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| Eugene Zakhareyev |
There has been a lot of development in the last decade, and many residents asked the council and the mayor whether Redmond should take a break and evaluate the impacts of new buildings in Downtown and Overlake. So surely the Council plans to address these impacts? They are finally listening, and new developments will have to pay for the development! No more school district levies & bonds, or tax increases, no more new multi-story buildings replacing one story plazas and driving small businesses out of town!
But if you followed Redmond local politics for some time, you already know the answer. The moratorium is not targeting developers. The Council instead is concerned about “the triple density bonus for Retirement Residences with assisted living facilities in residential zones”.
Yep, those pesky seniors invading our residential areas with their retirement homes! The Council is gravely concerned, enough to warrant the emergency moratorium on such developments!
However, if you were to review pending land use applications, the reasons for the moratorium will become much more clear. There is pending application to expand Emerald Heights campus in Education Hill neighborhood of Redmond, the application that is vigorously opposed by the residents of nearby Abbey Road neighborhood. No other residential home applications are in pipeline.
I am very sympathetic to the community concerns; heck, just last year our neighborhood shelled out close to thirty grand on opposing the city decision (if you have to ask - the Council did not propose any moratoriums in our case, and actively resisted any attempts from the residents to engage). There were multiple cases recently where the community questioned the development initiatives - homeless shelter on 24th Street (nope, no moratorium), Idylwood Park tree removal (no moratorium needed), Seritage development at Sears site (what moratorium? The area can accommodate 16,000 new cars a day). The list can go on, but none of those issues was important enough to the Council.
So why the Council is suddenly so attentive to the community needs? What is different about Emerald Heights development? The residents concerns seem to be pretty typical to today's Redmond (the building is too high, the trees removed etc.) Why would the city stall the application for years, and now when the application is close to approval, why would the Council consider such drastic measures as moratorium?
It is just so happens that proposed new Emerald Heights building would be visible from the windows of home of Mr. Stillin, Redmond City ex-Council members. Mr.Stillin was on the Council until 2017 (the year the city withdrawn SEPA approval for Emerald Heights application and the year the application was denied by the City - just to be reinstated after the appeal). Since he left the Council, Mr. Stillin heads the residents opposition to the project.
One can appreciate the Council willingness to help their long time colleague. But there is a thin line between helping a friend and the conflict of interest, and this moratorium proposal appears to cross this line.
I am for one very disappointed in Councilmember Carson who proposed this emergency measure. Targeting Emerald Heights community of over 500 residents is not something public expects from our elected representative. I feel for Abbey Road residents, but the same legal process should be followed regardless of who affected - there are no VIP provisions. The city code describes appeal procedures available to any parties of record; should this process be unfair it is the Council responsibility to change that.
But for now it seems that the best way to make sure your neighborhood is excluded from development in Redmond is to buy a home next to the council member residence 
Should you want to attend the Council meeting, it is at Redmond City Hall on January 15th, 7:30 PM (or you can reach the Council and the Mayor at MayorCouncil@redmond.gov
Some fact checking may be in order here. Abbey Road residents are opposing the l̲o̲c̲a̲t̲i̲o̲n̲ of the new buildings right at the perimeter of Emerald Heights property - in violation of the conditions under which their 2010 rezone application was approved (unopposed), not the buildings themselves.
ReplyDeletehttps://youtu.be/4-XlHNUlGEc
UPDATE: The moratorium proposal was defeated by Council, 5-2. Margeson / Carson.
ReplyDeleteGreat article / opinion Eugene. I hope you run for Council.