Isthmus park petition submitted; rezoning effort likely to continue

Details, expense of buying land unclear

By Matt Batcheldor | The Olympian • Published September 19, 2008

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OLYMPIA – The city should be able to move forward on a developer's proposal to raise building heights on the downtown isthmus despite a petition from a South Sound group that wants to turn it into a park, city officials and a park proponent say.

The group submitted the petition, with about 4,500 signatures, Thursday asking the city to study the park proposal.

Jerry Reilly, chairman of the Olympia Capitol Park Foundation, said the initiative doesn't preclude the city from acting on the development proposal.

However, "It's pretty clear that the public doesn't want them to do that," he said.

He was among about 20 people who marched to City Hall to deliver the petition.

Triway Enterprises, a South Sound developer, is asking to raise height limits from 35 feet to 65 and 90 feet on the strip of land between Capitol Lake and Budd Inlet. It proposes to build one five-story and one seven-story mixed-use building between Fourth and Fifth avenues, with 141 high-end condominiums and parking, office and retail spaces.

Reilly's initiative would require the city to conduct a feasibility analysis on acquiring and developing most of the isthmus as a public park. Land and buildings north of Fourth Avenue, including Bayview and the Oyster House, would not be part of the analysis.

The initiative also would require the city to contact the state to see whether it would be interested in being a partner in developing the park, and consider private and federal help.

Cost of election

The city could either agree to the feasibility study or let voters decide in a special election, in February at the earliest.

But there's a big disincentive to doing so — a special election would cost thousands of dollars in a bad economy that will force city budget cuts for 2009. Mayor Doug Mah said he had heard an estimate that an election could cost between $100,000 and $150,000.

Reilly said he hopes the petition will make the city think twice about adopting the development proposal from Triway.

But it's also unclear how land for the park would be acquired. It belongs to private owners. The proponents of the park say they don't know how much it would cost to buy the parcels and demolish what's on them, including the vacant Capital Center building, which is more than 100 feet tall. That's the point of the analysis, Reilly said.