Public debate grows over Fairview Development Center plan as commission seeks preferred land‑use approach

City planners and residents on June 23 debated the future of the 95‑acre Fairview Development Center (FDC) site as staff sought Planning Commission input on a preferred land‑use plan and the financial analysis underpinning it.

Staff described the city’s role — leading the land‑use planning, financial feasibility study and the environmental review — while the state will remain the landowner and select a master developer to implement the final specific plan. The presentation summarized outreach to hundreds of residents, three land‑use concepts that were tested for financial feasibility and the ways state density‑bonus law could affect the total number of units a developer may propose.

The city’s consultant and staff said they tested three concepts: a 2,300‑unit scenario (the figure used in the city’s housing element), a scenario accounting for state density‑bonus allowances, and a high‑capacity 4,000‑unit scenario that reflects physical development capacity on the site. Staff explained the financial feasibility analysis to estimate what a future master developer could reasonably submit and said a feasible development range likely falls between roughly 2,300 and about 3,500–3,800 units depending on assumptions about affordability and density bonuses.

The commission and an audience of many residents raised several recurring concerns. Dozens of residents urged the city to safeguard the Coastie golf courses, to designate significant publicly accessible athletic fields and active open space for youth sports, and to avoid making the future neighborhood an isolated “island” cut off from…