Published: Friday, March 14, 2008
More meetings, perhaps some answers, coming on waterfront
Developer hosts session on impacts of project planned for ex-Skipper's site
By Chris Fyall
Enterprise editor
There's been input and there's been more input and then -- maybe, finally, someday -- there could be something real, something planned, something possible.
For Edmonds' waterfront, that day has not yet arrived.
A series of meetings in the next few weeks -- a planned March 25 summit at City Council for all the property owners and an April 1 meeting where the floor will be opened for public comment -- will continue to add to the reams of public discussion regarding waterfront redevelopment.
It is unclear what, if any, new information will be revealed, people close to the redevelopment effort said.
None of the three property owners have created new plans since the council last asked for comment in January, they each told The Enterprise in the past week.
"I don't really know what is going to happen," Edmonds Mayor Gary Haakenson said March 11. "I don't see where there is anything new that is going to come out of this. But if this is the way the council wants to attack this, then more power to them."
Eventually, new information will be available, but it seems like March 25 is too soon to ask for it.
The 20-acre waterfront redevelopment site is comprised of three parcels owned by the Port of Edmonds, the Edmonds Shopping Center Associates and developer Bob Gregg.
While the Port has said it won't likely develop the site for 10 to 15 years, and officials with ESC haven't indicated any immediate plans, Gregg is moving ahead with his property at the old Skippers site.
"We are not looking at theories and concepts anymore," Gregg said after the second of two March 10 Open Houses he sponsored to examine views. "We are going to build something."
What that building looks like, however, has yet to be determined. Gregg hopes to present some sort of plan this year, but hasn't provided a more specific timeline. No plans will be ready by March 25, he said.
At the Open Houses, of course, the public feedback mirrored much of the feedback collected in other forums over the past year.
Even though Gregg was asking a different question -- less 'What would you like to see?' and more 'Which views from which addresses and intersections are most important?' -- the comments he collected answered older questions in a familiar way: Variations on 'We want the whole view, and any new building should be shorter than 35-feet' were easily the most popular refrains.
Still, some specific view requests were gathered, which made the evening a success, Gregg said. His consultants will return with $30,000 worth of virtual buildings, as seen from various points throughout Edmonds.
The technology will allow people to see what a project on the site would look like, said Eric LaBrie, a vice president with ESM Consulting Engineers.
"The level of detail with this is amazing and the accuracy is helpful," LaBrie said. "No longer are you forced to deal with artists renderings."
Understanding what buildings might look like will inform the redevelopment debate, Gregg said.
One of Gregg's loudest and most consistent critics said that the city's residents already understand everything they need to.
Gregg's past efforts to build higher and taller has turned the city against him, said Roger Hertrich, a former City Councilmember.
"I think it's quite obvious that the community does not support it," Hertrich said.
And what is 'it'? "Whatever Bob Gregg is doing," he said.
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