The Council will accept written comments until 5 pm Friday on the proposal which could result in a 105,000 square foot mid-sized big box store. Currently the maximum size permitted for a retail store is 50,000 square feet, though Safeway and The Market are slightly larger than that.
Most of the comments asked the Council to deny the proposal or to move it to the 2016 city Comprehensive Plan Update, which the Council will start work on later this year. Meanwhile, the Council will schedule a visit to the site of the proposed rezone.
During Council discussion, Jimmy Blais, representing MJB, was asked how a delay to the 2016 Comp Plan Update would affect MJB’s plans. He said that would probably push out to 2018 any store opening. He said said he has been talking to Fred Meyer and “they don’t want to wait.”
Blais said. “They are talking to other landowners, including the tribes.” A delay by the Council could mean Fred Meyer citing a store on reservation land, thus denying the city any tax benefits from a large retailer.
During the meeting, Cynthia Hebert, with Bellevue-based Hebert Research, outlined the results of a survey done for MJB. She told the Council there is a huge amount of so-called ‘leakage’ in the Anacortes retail market. In other words, area residents are spending hundreds of millions of dollars elsewhere that could be attracted to Anacortes by a larger retailer.
The Council will discuss the MJB proposal at its Feb. 18 meeting.