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

City, residents look at creating eco-friendly Terrace

By Oscar Halpert
Enterprise editor

MOUNTLAKE TERRACE

To Karen Armstrong, a greener city means more places to grow flowers and vegetables.

Armstrong was one of about 15 people who attended a city-sponsored public meeting about sustainability on Earth Day, April 22, at the library.

"I really want community gardens," said Armstrong, a city resident who came to the meeting with her husband, Jeff.

Can this city, with its expansive parks, be any greener?

That's one of the questions being asked over the coming months as it considers how to mesh planned economic development with eco-friendly land-use, design and industry.

Sustainability was the word of the evening, a word Marc Daudon of Cascadia Consulting Group described as finding the "sweet spot" among environmental, economic and societal needs without trading one off for the other.

Over the coming months, city consultant Berk and Associates will look at ways the city can boost its economic vitality, something known as "clean technology," and sustainability.

"I think you know the city is really committed to having a green environment," planning director Shane Hope told the audience.

Three factors are driving cities to think more about sustainability, Daudon said.

One is growth.

The Puget Sound area has about 3.8 million people today; by 2020, another 1.2 million people are expected to live here. Those people have to live somewhere, he said, so figuring out how to manage that growth is essential.

Another factor leading the push, he said, is climate change. Glaciers are melting and sea levels are predicted to rise in the coming years. That means cities have to prepare, to be innovative in their responses.

The last major factor driving the push is transportation.

"For every person who rides a bike to work, five people walk, nine take transit, 154 drive alone and 21 carpool," he said. "Those types of numbers aren't really sustainable into the future."

Add to those issues the rising cost of raw materials and you have a scenario that demands action, he said.

Donna and Bill Kiskaddon came to the meeting to learn more about the city's plans for integrating eco-friendly approaches into city planning.

"It's been a long time coming, I think it's great," Donna Kiskaddon said. Her husband, Bill Kiskaddon, a former state legislator, said climate change is his motivator.

"The whole message," he said, "is that the planet is going to be uninhabitable if we don't do something about it."

Who knows, said city manager John Caulfield, sustainability and eco-awareness could become Mountlake Terrace's calling card, it's big selling point in years to come.

After all, it led the way in the early 1980s as one of the first cities regionally to implement what were then cutting-edge storm water management systems.

It was ahead of the pack in its efforts to clean up Lake Ballinger in 1979 and 1980, said engineering services director Will Van Ry.

"Every community is looking for a niche," Caulfield said. "When you think about Mountlake Terrace, what's our niche? It really all leads back to the environment."