King County Council requests extension of deadlines for Summit Place

The King County Council passed a motion Monday concerning the Summit Place property that may extend the development deadlines.

The 156 acre parcel, known as the donut hole and owned by the county, is located inside the city near 228th Avenue Southeast and Southeast 272nd Street. The site is currently home to a county operated transportation maintenance facility and the back nine holes of Elk Run Golf Course.

There is a purchase and sale agreement between the county and the Kirkland developer YarrowBay. The agreement is for the company to purchase the parcel for $51 million. The money, however, has not been transferred and the deal is not complete.

YarrowBay has plans for both residential and commercial development of the site.

The County Council motion requests the King County executive to negotiate with the developer “to extend by one year, all critical dates including the county’s and developer’s feasibility periods and closing dates.”

The motion also requests the executive negotiate amendments to the memorandum of agreement stating YarrowBay will not develop the property until it is annexed by the city of Maple Valley and “that a date certain annexation will be set, such that legislation for annexation of the property into the city will have an effective date no later than August 1, 2010.”

The purchase and sale agreement was to be completed by February, with the annexation completed by the end of this year. The time frame for the various “deadlines and dates for action” to complete the deal “are not capable of being achieved” according to the motion.

A memorandum of understanding last year set up those deadlines, which included Maple Valley completing its annexation process by December, something city staff has worked toward.

The motion states if the extension is agreed to, YarrowBay would pay $100,000 to the county.

“We really had some artificial deadlines coming up quickly,” said Brian Ross, YarrowBay managing partner. “We are happy with the unanimous support we are getting from the County Council.”

Ross said the extension will give YarrowBay and the city time to “implement the right zoning” for the property.

Maple Valley’s Planning Commission has spent much of the past year working on the joint planning agreement with the county and YarrowBay.

The plan would help create a vision for the site that would cover land use including the mix of residential and commercial housing, zoning and other basic planning issues.

Contact Covington Reporter Regional Editor Dennis Box at dbox@maplevalleyreporter.com or 425-432-1209 ext. 5050.

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