An application to annex the land that is expected to become the future location of an emergency room facility into Mill Creek is still suspended.
But that hasn’t discouraged Mill Creek staff from addressing design guidelines for the new medical facility or discussing McCollum Park ownership while they wait for the proposed annexation to reignite.
The proposed Northwest annexation site is located west of McCollum Park, south of state Route 96 (128th Street Southeast), east of Interstate 5 and north of 137th Street Southeast.
The approximately 162-acre proposed annexation site is home to Snohomish County’s McCollum Park and the Puget Park Drive-In owned by Sterling Realty Organization.
SRO’s aspirations to be annexed into Mill Creek have been suspended at their request since July 28. The company asked to halt the annexation process while they collected more information for city officials relating to transportation issues and assessed valuations. Prior to suspending their annexation application, SRO was about to distribute a petition to property owners representing 10 percent of the assessed value of the proposed annexation area.
City officials met with County Executive Aaron Reardon during the fall of 2008 to discuss ownership of McCollum Park. Bill Trimm, Mill Creek community development director, said last week if the annexation is approved, the park would still belong to the county despite being annexed into Mill Creek.
SRO sold the property to Wisconsin-based Hammes Co., who has submitted a site plan to the county to construct a three-story medical building.
Swedish health Services plans to lease two of the three stories for a $30 million emergency room, as previously reported in the Herald.
Construction could begin this month or early March.
Mill Creek officials requested Hammes make revisions to the site plan to fit in with Mill Creek’s design guidelines, as the facility would be located within city limits if the annexation is approved.
Trimm said the city had concerns about the site plan and wants the building’s design to be consistent with the city’s design guidelines.
“Hammes was frankly wonderful about it, they agreed to our recommendations,” he said.
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