Showing posts with label point wells. Show all posts
Showing posts with label point wells. Show all posts

Dolphins explained

Sunday, February 27, 2011

by Diane Hettrick, Editor

In the recent historical Seattle Times newspaper article about Point Wells, (Oil Companies Build for Needs of the Future) the term "dolphin" was used. I Googled it and other than references to marine mammals, the only reference that seemed to fit was to oil rigs built by a family-owned Scottish business called Dolphin Drilling, which had been in business for 150 years.

Google failed me.

But reader Owen "Andy" Anderson came to the rescue. Andy spent his career as a Radio Officer on ocean-going vessels, so he knows about dolphins of both kinds. And instead of Google, he used the dictionary.

Here's what I posted with his explanation below:

From the story: "The contract has been let for a dock 250 feet long and for dolphins to accommodate steamships which will moor there and pump gasoline into the tanks on shore. The dock will be completed in May. (Editor - not sure but I think they are talking about drilling rigs made by the Scottish firm Dolphin Drilling Rigs.)"

From Andy: A "dolphin" is a device used to moor a ship. The dictionary describes it as a "pile or buoy for mooring". A 250 ft dock is not very long. A ship normally will have at least 1 bow line and 1 stern line plus 1 or 2 spring lines. The bow and stern lines are moored away from the bow and stern by a fair distance so a 500 ft. vessel would require moorings of perhaps 700 to 800 ft apart. With a dock of only 250 ft. they would probably have 2 dolphins, each somewhere around 100 to 200 ft. (possibly more) from each end of the dock.

Makes sense. Interesting that the 1912 Seattle Times writer, who meticulously explained everything else, assumed that his readers would understand the term dolphin.

Another addition to the story: Evan Smith says that Standard Oil of California became Chevron.

Now does anyone know what happened to the "natural spring"; where the "20 acres" were filled in; when the "Dutch oil company" sold its property; and whether the property still includes the "17 acres of land rising 300 feet" which I thought now belonged to Woodway?

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The Seattle Times Mar 24, 1912, Point Wells "Oil companies build for needs of future"

Thanks to Tracy Tallman for finding this article in The Seattle Times archives, March 24, 1912,  on the origin of the oil industry at Point Wells. There is a damaged spot in the middle of the article.

OIL COMPANIES BUILD FOR NEEDS OF FUTURE
___________________________________
Two Great Corporations Erect Storage Tanks at Wells Point, Anticipating Opening of Panama Canal.
___________________________________
SOME FOR FUEL OIL
OTHERS FOR GASOLINE
___________________________________
Foreign Company Sees in American Automobile and Motor Boat Trade Chance to Sell Its Product.
---------

Long in advance of the city of Seattle, the port of Seattle district, or of any other business corporation. In anticipating the increased business that the next few years will bring to the Northwest, two great corporations whose business is the sale of oil in its various forms for months have been building near Richmond Beach oil storage tanks which will be completed within the next sixty days and which will make their owners the first to be prepared for the opening of the Panama Canal.

One of these corporations is the Western branch of the Standard Oil Company, now dissolved, known as the Standard Oil Company of California. The other is a foreign corporation, variously known as the American and Oriental Oil Company, the Asiatic Oil Company and the Shelley-Royal Dutch Company. The two companies are building side by side at Wells Point, fourteen miles north of Seattle and one mile north of Richmond Beach.

The Standard Oil Company improvements represent the greater investment and are in a further advanced stage of construction. The company has forty-seven acres of land, of which twenty acres, the site of the improvements now building, is filled-in land.

Ambitious Program Begun
The company now is constructing the first unit of what it plans to make eventually the largest and finest oil-distributing plant in the country. This consists of six tanks for the storing of fuel oil for steamships, the tanks having a total capacity of 300,000 barrels. Four of them will have a capacity of 55,440 barrels each. Two have been completed and the two others are nearing completion. Two smaller ones will be for measuring tanks. The tanks alone will cost $50,000.

A dock 400 feet long also has been completed. With a depth, at the end, of forty feet of water at extreme low tide, it will accommodate the largest vessels afloat.

A concrete pump house, almost finished, will be equipped with two pumps, each of which will discharge fuel oil into steamships at the end of the dock at the rate of 2,000 barrels per hour. A concrete boiler house, now building, will be equipped with two boilers of 100 horse-power each.

A spur track, 940 feet long, connecting with the main line of the Great Northern Railway, will give the company as great facilities in land transportation as its splendid dock facilities will give it on water. Above the track the company owns seventeen acres of land, which rises to an elevation of 300 feet, and on which spring water is abundant. A pipe line will be built to furnish water for the boiler house and for the accommodation of steamships taking on oil.

Site Was Long Wanted
The Standard Oil Company, for years, has been seeking a site for a storage plan from which to distribute to various parts of the Northwest. The need of such a site became even more apparent after the beginning of work on the Panama Canal. After an investigation of all points on Puget Sound had been made, representatives of the company finally selected Wells Point, just as they were returning to Seattle disappointed with the results of their trip.

Deep water, shelter and the possibility of filling in land made the site ideal, and a tract was purchased for $47,000. A peculiar coincidence came to light in the discovery, when the effort was made to buy a small tract adjoining on the north, that the property had been tied up by the foreign corporation, showing both that it recognized the strategic advantages of the place and the opportunities for trade de... in the Northwest. That wa .. ago. The foreign ...held an option ... that the S ..
(13 lines missing - original article damaged)

Including .. of the original track and .. filling in twenty acres .. shore line, the improvements ... a cost to the Standard Oil Company of approximately $150,000. The greater part of the improvements will have been completed by May 1, and the company plans to fuel oil-burning vessels within sixty days.

Foreign Investors Well Rated
The foreign corporation, known by various names in various climes, is one that is new to American business. It is the owner of vast oil properties in Sumatra, in the Dutch Indies, and is backed by Holland capital, commonly supposed to be that of the Rothschilds. (Editor- probably what became Royal Dutch Shell). Its business in Seattle and the Northwest will be conducted through a subsidiary corporation known as the Indian Oil Refining Company. The company's representative in Seattle is J.C. Van Eck, now in San Francisco.

Like the Standard Oil Company, the Asiatic Oil Company will specialize, but where the American corporation will handle only fuel oil at its new plant for some time, the foreign corporation will deal in gasoline exclusively. The reason is that the demand in America for gasoline for the past two years has been greater than the supply, and in gasoline the foreign corporation has the only product for which it can find market in America.

The gasoline, refined in Sumatra and said to be the finest in the world, is barred from sale in India by laws prohibiting its use. America, on the other hand, through the growth of the automobile and motor boat industry, offered splendid opportunities. Not more than from 5 to 8 per cent of crude petroleum becomes gasoline on refining, and since the motor car and motor boat became popular the proportion has not been sufficient to supply growing wants.


Receiving Station for Gasoline
The Asiatic Company is building six tanks, which will have a total capacity of 140,000 barrels, and which will become an importing station for the receiving and storing of bulk cargoes of gasoline. Work already is well underway and the tanks will be filled during the coming summer. The tanks will cost $100,000. In their construction 500 tons of steel will be used. Two of the tanks will have a capacity of 37,500 barrels each.

The contract has been let for a dock 250 feet long and for dolphins to accommodate steamships which will moor there and pump gasoline into the tanks on shore. The dock will be completed in May. (Editor - not sure but I think they are talking about drilling rigs made by the Scottish firm Dolphin Drilling Rigs.)

There will also be built a number of tributary stations or depots in Seattle and surrounding cities, which the Wells Point station will supply by means of tank cars, these stations in turn delivering direct to trade.

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Evan Smith: Point Wells bill clears House rules committee

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

By Evan Smith
ShorelineAreaNews Politics Writer

The legislation that would limit density at Point Wells unless Snohomish County negotiates with nearby cities has cleared the rules committee of the State House of Representatives, allowing the full body to consider it.

The bill’s principal sponsor, State Rep. Ruth Kagi, says that the aim of the bill is to force Snohomish County to negotiate with the cities of Shoreline and Woodway over impacts of the condominium development on those cities.

Richmond Beach Drive Northwest in Shoreline is the only road in and out of the development.

A companion bill has passed a key Senate committee.

The bills’ sponsors include State Reps. Kagi and Cindy Ryu and Sen. Maralyn Chase, Democrats from the 32nd Legislative District, including Shoreline. Lake Forest Park, Woodway, Kenmore, south Edmonds and unincorporated areas of King and Snohomish counties.

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Report: Point Wells developer seeks plan approval before rules change

Sunday, February 20, 2011

By Evan Smith
ShorelineAreaNews Politics Writer

A story in the Everett Herald last week said that the developer planning the condominium project at Point Wells hopes to get it approved under current rules.
        
Herald reporter Noah Haglund wrote that developer BSRE Point Wells has attempted to get Snohomish County to approve the project before proposed State legislation takes effect.
      
State legislators representing Shoreline and Woodway have introduced a bill to limit density at places like Point Wells to that of neighboring cities unless the county that includes the development negotiates with adjoining cities over the impacts of the development.
      
A committee of the State House of Representatives approved the bill last week, just before the deadline for non-budget bills to clear committees.
      
The bill’s principal sponsor, State Rep. Ruth Kagi wrote the bill to apply only to Point Wells.

Haglund wrote that the developer plans to seek approval of the project before the proposed law can take effect.

The Snohomish County Council has already re-zoned the former industrial site to allow the development.

Snohomish County would get property-tax revenue from the project, but the primary impacts would fall on neighboring cities. The only access to and from the site is a two-lane road through the Richmond Beach area of Shoreline.

Woodway officials are concerned about the height of the buildings.

Haglund reported that the developer submitted an application last week to divide the 61-acre property into nine lots. Snohomish County planners accepted the application.

Haglund quoted an attorney for the developer as saying that his client was taking steps needed to preserve the project.

Haglund quoted the attorney as saying that the application allows the project to go forward under current building rules, so that any new zoning or legal changes would not apply.

Haglund said that Shoreline Planning Director Joe Tovar questioned that.
Snohomish County planning director Clay White told Haglund that his staff had not looked into the issue.

Under current building rules, Haglund reported, the project would still have to clear County approval, and the developer would have to submit an environmental impact statement.



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Seattle Times reports new port at Richmond Beach, September 17, 1912

Saturday, February 19, 2011

Tracy Tallman has been digging through the archives of The Seattle Times and found several stories of local interest, including this announcement of a new port at Richmond Beach.


The Seattle Times, September 17, 1912

Indian Oil Company Will Buck Standard
______________________
Steamship Romany Brings in Cargo of Benzine Worth $175,000 From Wonderfully Rich Fields in Sumatra.
______________________
New Port Opened at Richmond Beach
______________________
Tankers Will Bring to Seattle Supplies With Which Fight Against American Trust Will Be Conducted.
______________________
     Firing the first shot in what is declared to be a trade war between the Standard Oil Company and the Indian Refining Company and incidentally opening a new port on Puget Sound, the British tank steamship Romany yesterday put in at Richmond Beach, a few miles out of Seattle, to land 6,000 tons of benzine from the Far East, worth $175,000.
     
    Most of the cargo on the Romany was loaded at Singapore and had its origin in the wonderfully rich oil fields in Sumatra and Burma, which, it is claimed by experts, soon will be producing a large proportion of the world's supply.

     It is understood that whatever the outcome of the war between the Rockefeller interests and their new rival may be, the Romany's coming presages the regular arrival of a big line of oil tankers at Richmond Beach which, gradually, will be developed into a port of importance.

     The Romany is a fine three-mast, double-decked steel screw steamship of 3,983 tons.  She was built in 1902 at Newcastle, England, by Armstrong, Whitworth and Co., Ltd., for the Anglo-Saxon Petroleum Company, Ltd.  Her dimensions are:  Length, 350 feet; beam, 47 feet, and depth, 27.6 feet.


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Evan Smith: Point Wells bill gets unanimous endorsement from State House committee on local government

Friday, February 18, 2011

Point Wells is in Snohomish County.  The only road to Point Wells is in Shoreline.  This is an old map.  Shoreline is no longer proposing to annex Point Wells..
By Evan Smith
ShorelineAreaNews Politics Writer

The bill that would limit density at Point Wells unless Snohomish County negotiates with nearby cities got unanimous approval from a legislative committee Wednesday.

Rep. Ruth Kagi told me Thursday that the local government committee of the State House of Representatives had amended the bill so that it would require, prior to the issuance of a permit, that Snohomish County and the surrounding cities must enter into an inter-local agreement that stipulates the density of the project, addresses mitigation of the transportation impacts and how urban services will be funded and provided.

Kagi, the bill’s prime sponsor, said that she looks forward to voting on the House floor for the bill to force Snohomish County’s to negotiate with cities over impacts of the development

State Rep. Cindy Ryu is a co-sponsor of the bill. State Sen .Maralyn Chase has introduced an identical companion bills in the Senate. A State Senate committee held a hearing on the bill Tuesday, Feb. 15, and is scheduled to consider the bill in executive session Monday. Feb. 21,

Chase, Kagi and Ryu are Democrats representing Shoreline, Lake Forest Park, Woodway and the rest of the 32nd Legislative District.

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Shoreline City Council unanimously approves Richmond Beach Drive street reclassification

Thursday, February 17, 2011

Richmond Beach Drive
From the office of the Shoreline City Manager

At the February 14 City of Shoreline Council Meeting, the Council unanimously approved an amendment to the City’s Comprehensive Plan to reclassify Richmond Beach Drive from a “Neighborhood Collector” to “Local Street.” The amendment also stated that any future re-designation of this road segment to collector arterial will not be considered unless certain conditions are fulfilled.

The conditions calls for either Snohomish County or the private developer to provide a Transportation Corridor Study and Mitigation Plan that can show if reasonable and safe improvements can be realistically be done and provides assurance that funds necessary for mitigating traffic impacts are committed.

"The only access to the site runs through Shoreline's Richmond Beach Neighborhood, which is a single family neighborhood, and is a winding, two-lane road going in and out. We are deeply concerned that the City bears all impacts of the proposed development without having a say in the size, scale and scope," says Mayor Keith McGlashan.

This is the latest action taken by the City of Shoreline to actively address concerns arising from the proposed development at Point Wells. Point Wells lies in unincorporated Snohomish County and has been designated as an “Urban Center” area by the Snohomish County Council. The twenty high rise buildings and resulting density proposed for Point Wells is completely at odds with the surrounding single family neighborhoods in Shoreline and Woodway.

The Point Wells property owner, Blue Square Real Estate (BSRE) has proposed approximately 3,150 residential housing units and 100,000 square feet of commercial space. The developer states that the project would generate 10,000 average daily vehicle trips. Currently Richmond Beach Drive, the only vehicular access to the development, handles approximately 500 average daily vehicle trips. Even assuming the developer’s estimate of the number of auto trips is correct, preliminary computer modeling done by City staff in 2009 indicates that nine of the City’s intersections would fail from traffic of that magnitude.

In order to address the concerns with the proposed development, the City is working through various channels to limit the traffic impacts of Point Wells to a number more in line with Shoreline’s plans for the area. These include working on proposed legislation with our State Legislators and joining with the Town of Woodway and the community group Save Richmond Beach in filing appeals with the Washington State Growth Management Hearings Board. The City has also attempted to negotiate directly with Snohomish County, joining with the Town of Woodway and the Tulalip Tribe in asking the County Council to adopt a moratorium on development permits at Point Wells until meaningful two-way negotiations can occur to address these serious concerns. Unfortunately, the County Council has rejected these requests and insists that all of these concerns can be addressed after BSRE submits its application for development.

One of the City’s main efforts to date is an appeal to the Central Puget Sound Growth Management Hearings Board (GMHB). On November 9, 2009, the City of Shoreline filed a Petition for Review (PFR) with the GMHB, the state agency in charge of hearing appeals alleging noncompliance with the State Growth Management Act and the State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA). The Town of Woodway and the citizen group Save Richmond Beach also filed a PFR with the GMHB.

The City's PFR alleges that the Snohomish County action designating Point Wells as an Urban Center (a prerequisite for moving forward with the proposed development) is inconsistent with both Snohomish County's own Comprehensive Plan and the Growth Management Act. In addition, the PFR alleges that the County did not comply with the requirements of SEPA. The Growth Board will hear the City’s appeal on March 3, 2011 and issue its decision no later than April 25.

In addition to this appeal, the City amended its own Comprehensive Plan concerning the Point Wells area in April 2010. The resulting Point Wells Subarea Plan articulates the City's concerns, interests, and aspirations regarding urban service delivery, governance, traffic, and impacts on adjacent neighborhoods in Shoreline.

“The City does not oppose redevelopment of the Point Wells property with a mix of uses, public access to the waterfront, environmental cleanup, and cutting edge sustainable building practices” said Shoreline Planning Director Joe Tovar. “We are even fine with some taller buildings, but BSRE’s proposed project, with 6,000 people creating over 10,000 car trips is way out of scale for this location.” 
The BSRE proposal would have the thirteen tallest buildings between Seattle and Vancouver, B.C., located far from high capacity transit like bus rapid transit on State Route 99 or planned light rail along I-5.

The City will continue to pursue every avenue possible to ensure any development at Point Wells more closely aligns with the City’s vision and is of a scale that is reasonable and compatible with the surrounding communities.

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Evan Smith: Ryu says that negotiations over Point Wells can’t wait for Snohomish County

Rep. Cindy Ryu, D-32
By Evan Smith
ShorelineAreaNews Politics Writer

State Rep. Cindy Ryu says that negotiations over the impacts of the proposed Point Wells development can’t wait for Snohomish County to act.

Ryu has co-sponsored a bill with fellow 32nd District Democratic State Rep. Ruth Kagi to limit residential development at Point Wells unless Snohomish County negotiates over impacts of the development.

Snohomish County Councilman Dave Somers testified against the bill at a State House of Representatives committee hearing Friday, saying that the County would be willing to negotiate with the cities of Shoreline and Woodway but only after the County has completed its own review of the project.

Owners of the former industrial site at Point Wells have proposed building a large residential community at the southwest Snohomish County site.

Property tax revenue from the site would go to Snohomish County but the only way to and from the site would be on a narrow road in Shoreline.

Kagi told me Tuesday that she expects the House local government committee to approve the bill this week.

Kagi added that the issue was clear to committee members, who asked good questions about why the County and cities had not been successful negotiating on the issue.

Ryu said that she applauds Somers for being willing to meet with Rep. Ruth Kagi, but she said that she continues to call for respect for Richmond Beach residents who would feel the impact of added traffic from the development.

“It is time for State intervention because negotiating after Snohomish County's review will not protect Shoreline's interests,” Ryu said, “As a Richmond Beach resident and former council member and mayor of Shoreline, I am familiar with and passionate about ensuring that our community have a say in the Point Wells development.”

Ryu said that she was proud to speak in favor of the bill along with Kagi as well as Woodway City Council members, who voiced support, and with Edmonds City Councilman DJ Wilson.

The bill and a companion bill sponsored by Sen. Maralyn Chase would limit density at Point Wells to the density of nearby cities unless the County negotiates over impacts with nearby cities.

The Senate bill was to have a hearing Tuesday afternoon.

Chase, Kagi and Ryu represent Shoreline, Lake Forest Park, Woodway, Kenmore, south Edmonds and the rest of the 32nd Legislative District.

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Report: Snohomish County councilman told Legislature that negotiations on Point Wells should come after County review

Sunday, February 13, 2011

By Evan Smith
ShorelineAreaNews Politics Writer

A Snohomish County councilman told State legislators Friday that the County would be willing to negotiate with Shoreline and Woodway over the Point Wells development after the County has completed its own review of the project, the Everett Herald reported Saturday.

The Herald quoted County Councilman Dave Somers as telling a legislative committee that the County would be “more than happy” to come to an agreement if there are unresolved concerns following the County’s lengthy process of reviewing the project.

He told a committee of the House of Representatives that the County’s review process can impose specific development conditions and that the cities could work out their own arrangements with the developer too, Herald reporter Jerry Cornfield reported.

But passage of a bill that local legislators have introduced would extend the Shoreline City zoning rules onto land in the county, which seemed unprecedented if not illegal, Somers reportedly said.

Somers said he feared that forcing the developers to negotiate would kill the project, Cornfield reported.

Reps. Ruth Kagi and Cindy Ryu have introduced a bill that would limit density at Point Wells unless the developer negotiates with Shoreline and Woodway to cover the impacts of the development.

Sen. Maralyn Chase has sponsored a companion bill that a Senate committee will hear Tuesday.

Chase, Kagi and Ryu represent Shoreline, Lake Forest Park, Woodway and the rest of the 32nd Legislative District.

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Mayor Keith McGlashan testifies to limit residential density at Point Wells

from the office of the Shoreline City Manager

The City of Shoreline is actively working on several fronts to address concerns arising from the proposed development at Point Wells. Based on the developer’s presentation to the community on January 27 of this year, the Point Wells property owner, Blue Square Real Estate, is proposing a development that would have roughly 3,150 residential housing units. A development of that size would substantially impact the number of autos traveling on the roads throughout that part of the City. Preliminary computer modeling done by City staff in 2009 suggests that it would be extremely difficult, if not impossible, to mitigate the impact of such auto trips, particularly on Richmond Beach Drive.

On Friday, February 11, City of Shoreline Mayor Keith McGlashan testified before the Washington State House Committee on Local Government in support of House Bill (HB) 1265. HB 1265 would limit the maximum residential density of an unincorporated portion of an urban growth area to that of the immediately adjacent areas of an abutting city or cities. Point Wells lies in unincorporated Snohomish County and has been designated as an “Urban Center” area by the Snohomish County Council. The density proposed for Point Wells is completely at odds with the densities of the surrounding neighborhoods in Shoreline and Woodway.

HB 1265 is sponsored by Representatives Ruth Kagi and Cindy Ryu. A companion bill will be heard in the Senate Committee on Government Operations and Tribal Relations and Elections on Tuesday, February 15. SB 5421 is sponsored by Senator Marilyn Chase.

Due to the difficulty of mitigating traffic along Richmond Beach Drive, the Shoreline Planning Commission recently developed a recommendation to the City Council that would limit peak hour auto trips on Richmond Beach Drive to approximately 400, unless a study is done that shows how the impact of additional traffic can be adequately mitigated. The City Council will be taking action on this recommendation at its meeting on February 14.

The City will continue to pursue every avenue possible to ensure any development at Point Wells is in alignment with the City’s vision. While development of some kind at Point Wells is most likely inevitable, it must be reasonable in comparison and compatible with the surrounding communities.

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Evan Smith: Hearing on Point Wells bill Friday morning in State House, next week in State Senate

Thursday, February 10, 2011

By Evan Smith
ShorelineAreaNews Politics Writer

The bill to limit development at Point Wells will have a hearing Thursday in the State House of Representatives committee on local government.

The hearing is scheduled for 8 am Friday at the State Capitol in Olympia.

Meanwhile, State Sen. Maralyn Chase has sponsored an identical bill in the Senate, a bill that is scheduled for a hearing Tuesday, February 15, at 1:30 pm before the committee on government operations, tribal relations and elections.

Both bills would limit development at places like Point Wells to the density of nearby cities unless the County that includes that development negotiates an agreement on impacts of the development with affected cities,

Rep, Ruth Kagi, who sponsored the House bill told me Wednesday that she expects both the City of Shoreline and Snohomish County to have representatives at the hearings.

She said she still hopes that Snohomish County will start negotiating with the cities of Shoreline and Woodway without the legislation.

The owners of Point Wells, a former industrial site, have proposed developing the site as a group of condominiums. Although the site is in Snohomish County, the only access is along through the Richmond Beach area of Shoreline.

Kagi said that having companion bills in the House and Senate is a common way to increase the chances of passage.

Rep. Cindy Ryu, a co-sponsor of the House bill, said Tuesday evening that she hopes that the bill will pass because "it's a matter of basic fairness and common sense that a community most impacted by a development should have a say in how that development occurs, and I believe my colleagues will recognize that."

She agreed with Kagi that it's fairly common in the Legislature for legislators from both chambers to file the same bill, identified as "companion bills," a procedural technique to ensure that the matter can come to a vote in both houses.

Chase, Kagi and Ryu represent Shoreline, Lake Forest Park, Woodway and the rest of the 32nd Legislative District.



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Point Wells meeting; article and CliffsNotes® version

Sunday, January 30, 2011

from Diane Hettrick

Noah Haglund, in the Everett Herald online, wrote a terrific story about the recent Point Wells meeting. He reviews the whole issue, noting the concerns of Shoreline and Shoreline residents, includes the developer's plans, and the architect's drawings.

High-rise waterfront planned for Woodway shoreline: Point Wells buildings would be among county's tallest — and home to 4,500

But if you don't have time to read it, here's the CliffsNotes® version:

Developer
  • we will clean up a contaminated site
  • we will build beautiful "green" buildings for people to live and enjoy the view
  • we will provide all services on site, fire, police, shops

City of Shoreline
  • the site is in Snohomish county, which will get all the tax revenue
  • we would have the traffic, the road maintenance, and infrastructure problems

Woodway residents
  • you are going to build 18 story buildings right in front of us

Shoreline residents
  • how will all those people get in and out of Point Wells? will you try to buy up the houses on Richmond Beach Drive and build a six lane road?
  • Richmond Beach Road/185th will be a parking lot and the traffic will spill onto all arterials in Shoreline and Lake Forest Park

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Public comment requested on Point Wells development

Thursday, January 27, 2011

Blue Square Real Estate is holding a public meeting on Thursday, January 27 at the Shoreline Conference Center auditorium as a requirement for requesting permits from Snohomish County for its development at Point Wells. see previous story.

Those unable to attend the meeting can still submit their comments via the webform on the developer's Point Wells website.

All questions and comments must be submitted to Snohomish County as a part of the development application.

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Evan Smith: Ryu expresses support for Point Wells bill

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

By Evan Smith
ShorelineAreaNews Politics Writer

Democratic State Rep. Cindy Ryu told me Monday evening that her support for the bill to force Snohomish County to negotiate over Point Wells goes back to her local involvement.

She notes that she has supported protecting Richmond Beach as a neighborhood advocate, 32nd Legislative District Democratic official and Shoreline City Council member.

The bill limits development density at Point Wells to that of nearby cities unless Snohomish County negotiates over effects of the development with those cities,

Ryu praised Rep. Ruth Kagi, the bill’s principal author, for bringing people together over the issue. She said that Kagi has been gracious in consulting with her, with Shoreline and Woodway staff members and with neighborhood residents.

Ryu issued this statement:
“As a Richmond Beach resident, I feel that this bill is necessary to preserve our community’s quality of life. The people of Shoreline and Woodway deserve to have a say in a project that has the potential to drastically impact their neighborhoods. I am proud to be a co-sponsor to Rep. Kagi’s bill, and look forward to helping resolve this issue in a mutually beneficial way for all parties involved.”

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Shoreline Planning Commission recommends category change for Richmond Beach Drive

Sunday, January 23, 2011

Richmond Beach Drive looking north to Point Wells and Brightwater cranes.  
Hillside drops sharply to railroad tracks and homes line the road on the right.  
Photo by Diane Hettrick, 2010.

At its meeting on January 20, the Shoreline Planning Commission had only one agenda item: to consider the proposal from the City Planning department to change the designation of Richmond Beach Drive from an "arterial" to a "local access" street from NW 199th to the county line.

During the public comments, Commissioners heard from Shoreline citizens, the Town of Woodway, and BSRE (the developer), and did a considerable amount of changes to the original Policy statement.

At the end, they voted 7-0 to recommend the changes to the City Comprehensive Plan to the Shoreline City Council.

The City Council is scheduled to receive the Planning Commission recommendation at its meeting on February 14, for action.

Courtesy City of Shoreline.

The new wording of the key paragraph in the Comp Plan as recommended by the Planning Commission:

"Policy PW-12 In view of the fact that Richmond Beach Drive between NW 199th St. and NW 205th St. is a dead-end local access road with no opportunities for alternative access to dozens of homes in Shoreline and Woodway, the City designates this as a local access street with a maximum capacity of 4,000 vehicle trips per day. Unless and until 1) either Snohomish County and/or the owner of the Point Wells Urban Center can provide to the City the Transportation Corridor Study and Mitigation Plan called for in Policy PW-9, as well as financial and legal guarantees that the necessary mitigations will be provided and 2) sources of financing for necessary mitigation are committed, the City should not consider reclassifying this road segment."

The citizen's organization, Save Richmond Beach, had this comment:

"The members of Save Richmond Beach are pleased with the outcome of the planning commission hearing. The City of Shoreline values public safety and quality of life of its residents and is willing to stand up and take the important steps required to ensure that those values are maintained."

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Developer of proposed urban center at Point Wells to hold Pre-Application neighborhood meeting on January 27

Developer's required public meeting on Point Wells, Thursday, January 27, Shoreline Center Auditorium (not the Shoreline Room).  Seating open at 6 pm, meeting starts at 6:30 pm.

BSRE, the owners of Point Wells, are holding a public meeting on January 27 in Shoreline prior to submitting their application for permits to Snohomish County, which has jurisdiction over the site.

Snohomish County- BSRE Point Wells, LP, developer of the proposed urban center at Point Wells, will hold a Pre-Application Neighborhood Meeting on Thursday, January 27, 2011 in the Shoreline Conference Center's Auditorium. BSRE Point Wells will share information about the proposed mixed use project and is seeking additional public comment in preparation of its project application in accordance with the Snohomish County Urban Center Development Code.

The Shoreline Conference Center is located at 18560 1st Avenue NE in the City of Shoreline. Seating begins at 6 p.m. in the Auditorium, with presentations by key members of the project team starting at 6:30. A moderator will facilitate question and answer session to follow, with written questions submitted by the public at the event or in advance at their website. The written comments will be summarized and included in the application submittal to Snohomish County.

Point Wells is located on Puget Sound in the Southwest corner of unincorporated Snohomish County. BSRE Point Wells owns the 61-acre site, which currently hosts the Richmond Beach Asphalt Plant and Marine Fuel Terminal operated by Paramount Petroleum Corporation. The developer is proposing a transformation of the property into the Point Wells Urban Center--a showcase of mixed-use residential development with restored natural habitats, public open space and beach, LEED-certified sustainable architecture and transit-friendly features.

Development of the project, following an EIS process and site remediation, is expected to take place in phases over 15-20 years. BSRE Point Wells is working with the internationally-recognized architecture firm of Perkins+Will to develop initial design concepts for the site. Perkins+Will principal Peter Busby will share new information and visuals on the conceptual design process at the neighborhood meeting. He'll be joined by Peter Walker, principal of awarding-winning PWP Landscape Architecture, Victor Salemann of DEA Traffic Engineering and other key project team members.

Presentations will include preliminary conceptual layout and design; the proposed mix of land uses; proposed building heights and floor area ratio; and public open space and access considerations.

Presentations will also include conceptual landscape and habitat restoration plans; planned remediation of the site; conceptual sustainability features; public use features and amenities planned; traffic analyses planning to date and proposed transit features.

BSRE Point Wells has initiated prior community gatherings and briefings, including an open house held July 27 at the Edmonds Conference Center and another September 23 at the Shoreline Conference Center.

BSRE Point Wells is affiliated with Blue Square Real Estate Ltd., a major developer of real estate. It is a holding of the Alon Group, a company operating in the real estate, energy and retail sectors.

For more information on the proposed urban center project at Point Wells and the January 27 meeting,  see the website.

The Growth Management Board meets March 2 in Everett, and announces its decision on April 25.
 

Read more...

Evan Smith: Kagi says that bill is aimed at getting Snohomish County to negotiate over Point Wells

Saturday, January 22, 2011

By Evan Smith
ShorelineAreaNews Politics Writer

State Rep. Ruth Kagi says that the aim of a bill she introduced Monday is to get Snohomish County to start negotiating with the cities of Shoreline and Woodway over development of Point Wells.

House bill 1265 limits development at a place like Point Wells to the density of adjoining cities unless the county it’s in reaches an inter-local agreement with nearby cities on urban services and the impact on those cities.

That means that Point Wells could not be developed beyond the density of Woodway unless Snohomish County’s government negotiates an inter-local agreement with Shoreline and Woodway on mitigation of the impacts of the development,

Kagi told me Thursday that the aim of the legislation is to get Snohomish County to start talking about a memorandum of understanding, and, she said, it’s already having that effect.

A Snohomish County councilman already has called a Shoreline official about Point Wells, she said Thursday.

Co-sponsors of the bill include State Rep. Cindy Ryu, who, like Kagi, represents Shoreline, Woodway and the rest of the 32nd Legislative District. Other co-sponsors are two Edmonds-area legislators and four members of the House committee on local government, including Committee Chairman Dean Takko.

Having Takko as a co-sponsor virtually guarantees a hearing before the Local Government Committee, Kagi said.

The owners of Point Wells, a former industrial property on the shores of Puget Sound in unincorporated Southwest Snohomish County, have proposed building a mixed-use development that would include 3,000 housing units.

Snohomish County recently re-zoned Point Wells for urban-center land use.
Property-tax money from the development would go to Snohomish County.

Point Wells is in Woodway’s urban-growth area, but the only access is along Richmond Beach Road Northwest in Shoreline.

The bill applies to “unincorporated portions of urban growth areas that: border Puget Sound; are surrounded on land entirely by one or more cities, are one or more miles from any other portion of an urban growth area that is in unincorporated territory; and are 50 or more acres in size.

Kagi said that Point Wells is the only place that fits the description.

The digest of the bill follows:

HB 1265 - DIGEST
Prohibits the maximum residential density of an unincorporated portion of an urban growth area from exceeding that of the immediately adjacent areas of the abutting city or cities.

Here’s a link to download the text of the bill, but the key section says the following:

(a)… the maximum residential density of an unincorporated portion of an urban growth area may not exceed that of the immediately adjacent areas of the abutting city or cities.

(b)  Subsection (a) of this section applies only to unincorporated portions of urban growth areas that:
          (i) Border the Puget Sound;
          (ii) Are surrounded on the landward side entirely by one or more cities;
          (iii) Are one or more miles from any other portion of an urban growth area that is in unincorporated territory; and
          (iv) Are fifty or more acres in size.

(c)  This subsection (9) does not apply to otherwise qualifying areas if the county has entered into an inter-local agreement under chapter 39.34 RCW with the city or cities surrounding the urban growth area that stipulates: 
          (i) Urban governmental services will be provided by the surrounding city or cities; and 
          (ii) limitations on and mitigation of transportation impacts on the roads and impacts on the park facilities of the surrounding city or cities.


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Planning Commission public hearing re road change to Pt Wells

Monday, January 17, 2011

The Shoreline Planning Commission will hold a public hearing on Thursday, January 20 at 7 pm in the Council Chambers at City Hall regarding a proposed street change to Richmond Beach Drive.

Neighborhood street or major arterial? RB Drive NW.
The City of Shoreline proposes to change the street classification of Richmond Beach Drive NW between approximately NW 199th Street and the Snohomish County line from Collector Arterial to Local Street.

This is the narrow street that runs parallel to the train tracks from the end of Richmond Beach Road to the Woodway entrance to the Point Wells site.

This is a significant change for the development of Point Wells, because a neighborhood local road is limited to no more than 4,000 car trips daily, which is less than half the limit for a collector arterial.

Interested persons are encouraged to provide oral and/or written comments regarding the project.

Reports and information are available online as well as at City Hall.

Comment/Testify on Proposal:
  • This may be your only opportunity to submit written comments, including comments on the environmental impacts of the proposal. 
  • Written comments must be received at the address listed below before 5 pm January 19, 2011. 
  • Mail, fax 206-801-2788 or deliver comments to the City of Shoreline, Attn: Steven Szafran, AICP 17500 Midvale Avenue North, Shoreline, WA 98133, or email to Steven Szafran.
Other meetings scheduled re development at Point Wells:
  • State Growth Management Board will hear the merits of the petition to build. March 2, 10 am, Location possibly in Everett
  • Final decision and order deadline.  State Growth Management Board.  April 25, time and location to be decided


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Shoreline Planning Commission meets Thursday, January 6

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

The Shoreline Planning Commission (volunteers, appointed by the City Council) meets this Thursday, January 6, at 7 pm in the Shoreline City Hall Council Chambers, N 175 and Midvale Ave N.

There are three major information items from city staff on the agenda:
  • Study session: Point Wells Subarea Plan Amendment
  • Comprehensive Plan Update
  • Countywide Planning Policies Update

The Planning Director will report and individual commissioners will comment on committees and activities.

The public is invited and there is space for public comment. As Point Wells is on the agenda, comments from Save Richmond Beach and individual Richmond Beach citizens are expected.

The meetings are not televised.

Full agenda and link to complete packet here,

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Save Richmond Beach and Woodway joining forces

Sunday, November 21, 2010

On Wednesday, December 8, from 6:30 to 8 pm at Swannie's on the Alley (formerly The Grillhouse, next to Spin Alley) 1430 NW Richmond Beach Road, Save Richmond Beach and the Town of Woodway are holding a joint community meeting to plan a coordinated message from both communities regarding the proposed development at Point Wells.

Caycee Holt of Save Richmond Beach and Carla Nichols, Mayor of Woodway, as well as other representatives from the area will be present to share information about anticipated impacts on the communities and how "a coordinated message can be delivered regarding smart, attractive, and appropriately scaled development along the waterfront of Point Wells."

"Based on proposed plans neither Snohomish County nor the developer intends to build new roads. Their plan is to route all this new traffic through existing roads in Richmond Beach, Innis Arden, and Woodway. We will be left with major traffic, increased public safety risks and public service impacts while Snohomish County and Blue Square Real Estate reap the tax benefits and profits."

Swannie's will provide dinner specials and a large meeting room.

Save Richmond Beach is a non-profit organization dedicated to preserving our neighborhoods through responsible and sustainable planning.

Read more...
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