King County Executive Ron Sims today signed a purchase and sale agreement with Yarrow Bay Group for the 156-acre Summit Pit property, the much-debated “donut hole” in Maple Valley that the Kirkland-based developer plans to develop for housing.
Yarrow Bay will buy the property from the county for $51 million in a deal that Sims said will lead to housing for a broad range of incomes, new parks and trails, and millions of dollars in revenue for Maple Valley.
Sims also announced he’s negotiating with Maple Valley officials to ensure the city is directly involved in discussions of development and uses of the property. He also said the county will support annexation of the site by Maple Valley so that it can receive as much as $20 million in taxes and fees associated with the development.
Interim city manager Christy Todd said last month that the city wants “joint planning.”
City officials have repeatedly voiced concern that the county would sell the donut hole property – so nicknamed because it’s county-owned but inside city limits – to developers without any local input. City officials worry that could lead to county-approved development that could overwhelm the city’s roads, parks and schools.
According to a statement from Sims’ office, Yarrow Bay’s plans calls for a master-planned, mixed-use community with active and passive open spaces, community gathering areas, a pedestrian-friendly design and transportation improvements.
The purchase agreement provides for preserving natural resource land against future development, Sims said.
The 160-acre Summit Pit property is off Southeast 272nd Street and 228th Street Southeast. Thirteen acres are used for a county Roads maintenance facility, gravel pit and recycling site. Also, nine holes of Elk Run Golf Course are on the property.
Sims proposes changing the property’s current rural zoning (RA-5, which allows one house per five acres) to an urban zoning that he said would be more consistent with the surrounding community. The change would be part of the 2008 update of the county’s comprehensive plan, a land-use guide that is being reviewed by the County Council.
At a meeting scheduled for Sept. 29, the council may vote on proposed amendments to the comprehensive plan, including the proposed zoning change for the Summit Pit site.
Todd said in August that the city has “asked for early annexation of that site once it’s rezoned.”
The deal with Yarrow Bay, which requires council approval before it can be finalized, is good for the county and the city, according to Sims.
“We have leveraged a county asset to help meet our responsibility to the people of the county that more housing is built that people can afford,” said Sims. “We’re now working on an agreement for Maple Valley’s participation in the planning process to make sure Maple Valley gets a development that continues to enhance its community and is a much better fit with surrounding neighborhoods than a gravel pit and road maintenance yard.”
The goal is to create a walkable urban community that’s compatible with the rest of the area, he said..
The proposed transaction with Yarrow Bay would allow the county’s road maintenance and recycling facilities to be relocated to county-owned land that’s east of Ravensdale. Money from the Summit Pit sale would be spent on that and other road-related needs in the county, officials said.
King County has owned the Summit Pit property since 1953 and expanded its use over the years to support road maintenance the county does under contracts with Maple Valley, Covington and other cities.
Maple Valley officials have been preparing for the possibility of 2,000 housing units via development of the Summit Pit site. In August, Todd said a consulting firm was hired to conduct a study of the potential effects of maximum and lower-density development.
