Open
House and Public Hearing held Tuesday night
By
Janine Unsoeld
www.janineslittlehollywood.blogspot.com
The
Tumwater City Council and the Tumwater Planning Commission held an open house
and a public hearing Tuesday night regarding the Brewery District Plan in Tumwater. Both
events were held at South Sound Manor.
The
purpose of the Brewery District Plan is to guide future development to create a
mixed-use district that supports a variety of businesses and residential uses.
Strategies are proposed for improving the transportation system as well as the
function and character of the historic center of Tumwater.
The
themes presented in the Brewery District Plan offer to create a stronger sense
of place, improve transportation options, safety and access, expand and
preserve economic opportunity and activity, and improve the function and
appearance of the built environment.
The
city has held several open houses, which have all been well attended, with between
125 – 200 people in attendance at each meeting. City of Tumwater planner Tim
Smith said that 6,000 people are on their Brewery District Plan mailing list,
1,500 are on the email list, and staff has met onsite to interview 50 business
owners.
A
focus group of 16 citizens, business, and property owners, community leaders,
and elected officials have met over the past year to process the information.
The Thurston Regional Planning Council and consultants have assisted in the
process, which began in 2012.
The
city hosted an open house at the same location prior to the public hearing.
Easels with posters were set up around the room explaining land use alternatives,
transportation and gateway elements, pedestrian and bicycle improvements, and
transit and parking strategies.
Little
has changed since the last public open house held in October. The
draft plan was revealed in late January.
Transportation
patterns in Tumwater have changed dramatically in the last 15 – 20 years. Much
of it is generated from outside the area and much of it is pass-through traffic.
When people take the bus, they often use the transit station on Cleveland
Avenue near Safeway.
Dennis
Bloom, planning manager of Intercity Transit, mingled with community members during the open house and stayed for the hearing.
Bloom lives in Tumwater, where he says he does 90 percent of his shopping. When
asked, Bloom explained the transit element, illustrated by a poster on an easel.
“At
the transit station, four routes come together on Cleveland - #43 to the
Westside, #68 to Lacey, #12 to neighborhoods and downtown, and #13 along the
Capitol Way corridor. The plan is to move the transit station to Capitol Way…in
its current location, the sidewalk doesn’t currently accommodate people, it’s
not wide enough. It’s the busiest area in Tumwater.” Bloom said 300 – 400 people
are served per transfer at that transit center.
Before
the hearing, Sally Nash, chair of the Tumwater Planning Commission, said that
the District Plan materials have been educational. A resident of Tumwater for
19 years, Nash is the retired manager of the Timberland Library in Tumwater.
“I’m
very proud to be a Tumwater resident. The Plan is wonderful and exciting for
the area, and quite futuristic. I don’t see it happening immediately. We’ve had
tremendous input from the public….we have an involved citizenry.”
Tumwater
residents Nick and Jaime Vann said they have come to several open houses. Looking
over the easel information, Nick Vann said, “This is what it could be, but
there needs to be incentives for developers. We have a lot of underused and
inefficient areas, transportation-wise in particular. There’s currently no
sense of place either. It’s important to get community buy-in so if we have to
vote on any of this, then we know more. We’re homeowners – so we’ll be paying
for it.”
Before
the hearing, Mayor Pete Kmet and staff gave a 45 minute history of the draft Brewery
District Plan, and said that the plan lays the foundation for future efforts.
“There’s
money in the budget for the next level of planning, but we’re a long way from
construction,” said Tumwater Mayor Pete Kmet at the beginning of the hearing.
Public
testimony covered a diversity of topics. Despite the ongoing publicity, open
houses and meetings, some business owners were caught off guard with the Plan’s
proposals.
Dan
Vavrinec, general manager for Falls Terrace restaurant, said that initial
flyers did not include the restaurant in the focus areas discussed. The
restaurant has been in Vavinec’s family since 1969. His concerns were around
the loss of parking in both options.
“Proposed
changes…to Deschutes Way would be devastating and without doubt cause the
closure of the Falls Terrace.” He said that option 1 would remove 50 parking
spaces, and option 2 would remove 28 spaces, and both would place parking
farther away. “Either option 1 or 2 would mean the loss of an area icon and the
loss of employment for 42 persons.”
Vavrinec
said that the current parking area is used and shared by Tumwater Falls Park in
peak season, many community events such as the Duck Dash in June, and nearby
businesses. He offered alternative proposals and improvements to the area.
Lonnie
Lowe, Tumwater Chiropractic Center, and Larry Weaver of The Valley Club supported
Vavrinec’s testimony, and added their own concerns.
“The reality is, when you change parking, it’s detrimental to business. People
drive to where they want to go….urban centers haven’t taken off as much as
people would like them to. When I go to downtown Olympia, if I have to circle
the block a few times, I go to the mall. People with bad backs don’t ride their
bikes….” said Lowe.
Weaver
said The Valley Athletic Club has 11,000 members, and while the District Plan
was an interesting concept, re-routing traffic and changing parking would present
difficulties for the club and the Tumwater golf course.
Chris
VanDaalen said that he appreciated the community process and said that the proposed
zoning code amendments would provide a good opportunity for Tumwater to become a
carbon neutral community, and a model for energy efficiency. He encouraged the
use of renewable resources, being mindful of building orientation, and solar
options to achieve net zero energy usage.
Bob
Jacobs, a member of the Governor Stevens neighborhood, expressed concern about
the general commercial zoning in the Sunset triangle neighborhood area, saying
there was no buffer between the triangle and residential area. He also urged
that as the area becomes more dense, to not forget parks for green space.
Sandra
Brown, Capital Council of the Blind, said she appreciated the audible signals
in the area, but had concerns about safety on Cleveland at the Intercity
Transit transfer station.
“Right
now we need to cross Cleveland…it’s very dangerous – you take your life in your
hands. I’ll have the same concerns if it’s on Capitol Way.” She suggested the
closure of the area around Safeway on Cleveland from the inside of both
driveways into Tumwater Square, so that cars can’t access the area in the
middle of Cleveland. Brown said this suggestion has been brought up before but
didn’t make it into the final draft proposals.
Jack
Horton, president of the Woodland Greenway Trail Association, said that the
Plan presents a huge transformation to the area. “Pedestrians and bicyclists
are the indicator species of a community’s values…it’s face-to-face instead of
windshield-to-windshield. We have a growing knowledge-based economy, and
what’s going to happen is, those people are going to select the kind of
community they want to live in….and Tumwater has some iconic treasures….”
Walt
Jorgenson, a former Tumwater city councilmember, asked that the council
exercise caution about the nature of their investments. “If the private sector
isn’t doing it, then there might be a reason for it…pick and choose elements of
the plan that may be better than another.”
Stewart
Hartman said he’s lived in Tumwater “since the town had a population of 800
people”, and that his father was hired to work for the brewery by the Schmidt
family. He’s been working on an ambitious proposal to convert the brewery into
an international cultural center, an environmental center, a day care center, a
small vendor’s ‘world’s fair’ type of program, and restaurant, describing his
plan as “a major co-op where everyone owns it and the profits can to
redistributed to everyone in the county…it’ll have something for everyone.”
Judy
Bardin appreciated the Plan’s visuals, and urged that the commission and the
council maintain historic views. She also expressed concerns about putting
people near traffic as the area becomes more densely populated, saying that
health research indicates that there are adverse health effects such as
childhood asthma, and that light pollution and noise from traffic causes
hypertension and sleep disturbances.
The
planning commission will consider all comments, make modifications to the Plan,
and make recommendations to the city council. They will meet for work sessions
to discuss the Plan on February 25 and March 11. A recommendation from the
commission to Tumwater city council is expected in March.
Copies
of the draft Brewery District Plan are available for review in the Community Development Department at Tumwater City Hall, 555
Israel Road SW, Tumwater, during regular business hours, or online at www.trpc.org.
Hi Janine,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the follow-up note. The numbers I mentioned the other night were an approximate average. I went back and looked at the data this morning. Our 2013 data shows an average of 351 boardings per day for the two stops on Cleveland (there’s a stop southbound and a stop northbound). We know that many people taking the bus to the Tumwater Square transfer station are actually transferring between the four routes that meet there but we do not have that transfer rate (percentage) between the routes. Just that there are a lot of people that use those stops on a daily basis.
Let me know if you have any other questions or if I can help explain part of the concept of relocating those bus stops from Cleveland over to Capitol Blvd.
Dennis
Dennis Bloom
Planning Manager
Intercity Transit
360.705.5832
E: dbloom@intercitytransit.com
W: www.intercitytransit.com
I have been going to Tumwater Falls Park for years, every time I drive I-5. And every time I do so, I think to myself "That building would be perfect for so many uses!"
ReplyDeleteI am extremely glad that this entire area is getting looked at critically. Right now, despite the nature of the park, it feels a bit forgotten by both cities. As a (frequent) tourist, I'd love to spend more dollars in this community.