MARYSVILLE Whiskey Ridge residents are fighting mad over plans to route a new east-west connector through property owned by more than 30 families. Many folks recently annexed by the city of Marysville near SR9 and Soper Hill Road didnt want to be included in the city boundaries in the first place and now they arent happy about the master plan the city is formulating. About 70 residents were present at the Jan. 23 meeting of the Marysville Planning Commission and Darlene Salo was one of them.
The road that they are proposing is cutting across the top of the hill, which is view property, Salo objected. They want an east-west route and they will cut through the Sunnyside Hill.
Salos family has lived on her property for 45 years and she wanted to remain in Snohomish County jurisdiction with five-acre lot sizes. The city took over the 1,535-acre area effective Dec. 1 and is now zoning the land. She wasnt happy about the higher density approved by the commission which would allow about 6.5 units per acre in some residential areas. Some incentives could have pushed that to as many as eight units on some land.
I would have hoped that the commission realized that the chairman had a great idea in that they had an opportunity to created a higher quality of lifestyle with the larger lots, Salo said.
Planning commissioner Deirdre Kvangnes said she and her peers looked at several options and strove to find the right balance. The commercial land is already close to major thoroughfares and the new road will be needed to distribute traffic evenly.
Vice chairman Dave Voigt said the hearing was one of the best of his career thought the speakers all presented viable options, although the majority of speakers favored the higher density plan.
It just would have complicated things if we changed it, Voigt said.
The chance for the formation of a Road Improvement District was the hot button issue that struck a nerve. This would be a local taxing authority that would bill property owners for improvements to nearby streets, as opposed to paying for them from the citys general fund.
That really got peoples attention, Voigt said. That can be a real burden on some people.
The commission opted not to pursue that mechanism, and Voigt was quick to note that the buck stops in City Hall.
The City Council can do what they want to do, Voigt said.
Mayor Dennis Kendall said that everybody in the area seems to want to get the most money for the land as possible and acknowledged the road was the biggest question mark on the table. His planners have worked with the Lake Stevens officials, he added.
The Marysville City Council will be discussing the Whiskey Ridge annexation at its Feb. 19 work session and at its Feb. 26 meeting.