Land glut may benefit river trail

EVERETT — The glutted market for industrial properties could help secure an important section of a public trail along the Snohomish River.

Port of Everett officials, whose efforts to find tenants for their Riverside Industrial Park have been unsuccessful, are hoping to change the park’s plans to eliminate properties along the shoreline that would be used only by water-dependent businesses.

"It helps the port market to a broader range of businesses," planner Graham Anderson said of the port’s request to the city to change its shoreline plan for the property.

Port officials had resisted moves for a public-access corridor along the river because it would have conflicted with the water-related segments of the business park.

But in its request for the change, it now supports a 50-foot-wide buffer zone along the shoreline that would give people access to the riverfront via a 10-foot-wide trail.

"We think this is positive, because it gives us more flexibility and the community gets another portion of the public-access shoreline," Anderson said.

The port has joined Everett Mayor Ray Stephanson in urging the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway to allow construction of a track overpass for the trail.

The trail would be an important segment of a pedestrian walkway and bike trail intended to connect the Centennial Trail in eastern and northern Snohomish County with the Burke-Gilman Trail in King County.

Port officials have spent about $11 million developing the business park, which was a former Weyerhaeuser Corp. mill site. But three years of marketing efforts by a professional company and the port itself have yet to pay off.

The slow economy and the release of huge amounts of Boeing Co. office and industrial in the area have glutted the market, port officials said.

The port had been talking with a company that auctions wrecked cars for insurance companies as a potential tenant to tide it over until the market heated up. But the proposal drew a lot of criticism from the neighborhood.

Port officials said the talks with the auction company have quieted down and are unlikely to heat up again.

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