Lake Stevens/Snohomish mediation ends

JOURNAL STAFF No boundary decision has been made
for future UGA

QUICK FACTS

• The Lake Stevens Urban Growth Area (UGA) has a target 2025 population of 46,125.
• Only 6.4 percent of the Lake Stevens UGA (295.8 acres) is zoned for commercial and industrial uses.
• Lake Stevens has a household to jobs ratio of 0.39, meaning less than ½ a job per household.
• Lake Stevens has a sales tax per capita figure of only $142.41 – substantially less than the median of $218.55 for cities of like size in the Greater Puget Sound.

By comparison, the Snohomish UGA has a target 2025 population of 14,535, 26 percent of its UGA zoned for commercial and industrial uses, 1.25 jobs per household and a sales tax per capita of approximately $538.38.

Today marked the conclusion of a series of meditation sessions aimed at determining the future of land located between the cities of Lake Stevens and Snohomish. Despite efforts by all parties, no agreement was reached on where either city’s future urban growth boundary should be drawn.

“The City of Lake Stevens wants to thank Snohomish County for arranging and participating in this process to define future urban growth between Lake Stevens and Snohomish,” Vern Little, Mayor of Lake Stevens said. “While no agreement was reached, this collaborative process helped both cities begin the process to better define their future land use needs, especially commercial development.”

“Both cities have grown rapidly in the last five years through development and annexations. As this happened, our cities have faced a need for a larger and more diverse tax base,” added Jan Berg, City Administrator. “Because Lake Stevens is primarily a residential community, new commercial development is needed in the future to support annexation of the remaining urban growth area.”

“Without new lands for commercial development, we will not have the tax base to make annexations work,” added Mayor Little. “But even more important for all stakeholders involved is the need to work on these issues regionally and cooperatively, as there may be opportunities that benefit all of us.”

Since both cities submitted competing urban growth area expansion proposals, Lake Stevens has sought to work collaboratively and regionally on addressing growth south of the city, calling for comprehensive planning of the area that will address the needs of both communities.

The County Council passed on approving either proposal and encouraged both cities to work together towards a compromise.

“We would like quick resolution, but drawing a future boundary without understanding what it means in terms of useable land for commercial development, environmental protection and coordination of infrastructure and services, may not solve our long term needs,” reflected Mayor Little. “We have to be confident that any action will move us towards our goals and not just be the result of drawing a proverbial line in the sand.”

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