Point Wells neighbors say project will swamp area

Frustrated residents of Shoreline and Woodway told the developer of a proposed mixed-use project at Point Wells that a dense residential development of condominiums in towers up to 17 stories high would overwhelm their roads and put public safety at risk.

About 200 community members attended an open house Thursday night sponsored by Blue Square Real Estate Point Wells, which has proposed dismantling and cleaning up the fuel-transfer operations at the site and building upscale condos, shops and restaurants on the 61 acres jutting into Puget Sound.

But the developer wouldn't allow public comment during a presentation on the project. Rather, residents were directed to speak one-on-one with representatives after the talk.

Project designer Peter Busby, of Vancouver, B.C., told residents the development could incorporate cutting-edge green technologies to create a low carbon footprint. He said the development would be built in several phases over 20 years.

Busby, who has designed ultra-green communities around the world, said Point Wells would feature three village-type residential communities near the water, with a public plaza, commercial buildings, grocery store and fire and police stations at the rear of the site.

The developer has said a dense development is necessary to cover the costs of environmental cleanup, estimated at between $20 million and 30 million, and to pay for amenities including open spaces and improved access to the site, which is now served by a two-lane road.

Many at the open house said they were skeptical that the one road, which runs through Shoreline in King County, to the site in unincorporated Snohomish County, could accommodate all the new residents.

"What are they going to do in the long term to get people in and out" asked Ted Wilson, who lives on Richmond Beach Drive Northwest, the road that dead-ends at the fuel-transfer facility.

Caycee Holt, of the Shoreline neighborhood group, Save Richmond Beach, also questioned how the Snohomish County Council could approve "urban center" zoning for the site, and plan to collect the future taxes, while most of the impacts will be felt in Shoreline.

Woodway and Shoreline asked Snohomish County in July to restrict the development to 11-story buildings and 800 housing units.

But the county planning staff told the cities last week they could not set limitations more restrictive than the urban center zoning, which allows for 17-story buildings and 3,500 residential units.

Lynn Thompson: 206-464-8305 or lthompson@seattletimes.com