Published November
2001
Officials:
Community, government support key
to urban-center success
By
John Wolcott
Herald Business Journal Editor
Developing new urban
centers used to be the work of developers who owned large parcels of land
on the edge of metropolitan areas. But now Snohomish County government,
the Economic Development Council and private developers are showing great
interest in working together to create new urban centers.
Speakers at an EDC-sponsored
Urban Partnerships workshop at the Embassy Suites in October said the
most successful urban-center developments are being assembled by developers
and multiple landowners with public sector coordination and citizen input.
Already, the Snohomish
County Council has unanimously adopted an Urban Centers Demonstration
Program to guide future development at key sites in unincorporated areas
of the county adjacent to Everett, Lynnwood, Mill Creek and Bothell.
“There are more than
20 cities in the county, each with different visions (for growth and development),”
County Council Chairman David Somers said. “Usually, we think of urban
centers as a city problem. It is now a county problem. To manage these
developments we need to strengthen ties between citizens, the county and
developers.”
Linked to the EDC’s
quarterly update meeting, the workshop was sponsored by the Puget Sound
Regional Council, Washington Association of Realtors, Pilchuck Audubon
Society, Opus Northwest, Kirtley-Cole Associates, EverTrust Bank, the
Snohomish County PUD and the Federal Home Loan Bank of Seattle.
Keynoting the session
was Michael Freedman, founding partner of Freedman Tung & Bottomley, a
San Francisco urban design firm involved in more than a dozen urban-center
projects.
“Elements of success
in developing urban centers include strong political and community support
for a community vision. Never begin with a budget. Talking about money
first can kill a project. Find out what the community really wants. That’s
what develops the excitement and momentum that’s necessary to loosen up
dollars and staffing to make it happen,” Freedman said.
Along with presentations
by Renton Economic Development Director Sue Carlson and Gresham, Ore.,
Private Development Division Manager Terry Vanderkooy, Mill Creek Director
of Planning William Trimm detailed that city’s urban-center development.
“Our plan was visionary
but not revolutionary,” Trimm said. “We formed a steering committee, talked
to citizens, hired an urban designer and met with property owners, the
county, city officials and others to create it.”
Today, the city’s
Town Center plan — developed with partnerships from all major community
sectors — is well under way.
North of the town’s
retail center at the Everett-Bothell Highway and 164th Street SW, the
Jefferson at Mill Creek already has brought a modern apartment complex
to the area with nearly 500 units.
South of that development,
more residential areas will be created adjacent to the Town Center project,
which will include a new city hall and community center, an array of retailers,
pedestrian and bikeway amenities, and preserved wetlands and environment
areas that include North Creek and Mill Creek.
The city’s new urban-center
comprehensive plan calls for higher-density and mixed-use development;
pedestrian and transit-friendly environments; a strong identity and focal
point; a design that meets the needs of a diverse, multi-generation population;
integration with existing commercial development; and a blending with
the surrounding natural environment.
Sue Adams, Director
of the Pilchuck Audubon Society’s Smart Growth Campaign, said in one of
the program’s handouts that although her group and the EDC have often
been on opposite sides of growth issues, “we have to work together to
promote development in the right places. ... Higher-density, mixed-use
developments help us protect environmentally sensitive areas and reduce
our reliance on automobiles.”
EDC President Deborah
Knutson said, “Well-designed urban areas with good roads and parks are
vital to our efforts to attract new jobs for people already living here
who often commute long distances to jobs in King County.”
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