Submitted by Eric & Jen Chandler.
TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN…..We are still against this proposal for the same reasons in our original letter…TRAFFIC !
And, even though Alliance has made an attempt to waylay our concerns about this critical aspect of this project, there is still much to be considered and answered. What follows are our thoughts with regard to that conundrum that must be answered completely BEFORE THIS PROJECT IS ALLOWED TO PROCEED…..
“Traffic & Parking Considerations”.
please note, we have separated the sentences from Alliance’s original-document’s-paragraph for ease of reading and allowing our commentary/concerns to be seen more clearly, which follow immediately. Original Alliance’s Document Text is in quotes:
“Traffic and parking concerns were also common themes in the public comments.”
!!! Alliance NOW PROJECTs 476 Parking Slots !!!
“The project is updating its TIA right now, but there will be a net increase in the total trips generated from residents of the development.”
The TRAFFIC STUDY we indicated needing to be done appears to have been done, but by WHOM (??), our questions are:
+ TIA = Traffic Impact Assessment. Updating it? WHO has done or will do that work?
+ WHERE is the original one, and WHO, specifically, Did The Assessment? From the research we had to do because of the lack of details provided by Alliance, we found that a Traffic Impact Assessment is typically conducted by a trained and qualified “TRAFFIC ENGINEER”, who:
◦ forecasts additional traffic associated with a proposed development,
◦ identifies potential problems that might influence traffic flow, and
◦ suggests ways to mitigate any negative effects.
+ This crucial study and analysis enables developers to ensure they plan accordingly and provide adequate access for the traveling public—an increasingly critical key to success in today’s urban environments.
+ Developments that are properly Planned & Designed with minimizing impacts to existing roadways in mind, while also providing safe and efficient access for all users are crucial to the health of a community.
Based on what we have seen about this TIA and the assessment we did and reported previously on this topic, we seriously doubt it was done by a professional Traffic Engineer.
“The project intends to pay the city a traffic impact fee to invest in additional traffic infrastructure as needed to offset the newly generated trips.”
Here are some questions that need answers with regard to the Traffic Impact Fee:
• Who will determine the Fee Amount?
• What criteria/data will be used to determine the Fee Amount?
• Any idea of how much that might be, and How Much will Alliance be willing to pay?
• Is the City of Lakewood prepared to hire a qualified Traffic Engineer AND How Much will that cost?
• Is Alliance willing to wait for a completed TIA before doing any construction?
“In terms of parking, the project is currently parked with 165 parking stalls above the city’s code requirements for a total of 476.”
Let’s see….that means 476 more vehicles entering and leaving from this area alone….at least twice a day….that adds up to a minimum of 952 vehicles using, at the most, 3 primary exits from the apartment complex ! What a potential mess….regardless of what is done to minimize problems.
Taking the details provided in our initial letter to the City of Lakewood of MARCH 2024, as well as our concerns about Alliance’s above recent changes-&-additions into consideration, it is absolutely imperative that ALL of the Questions Asked MUST be Answered Completely and Satisfactorily in order to make a Logical and Correct Decision about this apartment complex. Too much is at stake, including people’s lives, to do otherwise.
HERE IS A LINK TO THE REVISED PLANS for this Apartment Complex….keep in mind it takes all of the parking lots and the Barnes & Noble Shop.
https://pals.cityoflakewood.us/public/documentView?docSysId=40176
What a ridiculous idea building an apartment complex in this area. Does Lakewood have anyone with common sense working there? There are only a few access points to these shopping area that are already busy with cars and Pierce transit buses.
Wake up Lakewood stop this madness!
Dear Ms. Reid!
Please send in a public comment today by 5pm to that effect!
Here is a template that will send it to the Senior Planner and City Council:
https://actionnetwork.org/letters/tell-lakewood-city-council-and-planning-department-no-apartment-complex-at-barnes-noble-site
Thank you!
Mercy Buckets for your comments….EKC
How about condos. At least you would have ownership in the project . Something for the elderly to be close for their needs.
No they have no common sense!!!
I agree. The traffic problem and lack of any free flowing roads around here is very bad.
Yes, they put in sidewalks.
Yippee. But by doing so, have eliminated very crucial and necessary dual lanes of travel!
Congestion reigns, and ruins any simple driving trip within City of Lakewood.
The apartment project is as sensible as putting one at a Park & Ride.
I still don’t understand why City of Lakewood closed 108th St., since it was on Pierce Transit line, connected with Gravelly Lake Dr., had sidewalks & crosswalks already.
That was the beginning of the traffic problem in Lakewood Towne Ctr.
Dear Kar!
Please send in a public comment today by 5pm to that effect!
Here is a template that will send it to the Senior Planner and City Council:
https://actionnetwork.org/letters/tell-lakewood-city-council-and-planning-department-no-apartment-complex-at-barnes-noble-site
Thank you!
Mercy Buckets for your comments!! EKC
This is ridiculous. “Planners” and “administrators” for Lakewood are using faulty judgement.
Dear Ms. Raybell!
Please send in a public comment today by 5pm to that effect!
Here is a template that will send it to the Senior Planner and City Council:
https://actionnetwork.org/letters/tell-lakewood-city-council-and-planning-department-no-apartment-complex-at-barnes-noble-site
Thank you!
Communities never seem to plan for traffic unless they are forced to or people complain. I disagree that there will be 476 more vehicles as most residences have at least two drivers per home, so you can double that (allowing for those with more than two etc). Take a drive up to Bonney Lake some time and see what happens with over building and extremely poor infrastructure. 24/7 the traffic there is out of control – I don’t care what time of day you go there. They are overbuilding without improving their infrastructure something that apparently Lakewood is following
Dear Ms. Day Mitchell!
Please send in a public comment today by 5pm to that effect!
Here is a template that will send it to the Senior Planner and City Council:
https://actionnetwork.org/letters/tell-lakewood-city-council-and-planning-department-no-apartment-complex-at-barnes-noble-site
Thank you!
Susan….thanx for your response!
What you say is verrrryyyy true all over WA ….like the Hiway that goes to Orting, or the Hiway to Yelm.
Thanks for including the template. I added my name. This plan is a travesty.
Thank you!
Mercy Buckets Gail !! EKC
What a great use of this rarely used space. Close to the theater, Town Hall, I-5, shopping and transit. This is more logical than constricting these apartments away from the supporting infrastructure.
LETTER TO A CITY
4 October 2024
DEAR ALL,
Lakewood has a problem.
Budding from Tacoma where old wealth clustered retreat around wood-rimmed lakes, glistening below Mount Rainier and watered in crystal purity, from soulful beginnings expansive dwelling grew around golfing pastimes and seeding enterprise along early roads of commerce. A vision of place sprouted with its Colonial Centre in a peaceful twilight before the last great war before fields of camas lily and oak began to vanish beneath villaging pursuits.
In time, now well over fifty years, merging interests sparked civic interest to incorporate a city – one with inevitable but necessary municipal code. That came to pass with good purpose in 1996,and since, to the general benefit of all concerned, progress in the fashioning of urban coherence and those things that inspire human association has been evident and well received. But a problem persists. To the credit of generational endeavor by citizens legion, civic leaders and organizations engaged, city councils, managers, administrators and everyone who has ever stopped to pick up a piece of litter from the streets of community the City of Lakewood strives to achieve and deliver. So, what’s the problem? It is, what defines Lakewood?
Visit classical cities around the world, great or modest, and you will find at their core the centering experience of a park, a pedestrian place, a commons where silence and celebration may fill with equal assumption the human reverence of momentary peace or joy. Lakewood, out city, needs that experience no less than any other. But how are we to fashion that place where it should rightfully be?
Lakewood Towne Center needs a centering municipal vision, one enabled by incentive, code relief, private and/or public investment, planning and the enduring patience to realize the possible. The Alliance Lakewood Towncenter (apartments, parking) project not only fails to contribute to a centering municipal vision, but would constitute a consequentially serious step away from ever achieving one.
I have no immediate remedy to detail before the Lakewood Planning Commission or City Council, to the public interest or to proponents of this proposal other than to plead that all interested parties find a path toward overcoming, revising as required, present existing obstacles insofar as may be possible to ultimately create a Town Centering “downtown” that may ultimately realize the vaunted “Vibrant” welcoming pedestrian moment that every normal sentient person finds essential to the public harmony of community.
Respectfully,
Bob Warfield
Lakewood, Washington, USA
Mr Warfield…..wonderfully written good sir!
FIVE STARS + EKC
It probably comes down to a matter of $$$ in tax revenue and expanded government services. It’s how you build empires. “Expanding the tax base” is a euphemism for making community development decisions based upon what’s in government’s best interest. This is sort of like a pride of lions looking at herd of zebras and wanting to expand the protein base. Follow the money.
Of course it comes down to MONEY 💰 💰💰
It’s clear that anyone with clear vision can see the nightmare that is about to unfold. If that number + cars are going to be present, where is the space for the buildings? Will any of the people living there have visitors? Where will they park? How much MORE traffic will that bring?
Having seen the cracks in the floor of the old original stores, their seventh year of existence, how can they build this complex on top of the creek below?
I still want to know–exactly– not some vague ‘appropriate spot’–where they are planning to push Barnes & Noble.
It’s clear that this new vision is faulty, consider its consequences before it is too late.
State law GMA mandates Lakewood increases housing units available in Lakewood.
And this site in Towne Center is absolutely one of the best places for us to accommodate the legally mandated growth… it is central to our major 4 lane arterials, it’s on a major public transit bus hub, it’s close to I-5 and the light rail station, plus it’s got gov’t services, retail, groceries, a new library and restaurants in walking distance and nearby.
I find it interesting that most of these comments seem to be from drivers.
I can’t drive. Medical reasons. I need the sidewalks and pedestrian accessibility they decry.
This letter is poorly written. It’s all over the place, is poor at making at its point, and has more of a “wake up sheeple” feel than “these are sound, logical arguments to not do this.”
As for the apartments, what can we do? Lakewood can’t expand outward; it’s blocked on all sides. Building upward is limited by the aquifer a chunk of the community sits on. The other choice is to reject people from settling in Lakewood unless they can prove they’re moving into an existing open spot. That’s not practical.
Traffic doesn’t seem bad there at all really great idea being built at existing mall infrastructure