Above: Chambers Prairie Grange building
owner Tom Schrader arrives at his property at the intersection of Yelm Highway
and Henderson Boulevard in Tumwater. Instead of demolishing the former grange, Schrader
now plans to turn it into a Starbucks. He is in the process of purchasing the adjacent property, above, from The Farm Homeowners Association.
Starbucks Still in the Picture, Possibly in the Grange
By
Janine Gates
Little Hollywood
In late April, Little
Hollywood broke the news that Chambers Prairie Grange property owner Tom Schrader
was planning to demolish the 107 year old former grange and that he had entered
into negotiations with Starbucks to build a new 4,000 square foot building on
the Tumwater property.
The news surprised, confused, and angered many
Tumwater city officials and community members.
In early May, City of Tumwater Mayor Pete Kmet and
several city staff members met with Schrader to discuss the future of the
building and negotiated a series of understandings regarding right of way, new building requirements, a rezone of the
adjacent acreage currently owned by The Farm Homeowners Association, a proposed
drive thru, and setbacks.
Schrader has not yet filed a formal land use application or submitted final
designs to the city but now, instead of demolishing the grange
and building a stand-alone building, the grange is expected to be turned into a
Starbucks, says Schrader.
Time will tell. The building is not listed on any historic register.
In his haste to move the project along, Schrader had filed a request for an emergency rezone
of adjacent property belonging to The Farm in June but Mayor Kmet and the city
didn’t see a way to declare it an emergency if Schrader was going to raze the
grange and build a new building.
City staff negotiated several sticking points with
Schrader so, as far as the city is concerned, the former Chambers Prairie
Grange can stay where it is, and does not have to be moved to accommodate
future expansion to the Henderson Boulevard and Yelm Highway intersection.
Schrader purchased the grange building in 2015 and
announced he wanted to save it and convert it into a neighborhood coffee and
sandwich shop. After verbal miscommunications with the city and receiving a
rezone of the property in late 2016, he declared that the building could not be
saved and began dismantling the interior.
As part of the negotiations to spare the grange from
outright demolition, the Tumwater city council approved the sponsoring of a
comprehensive plan map amendment and the associated rezone of an adjacent
property owned by The Farm Homeowners Association, but not without some
questions and comment, at their meeting Tuesday evening.
Getting the amendment and rezone on the city’s work
docket allows staff to study the issue.
The
Farm and a Proposed Rezone
The area being considered for a rezone is part of
The Farm Homeowners Association property to the west and south of the grange on
Yelm Highway.
Once an agricultural area, the grange is now
surrounded by a tangle of different zoning categories.
Schrader has long been interested in this property
in order to have more space to develop his property.
The purchase is still not final, but The Farm
Homeowners Association community approved the sale of its property to Schrader in
concept on May 25. The vote was 81 to 8 in favor of the sale, said Schrader.
Depending on the outcome of a property survey, the
property is between 18,000 and 22,500 square feet in size and will cost
Schrader about $100,000.
A developer agreement between Schrader and The Farm is
also being prepared and expected to be finished next month. The city is
drafting the agreement and must approve it before the rezone is granted.
The proposed amendment would change the
Comprehensive Plan map designation of a portion of the parcel from Single
Family Low Density (SFL) to Public Institutional (PI) and the zone district
designation from Single Family Low Density (SFL) to Community Services (CS) to
match the comprehensive plan amendment and associated rezone done for the
former grange property in 2016.
Once the docket becomes final, staff will review the
proposed amendment as part of their 2017 long range plan work program. The
final docket review will start with a Planning Commission review and
recommendation process that will begin in September.
At Tuesday night’s meeting, Councilmember Nicole
Hill wondered about setting a precedent for rezoning an open space tract to a
different use. Staff agreed that the question was a “worthwhile concern,” but
said that it is not clear from the record how it became open space, and that it
is a remnant area fenced off from The Farm subdivision.
Members of the council and the Tumwater Historic
Preservation Commission have been polite, but have indicated that they felt
duped into the 2016 rezone from single family low density to community service,
having been swayed by Schrader’s enthusiasm and promise that the grange and its
historic character and integrity would be saved.
At a previous council meeting, Kmet admitted they all
should have asked more questions and asked for a developer’s agreement at the
time of the rezone of the grange property.
Schrader says Starbucks is willing to wait for the
proposed rezone process to be complete. A few months ago, they did not prefer
to be in the old grange building, but now, he said, they may be open to ideas.
Schrader went to Seattle on Tuesday morning to meet
with Starbucks representatives to discuss his latest architectural drawings and
ideas. Schrader says he wants Starbucks on the top floor of the grange, and he will keep
the basement for parties and events.
Above: The basement of the Chambers Prairie Grange as seen in November, 2015.
Along with other changes, Schrader says that he has already
taken out the floor and walls, and the stage will be taken out. In a 2015
interview, Schrader said he would save the stage.
With the historic integrity of the building and its
surroundings slated to be dramatically altered, including the cutting down of
at least three large Douglas fir trees and one maple tree to make a drive thru,
it is uncertain whether or not the deal will be worthwhile to some historic
preservationists.
At their last meeting, members of the city’s
Tumwater Historic Preservation Committee discussed their desire to tour the
property and see the inside of the grange.
Mike Matlock, community development director for the
City of Tumwater, says the city is only interested in exterior appearances.
Dave Nugent, president of The Farm subdivision, says
members of The Farm want the exterior appearance of the grange retained as a notable
landmark, saying the grange is integral to his neighborhood.
Grange members built the hall on land donated by the Wickie Family,
completing the structure in 1910, one of the first in Thurston County.
When Nugent was informed that Schrader visited Starbucks representatives with
designs showing Starbucks in the grange, the news concerned him.
“Putting Starbucks in the grange without losing its
historic integrity is something. The more he starts to modify the building the
more he’ll lose the protections the city has offered him….It’s certainly gone
back and forth. It is our hope that the grange is kept there. We want to see
that corner taken care of,” said Nugent.
Nugent said Schrader has a lot to get done before
The Farm sells their property to him, but strongly believes Schrader always
intended to save the grange.
As for the building’s interior, he hopes Starbucks
will want to tell the story of the grange and its history through pictures and
design.
Nugent says he knows some trees will be lost and
doesn’t think the neighborhood will be impacted. With the proceeds from the sale
of the property, The Farm intends to create a barrier between the subdivision
and the property to minimize noise and light pollution, and make other safety
and beautification enhancements to the neighborhood.
“The sale of our property (to Schrader) is fortuitous.
Neighbors are looking forward to the whole idea of going over there to get
coffee and pastries and have it be a gathering spot,” said Nugent.
Above: A lot of traffic passes in front of the Chambers Prairie Grange on Sunday afternoon at the intersection of Yelm Highway and Henderson Boulevard. Construction is ongoing for an active senior living facility across the street.
The Art of the Deal...Tumwater Style
In a development process that sounds a bit like
learning how sausage is made, communications between Schrader and the city have
improved in the last few months, particularly after an early May meeting
resulted in negotiations laid out in print.
In a May 6 email, Mayor Pete Kmet wrote Schrader
that if he wants to preserve the current building in place, the city is willing
to support a vacation of a portion of the city's right of way on Henderson that
the building encroaches on, in exchange for additional right of way on Yelm
Highway where the stairs are, with removal of the stairs.
The city is also willing to support a waiver to the twelve foot sidewalk requirement along Henderson and Yelm Highway and reduce this to a six foot wide sidewalk and support a waiver to reduce the ten foot building
setback and landscaping requirement so the grange does not need to be moved.
Regarding a drive thru, city code prohibits the
placement of a drive thru window between a building and the street. Kmet said the city would not support a variance from this requirement.
“With acquisition of the Farm’s parcel, it appears
possible to achieve sufficient queuing to enable provision of a drive thru
window on the west side of either the existing or a new building,” he wrote.
The rezone of The Farm parcel and vacation of a
portion of the right of way on Henderson Boulevard are dependent on city council approval. Similarly, any
variances depend on a hearing examiner decision.
Schrader is thrilled with the negotiations with the city, and if he gets the rezone, says his intent is to combine the properties and provide full service access points with left and right ingress and egress on both Yelm Highway and Henderson Boulevard.
“This is huge - now the entrance and exit for this corner is much easier for everyone….Things sometimes have a way of coming back around for the good. I will be keeping the grange, and buying the extra property…I can now go back to doing what I had always hoped for, and that is to restore and keep the grange,” Schrader said.
For
more photos and information about the Chambers Prairie Grange
and its history, and Tom Schrader, and go to Little Hollywood, http://janineslittlehollywood.blogspot.com
and type keywords into the search engine.
