Roosevelt Ridge Homeowners Association

May 10 the board met and discussed the Public Hearing that will be held on the 24^th.  Our board this year has a diverse background and exposure to the process of zoning that will help us through the next years.  Based on the expertise, we put together some information we believe you will want to know.

The City of Monroe along with all cities in the State of Washington must plan for future growth.  By law, each City must project its future population growth by updating its Comprehensive Plan every 7-10 years.  The City of Monroe has determined that it does not currently meet the law because there are not enough identified areas for future growth within its existing Urban Growth Area (by 2025 the City will be short by approximately 2,519 lots).  The City needs to identify suitable areas that can be “up zoned” (increase zoning density) or annexed in order to meet the projected growth targets of the City.  The City of Monroe has identified the Roosevelt Ridge area as one of several areas that can be up-zoned to meet the expected population growth.

The City is planning to change the zoning from the current R 2-5 designation (2 to 5 single family residences per acre) to R 5- 7 (5 to 7 single family residences per acre).  The City is doing this to comply with the law.  This has nothing to do with an actual development.  No specific plans will be brought forward at this stage.  The planning board will vote on this, assuming they pass the zoning change; following the vote a number of steps that will occur culminating in Annexation into the City of Monroe.  Only at that stage, would a developer be able to apply for specific development permits ultimately to build on lots.  A number of steps would then occur, where the developer would have to go through wetland studies, environmental studies, traffic impact studies, etc.  

A Public Hearing is scheduled for May 24th at 7pm in the Council Chambers located in the City of Monroe City Hall Building – 806 W. Main St.  The Roosevelt Ridge Homeowner’s Association Board of Directors would like your input in drafting a comment to be presented to the Planning Commission at the meeting.  Please email your comments to: ktmchick@gmail.com & pbauccio1@comcast.net.  The Board will then draft an official comment based on input from our community and present it at the hearing.  Please submit your comments by May 18^th, 2010.

You are also encouraged to attend and provide your own comments at the hearing on the 24th as well.  This is the time for the community to let the Planning Commission know what it thinks about the proposed up-zone.

Here is a proposed response that we can consider along with input from the community:

On behalf of the RRE HOA, we appreciate the City of Monroe’s challenge in dealing with growth and complying with the Growth Management Act, however the proposal to up-zone the Roosevelt Ridge area from the current designation of UR 9600 to R 5-7 is not in keeping with the character of the neighborhood or surrounding areas.  We respectfully request that the Planning Commission change the zoning to R 2-5 for the following reasons.

1)  The Roosevelt Ridge Area is currently made up of established Larger Suburban Minimum Lots, Agricultural Land, and Large Horse acre properties.  There are a few pockets of higher density neighborhoods along the Robinhood Lane area, however these densities are still within the R 2-5 parameters.  A higher density designation approaching 5 to 7 homes per acre is not in keeping with the character of the area and is incompatible with the rural / suburban mix currently in the area.

2)  The Foothills neighborhood is geographically close to Roosevelt Ridge.  This neighborhood is of the higher density proposed by the City.  Some may argue that the existence of a higher density neighborhood so close to Roosevelt Ridge is a justification to impose the same zoning on Roosevelt Ridge.  There are some important distinctions that should be made.  The Foothills neighborhood has direct access to a controlled intersection at US 2.  The Foothills are geographically separated from Roosevelt Ridge by the US 2 Westwick Bypass area that cannot be developed.  Roosevelt Ridge is primarily accessed via two country roads (Trombley and Robinhood Lane).  Higher densities in the area will be inadequately served by two steep, winding roads with no shoulders.  

We appreciate that the City must plan for future growth, and realize that over time, the undeveloped areas around Roosevelt Ridge will be developed.  We strongly encourage the Commission to consider a R 2-5 zoning designation rather than the current proposed R 5-7, as the higher zoning designation would be incompatible with the roads servicing the area and be incompatible with the rural / suburban nature of the area that currently exists.