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• Tempers flare at waterfront talk 3/28/08

CONTACT THE ENTERPRISE Jocelyn Robinson, News editor jrobinson@heraldnet.com

City to peer at developers' waterfront visions

• Meeting set for March 25, residents to get say on April 1

By Chris Fyall
Enterprise editor

Citizens curious about the Edmonds waterfront redevelopment project will have an opportunity to hear the latest at a City Council meeting this coming Tuesday, March 25.

The city has asked the property owners to discuss their visions for the 20-acre property at a meeting that begins at 7 p.m.

Developers Bob Gregg and Al Dykes -- who own the Skippers and Antique Mall properties, respectively -- will both attend, they said. Port of Edmonds Commissioner Bruce Faires will represent the port, said Chris Keuss, the port's director.

Presentations from urban planning expert Mark Hinshaw and city staff also are planned. Staff will discuss the existing development framework provided by Edmonds' zoning codes and its comprehensive plan, according to an early agenda.

A week after the March 25 meeting, on April 1, the city will ask citizens for their input. A public hearing regarding the Antique Mall, Harbor Square and Skippers properties is scheduled.

"It is our job. I'm ready," said council president Michael Plunkett. "I don't mind sitting there and listening all night if people want to tell us what they think about one of the most important parcels in Edmonds."

The March 25 meeting could help answer one question for the council, Plunkett said: It is unclear how interested the property owners still are in pursuing a public-private partnership.

Last summer's cohesive planning effort wrapped up without any grand conclusions or final plans. Since then, Gregg has said he is planning his own buildings, and Dykes has criticized larger efforts.

The other property owners are not speaking for him or leading him, Dykes said, nor is he speaking for or leading them.

"In fact, the opposite is true," he told The Enterprise earlier this month. "From my perspective, they have nothing to do with the development of my property."

At the same time, a few members of last summer's 33-individual work group (WG33) continue to criticize the work product from the group. Critics include Joan Bloom and Allied Citizens for Edmonds president John Reed. Reed also sits on the city's planning board.

ACE hosted two meetings in March that explored various ideas for the properties. The meetings were hosted by WG33 member, and former City Councilman, Dick van Hollebeke.

The meetings were attended by 34 people, and the virtues of public ownership were discussed. Ownership would allow the city not only to control development, but to direct it, Reed said.

Citizens can help identify resources and grants, and ACE is working to do that, he said.

"What we have got to do (as citizens) is not say, 'Buy the property and you figure out how to pay for it.' We have to say, 'Buy the property and here are some financial resources that you can explore,'" Reed said.

Timing, of course, will be an important issue.

Gregg has announced his intention to move ahead of the other two property owners and present a building for review by the end of the summer, he said in January.

It isn't entirely clear what -- if anything -- he will present at the March 25 hearing, but plans will follow before too long, he promised March 10.

"We are not looking at theories or concepts anymore," he said. "We are going to build something."

The port's timeline is much slower. It probably won't build anything for 10 to 15 years, officials have said.