About a half-dozen Auburn residents showed up at a public hearing March 3 before the Kent hearing examiner to oppose a revised application by a Kirkland developer for a proposed East Hill commercial development on the southern edge of Kent.
The application filed by developer Kent 25 LLC, part of the YarrowBay Group of Kirkland, proposes 75,302 square-feet of retail and office space as well as a 76,128-square foot, two-story senior care, assisted-living facility. The development would be built on 13.3 acres near the northwest corner of Southeast 304th Street and 124th Avenue Southeast.
“We do not want any commercial development on that property,” said Mike Prattum, of Auburn, at the public hearing March 3 at City Hall. “This will not benefit our community. We already have commercial land use on 312th and about 2 miles away in Kent on 132nd Avenue and Kent Kangley. One needs only to drive out to those areas to see how much vacant space there is. They’re going to change the landscape and then not have tenants in there because we already have a lot of empty (commercial) spaces.”
The commercial development is part of a proposal by YarrowBay to build 379 single-family homes, known as the Verdana or Bridges development, on the 155 acres at the southern edge of the city’s border from South 288th Street to South 304th Street. The property, zoned for single-family homes, bumps against the city borders of Auburn, including the Crystal Meadows neighborhood.
The Kent City Council voted unanimously in February 2008 to accept a recommendation by hearing examiner Ted Hunter to deny the initial application by YarrowBay because the proposed commercial development would defeat the purpose of the city comprehensive plan to provide environmental, visual, recreational and wildlife benefits in the area. Hunter also found that the commercial development would detract from the site’s ability to serve as an open space separation between already developed urban areas.
Hunter, hired by the city as a neutral party to make land-use decisions, will review information gathered at the public hearing to make a recommendation about the revised application. That recommendation, expected by March 19, then goes to the Council to accept or not.
Representatives of the developer testified in front of the hearing examiner that the revised application should be approved.
“We have spent a lot of time and effort from March 2008 to now to create a much better project and product to address the concerns presented before and similar comments today,” said Mike Murphy, an attorney for the developer, during his testimony. “We have worked in conjunction with the city on a much better product.”
Michael Huey, project manager for the development, said several changes were made to lessen the impact on the neighboring subdivision of Crystal Meadows.
“We will have a single-story office building closest to the single-family homes,” Huey said. “The retail uses have been consolidated into the center of the property. The proposal has been redesigned to provide more open space and to encourage pedestrian use. We will provide additional landscaping between the project and Crystal Meadows to minimize the visual impact.”
The revised application didn’t change the minds of residents who live near the proposed project.
“This development will have significant impact environmentally,” said Virginia Haugen, a member of the Auburn City Council who testified as longtime resident of Auburn. “In 45 years, I’ve seen the damage that these developments do to our environment. Right now, the city of Auburn is struggling just to get water to people. I’m also (opposed) because of wetland issues and the tearing down of trees.”
The proposed 398 parking spots for the commercial development jumped out at Art Weichbrodt, who lives in the Crystal Meadows subdivision.
“My concerns are the increased traffic,” Weichbrodt said. “I looked at the exhibit earlier and I saw a lot of parking spaces and that concerns me significantly with the amount of increased traffic.”
YarrowBay has not yet started construction of homes on the property, but the streets are paved and utilities are installed.
Auburn resident Debbie Prattum, the wife of Mike Prattum, said she had concerns about increased traffic and sees no need for more retail stores.
“I absolutely vehemently oppose the commercial (part of the development),” Debbie Prattum said. “I can’t find a need for retail or drive-thrus.”
For more information about the Verdana or Bridges project, call the city Planning Services office at 253-856-5454.
Developer suing city of Kent
A Kirkland developer continues to pursue a lawsuit against the city of Kent in an effort to overturn the City Council’s decision two years ago to deny an application for a proposed East Hill commercial development.
Developer Kent 25 LLC, part of the YarrowBay Group of Kirkland, filed the lawsuit in 2008 under the state Land Use Petition Act (LUPA) after the City Council denied an application to build retail and office space as well as a senior care facility near the northwest corner of Southeast 304th Street and 124th Avenue Southeast.
But the developer and city have agreed as part of a settlement discussion that the applicant will drop the appeal if a revised application for the commercial development currently under consideration by the city hearing examiner is eventually approved by the Council.
“If the results are satisfactory with the revision, the LUPA case will be dismissed,” said Kim Adams Pratt, an assistant city attorney, at a hearing about the revised application March 3 before the city hearing examiner.
Pratt said the LUPA case has been continued to later dates several times and is scheduled for another hearing in June in King County Superior Court.
Pratt said the revised application can be considered by the hearing examiner and Council separately from the original application because the developer addresses what the Council saw as deficiencies in the initial application that it denied.
“The revision can go through the city process,” Pratt said.
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