Falls Crossing moves to next phase

Published 1:19 am Friday, October 3, 2008

The Snoqualmie City Council is now in the process of making a decision on Falls Crossing, and with this step comes a whole new round of discussion and issues.

Although many of the local residents have concerns, both emotionally

and with regards to specific aspects of the project, it will be important that

the specifics stay the primary focus. And in the case of those who wish to

address the council at either of the two hearings planned for Oct. 24 and

25, keep comments focused on the findings and conditions developed by

the Planning Commission.

After having gone through the findings and conditions myself, there

are several ways to bring up issues with regards to the documentation.

Most concerns I have heard to this point can be directly related to a finding

or condition. Copies of the findings and conditions are available at the city

of Snoqualmie offices, so if you plan to speak, do your homework first.

The reason for limiting comments to the public record is that the

City Council has to make its decision based on the findings and conditions of

the Planning Commission. The Planning Commission provided

several opportunities for public input, much of which was heated and

emotional. Those comments then were used as input to the findings and conditions.

By sticking to the findings and conditions, it forces all of us to look at

the real issues and concerns, and it will curb emotional arguments based

on little fact.

So with that out of the way, there are several areas to look at.

First, Finding 130 with regards to the village retail area needs specific

guidelines on what the Falls Crossing project can contain as far as retail outlets. In

fact, maybe there shouldn’t be any retail in the Falls Crossing project, as it

could impact the existing downtown corridor. One other idea is to develop a

retail tax for the entire city with proceeds going toward downtown revitalization.

On the community integration portion of the findings under Exhibit

B, added emphasis is needed in regards to new residents. New ideas need to

be thought of to bring residents into the community so they feel welcome

and are enocuraged to get involved. There has to be lessons learned from

the Snoqualmie Ridge project. Hey, let’s get them a subscription to the

Valley Record for starters.

Other areas to consider are viewshed buffers, visual affects on

the downtown corridor, wetland preservation and impacts to ancient

Indian habitats.

So keep the discussion to the published record and it will have more

of an impact. Let’s respect the process.

Jim McKiernan