Politics & Government
Woodway, Save Richmond Beach File Lawsuit Against Snohomish County, Point Wells Developer
Woodway Mayor Carla Nichols says the development is too big.
The town of Woodway and the nonprofit groupSave Richmond Beach on Monday filed a lawsuit against Snohomish County and Point Wells developer Blue Square Real Estate (BSRE).
The lawsuit seeks to prohibit Snohomish County from continuing to process BSRE’s development application for a mixed-use development at Point Wells.
“The town supports the redevelopment of Point Wells,” said Woodway Mayor Carla Nichols in a statement released by the town. “But we cannot support the county and developer’s vision of 7,000 new residents at this remote site.”
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The 61-acre Point Wells is next to Woodway at the southwestern tip of Snohomish County. The only entry to the site is a two-lane road in Woodway, with its sole connection being through the Richmond Beach neighborhood of Shoreline, which is in King County.
State Rep. Ruth Kagi (D-32nd District) agrees with the town of Woodway. “I have grave concerns about the unreasonable impacts that a development of this scale would have on the surrounding community,” she said in a statement.
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The current lawsuit, according to the release, follows a recent ruling by the state’s Growth Management Hearings Board finding the county’s designation of the Point Wells site as an “urban center” invalid and illegal under the Growth Management Act and state environmental protection laws.
The developer and county consider the project vested under the county ordinances that were declared invalid by the hearings board. According to the Woodway release, BRSE submitted its application after the case was heard by the board, but a couple of weeks before the board’s ruling.
Woodway town administrator Eric Faison says Woodway has attempted to have its concerns addressed through negotiation. He says the town has tried repeatedly to persuade Snohomish County, and the developer, to limit the size of the development, but has been unsuccessful.
“We really do not believe that litigation is the best solution to this problem,” Faison said. “Unfortunately, we’ve reached the point where our options are limited.”