The city of Mill Creek will hire a company to determine how much it would cost to demolish the Larry’s Smokehouse building on Bothell-Everett Highway, the first step toward creating a new habitat restoration area along the city’s namesake stream.
The city council on Tuesday, led by Mayor Donna Michelson and Councilman Terry Ryan, directed staff to hire a firm to determine what kind of materials are inside the vacant, derelict building, such as whether or not asbestos is present. The study would help the city determine how much it would cost to demolish the building.
The owners of the Larry’s Smokehouse building, who were not at Tuesday’s meeting, want to donate the property to the Adopt-A-Stream Foundation as a habitat restoration area, and the foundation would like to team with the city to tear down the two-story structure, which abuts a steep slope. This, combined with stream and wetland issues as well as its zoning as a medium density residential, has “very limited development potential,” according to a city memo.
Funding to demolish the building as not yet been determined. It can either be paid for by the city or grant funds can be sought, according to Tom Murdoch of Adopt-A-Stream. Grant money could possibly come from King County since the stream known as Mill Creek drains into North Creek, which in turn drains into the Sammamish River in north King County.
The building, located on the east side of Bothell-Everett Highway north of Merrill Gardens, is currently shuttered and covered with graffiti.
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