By JON SILVER, Daily Journal of Commerce Staff Reporter
The city of Lake Stevens in Snohomish County has been growing quickly. In the past 10 years, the population has more than quadrupled, from 6,400 to nearly 26,000 after a series of annexations, and is expected to grow to more than 40,000 by 2025. Now, the city encircles much of the 1,040-acre lake after which it was named.
The city wants its suburban-style downtown, situated on the northwest corner of the lake, to keep up with the growth. So it's seeking consultants to devise a land-use and zoning plan for the 240-acre area, which is centered around 20th Street Northeast, Main Street and Hartford Drive Northeast.
The budget is $100,000 and proposals were turned in this week. The city expects to select a consulting team on March 22.
The deadline is Dec. 31 for the plan to be completed and approved by the City Council.
Mayor Vern Little said he wants to see the downtown core become more of a destination, “where people have a place to enjoy us.”
It already hosts a farmers' market, concert series, annual festival and an Ironman triathlon.
Little said he'd like to see better access to the downtown waterfront and mixed uses, including more restaurants, retail and housing.
The waterfront park, North Cove Park, is an open expanse with picnic tables and a boardwalk, but it's tucked behind City Hall and a public library.
That could change. A new civic center is in the works on a city-owned site on Grade Road, north of the current site, which would free the current City Hall property for redevelopment.
The downtown isn't near a major highway, limiting its prospects as an employment center, but Little said town centers and shopping areas in nearby cities could serve as models for what the downtown could become, citing Mountlake Terrace, Mill Creek and University Village in Seattle as examples.
He said he envisions an anchor such as a grocery store and a mix of local and national retailers and restaurants. He plans to talk with local businesses to see what will work.
The city has two other commercial areas, including Frontier Village, located on the east side of the lake where state Route 204 meets Route 9, which houses the city's big-box retail. A smaller commercial area is at the lake's south end.
Becky Ableman, the city planning director, said a number of developers have expressed interest in redevelopment opportunities downtown in recent years.
They see Lake Stevens as “a gem here on the lake,” Ableman said. A downtown redevelopment would present “a unique opportunity to create something special.”
The new civic center would have 60,000 square feet of government and public use areas, 7,500 square feet of retail and 100 housing units.
Fire district offices and Sno-Isle, the library system serving Snohomish and Island counties, would share the public space.
The civic center could help jump-start development of an underused area that includes plenty of vacant land, though much of it has wetlands and streams, and is prone to flooding.
Ableman said work on the civic center won't start until funding is in place.
“We're looking for the economy to turn around,” she said.
Jon Silver can be reached by e-mail at or by phone at (206) 622-8272.
