Terrace neighbors concerned about planned subdivision

Published 2:25 pm Thursday, July 3, 2008

MOUNTLAKE TERRACE

In the 46 years Richard Wiggin’s lived along 228th Street Southwest, he’s seen the traffic volume increase dramatically.

For years, he and his neighbors have put up with accidents and several near misses as drivers increasingly use the street as a cut-through route to avoid nearby 220th Street Southwest.

Now, Wiggin and some neighbors are concerned about a proposed housing development that’s planned just south of 228th Street. The Planning Commission has already recommended the project’s approval.

“My biggest concern is we have quite a bit of traffic on the street and they’re preparing a driveway and cul-de-sac,” he said.

Developer Petr Stukov wants to divide two parcels into seven single family lots in a wooded area less than half a block from Wiggin and his wife. The new development, called West Side Ridge, would be a Planned Unit Development, a special form of land-use that grants a developer more flexibility but also requires stricter development standards than is usually the case, said Edith Dutlinger, Mountlake Terrace senior planner.

Planned Unit Developments work best “when you’re trying to protect something that might otherwise become a casualty of the way residential lots typically use the property,” Dutlinger said.

In this case, the city wants to protect a sensitive area on about a third of the site–to the west. As part of the PUD, the developer agrees to preserve a portion of the site as protected open space.

The 1.67-acre site, at 6712 228th St. S.W. lies partly on what’s considered an environmentally sensitive area, with a steep slope to the west. That doesn’t mean developers can’t build on it, Dutlinger said. It just means that careful planning is called for.

A private road would connect 228th Street Southwest to the cul-de-sac and the two to three-story houses would be located on the eastern edge of the site, according to planning documents.

Additionally, as part of the PUD process, the builder would add a foot of sidewalk to part of the south side of 228th Street and provide parking on site. An existing house on the site would remain in place.

West Side Ridge wouldn’t be the first PUD in the city, which has approved several of them. Two examples include Sunset Landing, off of 224th Street Southwest, just blocks from the proposed site and Montesa, which is off of 226th Street Southwest near the Edmonds border.

In both of those cases, Dutlinger said, developers agreed to preserve natural areas. The open space at West Side Ridge won’t be available to the public.

Wiggin said he and his neighbors are concerned that the new development will only invite more traffic and he’s concerned about the potential for erosion along the slope.

“Over the years, several cars have gone over the bluff,” he said. “We’ve had a couple of major accidents.”