Recently The Arlington Times and The Marysville Globe published an article concerning the possible location of a transit center in the center of the retail area in Smokey Point. The article indicated that Community Transit would not proceed with their proposal if the project met with local opposition. This letter is written with the intent to convey some of the reasons why this proposal will be met with opposition from the local business community.
The land is too expensive for this use and should be used for something that would benefit property owners in the area instead of a parking lot for bus riders. Taxpayer dollars should be spent more wisely.
We all know what happens with a park-and-ride. The cars will overflow the designated area and all surrounding streets. The nearby businesses will be inundated with parked cars. Lowes, Safeway, Hawthorn Inn and all of the local malls will be used as free parking lots while the regular shoppers go elsewhere. Even our local Heroes Park will need to be fenced if this occurs.
Our intersection is handling enough traffic now without adding cars that only come here to park. The buses coming and going to and from a park-and-ride will only add to the congestion. Yes, the proposal is for a park-and-ride, even though a fancy name has been used by CT. A rose is still a rose.
We have enough transients hanging around our area now. Bus stops are a magnet for that problem. Again, Heroes Park will suffer that indignity as well.
Our local school district is suffering now financially and removing this property from the tax rolls will cause undue hardship for our schools. The retail community at Smokey Point is the main basis for our school support and has been zoned accordingly for this reason. Every penny of tax revenue is vital for our educational community.
The idea that bus passengers need to be in the center of a retail area is ludicrous. How many packages can one carry when taking the bus? Bus passengers will need to get into their cars and move the cars before they can shop. Most of the passengers would be commuting to Boeing or other workplaces and would be in a hurry to get home. They would not be interested in shopping.
If Community Transit has so much money to spend, why dont they offer Dwayne Lane the same price per square foot for his land at Island Crossing? It is situated between three highways and various forces have deemed it unbuildable. Keep Smokey Point growing in the right direction and disallow this park-and-ride in the center of our retail area.
Mary Ann Monty
Arlington