LYNNWOOD — After four years of planning, city officials are taking notable steps toward creating a new urban downtown known as city center.
The Lynnwood City Council is on track to approve the implementing ordinances and zoning map before July, but could take the vote as early as May, city officials said. The move would make it easier for developers to apply for applications and start building.
The Council approved funding for a street master plan and a parks master plan in recent weeks, both of which will give a better idea of where new roads and parks will be built.
To keep it all straight, the Council accepted a contract for a consultant to orchestrate a public outreach effort to tie together all of the moving parts — from public meetings to capital project announcements — in one public information campaign. The effort will likely start in June.
“We are starting. We are moving forward,” said David Kleitsch, the city’s economic development director.
City center is an effort to create a dense, urban downtown in the next 20 years. The area is about 300 acres, located roughly northwest of Interstate 5, east of 48th Avenue and south of 194th Street. If adopted as proposed, the new city center zoning would allow buildings as tall as 30 stories in certain places and could potentially create 6 million square feet of new development in the city center by 2020. A public hearing about the zoning map and related ordinances before the Council is set for 7 p.m. Monday, March 8. The Council could take action as early as that night or at the next business meeting, which is May 22.
The various city center studies and projects are being paid for $575,000 in “seed money” in the 2006 budget. The most recent contracts awarded include: The Berger Partnership PS of Seattle for the city center master parks plan ($93,000), David Evans &Associates for the city center streets master plan ($175,000) and Norton-Arnold &Company of Seattle for the public outreach campaign ($25,000).
Mayor Don Gough said everyone in town – including residents, business leaders, workers and property owners – will be encouraged to participate and share their ideas and concerns about city center.
“This is an all city effort,” Gough said.
A developer positioned to buy a 3.9-acre lot within the city center is waiting for the Council’s affirmative vote before closing the sale. The deal was supposed to be official last fall, but the buyer, Inland Construction of Spokane, and the seller, Edmonds School District, pushed the deadline to June 10 in the hope of council action before then.
Chuck Daiger, an Inland Construction representative, said the company still wants to build a hotel and condominiums on the site, which is directly south of the Lynnwood Convention Center.
“The goal is to work together to make it happen,” he said.
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