Staff outlines Island Crossing Subarea Plan, zoning changes and design standards ahead of ordinance votes

City staff presented the proposed Island Crossing Subarea Plan and associated design standards at an Arlington City Council workshop, describing new zoning subdistricts, floodplain constraints, infrastructure upgrades and next steps for ordinance votes.

"So tonight, we're gonna finally talk about the island crossing subarea plan," Amy, a city staff member, told the council as she began a map‑based presentation of the plan and its appendices. The package, presented as an ordinance for future council action, pairs a subarea plan with planned‑action environmental documentation and a separate set of development design standards.

The plan divides the area between Smoky Point Boulevard and state Route 530 into three subdistricts labeled IC1, IC2 and IC3. Amy said IC3 "is gonna stay exactly how it is today," with no zoning changes proposed. In IC1 the draft allows hotels up to 100 feet; IC2 would not allow hotels. The draft removes gas stations from the list of permitted uses in portions of the subarea, but staff explicitly included a caveat allowing an existing gas station located in the floodplain to demolish and rebuild on the same parcel provided the rebuilt facility is elevated above the base flood elevation.

Amy described floodplain and hydraulic modeling that identified low spots and existing compensatory storage areas, noting that compensatory storage, stormwater management and traffic were the "biggest concerns" raised in public outreach. She said appendices include existing‑conditions analysis and a public engagement summary and that every goal and policy in the plan is tied to an action table listing responsibility, cost estimates, priorities and potential timing.

Staff also described transportation and utility implications. The Smoky Point Boulevard/SR 530 intersection is identified for a roundabout in the transportation master plan; roadway raising from the triangle east to I‑5 will be necessary and could create additional stormwater demands. The presentation referenced an Olympic pipeline easement running diagonally through the subarea that constrains roadway design and several sewer projects including work on Lift Station 11 and a proposed Lift Station 14 to serve new development.

Public engagement summaries included that most property owners were not opposed overall; one property owner reportedly sought a truck stop. Amy said some farmers objected to earlier concepts that would have lowered agricultural fields to provide additional flood storage and that the plan team discontinued that approach after modeling showed it would not yield sufficient compensatory storage to justify permitting and permitting complexity.

Staff told the council the plan and the design standards were presented as two related ordinances so that design standards could be updated in the future without reopening the entire subarea plan. Amy and other staff indicated the city intends to place two ordinances on the council agenda next week: one adopting the subarea plan and planned action and a second adopting development design standards. No ordinance votes occurred at the workshop.

Council members asked clarifying questions about property owner responses, hotel and gas station provisions, and legal nonconforming residential parcels; Amy said four residences lie within the subarea and are legal nonconforming properties that could convert to uses allowed in the relevant zone if redeveloped. Council did not take action on the ordinances during the workshop.

The staff presentation included maps, design examples with an agricultural theme and an estimate comparing gas‑station density (6 gas stations in 0.4 miles) to county and state averages. Staff emphasized that the building placements shown were conceptual and that implementation will require coordination with property owners, the county, farmers and state agencies such as WSDOT for SR 530 improvements.