In theory, fully contained communities are wonderful. They offer a broad mix of housing – including single-family homes and townhouses and well as more affordable condos and apartments – along with parks, retail and office developments. The idea is to create a stand-alone village where people can live, play, shop and work, minimizing the need for daily travel outside the community.
In practice, especially in rural Snohomish County, the idea is hard to picture. A mini-city of up to 15,000 people, started from scratch, isn’t likely to draw major employers who could offer enough good-paying jobs to keep residents from commuting to bigger employment centers in Everett, south Snohomish County or King County. It’s not hard to picture a few small eateries, video stores and dry cleaners, but those won’t provide much in the way of jobs.
The definition of “fully contained,” in this case, is a big stretch. “Fully constrained” is how it could leave roads in east county. If the County Council, as part of its 10-year update of the county’s comprehensive plan, approves such mini-cities, it will be creating a development tool that makes little sense today.
Anyone who drives in east county knows that during rush hour, roads and highways are already overcrowded. A few fixes are on the way, but they’ll only scratch the surface, and some are years away from completion. A new city at Lake Roesiger, where a developer is considering a fully contained community, will make matters exponentially worse.
It’s true that the plan being considered by the council would require the developer of such a community to provide infrastructure, including sewers, parks and roads. But a new mini-city east of Lake Stevens and north of Monroe would have big traffic impacts well beyond its borders as new commuters make their way west and south each day.
U.S. 2 and other east county roads are already overcrowded and underfunded. U.S. 2 won’t even get help from the 9.5-cent gas tax hike voters salvaged last month. Expansions of existing urban growth boundaries the council is leaning toward will only make matters worse. It shouldn’t pile even more cars onto the problem.
Deal with the rural congestion we already have, and that we already know is coming, before creating even more.
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