EVERETT – A proposal to allow 150-foot-tall buildings on a four-block area of Rucker Avenue has raised a bit of a ruckus.
After hearing from the public on the issue at a City Council meeting this morning, the council will vote on whether to nearly double the 80-foot height limit on Rucker between Everett and Pacific avenues.
The east side of the street would also be rezoned for downtown-style development rather than for the commercial and automotive-oriented purposes for which it is now zoned.
City planning director Allan Giffen and Mayor Ray Stephanson say the proposal to increase building heights is not tied to a specific project. However, Stephanson requested the change on behalf of developer Skotdal Real Estate.
The developer would like to construct two high-rises with retail and apartments or condominiums on the east side of Rucker. One would be built at the site of the Everett Elks Lodge, and the other on a former car rental lot.
“We don’t have a specific project, but we do have a specific goal of creating high-quality apartments or condominiums along Rucker Avenue to help revitalize the surrounding area,” said Craig Skotdal, president of the local development company.
Without the additional height, it would be difficult to build high-end condominiums or apartments, because the buyers or renters would want views, he said. Also, the higher the building, the easier time a developer would have making a profit by spreading out the costs.
Some opponents of the rezone, including a handful of landowners from the west side of Rucker, say the process is full of “smoke and mirrors” and heavily favors the prominent Everett developer.
While the city says the entire process was based on the rezone not being tied to any particular project, Bond Street resident Peter Newland said the proposed change is specifically for Skotdal.
“You can dress it any way you want, but it still is what it is, not what it’s disguised to be,” Newland said. “The process is fatally flawed, and no amount of tinkering can correct it.”
He and others are urging the council to delay the change until the city decides on a plan for the future of downtown, which city leaders plan to take up later this year.
Many neighbors support what they’ve heard of the Skotdal plans and favor redevelopment along Rucker. Still, after a meeting of west side landowners, the group’s consensus was that it’s unfair to allow taller buildings on one side of the street but not the other.
“I believe they should wait (for the downtown study) rather than rezoning a small area of Everett that is benefiting a single property owner,” Greg Goldfinch said. “This appears to be getting a little too political in its momentum.”
He and his brother, Geoff Goldfinch, own Goldfinch Bros., a glass business across the street from the proposed rezone.
“The west slope waterfront is truly a huge asset for the Everett community. We need to take a look at that before it is pieced out and becomes a problem,” Geoff Goldfinch said.
The mayor and Giffen maintain that the review process was appropriate. They say the rezone is in line with the city’s comprehensive plan, which calls for the city to grow by 27,000 residents in 20 years. They say new apartments and condos downtown will help accommodate that growth.
“There’s nothing that’s being done here that is inconsistent with long-established city policy,” Giffen said.
He said the planning department will soon ask the City Council to pay about $100,000 for a consultant to develop a downtown plan.
Stephanson said he’d be glad to entertain rezone requests from property owners on Rucker’s east side.
“The real issue here for me is that we know we’ve got a downtown comprehensive plan that we’ll be completing within the year, but we can’t stop progress while we wait for plans to develop,” Stephanson said.
Reporter Jennifer Warnick: 425-339-3429 or jwarnick@heraldnet.com.
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