LYNNWOOD — A new convention center in Lynnwood came closer to reality this week when the City Council allowed some exceptions to the city’s normal parking regulations.
The council also cleared the way for a new subdivision to be built on land that was considered by some to be a home for pileated woodpeckers.
After a lengthy public hearing on the parking requirements for the new $31 million convention center, council members approved a planned-unit development that allows the center to play by some slightly different rules regarding parking lots and landscaping.
The convention center is expected to be an anchor for Lynnwood’s proposed City Center, which city officials hope will include some high-rise office and residential buildings, restaurants and shops.
In keeping with the anticipated look of the City Center, the convention center will have a public plaza at the corner of 196th Street SW and 37th Avenue W., rather than the required 15 feet of landscaping.
The center also will have fewer parking spaces than city codes require. Convention center officials said the center won’t need more than the roughly 500 spaces it will provide.
Meanwhile, the City Council on Monday rejected an environmental appeal regarding a proposed 20-home subdivision on 64th Avenue W. just north of 188th Street SW.
City planning staff and Lynnwood’s Environmental Review Committee had said the 6.23-acre development would have no significant environmental impact, but neighbors asked the City Council to overturn that decision during a public hearing two weeks ago.
Neighbors said the presence of pileated woodpeckers, which are candidates for threatened or endangered species status in Washington state, is enough for the city to deny development, or at least limit it to fewer homes.
An attorney for the property owner provided a host of environmental experts who said there was no evidence to prove that the woodpeckers used the site as a primary habitat, which is the threshold for determining whether an area is environmentally sensitive.
The city’s environmental review committee also had a consultant who said the woodpeckers don’t live on the land.
The City Council approved the preliminary plat, clearing the way for development.
The council was also scheduled to tackle the city’s property tax ordinance for 2004, but moved that item to its Dec. 1 meeting.
Reporter Victor Balta: 425-339-3455 or vbalta@heraldnet.com.
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