ARLINGTON – Opponents of a rezone that could have eventually resulted in as many as 90 townhouses near 172nd Street and 67th Avenue NE are happy with the City Council’s decision to reject the proposal.

The council on Monday voted 5-2 to deny the rezone, with council members Jan Schuette and Debora Nelson voting in favor.

The privately initiated Riar Family rezone of 7.23 acres and proposed comprehensive plan amendment arrived at the council for action without a recommendation from the planning commission.

Local residents against the rezone said after the meeting that they were satisfied with the outcome, and they felt they were heard.

“I’m just relieved,” said Dwan Kinney, whose property was one of the parcels added to the rezone application. “It’s a good night to be happy.”

Judy Castanares, who lives in The Crossing at Edgecomb east of the proposal, thanked the council for its thoughtful decision. She said she understands the challenges the members face in keeping a growing Arlington livable.

“Just because a project might meet the comprehensive plan’s goals doesn’t mean it matches the fabric of the communities or neighborhoods around it,” Castanares said. “This project wasn’t the right fit for this location.”

Opponents argued that the rezone for the three-story townhouses project would have created more traffic on already congested commuter roads, raised drainage and environmental issues, and impacted school populations as well as police and fire services.

Council Member Chris Raezer questioned the process that led the rezone to come forward. He was troubled by the decision to add properties to avoid what would have otherwise been a “spot rezone” of a single property, which was banned by the state supreme court.

Community and Economic Development Director Marc Hayes said that planners discussed adding the additional parcels during staff review of the rezone application in part to avoid the appearance of a spot rezone.

Taking into account adjacent land and the way the property fit into the existing area, Hayes said, planners approached the proposal as a transitional rezone between adjacent neighborhoods and property zone Neighborhood Commercial on the corner of 172nd and 67th, where The Village At Edgecomb Station could one day be built. It could include multi-family housing behind storefronts along 67th and Centennial Trail.

“When we rezone, typically our preferred process is to be proactively looking forward,” Raezer said. “This is not a proactively looking forward rezone. This is a reactive response to an application that had to basically be assisted to make it fit so it wouldn’t be challenged.”

The property is zoned Low- to Moderate Density, which would allow for the building of 24 single-family homes, consistent with nearby neighborhoods.

Over the next 20 years, the city needs to be able to absorb at a minimum 7,000 additional residents within the city in order to meet state Growth Management Act goals and population projections.

Hayes said earlier that there is not enough buildable land available in Arlington city limits with just single-family housing development.

The city issued a news release on June 22 prior to the council workshop where the rezone proposal was introduced in order to better explain to the public the role of the planning commission, the processes to plan for growth, and the risks of losing state shared revenues if the city can’t handle growth.

This was the second multi-family rezone in a month that came with no recommendation from the planning commission and was denied by the council. Council denied the Stewart rezone last month near Cascade Valley Hospital, which will still allow for apartments, just not as many.