Fitness club possible for former COA restaurant

A new entrée is part of the menu planned for the former COA restaurant building at Maple and Washington avenues.

The site has been home to various eateries over the past half-century, all of them operating as a non-conforming residential use. That could change.

The planning commission learned at its July 16 meeting that the new owners of what old-timers call “the old Joe’s Drive-In” want a private fitness club and martial arts studio there.

Getting those plans approved could test the applicants’ strength and stamina. Assistant Planner Ajah Eills said the building will require a new conditional-use permit to reopen as a non-residential entity. She said the owners planned to meet with town officials this week.

Several residents suggested the property might be better utilized for residential use given the lot’s zoning.

“We, as residents, are always talking about housing,” said Kathy Shiner. “Can we send letters (to the town)? This really needs to be what it is supposed to be – residential.”

Former planning commissioner Linda Talman agreed. She said a conditional-use permit may eventually be granted but only after the applicants go “through hearings and a gauntlet of letters” to Hearing Examiner David Lowell.

Attention returned to the 20-unit apartment/condo building proposed at 306 Center St. where plans for an elevator shaft received town approval. Subsequent county review under the International Building Code has for now put the brakes on the project.

“We have to see whether the IBC on this is applicable,” Eills said. “The town doesn’t review for IBC, but the county caught this in the IBC.”

Eills said Aaron Reinstra, fire chief and code enforcement officer, will work with county staff on a resolution.

In response to audience questions, Eills said she wasn’t aware of a permit being issued to demolish the burned house on North Fifth Street. The home was gutted June 19 by what Reinstra termed an accidental fire. Neighbors said they suffered smoke damage and can still smell burned vinyl siding from the charred structure.

Commissioner Sommer Holt lamented that a post-fire cleanup process can be prolonged.

“A friend of mine had a fire three months ago and only now has received the first insurance check,” she said.

The meeting closed with a discussion of the state Growth Management Act and the importance of the town meeting its standards.

“Recently, staff has learned of misunderstandings of the Growth Management Act,” Eills said. “In particular, we have heard from community members that the GMA contains ‘suggestions’ rather than requirements. This is not the case.”

In 2021 the Legislature changed the way communities are required to address future housing needs, directing local governments to “plan for and accommodate” housing affordable to all income levels, Eills said.

The statute also directed the state Department of Commerce to project future housing demands for jurisdictions by income bracket and updated how they need to plan for housing in the housing elements of their comprehensive plans.

“If La Conner does not follow the requirements of the GMA in the Town Comprehensive Plan, then La Conner may be found in noncompliance by the Growth Management Hearing Board,” Eills said.

Noncompliance can result in sanctions such as withholding motor vehicle fuel tax and sale and use tax revenues and prohibiting collection of real estate excise taxes. Sanctions could cost the town more than $700,000.

“We just want to clarify that the GMA isn’t optional,” Eills said.

“Our goal is always to make sure that what we have in place in La Conner is consistent with the GMA,” Town Planner Michael Davolio said.

He said that the federal census conducted every 10 years lays the foundation for population projections assigned to cities and counties. La Conner is projected to support a population of 1,300 in the mid-2030s, said Davolio.

Commission chair Bruce Bradburn said the town is compliant with GMA.

“We simply have to plan for being capable of doing what they want,” he said. “We’ve done that, so we’re in compliance with GMA.”