Mill Creek volunteers urge walkability, green space in South Town Center master‑plan workshop

City of Mill Creek planning commissioners and volunteer board members met Aug. 21 for a special master‑plan workshop on the South Town Center area to identify priorities for shaping planned growth in the zone south of the Towne and Country grocery site. The workshop gathered planning commissioners, members of the design review board, parks and arts advisors, youth advisory members and staff to provide consolidated input for the master‑plan consultant and City Council.

The session centered on how the city should manage development that is now allowed under the city’s 2024 comprehensive plan. “The objective of this meeting here is not, how can we stop the growth because the growth has to happen, but more the growth is happening. So how can we make sure that when we do grow, it's growing in a way that reflects our values and what we think is most important,” Planning Commission Chairman Dave Hamilton said during the presentation.

Why it matters: the South Town Center was rezoned as part of the 2024 comprehensive‑plan effort to accommodate a state‑directed population and housing target for Mill Creek. Staff told attendees the subarea includes roughly 50 acres of redevelopable land and about 55 existing businesses; the zone allows buildings up to five stories and does not include a local density cap, meaning future projects could add substantial housing and commercial space if redeveloped.

Staff framing and timeline: a staff presenter described the current meeting as the product of several years of study. “This is a culmination about five years of planning,” said a staff member involved in the project, noting prior work that included a Mill Creek Boulevard study and outreach such as a festival pop‑up. City staff said the project is in phase 2, when consultants will develop design concepts and scenarios; the city will then enter an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) process and pursue formal adoption of the master plan next year.

Workshop outcomes: participants split into small, mixed advisory groups to generate lists of issues and then ranked clusters of priorities. After the ballots were compiled, staff reported that pedestrian flow and pedestrian safety emerged as the top priority. Other high priorities were community activation and public gathering spaces, integrated green space and trail connections, and diversity of retail and small businesses.

What staff will do next: planners said they will compile the workshop input into a report for the consultant and City Council. Staff announced two community outreach events on Sept. 3 — a virtual lunchtime town‑hall and an in‑person evening meeting covering the same material — and an Oct. 7 EIS scoping meeting with council. Staff described the EIS as the formal, public environmental review process that will evaluate potential impacts and allow further public comment.

Limits and expectations: presenters repeatedly emphasized what the master plan can and cannot do. The plan is intended to set design guidelines, infrastructure priorities and zoning translations, not to set commercial leases or evict businesses. Staff cautioned the public that master plans do not immediately change property uses on private timelines and that redevelopment typically occurs over many years and depends on property owners’ decisions.

What was NOT decided: the workshop was an input and consensus exercise, not a regulatory action. The only formal action recorded during the meeting was approval of the June 26 minutes. No land‑use regulations, permits or rezoning measures were adopted at the workshop.

Next steps and public participation: staff said consultant renderings and scenario packages will be produced from the compiled input and returned for further review; the group will reconvene later in the process as a focus group to review detailed scenarios. The EIS scoping meeting on Oct. 7 will be a formal opportunity for public comment on the environmental review scope.

For now, city planners and volunteer board members said they want future development in the South Town Center to prioritize safe, connected walking and biking conditions, accessible public spaces and preservation or enhancement of the North Creek trail and greenway as redevelopment proceeds.