10 years ago — 1998

n With the nation’s Independence Day celebration a little more than a month away, some Smokey Point residents say they are feeling a kinship with revolutionaries who fought for the right to determine their own destiny. “I feel something so vitally important should be voted on by the people,” Smokey Point resident Daryl Gemmer told the State Boundary Review Board last week at a hearing concerning a proposal that, if approved, would put the area inside the Arlington city limits. “This is like the Boston Tea Party all over again. Taxation without representation,” he said. Gemmer, and about a dozen others speaking at the meeting, encouraged the BRB to deny the annexation proposal because most residents inside the area had no part in the three-year-old proposal to annex the area to Arlington. The current annexation proposal under consideration by the BRB looks vastly different from the one proposed in November 1995. Then the proposal included the area between I-5 and 43rd Avenue NE, from 152nd north to 172nd, and jumping across the freeway to include Lakewood Commons. The BRB, in an effort to straighten boundary lines, added residential areas north of 172nd and approved the annexation. That decision was appealed in court by those residents added after-the-fact — and by the city of Marysville and the Marysville Fire District. A negotiated settlement between Arlington, Marysville and the fire district was announced a year later delineating the Urban Growth Boundary between the two cities and providing agreements for water, sewer and fire service. Marysville provides water and sewer services to the area and had refused new hookups until the settlement was reached. The settlement also changed the boundaries of the proposed annexation area into Arlington because some of that area became part of Marysville’s UGA. The new annexation area — 164th Street NE north to 188th Street NE between the freeway and the Arlington Airport — removed many of the property owners who signed the original 60 percent annexation petition, especially between 152nd and 164th and Lakewood Commons west of the freeway. The negotiated settlement, a behind-closed-doors agreement that involved discussion between officials of Marysville, Arlington and the fire district, did not include property owners or area residents. It was, however, later approved by the Snohomish County Planning Commission and the Snohomish County Council. The BRB is scheduled to deliberate and expect a decision on the annexation with the new boundary lines on June 9. The public hearing portion of the process was closed last week. The BRB has the authority to deny the annexation, approve it with the new boundaries or change the boundaries. According to most of the testimony at the last public meeting, and supported with petitions containing more than 500 signatures, most of the area’s residents want no part of the annexation. In fact, many would like to create an independent city of the Smokey Point/Lakewood area. That’s one way, according to incorporation proponents, to preserve the community served by the Lakewood School District.

25 years ago — 1983

n Bill Stipek, owner of Bill’s Superette market on Olympic Avenue, finally had his day in court on the issue of the city’s sidewalk merchandise display ordinance and he won — sort of. The results of the day-long jury trial at Cascade District Court came as something of a surprise to the host of city officials present and to Stipek himself, who had predicted earlier that he would be found guilty of the three separate charges of allegedly displaying merchandise on a city sidewalk without a valid permit. The six-person jury reached its “not guilty” verdict, they said after the trail, because of the “vague” wording in the ordinance as to the geographical description of where on Olympic Avenue commercial displays are allowed (with a permit). Such displays are specifically not allowed on any other city sidewalk. During the trial, in which Stipek defended himself, he attempted to raise the issue of “selective enforcement” of the sidewalk ordinance, he tried to establish a historic pattern of “harassment” of himself and his business by the city and tried to bring up the motives of the City Council in proposing and approving the ordinance last fall. However, it was only his reference to the wording on one part of the ordinance which convinced the jury of his being “not guilty” of the charges. Stipek said after the trial that he felt he was not free to display any merchandise he wished to, but City Supervisor Howard Christianson and Code Enforcement Officer Bob Mulligan said they did not see it his way but would refrain from taking any further action against Stipek until they could talk with the judge or before the City Council takes action on the ordinance.

50 years ago — 1958

n A small crew of volunteer laborers laid the water pipe for the Arlington Little League Field last week-end. The pipe was laid from the school parking lot to the grandstand. A city ditch-digger, operated by Hank Spencer, dug the ditch early Saturday morning. Phil Bjorn, of Columbia Valley Lumber Co., operated one of his pipe-threaders for most of the day, threading needed pipe. Connecting the pipe was Stan Evans, Jack Strotz, and Waldo Evans. Joining the pipe laying crew later in the day was Murel Osborn, Bill Quake and Chuck Haddenham.