Developer's plans rile neighbors

Lacey project has lower density than earlier proposal

SCOTT WYLAND THE OLYMPIAN

LACEY -- A long-time South Sound developer who wants to build about 385 houses on a 71-acre property near College Street heard the same concerns from neighbors Tuesday as a previous developer did two years ago.

Gemini Corp. is requesting that the city rezone a wooded tract from "village center" to a mixture of residential uses, including low to moderate density and neighborhood commercial.

Twelve people who would be affected by the project testified at the Lacey Planning Commission hearing.

Most were residents of the Avonlea and Lexington subdivisions, which abut the land that Gemini wants to develop along College between 39th and 49th avenues.

More traffic, less green space

A large development would destroy scenery, wildlife habitat and quality of life, while causing traffic congestion, heavy stormwater runoff and crowded schools, neighbors said.

"I see this addition as nothing but a pool of cars plugging up College even more," said Paul Strand, who lives on 29th Avenue. "To add 70 acres of potential automobile drivers -- it's just not permissible."

However, Strand was one of several people who applauded Gemini's past projects, most of them in the Lacey area.

In fact, Gemini built the Lexington and Avonlea subdivisions.

"Our goal is to really try to create neighborhoods, not just build homes," Gemini Vice President Rob Rice told the Planning Commission.

The commission decided to table the rezoning request until more research could be done on traffic impacts and the proposed 10,000-square-foot commercial center that would be part of the development.

Gemini has obtained an option to buy the property from the Bailey family. The land is assessed at $432,000, according to the Thurston County Assessor's Office.

"If we don't get a rezone, we're going away," Rice said after the hearing. "We're not doing a village center."

Village center zoning is designed to create high-density housing amid green spaces and pedestrian paths.

Rice said he thought the land should be developed in a way that meshes with the neighborhoods that are already there, rather than the radical change that a village center would bring.

Avonlea is low density, so a development with similar density should abut it, Rice said.

In 2000, Fife-based GGT proposed to build the 517-unit "Villages at Avonlea" on the property.

GGT scrapped the plans last year, citing a weak housing market. That project would have included 126 apartments.

In contrast, Gemini wants to build houses only.

Although Gemini's subdivision would have fewer homes than the one GGT proposed, Gemini's could end up with less open space, said Judy Cook, an Avonlea resident.

A village center requires that 15 percent of the site contain green space, whereas a regular subdivision must have 10 percent set aside, said Joyce Phillips, senior city planner.

Gemini would have to leave buffers around a wetland and some space around a 7-foot-diameter cedar tree on the site, Phillips said.

The development would have an additional green space plus numerous "pocket parks" and a walking trail, said Jeff Pantier of Hatton Godat Pantier, which is doing the engineering work.

"I basically envision a meandering trail that flanks the wetland," Pantier said.

But Cook said she worries about how development would shred the greenbelt. "My concern is the clear-cutting of all those beautiful trees," she said.

Sean Twiggs, who just bought a house on Seville, said the buffer behind his house reduces traffic noise and supplies habitat for birds, deer and other animals.

"If you take that all out, where are they going to go?" he said.

David Farabaugh of Avonlea Lane said a big subdivision would strain local schools, which have already added portable classrooms to keep pace with enrollment.

"The schools right now appear to be overcrowded," Farabaugh said.

North Thurston School District will charge Gemini $985 per house in impact fees, Phillips said.

The fees would go toward creating two future elementary schools, she said.

One would be at Summerwalk Village Center, a mixed-use project on Yelm Highway that would include a Wal-Mart.

Kent Adams, a resident of Seville Lane, said he's not so naive to think that the wooded area near his house would never be developed.

But he would like some of the natural buffers to be retained, especially near College Street, he said. "It makes me feel safer as a resident."

What's next

The Lacey Planning Commission will reconsider Gemini Corp.'s request to rezone a 71-acre parcel near College Street at a March 26 hearing. For information, call 360-491-5642.

For more South Sound stories go to the South Sound section.

The Olympian Copyright 2002

back to main Home Page Stories index