Arrested Development
Sultan home building plan on hold

by POLLY KEARY, EDITOR

There is a frozen-in-time feeling to Timber Ridge,
a housing development on Sultan Basin Road.
There are a handful of beautiful homes with
well-manicured landscaping, but no cars in the
driveways. There is a new red swing set in a
playground, but no children play. There are
mailboxes on empty sidewalks, clover growing
up around red fire hydrants near numbered
empty lots. Yet these streets, these blank
cul-de-sacs, were supposed to be a thriving
community of 86 homes by the end of 2006.

And that was just one of many housing
developments that had been given preliminary
plat approval at the end of 2005; in all, about 900
homes were slated to be built by the end of this year.
Of those, less than 150 were built. Then, a slowing housing market and a looming mortgage crisis put the brakes on development that to some seemed like a runaway train.

"They all came in in 2005," said Sultan City Administrator Deb Knight, gazing at a color-coded map dated 2005 that looks like a patch work quilt reflecting all the development that was supposed to come. "That was a little scary for Sultan."

In fact, it threw Sultan's planning community into a tailspin. Sultan was trying to update its comprehensive plan; some wanted the town to grow as much as possible to encourage economic growth, others feared Sultan couldn't handle it or would change too much.

The city's sewer system needed to expand. There would need to be more parks, more cops, more school capacity, more streets. The city scrambled to keep up with an onslaught of developers appearing for building permits and preliminary plat approval. Because regardless of the concerns of those who thought Sultan wasn't ready, the city had no choice but allow all comers with legal development plans to build.

"Under the Growth Management Act, we have no choice," said Knight. "We have to accommodate. If you have a city and you have a comp plan, you have to be ready for people to come."And there were plenty of people who were ready for people to come.

"Your classic theory is that retail follows rooftops," said Knight. "There's a theoretical tipping point. Fred Meyer didn't come to Monroe unti lthe Fryelands was built."
And new revenues follow retail. For a town that has long existed primarily on property tax, some sales tax income would be welcome.

Sometimes the tension between those in favor of growth and those concerned that Sultan wasn't ready grew nearly explosive; the entire planning commission was disbanded by the council after two commissioners repeatedly and successfully launched legal challenges against the city for failing to create adequate planning documents.

But ultimately, the housing market rendered many city arguments moot. Hammer, one development company with 75 homes planned, went bankrupt., Knight said. Some developers simply fell silent. Others have asked for extensions, including Vodnick, AJ's, and the trustee handling the Hammer bankruptcy. And some scaled back or slowed down on their plans. Steen Park is slowly building out 18 lots, selling the homes as it goes.

The developer handling 108 homes at Greens and another 48 at Skoglund has preliminary plat approval and still plans to build.Timber Ridge is still slated for completion, too, but at a slower pace. Ultimately, it seems, those urging caution and those eager for growth may both get their way.

The city finally took the only legal road to saying "no" to development, declaring a moratorium on development for the next five months as it finishes producing a comprehensive plan that will satisfy the state. And then, perhaps, the rest of the homes will come to Timber Ridge and its neighboring developments, putting houses behind the mailboxes and cars in the empty drives.

Because by then, Sultan may be ready.

Back to main page