Demo forest development plan submitted to the city
Published 12:24 pm Thursday, December 11, 2008
By Brian Beckley
The Courier-Herald
It's official.
Weyerhaeuser's application for a comprehensive plan amendment to change the zoning and begin development of the Washington State University Demonstration Forest was submitted April 27, marking the beginning of the end for one of the largest undeveloped tracts of land in Bonney Lake.
The land is currently zoned "public facilities" and a change must be made to the city's comprehensive plan future land use map. The deadline for submitting an amendment was Monday and while it's not the only amendment under review, the WSU property has attracted a large amount of public attention.
The company's plan calls for the creation of active and passive recreation areas, a new collector road between South Prairie Road and state Route 410 and an "Urban Village" concept for commercial development of the area along 410.
The plan, submitted by Quadrant, the real estate arm of Weyerhaeuser, seeks to break the 147-acre forest into 30 acres of parks, 30 acres of commercial development and 87 acres of single-family residential housing.
The Quadrant plan also calls for a 40-foot buffer along South Prairie Road and a 100-foot buffer at the back of the current commercial development to the east of the forest.
There is also a trail linking the eight acres of open space - including land designated for play fields - on one side of the project with 22 acres of open space along 214th Avenue.
Mayor Bob Young said at first glance the proposal was "very reasonable."
"I think it looks pretty fair," he said. "It's about what I expected."
Members of the city council, however, were less than excited about the company's development plans.
Councilwoman Cheryle Noble, an opponent of the project since it was first made public in November, said she was disappointed in the amount of land designated for parks and open space carved out of the 147-acre site.
"It's nothing what they promised," echoed Councilman Mark Hamilton, adding that the drawings he has seen show no plans for ballfields and more commercial space.
"Compared to what they showed me (in February), it's completely opposite," agreed Councilman Neil Johnson.
Wally Costello, senior vice president for Quadrant, said the company made an effort to save existing stands of trees while planning the development.
"We know there's sensitivity to preservation of some trees," he said.
Costello said the park land, designed to include space for ball fields and/or soccer fields as well as a one mile trail running through the buffers and the forested area, would be deeded to the city.
"What this proposal does is put the city in ownership of 30 acres," he said.
A new public road is designated as passing through the park land and commercial area, adding another link between South Prairie Road and SR410, including a proposed new traffic light on the 410 side.
The state controls 410, but Costello said the benefit of a new road, as opposed to a strip mall entrance, would warrant an additional curb cut and light.
"What we're proposing is an actual link between two roads so there is community-wide benefit," Costello said.
The addition of a new road would allow Quadrant to create an "urban village type feel" with the commercial space, setting the buildings off of the new road instead of in a strip along 410.
"It's a completely different orientation to the retail you see on 410 today," Costello said. "We think when this occurs it starts to set a different tone for retail."
Costello said he envisioned an area like the shopping center at Lakeland Hills. In fact, pictures of Lakeland Hills are including in the company's application.
Costello said design guidelines would have to be passed at the same time as the amendment to ensure the development of the urban village concept, including use of Northwest architecture, attractive pedestrian connections and placement of buildings to back up to other buildings, not public space, to prevent what Costello called a strip mall with a "sea of parking out in front."
"The design guidelines will pretty much dictate how this would work," he said.
Costello estimated there would be 350,000 square feet of retail space in the 30 commercially-zoned acres.
Young said he liked the idea of the urban village area.
"I think it's good to think out of the box and do something different," he said.
"Anything that's not your typical strip mall anywhere in Bonney Lake would be a compliment to the community," Noble agreed.
Quadrant's vision for the 87-acre residential section includes three roads in and out of the development, two of which would be placed at the existing intersections of South Prairie and 210th Avenue East and at 105th Street East and 214th Avenue East.
Quadrant is also proposing that homes along the two main South Prairie access points would be "alley-loaded," meaning garages and driveways would be behind the houses and not along the street.
Two smaller proposed parks in the residential area would be private, owned presumably by the area's homeowner association.
Quadrant is also proposing a residential density of five to nine dwelling units per net acre, for a total of approximately 470 single-family homes, more than the city's residential zoning allows.
To allow that number of houses, changes would have to be made to city codes, as Planned Unit Developments are no longer allowed in the city. In its application, Quadrant suggests either amending current zones or creating new zones for the project.
Hamilton said he was not in favor of the increased density.
"They have a lot more homes in there than I am going to allow," he said.
While some councilmembers expressed concern about the density of the area, Young said he has no problem with increased density in the area, especially after the city received an unfavorable review from the Growth Management Hearings Board recently.
"To get the cost down you have to have higher density," he said, adding "the days of the one-acre lot are over."
Though exact parcel sizes are not laid out in the proposal, Costello said the company views the parcel as a single project, linked by trails from one end to the other, and said he recognizes the sensitivity of the project, which he said will be open to public discussion.
"Hopefully people can see the merits of each component," he said. "If there's a push and pull in the process, we're open to that."
"You're trying to balance competing objectives," Weyerhaeuser Timber Exchange and Valuation Manager Steven Ketz said of the commercial and environmental interests. "It blends the elements together to try and get a result that's good for everybody's needs."
"We believe we're coming to the table with a solution we believe might help the general area," Costello added.
"This is going to need a great deal of public participation," Noble said of the proposal. "I know it's private (property) but the impact is so large you're going to have as much public input as possible."
Young agreed that the next step would have to be public input on the project, but cautioned that the land is not publicly owned, despite popular perception and the "public facilities" zoning and said he thought people would be understanding of that.
"I can understand people wanting to leave the trees, but it's not ours," he said of the land.
The next step for the proposal is a determination by the planning department if it is complete and then it moves to the planning commission for a public hearing process. Following that, the commission will make a recommendation to the city council, which will make a final decision on the zoning.
Deputy Mayor Dan Swatman said the main decision would be up to the people of Bonney Lake.
"It's the people that's going to have to say if this is what they want in Bonney Lake," Swatman said. "It's going to have to provide more value to the citizens than what it is now."
"If the city's not going to be better off after this is done, why let them do it?" agreed Councilman Jim Rackley.
The forest was originally deeded to WSU in 1941 under the condition that it be used for experimental and demonstration purposes. The deed also specifies that if the land is used for any other purpose, it reverts to Weyerhaeuser.
The site serves more than 7,000 adults and students each year.
WSU last fall returned the property to Weyerhaeuser. In return, the college will receive land in Black Diamond to build a new ropes course and half of the profits form the sale of the land.
Brian Beckley can be reached at bbeckley@cmg-northwest2.go-vip.net/courierherald.
