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 Photo by Bill Wagner Rick Fisher loves his deep, spacious lot on Ocean Beach Highway, but he says he "lives in the real world," and says it is inevitable that the city will rezone the land so that it is open for more intensive development. |
Rick Fisher's neighborhood could be one of the focal points of a debate about Longview's future.
Fisher lives on Ocean Beach Highway between 15th Avenue and Lake Sacajawea, and the city's draft comprehensive plan calls for changing the land use from low-density to high-density residential.
The change would allow apartments and condominiums to rise on the north side of the road from 15th Avenue to Lake Sacajawea.
The proposal is bittersweet for Fisher, whose deep lot gives him privacy despite the fact that he lives on one of the city's busiest thoroughfares.
"I love my house and my property," Fisher muses, but he adds: "The city is going to grow. Your blind if you don't think that's going to happen."
Accommodating residential and commercial growth and increasing access to the area's waterfront are the main purposes behind the comprehensive plan, which will be the subject of a public meeting 7 p.m. Wednesday at City Hall.
Click here for a map of the plan's highlights.
"We don't want to get too far down the line without checking with the property owners," said Longview's chief planner Steve Langdon. The next step is to develop a draft plan by early summer, followed by the final plan in late summer.
The plan is a blueprint for how to manage growth for the next two decades. It would not force any immediate changes or force property owners to change the use of their land. However, over time neighborhoods could change as property is bought, sold and redeveloped.
Through not instigated by last year's battle over Lowe's, the plan is emerging from the wake of that controversy.
Lowe's officials told planners the city has a shortage of commercial land, and the draft comprehensive plan addresses that by increasing the acreage for commercial development from 700 to 1,700. It does that by redesignating land now zoned industrial in the Mint Farm Industrial Park and the area bordered by California Way, Industrial Way and Oregon Way.
Some areas of West Longview now zoned residential also would be rezoned as commercial.
Businesses are also planned to be mixed with homes in the Barlow Point area in West Longview, where a village-type commercial and residential land-use would be planned. Langdon said developers already have made inquiries into developing the area, which now is zoned for industry.
Changes such as opening up waterfront lands for commercial and residential developments will help keep Longview unique, Langdon said.
"This is what people were saying, this is what we heard most from people -- opening up the waterfront," Langdon said.
Under the plan, the city would increase housing densities in several areas:
• In Columbia Valley Gardens area and along Olive Way, deep lots could be subdivided into a smaller lots for single-family homes.
• Areas on the west side of Oregon Way, west of 32nd Avenue near the Mint Farm, and some areas of West Longview would be rezoned from single family residential to medium density residential, a designation that would allow row houses, small condos and townhouses.
In Fisher's neighborhood along Ocean Beach Highway between 15th Avenue and Lake Sacajawea, the city wants greater housing density near Lower Columbia College and the downtown area.
The deep lots there now give those homeowners a sense of rural living in the center of Longview, but Doug and Nita Nelson said they understand why the city would wants the change.
"We kind of like the land the way it is, but there are disadvantages to being on a road with heavy traffic," Doug Nelson said. "It's kind of ridiculous to have that kind of (residential) land in the center of town."
Nelson, 57, said that developing the land into businesses or apartments would blend with the proximity to Lower Columbia College and downtown.
"This is a positive step to help this town," Nelson said. "... We don't need our little piece of heaven to be in the middle of Longview."
Fisher said he thinks future growth will eventually claim his neighborhood. But he wishes it becomes businesses, not apartments.
"Whether they rezone the land or not, traffic is going to increase," Fisher said. "Just do it right the first time. Zone it for commercial because apartments or condos (would have) no escape other than Ocean Beach."
Nelson's neighbor in the 2300 block of Ocean Beach Highway, Rick Johnson, opposes the rezone and said he might start a petition campaign to fight it.
"I waited a while to buy this house, I bought it because I like the rural feel and it's in downtown Longview," said Johnson, 56. "I see this in Vancouver. They'll buy four acres and put 10 houses on it and the only guy that makes money is the contractor, not me or my neighbors."
Instead of designating his neighborhood as high-density residential, Johnson said he hopes the city will consider rezoning land in the Highlands, on Pacific Way and in Columbia Heights for apartments or condos.
"I think over the long run, Longview will lose what makes it unique," Johnson said. "My recommendation is to leave us alone."
Meet the plan
The public can comment on Longview's updated comprehensive plan during a meeting at 7 p.m. Wednesday at City Hall. To download the complete plan, including detailed maps allowing visitors to zoom in on specific parcels, visit www.mylongview.com. Copies of the proposed map are also available at City Hall.
Written comments can be mailed to Steve Langdon, Principal Planner, P.O. Box 128, Longview, WA, 98632.
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