By Eric Stevick
Herald Writer
ARLINGTON — More than $300,000 will be set aside for a pedestrian overpass in the wake of a tentative settlement in an Arlington School District lawsuit against the city of Arlington.
"We are delighted," said Linda Byrnes, the school district superintendent.
"They are happy. We are happy. Everyone is happy," Arlington Mayor Bob Kraski said.
In January, the school district sued the city over $311,400 it paid in traffic impact fees to get a development permit to build a new high school. The money comes from a $54 million school construction bond measure that voters approved in 2000.
What the school district gets from the settlement is an assurance that the money will be set aside for a pedestrian overpass over Highway 9. There was no guarantee that would have happened without the settlement, and the money could have been spent elsewhere in the city, Byrnes said.
Students from the new high school, at 18821 Crown Ridge Blvd., and a new Pioneer Elementary School at 8213 Eaglefield Drive, would be able to use the overpass.
The overpass will likely cost more than $1 million, but the traffic impact money will help pay for it as the school district searches for grants, Byrnes said. There is no specific timetable for building the overpass. The district still must get permits and raise the rest of the money.
Arlington assesses a traffic impact fee of $1,038 for each new vehicle that a development adds to local roads. In court papers, the district had argued that the fees were too high because many of those trips already existed and would just be moved from the current high school to the new one about 1.7 miles to the south. City officials said they feared setting a precedent of allowing the transfer of trips that could be sought by developers pursuing other major projects.
While the issue of transferring trips was not resolved in the settlement, both sides say the fees the district paid will be put to the intended use: improving traffic safety.
The Arlington City Council approved the settlement Monday. The school board is expected to do the same next week.
You can call Herald Writer Eric Stevick at 425-339-3446 or send e-mail to stevick@heraldnet.com.
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