ARLINGTON The city of Arlington has announced two public hearings, one with the planning commission on March 18 and one with City Council on April 7.
Its just a bit of housekeeping, according to senior planner Yvonne Page.
The new owner of the gas station over on West Avenue wants to convert the repair shop into a convenience store, Page explained.
There is a small area in the Old Town Business District 2 which does not allow convenience stores and the owner is requesting a change.
Page thought it was simply an oversight during the last code changes in 2003.
Since its located on a main drag and associated with an existing gas station, theres no good reason to not allow a convenience store at that location, Page said.
She pointed out that a couple of convenience stores already exist in the Business District 2 and they are also allowed in Business District 3.
The code change request will be presented first to the Arlington Planning Commission. The purpose of the Planning Commissions hearing is to hear public testimony regarding the project prior to making a recommendation to City Council. The City Council will then hold a hearing to take public testimony and make the final decision at a regularly scheduled meeting April 7.
The public hearings will both be held at the City Council Chambers, 110 E. Third St. in Arlington.
File No. PLN20080004 concerns Table 20.40, Permissible Uses, to allow convenience stores in Old Town Business District 2 of Arlingtons Title 20, Land Use Code. The applicant is Athwal Corporation.
A copy of the Notice of Public Hearing is available at no charge from the Department of Community Development Permit Center, 238 N Olympic Ave., in Arlington or call 360-403-3551.
The city of Arlington is just beginning to review some amendments to its Comprehensive Plan, with an initial discussion at the Feb. 25 workshop.
Comp Plan amendments will create some new zones, all initiated by the city.
Changes will include Master Planned Neighborhoods for the Brekhus Beach Annexation area on Burn Hill and the Lindsay Annexation area at SR 9 and 172nd Street.
The lowlands of Hank Graafstras dairy farm, 137 acres may be changed from low/moderate density residential to public/semi public, in the process of relaying the land to the city for park use.
A rezone of light industrial to various other options is proposed for the bluff, east of I-5 and north of 188th Street and seven acres at 172nd Street west of 67th Avenue, may be changed from light industrial to general commercial.
The plan is to get these amendments done by mid- summer, Page said.
State law allows us to amend the comp plan once a year, and this will be our once annual amendment.
The proposed changes will work their way through the system during the next few months. Watch for upcoming public hearings.