Shoreline City Council Business Meeting June 10, 2013

Devon Vose Rickabaugh
Photo by Jerry Pickard

Updated 06-12-2013 10:35pm

Shoreline City Council Business Meeting June 10, 2013

By Devon Vose Rickabaugh

The main business under consideration at the Shoreline City Council Meeting was a plan for starting to develop the Aurora Square Area which has been determined to suffer from “economic blight”. This designation allowed the city to establish Aurora Square as a Community Renewal Area (CRA).

Economic Development Manager Dan Eernissee explained The CRA Plan relies on healthy, market-driven private enterprise, and it is the key to the Plan’s success.

“The key question is whether the City will be in a strong enough position to contribute sufficient resources to make the this public private partnership attractive to the private sector.”

Eernissee introduced an offer by the Mill Creek Residential Trust to purchase and develop the property between 155th, Westminster, and Aurora  Avenue to build 300-350 apartment  homes in a podium style building which he anticipates will catalyze redevelopment in the area. Sean Hyatt Managing Director of Mill Creek Residential said his company “has developed numerous Seattle-area communities including Circa Green Lake which recently sold for $420,000 per unit.”

Hyatt says purchasing and developing this property is contingent on receiving a “capitol allocation from the city in 2013 with permits by the year’s end as well as receiving a 12 year property tax exemption to ensure financeable economic return.”

City Manager Julie Underwood said that “the number 1 goal of the City Council has been to strengthen Shoreline’s economic base and tonight’s plan could further this goal.”

Council member McConnell said this sounds like a great catalyst and “we need one”. She said she would agree to the 12 year property tax exemption.

Deputy Mayor Eggen said he was in support of moving forward with the plan. He said, “We should think about  why we need to raise the property tax exemption from 5 year to 12years” for affordable multifamily units.

Mayor McGlashan and council member Winstead both wanted to make sure the design of the buildings don’t clash with the design on the over bridge along Aurora.

Eernissee said that July 8th there will be a public hearing before voting  to adopt the initial part of the  plan.

In other business following an Executive Session the council voted to refund $103,000 to New Cingular Wireless for overpayment of taxes. Under terms of that settlement New Cingular Wireless will deposit refunds in a settlement trust for the benefit of the ratepayers. In April 2012 New Cingular filed suit against over 100 Washington cities, including Shoreline, seeking a refund of these tax payments.