SHORELINE — A portion of the Red Brick Road will be going on vacation — forever. The bricks, however, will be staying in town.
The City Council approved vacating a 21,150 square foot section of the roadway north of 175th Street, also known as Ronald Place North. The Council members added an amendment allowing for a broader use of the bricks in future city projects throughout the city, rather than limiting use to the vicinity of 175 to 180th streets.
The planning commission at the Sept. 16 meeting approved the vacation, and the recommendation was then forwarded to the Council.
The purpose of vacating the southernmost portion of roadway, according to the project description, is to widen the redevelopment potential of the area, to include parking, with the Interurban Trail running along Midvale Avenue N.
The criteria for approving a street vacation is that it must benefit the public interest, not hinder traffic circulation, not be a necessary piece of any pedestrian/vehicle plan and be consistent with the city’s comprehensive plan.
City engineer Paul Cohen said the Planning Commission recommended the Council approve the vacation with conditions amended by staff. The vacation will benefit the public interest and foster economic development, he said.
“The key thing is it will provide a better redevelopment opportunity,” Cohen said. “This will improve circulation around the site.”
Council member Bob Ransom said he intended to approve the vacation, as property owners indicated they would like the property behind their businesses vacated. However, his concern was that the vacation does not meet the Subarea Plan.
Mayor Ron Hansen said the vacation is not included in the Subarea Plan, but the Comprehensive Plan.
Council member Paul Grace expressed concern regarding the bricks and the specification that they be used in the vicinity of 175 and 180th streets. He pointed out it would be more realistic to allow the future use of the bricks to be more broad, so they can potentially be used in a variety of projects at a number of locations throughout the city.
“It might be appropriate that they show up in a lot of projects,” Grace said.
Council member Maggie Fimia said the goal is to have bricks used near the area where they will be removed from, with the possibility of their being used to create a plaza.
This area, also known as the “north wedge,” is planned for redevelopment by Mordevco developer Tim Morris, who intends to reshape the wedge to a rectangle. Four adjacent property owners north of 175th Street and Aurora Avenue have agreed to sell their property to Morris and will eventually be relocating.
With the exception of Key Bank, located at 175th Street and Aurora Avenue, the four properties include Dance Workshop, Second Hand Store, Gold &Diamond and Seattle’s Finest Exotic Meats, which is two parcels.
The conditions of the vacation include that all business shall have existing vehicular access or alternative access any redevelopment must coordinate with the city and Shoreline Historic Museum to salvage the bricks, the construction of the Interurban Trail must be completed from N. 175th Street approximately 421 feet north, utility relocations will be done at the cost to the developer, the owners shall compensate the city for the value of the right-of-way by granting a 10-year option to purchase the eastern 31 feet and six inches abutting Aurora Avenue N, and 10-feet east of right-of-way will not be vacated but retained by the city in order to come to an agreement with Seattle City Light regarding the property.
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