EVERETT — The King County city of Shoreline can’t take over sewer service in the unincorporated Point Wells area of Snohomish County, according to a regulatory decision reached last week.
Thursday’s 5-0 vote by Snohomish County’s Boundary Review Board dealt a setback to Shoreline’s hopes of one day annexing the prime waterfront real estate where a developer wants to build 3,100 high-rise condos.
Woodway, the town in Snohomish County right next door, also wants to annex Point Wells.
“We are pleased with the denial,” Woodway town administrator Eric Faison said. “We believe that Olympic View (Water and Sewer District) is the most logical service provider.”
Olympic View is a public water and sewer district that serves about 4,500 customers in the southwest corner of the county.
The review board, which has jurisdiction over annexations and incorporations, expects to release a written decision soon. Then Shoreline will get 30 days to file an appeal in Superior Court.
Blue Square Real Estate, part of the Israeli holding company Alon, wants to transform the industrial landscape at Point Wells into a high-rise waterfront community unlike anything else in the region, which is allowed to have condo towers of up to 17 stories.
The most controversial aspect of the proposal is that the only way to reach the development is by a two-lane road through Shoreline.
For that and other reasons, Shoreline contends that it’s best positioned to provide police, fire and utility services.
The much smaller and entirely residential Woodway community lacks a commercial area and sees Point Wells as its future downtown and a source of tax revenue.
Point Wells’ sewer provider is the Ronald Wastewater District, which serves 93 percent of Shoreline’s 53,000 population. The district’s service area in Snohomish County is a comparative sliver, with just the 61 acre Point Wells commercial property and four houses in Woodway.
King County’s Boundary Review Board voted 8-0 last month to approve Shoreline taking over the portion of the wastewater district south of the county line. A written decision is pending.
“Ninety-nine percent of the (Ronald Wastewater) District lies within King County and we’re moving forward with that,” Shoreline spokesman Eric Bratton said.
If successful, the assumption would take effect in October 2017, dissolving the Ronald Wastewater District into Shoreline.
Noah Haglund: 425-339-3465; nhaglund@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @NWhaglund.
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