Stanwood plans for future growth

Published 10:44 pm Sunday, December 21, 2008

STANWOOD — City officials are using this period of economic downturn to plan for the time when the economy bounces back.

A 13-member citizens advisory committee is working with city administration and a consulting firm to come up with an economic development strategy that could set the stage for ­family-wage jobs, more shopping opportunities and an expanded tax base.

With a population of about 5,000, Stanwood sits seven miles from I-5 and is traditionally the center of agriculture in northwest Snohomish County. This scenario may not be the easiest to sell to new or relocating companies, but the advisory committee hopes that it can help improve the city’s attractiveness, chairman John Russell said.

Russell, who owns the UPS Store in Stanwood, said he has long been a proponent of solid economic development that maintains the city’s quality of life.

“With the help of the private sector, the city and our community groups, we can work on our business climate,” Russell said.

His committee hopes to give city officials advice on marketing Stanwood, pinpointing the buildable land, investing in road work, changing zoning to encourage development, involving local farmers, revitalizing the downtown business area and making tourism an economic resource.

Last year, the City Council spent $98,000 to hire public policy consultants Berk and Associates of Seattle to direct the formation of the economic development strategy plan.

It’s worth the investment, the city’s community development director Rebecca Lind said.

“We are going to be ready when new business initiatives come our way,” Lind said.

The city’s preparation for an economic turnaround might include action as simple as, for example, changing the zoning regulations for bed and breakfast establishments in the downtown area, Lind said.

Currently, there are no bed and breakfast businesses in downtown Stanwood, but there are plenty of existing old houses that could be used for that purpose. The problem is that the city has a minimum lot size requirement in order to operate a bed and breakfast, but the lots downtown are small.

That doesn’t make much sense, Lind said, as most B&Bs are not huge commercial operations. With an Amtrak train stop scheduled to open next summer, local bed and breakfast arrangements could be a tourist attraction for Stanwood.

“We need to look at our zoning laws so we are not in the way of the marketplace,” Lind said.

Berk and Associates is working on a marketing strategy for the city that will include such things as improving the use of the city’s Web site, consultant Brian Murphy.

The Web is often the way people get their first impressions of a city, Murphy said.

“There is definite potential for tourism and for manufacturing,” Murphy said. “The citizen advisory committee is enthusiastic and creative, and they have a mission to make Stanwood an even greater place to live.”

Reporter Gale Fiege: 425-339-3427 or gfiege@heraldnet.com.