EVERETT – Some people who live near the old Asarco smelter site are opposing efforts to change the zoning there to allow higher-density housing.
The Everett Housing Authority in June agreed to pay Phoenix-based Asarco Inc. $3.42 million for land on which it hopes a private developer will build up to 85 homes. The site is now zoned for single-family housing and duplexes. The agency wants the zoning changed to allow townhouses, which are defined as more than two housing units attached at the sides.
An Asarco contractor is now cleaning up arsenic-tainted soil and preparing the site for residential development.
City planning officials Thursday urged Everett hearing examiner James Driscoll to approve the change. Driscoll is scheduled to issue an opinion before Aug. 5. The City Council has the ultimate say.
The housing authority’s plan would replace barbed-wire fences and “Do not enter” signs with new homes and a neighborhood, said the city’s manager of land-use planning, Bob Landles.
Neighborhood resident Joyce Vander Vate spoke against the project. “The proposed dwellings are too close together,” she said. “If you’re thinking of families, there’s no place for children to play.”
George Deane wants only single-family homes in the area. He believes the increased density would add too much traffic to his street. He also worries that people would buy duplexes and townhouses and rent them out. Homeowners lead to a more stable neighborhood than renters, he said.
Deane was one of 14 people who voted against the plan at a meeting Tuesday of the Delta Neighborhood Association.
Tim Dean, the group’s president, cast the one vote in favor of the proposal. “This will clean up an eyesore and bring nice homes into the area,” he said.
Dean fears that, without the zoning change, the housing authority might not be able to afford to buy the land.
The agency would have to sell the land for at least $4.7 million to avoid losing money on its deal with Asarco. It can’t do so if it requires developers to build only single-family homes, said Darcy Walker, the housing authority’s project manager for the site.
The city wants higher density housing in the area to help accommodate 27,000 new residents expected over the next 21 years, senior city planner Don Wood said.
The zoning change would lead to only a small increase in maximum density. Currently, 10 units per acre are allowed. Under the change, 12 units per acre would be permitted.
Reporter David Olson: 425-339-3452 or dolson@heraldnet.com.
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