2008/11/19 Council Agenda Packet

September 28, 2008 Dave Koenig City of Everett Planning Department 2930 Wetmore, Suite 8A Everett, WA 98201 Jan Meston City of Everett Planning Department 2930 Wetmore, Suite 8A Everett, WA 98201 Jack O'Donnell Chair/Historical Commission Everett, WA 98201 Dear Representatives: Friends and neighbors in Riverside are proud of our neighborhood. In the last 15 -20 years, new people have come to this neighborhood because of their need for a sense of community, for reasonable housing prices and for the historical significance of Riverside Neighborhood, part of the first planned community on the west coast. Riverside Neighborhood was and is a community of hard working people who are proud of our past, a past that includes the shingle mills, the lively hood of mill workers, superintendents and owners. This was the start of present day Everett, and we are not apologetic about our beginnings. We are not ashamed of our past. We understand that Everett and Snohomish County are making a concerted effort of growth in the next twenty years. This is progress. Progress is all right if it is done properly. We need to move forward. However, we do not feel that we need to level every old house to make way for modem edifices of concrete, steel and chrome with asphalt parking lots. We feel the old houses and the new should co-exist. We want to preserve Riverside Neighborhood, which is an established community with fine old houses and plenty of green space. The current application for a Historical Overlay is for a certain district in Riverside at this point. However, we would like to declare all of Riverside as a historical district at a later date.