Mill Creek holds public hearing on Southtown Center draft EIS; consultants present land‑use, traffic and revenue scenarios

The Mill Creek City Council opened a legislative public hearing on the Southtown Center draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) on March 3, 2026, then immediately conducted an extended study session where the consultant team presented economic, transportation and land‑use analyses.

Jeff Ryan, community development planning director, described the draft EIS process and the three alternatives under study: the no‑action alternative (current zoning, typically up to five stories/60 feet), a high‑density alternative (up to seven stories/85 feet) and a mixed‑density alternative combining five‑ and seven‑story areas. The public comment period for the draft EIS runs through March 13, 2026, at 4 p.m.

“We issued the draft at the end of January and we’re inviting comments so we can respond in the final EIS,” Jeff Ryan said, outlining the EIS purpose as an objective evaluation of impacts and mitigation for the project and its alternatives.

Mitch Pachic of GGLO summarized the subarea vision: shorter, walkable blocks, a Main‑Street commercial frontage, parks and a smaller block grid replacing today’s large superblocks. “This is a plan for planning — to be ready when redevelopment comes,” he said. Tyson Harriet of Heartland summarized the economic analysis, which estimates taxable retail and property‑tax gains under full buildout but cautions it is not a comprehensive fiscal impact study and does not model phasing.

Tyson Harriet said the three alternatives would increase combined property and sales tax revenue over existing conditions if fully built out: a modest increase under the status‑quo zoning scenario and materially larger increases under the mixed and high‑density alternatives. The consultants used county assessor data and Department of Revenue taxable sales benchmarks to produce the estimates.

Amy Wasserman of 10W (transportation) explained the traffic findings. Using Institute of Transportation Engineers trip rates, the analysis shows daily trip reductions in most alternatives because residential development typically generates more internal trips (residents combine multiple short trips) while large commercial uses and medical/office generate higher volumes of external trips. “Replacing dispersed commercial and light‑industrial uses with concentrated residential and focused commercial frontages reduces total daily trip generation in our models,” she said. The analysis also modeled changes in AM and PM peak hours and identified potential intersection restriping and signal improvements as mitigation measures.

Council members pressed the team on assumptions and staging. Council Member Paddock asked about grocery‑store provision and noted that much grocery revenue is non‑taxable under state law; staff confirmed they assumed at least one grocery anchor but that most projected gains are tied to other taxable retail and property value increases. Council members also sought clarity on how access to existing retail would be maintained until property owners chose to redevelop and whether the proposed road grid would be private or dedicated as public right‑of‑way at the time of redevelopment.

Consultants said the concept street grid and park are long‑term visions that would be implemented as property owners redevelop; existing driveways and access points remain until individual redevelopment proposals trigger changes. The team said short‑term mitigation options include re‑striping and signal tweaks at 164th and key approaches to improve vehicular flow while the city pursues a more walkable, lower‑speed Main Street design in the long term.

The council voted to open the public hearing, heard three public commenters during the hour, then voted to close the hearing and proceed with the study session. The council scheduled a follow‑up study session on March 24 to discuss density and parking details; the team said it expects to publish the final EIS response to comments later in 2026.

What’s next: the comment period closes March 13 at 4 p.m.; a study session on density and parking is scheduled March 24; the project team will prepare responses and a final EIS later this year.