b'PLANNINGMidtown Planning District ProjectBY GLEN PICKUS, PLANNING DIRECTORI n the middle of the City there is a prime 9.5-acre site that has been sitting vacant for the past 12 years ever since the County moved its public works facility out of town from 1201 Bonneville Ave.For those years people have wondered how the highly visible site will be developed with its nearly block-long frontage on Avenue D. What were the Countys plans? Would another public works facility be built there?In an act of collaboration, County staff met with City staff to discuss future plans for the site. Once the site has been cleaned up from pollutants that migrated to the site from a dry cleaners on the other side of Avenue D, the County is going to either sell the property or manage its redevelopment in a way consistent with the Citys vision for the area.But what exactly is that vision and do the existing zoning regulations support that it?In February the City Council proactively started a process designed to answer this question and to ensure the proper regulations are in place prior to the sites redevelopment. A 13-member Task Force has been selected by Mayor Kartak and confirmed unanimously by the City Council to lead the effort which has been titled the Midtown Planning District project.The projects boundaries are the Avenue D commercial corridor from Sixth Street north to the roundabout at SR9.The projects objective is to update the development regulations for the Commercial zone, where the site is located, so the land is redeveloped in a manner consistent with the communitys vision and that makes the best use of the property. Two City Council goals are to expand the citys tax base and to provide additional housing options including affordable housing.The Midtown Task Force will meet four times and hold one public open house. Due to the uncertainty caused by the coronavirus/covid-19 outbreak the original schedule has been discarded and a new one has not yet been set.Two private consultants have been hired by the City to facilitate the Task Force meetings and to help them develop recommendations for design principles and standards and revised code language. For more information about theThe Task Force will ultimately make recommendations to the City of Snohomish Planning Commission which will process theMidtown Planning District Project visitrecommendations as proposed code amendments. That process willthe web page created for the project atinvolve a couple of work sessions followed by a public hearing wherewww.snohomishwa.gov/706/Midtown-District.community members are encouraged to provide their input. If you have specific questions, contact City of The Planning Commission will conclude its public hearing by makingSnohomish Planning Director Glen Pickus at a recommendation to the City Council which is the ultimate decision-making authority on code amendments. pickus@snohomishwa.gov or 360-282-3173.6SPRING 2020SNOHOMISH QUARTERLY'