February 2021 No
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Works in Progress Advocating for social justice since 1990 Vol 31 February 2021 No. 6 Proposing a new “urban village” The determination of non-significance Not surprisingly, the Agreement A “fixed and functioning West Bay” was found to have no meaningful environmental impact. The result: a DNS—a determination of non-signifi- cance. [See a description of Develop- for whom and to what end? ment Agreements and “non-project” an esplanade along the shore and an very minimal to very complicated. vs “project” actions on page 8] Bethany Weidner agreement that the developer would It also requires that Development follow recommendations of a 2016 Agreements be presented at a public Notwithstanding the DNS, Washing- As new “market rate” apartment report on restoration of the “Hardel hearing before being submitted to ton law requires that Development buildings sprout up all over down- Reach.” There were construction se- the City Council for their evaluation Agreements be presented at a public town Olympia, developers have quencing documents and a shoreline and approval. hearing and reviewed for approval by set their sights on prime shoreline restoration concept plan. City Councils. This is one of the few across the bay. What is more appeal- ing to a well-heeled transplant than a view of sailboats and an iconic mountain with picturesque Budd Inlet for your front yard? Developers Brandon Smith and Ron Newman have proposed a large- scale mixed-use project bordering the water on West Bay Drive, where Hardel manufactured plywood until its buildings burned down in 1996. The promoters are calling their proj- ect West Bay Yards, “in tribute to our timber heritage.” “Yards” is the latest in trendy labels for such upscale “ur- ban villages.” If the project comes to fruition, Olympia will join Camden Yards in Baltimore, Hudson Yards in New York City, Lincoln Yards in Chicago, and Dexter Yard in Seattle as “cities to watch.” An economic magnet rising along the shore? Rendering of two of five buildings proposed as West Bay Yards from a posting at Thurston Economic Development Council. The sheer size and scope of such a project would make a significant A useful tool for regulating A project becomes a development decisions not delegated change in the economic life of phased projects “non-project action” by Olympia’s council members to Olympia. West Bay Yards as pro- staff or an outside Hearing Examiner. As these discussions wound down, the posed wouldn’t be a village, but a The staff and WBY representatives developer and city staff agreed that In November, the CP&D staff small town with a population ex- wrote up a Development Agree- they would take advantage of a Wash- planned to recommend the Agree- ceeding that of many burgs—and an ment (DA) that had few particulars. ington law to give the West Bay Yards ment to the Council. Pending the ex- expectation to grow. Among other significant elements, it project certainty with a “Development was missing “mitigation measures” pected approval, the West Bay Yards As Troy Nichols, the Phillips-Burgess Agreement” that would lock in current required as part of the DA law. It project would go ahead under the spokesman representing West Bay development standards for 15 years. confined itself to establishing “pa- Development Agreement. Findings Yards (WBY) told The Olympian: of any subsequent environmental “Nothing happens without any eco- impact assessment could only be ad- nomic impetus to get things going. If A project with impacts as potentially massive as the one dressed within the terms of the DA. we’re ever to have a fixed and func- proposed on a contaminated shoreline of a waterway Instead, the train was stopped by a tioning West Bay, this the first step.” challenge to the “Determination of There’s already another proposal for that does not meet water quality standards…cries Non-Significance.” a 40-unit apartment building across out for a comprehensive environmental analysis. the road to the west. Evaluating impacts “at the earliest possible point” A “Development Agreement” is a Reviewing the specifics On December 1, the Olympia Coali- binding contract between a city and rameters and phasing schedule for of the project tion for Ecosystems Preservation a developer that specifies the obliga- future developments on the prop- (OCEP), appealed the Determination Over last summer and fall, the tions the developer has to meet, and erty” stating that everything in the Of Non-Significance (DNS) arising developer’s people spent time with ensures that new obligations will not Agreement was vested in the devel- from the Development Agreement. the staff of the Community Plan- be imposed on them during the term oper “under the Existing Land Use Regulations and may not be changed ning and Development department of the Agreement. In exchange, the When OCEP learned of the West Bay or modified by the City.” (CP&D) laying out the specifics of developer includes in the project Yards’ proposed Development Agree- the project. In addition to five apart- some public benefit that the city The CP&D staff used the Develop- ment, they were alarmed. “A project ment buildings with a total of 478 could not otherwise require. This ment Agreement as the basis for with impacts as potentially massive units, there would be new restaurant might be infrastructure improve- completing a checklist whose pur- as the one proposed on a contami- and retail opportunities, recreation ments, public open space, etc. pose is to indicate whether there’s nated shoreline of a waterway that facilities and offices. There would be does not meet water quality stan- Development Agreements are re- a need for a full environmental parking stalls for 680 vehicles—with dards mandated under the Federal served for major projects; they also impact assessment under the State an expectation that the bulk of them Clean Water Act cries out for a com- serve as powerful tools that can give Environmental Policy Act (SEPA). could be underground. The pro- prehensive environmental analysis.” a city increased discretion when By so doing, they turned the WBY posal contemplated creation of an project into a “non-project action.” it comes to approving a develop- Spokesman Troy Nolan of Phillips additional 1–1.5 acres of upland by Accordingly, they filled out the ment. To ensure against a blank Burgess defended the City’s handling adding new fill into the tidelands to checklist for “The West Bay Yards achieve the density sought. check, Washington law requires of his client’s application, “They every Development Agreement to Development Agreement” as a “non- There were site maps showing project action.” specify standards, ranging from the 4Urban village, continued on page 8 vehicle access from West Bay Drive, Works in Progress (WIP), is a community newspaper based We’re already out of time, but… in Olympia, WA, that has been published monthly since 1990. There’s a sentence that has stuck ing to correct racial inequality. violence, end the opioid epidemic, in my mind for years. I think it reduce homelessness—policies WIP’s mission is to contribute White response to the Kerner to the struggle for justice across was in a book written by Richard to encourage unions, mandate a Wright (the author of Invisible Commission helped to lay the living wage for all jobs, create and economic, social, environmen- foundation for the law-and-order tal and political realms, and to Man), but I’m not positive. fund high quality childcare, invest campaign that elected Richard massively in community-designed expand participatory democracy It’s not that we This is the sentence: Nixon to the presidency later that public housing, redesign the health across classes, races, and genders. don’t know what to do. It’s that we’re year. Instead of considering the full care system to promote health… Editorial policy not going to do it. weight of white prejudice, Ameri- cans endorsed rhetoric that called We know what to do to diminish Our priority is to focus on sto- Take this talk about “healing,” how for arming police officers like sol- the destructive consequences of ries that are ignored or misrep- we need to heal; to unify the coun- diers and cracking down on crime climate change—phase out fossil resented in the corporate media, try. How about we try providing in inner cities. fuels and their derivatives, rede- especially those that relate everyone with an equal opportu- sign and build a public/commu- directly to our mission. We seek nity to be a contributing member Sound familiar? What happened nity infrastructure (transportation, well-researched news stories, of society? What if we were to to our resolve at the end of the recreation, education) to replace serious analyses of issues con- pay people in proportion to their demonstrations about the death of our excessive and consumptive fronting our communities and contribution? All that nice talk George Floyd, and to the realiza- addiction to personally owning one account of personal experiences about essential workers and how tion that policing was part of the of everything. or reflections by local writ- much we depend on them would problem? be reflected in wages that com- Is it time to do these things? ers. We encourage articles that I think of the other issues where relate to the monthly theme, but municated their importance and —BW the high value society puts on their we know what to do. We know material on other topics is also what would diminish domestic Cover photo by Ricky Osborne. welcome. contribution. Informed opinion pieces are Here is one thing we could do accepted when accompanied by in pursuit of this goal. Senator facts, examples, and sources.