Sultan saves town; comprehensive plan complete
The motivation couldn't have been stronger; get it right or lose the town. That's what a government agency told incoming Sultan Mayor Caroline Eslick last winter regarding the town's Comprehensive Plan. So nearly half a million dollars and countless hours later, the city is on the verge of delivering the hefty document. Depending on how you look it, it is either weeks ahead of schedule, or years behind.
"We would not be a city any more"
"We were in big doodoo," said Eslick, gathering with city workers Donna Murphy, Bob Martin and Deb Knight in a sunny second-story meeting room in Sultan's City Hall Friday. "When I took office, I was called to the Growth Management Hearing Board personally. They were trying to decide whether to sanction us immediately."
In recent years, the GMHB had heard nine challenges to the city's old comprehensive plan, the document required by law that establishes the city's plans for growth in coming decades. In eight of those cases, the GMHB ruled against the city. That meant that the city was so far out of compliance with state law that the state could dissolve the city's charter, rendering the town a part of unincorporated Snohomish County.
"We would not be a city any more," said Eslick. "I had to promise them that if they gave us one more chance, we'd give them a comp plan that was in compliance."
It was February; Eslick asked until the end of the year. She was denied. "They said 'No, we want it by Sept. 20,'" said Eslick.
The fix
The problem with the old comp plan was that it was assembled piece meal, said Community Development Director Bob Martin. Then, two planning commissioners, Josie Falgatter and Jeff Kirkman, fearing improperly managed growth, repeatedly went to the GMHB, complaining that the comp plan wasn't complete. Eight times out of nine, the GMHB agreed.
"The Growth Management Act requires that you not just have a plan for how you are going to conduct your land use program, you have to have a financial plan for how you are going to pay for it," he said. "The essence of the cases at the Growth Management Hearing Board was, Sultan had a plan, but didn't have a financial plan."
Not only that, but all of the different elements of the comp plan, including transportation, water and sewer and other city concerns, had to work together.
It was the transportation plan that proved the most difficult to resolve. That is because, unlike many other cities, Sultan's infrastructure has big gaps.
"In Sultan, we're still in need of main arterial streets," said Martin. "We need to connect Eagle Ridge to Sultan without having to use Highway 2, for instance," said Eslick. "So when a developer comes in and wants to build a subdivision, everyone understands the developer is going to pay for the streets in the subdivision, but we don't have the arterials for the subdivision to connect to," said Martin.
There was a fix, but it came with bad news.
Some fees to soar
The roads will be funded by mitigation impact fees, just the way it is done in all towns. Those are fees paid by developers, to offset the costs associated with the new traffic they will bring It is based on a complex formula that establishes how much development potential exists, and how much road it will require to handle that development.
Then each incoming business pays a fee per traffic unit, based on the type of business that it is. Unfortunately for Sultan, the formula yields a startlingly high number, because the number of roads needed to accommodate new business is still quite high. That has some concerned that new businesses won't be able to afford to come to Sultan.
"We're really worried," said Dave Wood, the president of the Sky Valley Chamber of Commerce. "We know it's put of the hands of the city. But the fees are going from $1,400 to $5,400 per unit of traffic that the business will generate, so it pretty much is going to kill any new business."
Eslick agreed that the new fee will present a challenge to economic development. "We are looking for business, and if someone wants to come in and build a building, our fees will be thousands, right off the bat," she said. "That can be discouraging. But we do have other attributes that can be inviting," she went on, citing the town's beautiful setting and strong sense of community.
And, noted city administrator Deb Knight, if business doesn't pay for the roads it will need, someone else will, more than likely a taxpayer. "If new development doesn't pay for itself, someone else does," she said. "There's no free ride. The money has to come from some place. It's a tough, tough spot for everybody."
"We're there"
The city council put in many extra unpaid hours, and the city ponied up nearly half a million dollars from its already tight budget to pay consultants to help. In the end, the fact that no one is entirely pleased with the outcome, including the development community, probably means that the city did it right, said Knight.
It was a lot of work, but it paid off, said Eslick, with her colleagues surveying a stack of completed documents nearly two feet tall. "We're there," she said.
And she's happy with one thing. The city will survive.
The final public hearing, at which people may comment on the completed plan, will take place in council chambers Tuesday, Sept. 9. The state will render its decision Dec. 6.
When the city passes muster, the mayor might throw a little party, she said.
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