as Everett Mall did after it opened in the late 1970s.

Many blame the mall’s success for siphoning business from downtown, leaving empty storefronts. Some say downtown Everett has never fully recovered.

Streetcars are one way to focus new development downtown to offset competition sprouting up on the city’s shoulders, Staniford said.

A streetcar line linking the river, the harbor and downtown is a central goal set by Everett’s Vision 2025 team, a 32-member committee appointed by Stephanson in 2004 to map out the city’s future.

Stephanson said the streetcar project isn’t dead.

For now, though, he doesn’t support hiring anyone outside city government to study the issue. Everett Transit still is gathering information on streetcars elsewhere, he said.

Stephanson said he strongly opposes raising sales taxes to pay for a streetcar line. No one has recommended raising sales taxes for a streetcar line.

Joel Starr, co-owner of Tailgater Joe’s sports bar and restaurant on Hewitt Avenue near the events center wants streetcars to stay on the city’s front burner.

Starr has been active with downtown revitalization efforts since becoming a downtown business owner more than a decade ago.

He saw the excitement generated when the events center opened four years ago, but he said the momentum is starting to slow. While some businesses are thriving, others on Hewitt and Colby avenues downtown have closed in recent months, leaving empty storefronts.

“I am for everything that makes it easier for people to come in and out of downtown to experience downtown and to market downtown,” Starr said.

Stephanson’s concerns about cost aside, “The city needs the input of its citizens to make sure things move along and that ideas aren’t being made behind closed doors and ivory towers,” Starr added.

The city’s report on streetcars pegs the 4.3-mile route from the Snohomish River to the marina at an estimated $127 million.

An alternative route to Providence Everett Medical Center and Everett Community College, would cost about $115 million, according to the study.

Craig Skotdal, president of Everett’s Skotdal Real Estate, said he doesn’t think the city has enough density yet to support a streetcar line.

His company is the largest private downtown landowner and is currently working on a 200-unit multifamily building next to Everett Public Library.

Skotdal said the city would be wiser to spend money on streetscape improvements on Hoyt and Rucker avenues and a new plaza planned next to Everett Performing Arts Center.

Future streetcar studies will be more meaningful after more progress has been made on the waterfront, riverfront and downtown areas, he said.

“We’ll have a better understanding of the available tax base, a better appreciation for potential ridership, and a clearer picture of which routes make the most sense,” he said.

Reporter David Chircop: 425-339-3929 or dchircop@heraldnet.com.