A possible new apartment building

The talk of the town is the proposed development in back of the old gas station (in back of Sliders) on Center Street. To set the record straight, we in the neighborhood welcome the addition to the rental housing inventory. But we don’t welcome a gigantic building that will kill the neighborhood.

The proposal is three stories, the bottom level of which is short term lodging. There is tons wrong with the proposal, but this letter will not address those failings.

This is letter is about vision – or the lack thereof.

When the town was looking at the treasure of the Hedlin property, they thought nothing of rezoning a chunk of it to residential. We need this, they said and while they needed to reconsider the zoning they did not need to make it unaffordable residential. They could have worked with the Skagit Home Trust to make it affordable,

Now we have this Center Street proposal. The part of the property abutting Center is commercial. It didn’t need to be zoned commercial but it was. History. The developer is now in a bind because residential use is not allowed in that location except as a Conditional Use above the commercial use. So they put two stories of residential above the commercial lodging on the ground floor to meet code and all of that will be above the increase in height necessitated by the flood plain. That makes three stories on top of an already elevated base flood level. That will be well over thirty feet tall with all entrances of residential on the back side. Picture that unneighborly facade.

But is there a way out of this? There always is. If Maple Avenue happened, Center Street could too. There is a way. A disputed planning decision of the past should not have to doom a neighborhood. The ideal outcome would be to allow the two stories of residential rentals that are proposed and ditch the lodging on the ground floor. It would save the owner from wasting money on a losing business and might allow for a more interesting design.

The design could actually serve our housing needs and even have some open space. It could have enough proper parking. It could have a charging station.

Commercial lodging is not a need. Tall buildings are not a need. We need a good neighbor to build a place worthy of La Conner—the gem we call home.

The town could call for a moratorium on the current zoning of that property -- which is not yet vested and give La Conner what it needs – this time. Make the property residential only because that is what a residential neighborhood needs.