I wish to express my concern regarding the current proposed zoning for the Town Center area in Maple Valley, and to urge readers to support a more sustainable solution that meets the city’s most urgent needs.

Maple Valley has a shrinking supply of land for the establishment of new businesses that can help diversify and increase the city’s tax base. Presently, two-thirds of the money spent by people in Maple Valley on goods and services goes to businesses outside the city limits.

The recent designation of land northwest of Four Corners as suitable for mixed-use development is an opportunity to support new types of businesses that are needed in the city. However, in preparation for this, a majority on the city’s Planning Commission only seeks to require that 25 percent of the land be reserved for commercial use.

This instead creates the potential for hundreds of residential apartment units to be built on vacant and under-developed land, clogging streets and a state highway that the city is unable to expand.

There are other several additional, critical factors to consider.

1. The current likelihood of Maple Valley falling below the city’s required level of budget reserves is very high.

2. The property tax rate in Maple Valley already is one of the highest in the county.

3. An effort to attract family-wage jobs to Maple Valley is focused on redeveloping a gravel pit that is a long ways away from being ready for alternate use.

4. Vacant land along state highways is presently being targeted primarily for residential development rather than commercial development.

Instead of primarily focusing on allowing for more housing, the city needs a more balanced approach to mixed-use zoning. The chairman of the planning commission recently proposed requiring a minimum of 50 percent commercial use in the Town Center area. This is worthy of support.

People don’t like to have to leave their own city to do their shopping, but currently that is what too many in Maple Valley have to do. Why be so short-sighted with zoning?

In overlooking this opportunity, we are leaving money on the table – to the tune of more than $300 million a year in consumer spending by the people of Maple Valley.

Jonathan Miller

Maple Valley