A little history.
Last spring the Planning Commission
held secret rezoning meetings. The mayor and council said the public was
barred from attending and there were no recordings made of anything
that was said during these meetings.
The Planning Department targeted groups and invited these specific
folks to voice their opinion. Most everyday folks were not
specifically invited and did not know these meetings were happening.
15 new rezoning proposals came out of those secret meetings.
INCLUDING
CLEAR CUTTING AND HIGHER DENSITY HOMES ON THIS SPECIFIC PROPERTY
The below article appeared in the Tacoma News Tribune August 27, 2016.
August 26, 2016 11:40 AM
Proposal would add rental housing to downtown Gig Harbor
By Brynn Grimley
The Ben B. Cheney Foundation is looking to buy and develop
forested land at a busy intersection in Gig Harbor’s historic downtown to
generate income for its charitable giving.
The foundation is under contract to buy five lots, including
two treed parcels that intersect at Harborview and Soundview drives, and a
third adjoining property at 7601 Soundview Drive.
It wants to build 35 to 40 housing units on the combined
2.27 acres — nearly four times what is allowed under current zoning. The units
would be rentals, affording the foundation a steady income stream.
The foundation also has its sights set on two waterfront parcels
at 2905 and 2907 Harborview Drive where the Green Turtle Restaurant, Sunset
Yacht Sales, two marinas and a former agricultural building sit.
Built in 1932, the agricultural structure has since been
divided into office suites. Foundation leaders are considering giving the
0.59-acre waterfront parcel with the building and its adjacent marina to the
city, said Brad Cheney, foundation board president.
“The Cheney foundation is uniquely positioned to be able to
donate or give that building, if we so decide, to the city,” he said. “We
believe that building is cherished by the community. We have hopes of working
with the community to give access to the building.”
The foundation hasn’t finalized plans for how it would
develop the second waterfront lot — it could remain commercial or be used for
homes, Cheney said. The second marina would remain. Current zoning allows a
variety of commercial uses or three single-family homes.
“We won’t get everybody’s buy in, but we want to do this
right.” Brad Cheney, board president,
Ben B. Cheney Foundation.
The foundation has partnered with Tacoma developer Mike
Hickey and his firm the Neil Walter Co. to develop the housing project they are
calling One Harbor Point. They are under contract with the Haub family to buy
the land.
Known for its development holdings and philanthropy in the
South Sound, the Haub family has strong ties to Gig Harbor and Tacoma.
German grocery store magnate Erivan Haub donated his
family’s Western art collection to the Tacoma Art Museum and paid for a new
wing to showcase it with a $20 million gift.
No applications for the Cheney foundation’s project have
been submitted to the city, but representatives will meet with Gig Harbor
planners soon. A meeting for Aug. 23 had to be rescheduled, according to J.J.
McCament, spokeswoman for the partnership.
At least two factors could impede the foundation’s plans:
zoning and great blue herons.
The zoning issue could be addressed by a City
Council-approved development agreement, which could allow the increased density
without a lengthy zoning amendment process.
Mayor Jill Guernsey said it’s not uncommon for the city to
enter into a development agreement when “big or unique projects” come forward.
Such an agreement “is likely to be something that is
involved in this project,” she said but cautioned she could speak only in
generalities because no formal application has been submitted.
Other large-scale projects with development agreements
include the Heron’s Key senior living community (the largest development in
city history), and the Fred Meyer project off Point Fosdick Drive.
The effect of the great blue herons is unpredictable and
won’t be sorted out until next spring.
Five years ago the state designated the forested tract at
Soundview and Harborview drives as a nesting area for the birds. At least eight
heron nests have been identified on the wooded lot, with two other potential
nests spotted.
The great blue heron is listed as a “state monitor species,”
which means the state Department of Fish and Wildlife monitors the birds and
manages their populations to prevent them from becoming endangered, threatened
or sensitive.
Wildlife officials met with city planners and development
representatives in the spring about the nesting area. The development group
believes the nests are abandoned and no longer offer the birds refuge.
“We offered to purchase the land from the Haub family and
they were not interested.” Jeni Woock, Citizens for the Preservation of Gig
Harbor.
Notes from that meeting provided by the developer indicate
the nests were active until at least 2014, but there is question whether they
were active after that. They were confirmed inactive in May when a Fish and
Wildlife official visited the site.
Unable to conclusively determine whether the herons have
moved on, the state and developers agreed to continue monitoring the site until
April 30, 2017.
If no herons return, the state will consider the site
inactive, leaving management to the property owner’s discretion.
Gig Harbor resident Jeni Woock, who heads Citizens for the
Preservation of Gig Harbor, said her group tried to buy the land to save the
heron rookery.
“When we heard about this our citizen group consulted with a
conservation group,” Woock said. “We offered to purchase the land from the Haub
family and they were not interested.”
The development team showed Woock project plans for the
site, and she said she worries about traffic if the project is built as
proposed.
Noting a different developer’s plan to build apartments at
the shopping complex on nearby Judson Street, Woock said she doesn’t think
Soundview Drive can handle the increased traffic.
“The city, of course, is famous for allowing developers to
do what they want without taking into consideration how the traffic gets around
from one location to another,” Woock said.
The development team is working on its traffic analysis and
hopes to accommodate parking on site, Hickey said.
The Cheney foundation is targeting an older demographic, 55
years and up, for its project. This demographic drives less and the location
downtown means residents can walk places, McCament said.
Gary Glein, past president of the Gig Harbor Downtown
Waterfront Alliance, said more housing downtown isn’t the reason for increased
traffic.
“The Cheney foundation and the Cheneys are local people who
have stakes in the community.” Gary Glein, Gig Harbor Downtown Waterfront
Alliance.
“The biggest traffic problem is people going through
downtown,” said Glein, who has lived in the downtown Millville district for
nine years. “Residences aren’t as big of generators of traffic as other things
might be.”
The success of a downtown depends on people living there, he
said. Adding more residences, he said, “is strategically important to downtown
Gig Harbor.”
“Creating residential by the Cheneys on the Haub property
there is a plus,” he said. “The Cheney foundation and the Cheneys are local
people who have stakes in the community.”
Unrelated to the project, the city’s planning commission is
reviewing multiple properties in the downtown area to determine whether current
zoning matches a vision for the city’s future. One of those lots is the
triangle at Soundview and Harborview drives.
The review is part of a process the City Council initiated
four years ago, said city planning director Jenifer Kester. The proposed zoning
change for the corner lot would allow more residential uses on the property,
but no timeline has been set for when that could happen.
While all this plays out, the development group says it will
continue to work on its plans, including finalizing the type of housing to
build. Potential designs include condominiums, cottage housing or town homes,
Hickey said.
The units would be rentals and the rent would generate
income for the Cheney foundation. It would be the first income-generating
housing project operated by the organization.
“We are using this as an investment,” Cheney said. “The
dollars that are earned would go back into the foundation for distribution.”
Cheney noted five of the foundation’s seven board members
live in Gig Harbor.
“We won’t get everybody’s buy in,” he said, “but we want to do
this right.”
Monday August 29, 5pm Gig Harbor Civic Center
On May 19th Gig Harbor citizens told
the Planning Commission they rejected this zoning proposal and the
other 14 zoning proposals as well.
On Monday August 29th the Planning Commission will tell the Council
Building Committee what they heard the citizens say on May 19th.
The Planning Commission needs to be held accountable for their words.
Be at this meeting!!! Thanks for sharing!!!
Mayor and Council email addresses:
guernseyj@cityofgigharbor.net
paynet@cityofgigharbor.net
kadzikp@cityofgigharbor.net
perrowm@cityofgigharbor.net
malichk@cityofgigharbor.net
EkbergS@cityofgigharbor.net
lovrovichr@cityofgigharbor.net
arbenzc@cityofgigharbor.net
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Mayor and 4 council seats up for re-election in 2017!
