Published September 2001

Urban-centers program in place for southwest county

By Kimberly Hilden
Herald Business Journal Assistant Editor

Last month, the Snohomish County Council approved an ordinance to establish the Urban Centers Demonstration Program — a program that could change the look of development in the southwest region.

Designed to discourage sprawl in unincorporated areas, the program allows for higher-density, mixed-use development in residential, commercial or industrial zones within or next to designated urban centers in the southwest parts of the county.

Areas targeted for the program include Interstate 5 intersections at 128th Street Southeast and 164th Street Southwest; Airport Road and Mukilteo Speedway intersections off Highway 99; and Highway 527 between Mill Creek and Bothell.

Under the ordinance, such developments in these areas must “front on or take access off a major transit corridor or be located within one-quarter mile of a transit agency’s park-and-ride facility.”

The county hopes such developments will encourage the use of public transportation and enable residents to walk or bike to nearby retail facilities. To that aim, the ordinance prohibits grocery stores or retail stores larger than 40,000 square feet — so-called “big box” stores — in the urban-center developments.

“People don’t take public transportation to big boxes, they take their SUVs,” said Sue Adams of the Pilchuck Audubon Society, which supports the program.

“What we need to do is ... show the public that it is a very useful tool,” she said about higher density developments that encourage the use of mass transit.

The urban-centers program, which also has drawn support from the county Economic Development Council, the Master Builders Association of King and Snohomish Counties, and the Citizens for Environmental Responsibility, is an interim measure, said Klaus Schilde, Chief Planning Officer for the county’s Planning and Development Services Department.

But by the time the new temporary ordinance is set to fade into the sunset — four years from now — the county plans to have permanent measures in place that reflect the goals of the county Growth Management Act Comprehensive Plan, Schilde said.

Along with requiring public meetings and open houses for proposed developments, the ordinance also sets up a centers review committee, to be appointed by the County Council upon the recommendation of the county executive.

The nine-member group, to include representatives from county staff, the EDC, a transit agency serving the area, the development industry and the citizenry, will meet with program applicants to discuss proposed site plans and recommend modifications.

Development under the urban-centers program is voluntary, Schilde said. Developers can continue to use the existing codes.

“We have had some discussions from developers that seem to be interested” in the program, Schilde said, “but no commitments or final decisions.”

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