by Janet Blanding

As the folly of unwise overextension in the housing market is becoming alarmingly apparent to the rest of the world, the City Council of Olympia is blithely moving ahead with its plan to gentrify downtown Olympia. With its customary disregard for the will of the public, on Sept. 30, the Council voted five to two to proceed with a rezone that would enable Triway Enterprises to construct high-end condominiums on the isthmus between Budd Bay and Capitol Lake.

by WIP News Service

1. The community doesn't want it. Written comments submitted to the Planning Commission and City Council have been running approximately 4 to 1 against the rezone.

2. Most of the supporters of the rezone seem to be financially motivated: About one-third of written comments to the Council and Planning Commission in favor of the rezone were from people in the construction business and another third were from downtown merchants and business owners.

Bonnie Jacobs with a better vision for the isthmus.

More fun then watching millionaires spawn.

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.

Why build condos when mere photo doctoring can give the idle rich what they’re looking for?