Point Wells developer plans to comply with roads requirement
Published 11:17 am Friday, October 10, 2014
An attorney for the developer of the proposed condominium development at Point Wells in southwest Snohomish County says that the developer has no plans to seek to be excused from the requirements for a second road to and from the development.
Seattle land-use attorney Gary Huff said Tuesday that developer BSRE Point Wells continues to look for a way to build a second road not only because the county planning code and fire code require it but because having convenient and safe ways into and out of the development is good for business. He said that the developer has no plans to request what is called a “deviation” from that requirement.
The proposed development is on an industrial site at Point Wells in unincorporated southwest Snohomish County. The site currently is used for oil shipments and asphalt manufacturing.
He said that BRSE Point Wells long has known about the requirement and is looking for a way to comply. He said that the developer is looking at all options for a second road. He called the long-vacated road over a hill into Woodway one of many options. He added that BSRE doesn’t own the road right of way, as opponents said recently. He said that a separate company, Point Wells LLC, owns the land that is the former location of the old Heberlein Road. Point Wells LLC bought the vacant road site from the company that once shipped oil to the site along with the Point Wells site but sold only the Point Wells site to BSRE.
The planning code requires at least two routes into and out of any development expected to produce 250 average daily automobile trips or more. The fire code requires two roads to and from any development of 250 housing units or more.
The BSRE proposal calls for about 3,100 housing units and 150,000 square feet of commercial and retail space. Traffic impact studies project about 10,000 average daily trips. Currently, the only access to the site is by a two-lane road through the Richmond Beach area of Shoreline.
Evan Smith can be reached at schsmith@frontier.com.
