LAKE STEVENS – Fred Meyer wants to build a two-story superstore at Highway 9 and 20th Street SE, placing the retailer between Lake Stevens and Snohomish.
The store would be the seventh Snohomish County location for the Portland, Ore.-based chain.
Tom Gibbons, Fred Meyer’s director of real estate, told county officials the company wants to build near Lake Stevens because market studies show the area is underserved by retail stores.
“What we look at is how far people need to go to get what they want,” Fred Meyer spokeswoman Melinda Merrill said. “What this Fred Meyer would do is decrease the traffic going across the (Hewitt Avenue) trestle for those items.”
The store would encompass 180,000 square feet spread over two stories, a slightly unusual format for the chain’s stores. But that style is preferred in some communities, Merrill said.
There is no proposed construction or opening date for the store. Before it can proceed, Fred Meyer needs the county’s help.
The land the company wants to build on, which is within Lake Stevens’ urban growth area, is zoned for multifamily or single-family residential use. The land has a couple of older homes on it.
Fred Meyer has asked the county to consider rezoning the 26-acre site, owned by Warren and Betty Nordin, as part of the county’s 10-year comprehensive plan process.
The Snohomish County Council’s list of potential zoning changes faces analysis by county planning staff. The council will then review that analysis and decide which properties should be considered. A final decision is expected by the end of the year.
Gibbons has pointed out that Lake Stevens’ urban growth area plan calls for a commercial center to serve the Cavalero Corner area. He added that Fred Meyer would help to pay for area road improvements.
Population growth east of Everett has spurred other retail development recently along Highway 9. In Snohomish, Home Depot plans to build a store, while Wal-Mart has proposed a store at Highway 9 and 64th Street NE in Marysville.
Reporter Eric Fetters: 425-339-3453 or fetters@heraldnet.com.
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