Edmonds seeks comment on rezone

There has been much conversation about an application delivered to the City Planning Department on July 17.

A law firm representing the Edmonds Shopping Center Associates applied for a contract rezone for the property known as the Safeway or Antique Mall property near the Port of Edmonds. They paid the $3,255 fee for application, and that started the clock ticking on our regulatory requirements regarding such applications.

The application is called Sunset Landing and is a mixed-use, transit-oriented development consisting of two phases, North and South, according to the documents. It includes parking, commercial spaces and open space. It also features a residential building 75 feet in height and another at 60 feet. The rezone request asks for a change to allow for buildings in excess of the height currently allowed.

The planning board will take public comment and then make their recommendation to the city council. The council will then have the task of adopting the board’s recommendation, remanding it back to the planning board for changes, or denying the request completely.

As a citizen or an interested party, you can comment on the application as often as you like until the planning board has finished with their public hearings. You can send letters, e-mails or comments to city planning staff at City Hall. Once the planning board is finished, no new information can be taken in to the record. By commenting on the application before that time, you become a “party of record” and have standing to speak when the city council holds its hearing on the matter. If you are not a “party of record” you may not speak in front of the council during their “closed record review” hearing.

The hearing before the city council is called a closed record review because as the council deliberates on the matter, they can only use the information that has been submitted and been included in the planning board record.

Gary Haakenson is mayor of Edmonds.