Condo outbreak at downtown waterfront approaches

author : WIP News Service topic : waterfront

by WIP News Service

While developer Triway is once again scheming to transform Olympia’s waterfront into a profitable bloc of condominiums available only to the very wealthy, Olympia’s new, development-friendly City Council is doing what it can to facilitate the process. On March 22, the City of Olympia conducted a forum, ostensibly to get public feedback about a proposed zoning change on the downtown waterfront area between Capital Lake and Budd Bay, the isthmus between Water Street and the 4th and 5th Avenue Bridges.

However, the forum—with its fancy graphics, slide shows and out-of-town consultant running it like the Master of Ceremonies at a cheesy wedding—made it pretty clear that a lot of money has been spent on this project already, regardless of what the public thinks. It didn’t seem so much like an opportunity for community feedback as an attempt to sell the unpopular project to a reluctant public. The class angle in this proposal wasn’t touched on much at the hearing, but it is pretty obvious.

The openness of the waterfront area, guaranteed by the current height limits for structures (35') is an important amenity for the general public, made clear when well over 600 people came to a hearing six years ago and overwhelmingly said “no” to a similar proposal. This openness contributes to the enjoyment of the area by everyone.

The Triway proposal would use this space to benefit a few (estimated 120 or so) relatively wealthy condominium owners who would be able to enjoy gorgeous views while looking down on us riff-raff. The proposal would alter the area from Urban Waterfront to Urban Waterfront-Housing, with only housing allowed above the first story of the buildings in the area. The condominium units are estimated to be offered at sale prices of approximately $600,000 to $1 million.

And we, the citizens of Olympia, would subsidize them further because they would pay no property taxes for 10 years. (A city ordinance, designed to stimulate housing construction in downtown Olympia, exempts all multi-family dwellings built in the downtown area from property tax on construction for ten years – tax is paid only on the land, which is a relatively small part of the property value.) Of course, the very wealthy developer would reap large profits. The bottom line—the public loses its access to the waterfront, as well as the formerly protected view from the capitol campus, and a few wealthy folks gain.

The buy-and-rezone tactic being used here is common among wealthy developers, and Triway is following the playbook. They contributed to City Council campaigns (including $1200 in 2007 to Doug Mah, according to the Public Disclosure Commission), hired a former City Councilmember (Jeanette Hawkins) to lobby the council, and hired designers and planners to sell this proposal based on its supposed benefit to the community. One tactic has been to contact neighborhood associations for support, using their biased information which includes the statement that the area would be better looking with large buildings than with small buildings (which cannot be foreseen, since this is a zoning decision, not a design decision). They’re also stressing the importance of adding dense housing to the downtown, which everyone agrees with, but for which there is virtually unlimited space available in the downtown area.

At the forum, held at public expense, an out-of-town urban planning group distributed copies of a slick handout entitled “Rezoning Scenario Priority Matrix,” which showed the relative merits of different re-zone scenarios, with an emphasis on the environmental advantages of 65’ and 90’ height limits. It’s almost as if they’re implying the project’s goal is to create housing opportunities in downtown Olympia and preserve the environment. The matrix proclaims that the re-zone would “sustainably accommodate population growth“ and “reduce dependence on auto use,” as if the developers are altruistically motivated, rather than interested in making money.

Friends of the Waterfront, which successfully fought a similar attempt to re-zone the isthmus in 2002, is again working to block this proposed zoning change. Anyone who wants to be on the contact list should send their name, phone number, and email address to jacobsoly@aol.com. Friends of the Waterfront will notify people of coming events.

But Bob Jacobs of Friends of the Waterfront, stressed “it is important for people to act on their own, and not wait for us.”

Some possible actions for concerned community members include:

Writing Letters to the Editor of the Olympian. These are easy to send—see the Olympian’s website for electronic transmission, or use a typewriter or pen and paper.

Contact the City Council and express your opinion. Call 753-8450 and leave a message with the staff for councilmembers. Or email citycouncil@ci.olympia.wa.us.

Talk to and email your friends about this issue. Urge them to do what they can.

Attend the Planning Commission’s public hearing for the proposal on June 18.

Plan to attend the City Council public hearing in September.