MARYSVILLE – This once-rural area with a colorful history is experiencing growing pains just two months after becoming part of a city.
The new homes coating the hillsides of Whiskey Ridge and East Sunnyside – where it’s said moonshine was distilled in the woods during Prohibition -need roads and businesses for the people living in them, Marysville officials say.
That’s why the city’s plan for the 1,500-acre area, recommended for approval last week by the planning commission, calls for adding two new roads along with commercial areas, apartments, condos, and denser single-family housing.
The plan is expected to go to the City Council on Feb. 26 for possible final action.
Some of the residents aren’t happy about the zoning, and especially about a planned east-west arterial connecting the west end of Highway 92 at Highway 9 with the east end of 40th Street NE.
The road should go due west to 83rd Avenue NE rather than taking a jog to the north to 40th, said Darlene Salo, whose family has owned property on 87th Avenue NE for 45 years.
“They want to put it in an area that would take up valuable property,” she said. “It’s a really expensive way to go. They had existing roads to use and they didn’t.”
Easements for the road would take parts of 12 pieces of property.
Residents don’t believe the city’s estimates that 83rd Avenue NE wouldn’t be able to handle the traffic.
“We’re not quite sure why it has to happen,” resident Ken White said.
City planning director Gloria Hirashima said it’s planning for growth.
“We’re trying to look ahead; as the area urbanizes, you’re going from a few houses to thousands of houses,” she said. The area currently has 2,616 people and is expected to grow to 12,000 eventually.
The city tried to run the route along property lines as much as possible to avoid homes or large chunks of parcels, Hirashima said.
The other road would connect the south end of 67th Avenue NE with the north end of 71st. The new roads, projected to cost $23 million combined, will be financed about equally by developers’ fees and government funds, she said.
There’s no timetable or even a name for the roads yet. They’ll be built segment by segment as development occurs.
Regarding zoning, most of the area is still designated for single-family development, with business and multifamily areas targeted for the north and south ends of Whiskey Ridge along Highway 9.
The single-family areas would have four to eight homes per acre, Hirashima said. Developers who want to build toward the high end of that scale would have to contribute with other neighborhood improvements such as parks and sidewalks.
While some residents believe that density is not in keeping with the rural character of much of the area, others are trying to sell parcels for development.
The city has heard from some that the planned density is too low.
“If the current Whiskey Ridge plan stands, we would not make enough developing our property to make it worth our effort,” resident Carol Geissler said in a letter to the city. “Therefore, we would stay right here and plant more trees to shield ourselves from our future new neighbors.”
White said he accepts the fact the area will develop.
“You just want it to be done as well as possible,” he said.
Reporter Bill Sheets: 425-339-3439 or sheets@heraldnet.com.
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