To: Steve Friddle, Community Planning Manager and Steve Hall, Olympia City Council
Restart Application Process for Proposed 7 Story Apartment Building in Downtown Olympia!
An effort to restart application process for the proposed 7 story, 138 unit apartment building on the corner of 4th Ave and Columbia St in downtown Olympia, Washington.
Why is this important?
Steve Hall, City Manager
Olympia City Council
It has come to our attention that Columbia Heights LLC plans to construct a 7 story, 138-unit building with approximately 7,600 square feet of commercial space on the ground floor and structured parking for 121 vehicles. The first public comment period for this project is scheduled to end at 5 pm on March 7th. Although a public notice and letters mailed to property owners notifying them of the proposed project may have been sent out in accordance with OMC Chapter 18.78, there is reason to suspect that it has not been properly followed. In some precursory research we found that the company "Columbia Heights LLC", the company listed on the legal notification, went bankrupt in 2008. The address which is listed on the legal notification is 123 4th ave E, where, presumably the address is 123 4th Ave W, though there is no way to be sure. Furthermore, a significant number of businesses within 300 feet of the exterior boundaries of the assumed proposed site have not received a notice from the city or been given sufficient information concerning the project.
In lieu of these facts, and overt inconsistencies in the application process, and taking into consideration the size, scope, and impact of this project we respectfully request you restart the application process with correct and consistent information, and postpone both the Design Review Board and SPRC meetings until you properly follow your legal obligations to the citizens of Olympia. In doing this, downtown residents, workers, local business and property owners will have enough time to assess the impact and understand the implications of this project. Thank you for taking our request into consideration.
Olympia City Council
It has come to our attention that Columbia Heights LLC plans to construct a 7 story, 138-unit building with approximately 7,600 square feet of commercial space on the ground floor and structured parking for 121 vehicles. The first public comment period for this project is scheduled to end at 5 pm on March 7th. Although a public notice and letters mailed to property owners notifying them of the proposed project may have been sent out in accordance with OMC Chapter 18.78, there is reason to suspect that it has not been properly followed. In some precursory research we found that the company "Columbia Heights LLC", the company listed on the legal notification, went bankrupt in 2008. The address which is listed on the legal notification is 123 4th ave E, where, presumably the address is 123 4th Ave W, though there is no way to be sure. Furthermore, a significant number of businesses within 300 feet of the exterior boundaries of the assumed proposed site have not received a notice from the city or been given sufficient information concerning the project.
In lieu of these facts, and overt inconsistencies in the application process, and taking into consideration the size, scope, and impact of this project we respectfully request you restart the application process with correct and consistent information, and postpone both the Design Review Board and SPRC meetings until you properly follow your legal obligations to the citizens of Olympia. In doing this, downtown residents, workers, local business and property owners will have enough time to assess the impact and understand the implications of this project. Thank you for taking our request into consideration.