The City of Maple Valley held a special joint meeting with the planning commission and the economic development committee on May 6 at the Lake Wilderness Golf Course to discuss the future use of the Legacy Site.
The Legacy Site is a 50 acre parcel of underdeveloped land on State Route 169 across from Rock Creek Elementary School. The city purchased the land in 2000 and has yet to find a functional purpose for it.
Mayor Sean Kelly said the city council allocated $700,000 for the future of the Legacy Site and another $160,000 from the State Legislature.
The goal of the meeting was to join with the planning and economic commissioners along with the community to talk about how they foresee the future of the town center within the next three to 10 years.
“We want to be community partners with everybody and make sure we have input from all organizations before we move forward,” Kelly said.
Kelly said it was one of the best meetings he has ever attended because everyone worked together as a team and was very engaged in the conversation.
Participants had the opportunity to put sticky notes up on a window to share what they wanted the Legacy Site to be. Some of the ideas that came up was a business park, walking trails, more mass transit and other topics along those lines.
The biggest thing was that everyone felt welcome, according to Kelly.
The city then posted on its Facebook page asking community members what they think should happen to the Legacy Site.
“We need a pool in Maple Valley,” one commenter said.
While another commenter said, “An official Main Street with restaurants and local businesses. Enumclaw is the perfect example of a city, which is able to close off Cole Street as needed for parades, street fairs and community events. We desperately need this. The strip malls are too disconnected and don’t have a walkable downtown feel.”
A total of 78 people shared their thoughts about the Legacy Site on the city’s Facebook.
As of right now, no final decisions have been made.
Kelly said there will be a study session on May 20 to discuss Legacy Site options further, and then on June 3 the council will hold a follow up meeting to start making recommendations. He said the public is welcome to come and share their thoughts during public comment.