City surprised by Puget Western request

Published 2:28 pm Thursday, October 2, 2008

SNOQUALMIE _ Puget Western Inc. President Bob Boyd took

the Snoqualmie City Council by surprise Nov.13 when he told council

members they must make a decision on the developer’s Falls Crossing

application by the first of the year or risk losing

a potential sale of part of the property to a conservation group.

“The intent of this option is to provide an opportunity over a

reasonable period of time for conservancy groups to preserve additional portions of

the Falls Crossing site as natural timbered open space, through purchases of

designated parcels,” Boyd said in a written statement to the council.

Following Boyd’s remarks, the council adjourned briefly to

consult with city staff. On reconvening, the panel did not address the request.

“(The remarks) came as a surprise in the first place,” said City

Attorney Pat Anderson, “and secondly, it was

a surprise that there is a time limit attached. We haven’t addressed the

issue internally yet. If they come to us with something specific, we

will evaluate it at that time.”

Also unclear is whether any major change in the plan would

require that the matter be sent back to the Planning Commission.

“We don’t know what impact this kind of change would have on the

process. We will look into that as more specific information becomes

available,” Anderson said.

Boyd’s written statement did not name any potential buyers, nor

was there mention of how much of the property might be involved.

However, Boyd did say that PWI would seek concessions from the city, adding

another element of change to the proposal.

“We believe this option will be very desirable to the city,

however some accommodations to Puget Western are necessary to make it

feasible,” Boyd wrote. “First, we are asking

the City Council to expedite processing our mixed-use final plan

application. We will also be seeking some reasonable alterations in certain

conditions of approval to offset some of the financial impact of removing

additional land from development.”

Boyd did not indicate what changes or accommodations would

be sought.

“The amount of land involved is to be determined by the buyer,”

Boyd told the Valley Record. “There is a series of meetings set up and

that’s what we’re trying to get to.”

A spokesperson for the Mountains to Sound Greenway Trust said the

organization is not involved in the negotiations.

PWI has not said whether they are seeking City Council approval of

the project before details of a potential sale are disclosed or specifically

why the time limit has been imposed.

“Puget Western has made it very clear to conservancy groups that

our incentive to reach a voluntary agreement will be greatly diminished

after year-end 2000,” Boyd wrote. “We

are not asking the City Council to rush to judgment, but we are asking for

additional meetings to be scheduled on the mixed-use final plan application so

a decision can be made by year-end.”

The City Council has not taken action on the request for

additional meetings, but prior to Boyd’s remarks, it agreed to begin regular

discussions about the Falls Crossing proposal at 6 p.m. before council meetings. The

next meeting is Nov. 27.