Downtown plan draws hope, criticism

Controversy over the use of the North Park district took center stage at a Monday night public hearing at City Hall concerning the further development of Kent through the downtown urban plan.

“To have a vibrant downtown, we need housing for all types of people,” said Alan Gray, who echoed the concerns of fellow Land Use and Planning Board members Barbara Phillips and Randall Smith regarding keeping low income housing available in the area.

The existing plan, designed by city planner Gloria Gould-Wessen, would streamline downtown zoning by sectioning the area into six distinct regions based on their pedestrian and commercial characteristics: North, South, East and West districts, as well as Central Avenue and Historic districts. The zoning in these regions would be adjusted to more align with the goals for the downtown plan as well as encouraging specific types of growth and development in each.

The plan also calls for the rezoning of a half block between Fourth and Fifth Avenues, south of Cloudy Street to a commercial use space, and rezoning several blocks between First and Fifth Avenues from single family low income housing to multi-family townhouse use.

Several board members feared that the rezoning would push low income and single family housing out of the area in favor of more expensive townhouses and commercial enterprises.

During her public address to the board, Tina Budell, with the North Park Neighborhood Association, laid into the plan, saying that it would irrevocably damage the neighborhood’s community.

“Changing the designation of our neighborhood to MCU (mixed use core urban) will kill our neighborhood,” Budell said.

While the area discussed is only half a block, Budell fears that it will follow a progression seen over the past several years of slowly pushing low income housing out of downtown Kent. Budell says that the association provided Gould-Wesson with a number of ideas for development of the North Park area, but didn’t see any of those suggestions in Gould-Wessen’s presentation.

Gould-Wessen denies that the idea has been in any part of her proposal, and that the rezoning of the block was made more with consideration of ShoWare Center’s proximity to the half block than a desire to move out the low income housing.

In addition to the complaints regarding North Park, other residents voiced their opinions on focused methods for improving the atmosphere downtown.

Wade Schwartz, who owns the Blanc n’ Schwartz Salon on Meeker Street, raised concerns that other businesses would be pushed out of downtown, or would take their stores elsewhere if costs became too high. As a recent example, he cited a fruit store which moved to the East Hill due to high costs of operating downtown.

“It’s kinda sad when we see more businesses moving out than moving in,” Schwartz said.

“It’s a tough row to hoe,” said board member Jack Ottini, after reminding the board and audience that as a 73-year resident of the city, he’s also seen the downtown footprint expand and that there’s no easy answer to managing the growth.

Whichever choice the planning board picks, one fact is inevitable, as put forth by a 40-year Kent resident. “Growth is inevitable, you either grow or you die,” the man told the board.

The board decided against voting on the plan Monday, instead tabling the issue until their next meeting at 7 p.m. on July 22 at City Hall to work out how to handle the sensitive topic before forwarding it to the Kent City Council for consideration.

For a more detailed look at the Downtown Strategic Action Plan, go to http://kentwa.gov/planning/ and select Long Term Projects. It is listed under Venture Downtown.