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City's Vision for the Simpson-Riverfront Area south of Highway 2 bridge: This <br /> two mile long area adjacent to the Snohomish River contains approximately 205 <br /> acres and extends from the Highway 2 bridge south along the river and includes <br /> highly visible yet tremendously underutilized or vacant properties. Most of the <br /> land in this area is presently owned by the City. The vacant south part of this <br /> area was a former paper mill, and a large portion of the northern area is used <br /> for miscellaneous industrial activities, including log storage. While there are <br /> environmental concerns related to the tire fire site and former landfill, and <br /> vehicular access constraints, there is significant potential for a variety of urban <br /> uses, including parks, trails and other public uses. The Planning Commission <br /> has suggested that potential uses include a college campus, transportation <br /> services, municipal facilities, industrial, residential, and commercial use either <br /> related to the unique riverfront location (restaurants with river view, etc.) or <br /> which serves the other uses in the immediate vicinity (neighborhood retail or <br /> office park services). Examples frequently cited as desirable riverfront <br /> redevelopment include the riverfront areas in Portland, Oregon, and New <br /> Westminster, British Columbia. The City should work with private property <br /> owners in this area to develop long term redevelopment plan for this area. <br /> ; and <br /> WHEREAS, the Glacier Park Property is zoned "C-2 Heavy Commercial-Light Industrial" <br /> and the Simpson Property is zoned "M-1 Office and Industrial Park"; and <br /> WHEREAS, the City has developed a riverfront trail on the Simpson Property and has <br /> designated a majority of the Simpson Property to be preserved in its natural state; and <br /> WHEREAS, on November 16, 1997, the City Council concluded that adequate taxes had been <br /> collected to pay off the CIP 1 bonds and, as a result, repealed the surcharges on the City's <br /> B&O, utility and gambling taxes; and <br /> WHEREAS, in 1998, the City obtained a "Brownfields" grant from the U. S. Environmental <br /> Protection Agency which is funding a technical analysis to facilitate redevelopment of the <br /> Glacier Park Property, the Simpson Property, and the City's landfill site including geotechnical <br /> and environmental studies to evaluate the land's ability to support structures, pilings, and <br /> foundations while effectively addressing ground water, wetlands protection, shorelines, and <br /> other environmental issues; and <br /> 4 <br />