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SEATTLE—Four quite different ventures that demonstrate "visionary" ways of dealing with growth and transportation issues have each received a 1997 VISION 2020 Award from the Puget Sound Regional Council.

The specific efforts honored are:

Meadowbrook Farm, 460 acres of fields, forest, wetlands and riverfront in the Snoqualmie River Valley that the Cities of North Bend and Snoqualmie purchased to preserve as open space;

Northwest Landing, Weyerhaeuser Real Estate Company's 3,000-acre planned community in the City of DuPont;

the City of Mercer Island's Downtown Street Project, which transformed a 12-block area of an auto-dominated suburban downtown into a more pedestrian-friendly environment; and

the Tacoma Dome Area Plan, which provides for development/redevelopment of the Tacoma Dome area by the City of Tacoma, Pierce Transit, and the Dome Development Group, the neighborhood business association. (More on individual honorees, attached)

The awards were presented Thursday evening at the Regional Council's General Assembly meeting, which annually brings together elected officials and staff from the four counties, 61 cities and towns, three ports and two state agencies that make up the region's growth management and transportation planning agency.

At the Council's Thursday afternoon business meeting, Dave Russell, councilmember and former mayor of Kirkland, chair of the Regional Council's Growth Management Policy Board for the past two years, was elected as the Regional Council's new president. Russell succeeds Pierce County Executive Doug Sutherland, the Council president for the past two years. And Snohomish County Executive Bob Drewel, who chairs the Regional Transit Authority Board and chaired the Regional Council's Transportation Policy Board for the past two years, was elected vice president. He succeeds Seattle Mayor Norm Rice, who served as interim vice president for several months following former-King County Executive Gary Locke's election as governor.

Also, Tim Douglas, the new Director of the State Department of Community, Trade and Economic Development, announced in remarks to the Assembly that Governor Gary Locke has joined about a dozen other governors across the country in supporting reauthorization of ISTEA, the federal Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act.

This landmark legislation, which came into law in 1991 and would expire this September without Congressional reauthorization, significantly altered the process for allocating federal transportation dollars, putting authority in the hands of the country's metropolitan planning organizations such as the Regional Council to determine regional priorities, rather simply funneling all federal dollars to state departments of transportation. The law also allows flexibility in determining what kind of projects are funded, specifically providing for alternatives such as pedestrian and bicycle projects, and requires much more extensive public involvement and attention to environmental issues.

Also at the business meeting, the Assembly of mayors, city and county councilmembers, commissioners, executives and other public agency representatives approved a $6.4 million budget and work program for the 1998 fiscal year (July 1, 1997-June 30, 1998), which is about $1.1 million less than the current budget. The Assembly also heard updates from representatives of each of the four member counties -- King, Kitsap, Pierce and Snohomish -- on the status of growth management and related issues, and viewed a presentation on historic and current regional trends in development, employment, population and transportation.

The VISION 2020 Awards, which were presented at the dinner meeting, honor outstanding projects, programs and plans that help implement VISION 2020, the region's adopted growth management, economic and transportation strategy. The strategy, against which city and county comprehensive plans and policies must be reviewed for consistency, calls for protecting rural areas, open space and wetlands, focusing the majority of population and employment growth in urban areas, and increasing opportunities to walk, bicycle or use public transit and other alternatives to automobiles.

In addition to the four VISION 2020 Award winners, five other projects received Honor Awards as second-place winners:

The City of Tacoma's Housing Tax Incentive program, which exempts property taxes on new, multi-family residential improvements in targeted urban areas;

The City of Seattle's Transferable Development Rights program, which is used to preserve landmark buildings and low-income housing downtown;

The City of Issaquah's Rainier Boulevard Project, which connects Issaquah High School, other schools and residential neighborhoods with the downtown;

The "How to Become A Smart Tripper" workbook by Kitsap Transit and the Washington State Department of Transportation, which introduces middle-school students to the environmental effects of auto travel; and

The Connect Services program by Community Transit (of Snohomish County), which provides specialized service including flexible routing to serve areas not serviceable efficiently by traditional transit.

1997 VISION 2020 AWARD RECIPIENTS

The purchase and preservation of Meadowbrook Farm by the small cities of North Bend and Snoqualmie was honored as an example of how to hold onto the natural beauty and rich outdoor heritage of the region in the face of population and economic growth that can put tremendous development pressure on prime property, especially riverfront and farmland near a major transportation corridor. Less than five minutes from 1-90, the area is a vital wildlife habitat that links the Snoqualmie River, Three Forks Natural Area, Mt. Si Conservation area, Rattlesnake Ridge and the Cedar River Watershed. It also has historical significance, and will be connected for passive recreation use via local trails to the King County Snoqualmie Valley Trail, local school campuses, Metro transit access and the Northwest Railway Museum's historic rail line.

Northwest Landing is Weyerhaeuser Real Estate Company's "new urbanism" community of townhomes, apartments, single-family homes and affordable housing cottages, all integrated aesthetically while providing diverse choices for buyers and renters. With front porches and garages in the back, and seven miles of wooded trails and sidewalk-lined streets, this higher density residential area is designed to be pedestrian-friendly and facilitate mass transit while promoting a more "neighborly" community feeling. It also has been a major economic boost to the area with more than 1,500 jobs in the past year; the new freeway interchange being built to serve the community is privately financed; and the housing is equipped with innovative services such as fibre-optic telephone connections for effective telecommuting and a fire sprinkler system for better protection for residents and less cost to the city. It also preserves about 1,000 acres of open space and sensitive areas, and it has historical significance, with the developer having donated a 150-year-old fort site on the property to the Archaeological Conservancy.

For the City of Mercer Island Downtown Street Project, two streets were designed as primary bicycle commuter and auto routes with new turning lanes and bike lanes, and new street trees with artist-designed tree grates to enhance the sidewalks, and the core retail street, with direct access to the existing park-and-ride and future transit station, was dramatically altered with traffic lanes narrowed and sidewalks widened from seven-and-a-half to 14 feet. Landscaped medians with pedestrian crossings and pocket parking were created to "calm" traffic, new pedestrian benches, bike racks and lighting were added, and unique features were integrated into the sidewalks and street light standards. The overall effect is that pedestrians, bicycles and automobiles peacefully coexist in an aesthetically pleasing environment. Since this project was initiated, three new commercial and two new residential projects have been completed -- one of the new housing projects is for seniors and specifically located in the downtown because of the enhanced pedestrian environment.

The Tacoma Dome Area Plan is being used to transform the area around the Tacoma Dome, an industrial, manufacturing and commercial area in the heart of an urban center, into a mixed-use urban neighborhood and transportation hub for the greater Tacoma area, where Amtrak, commuter rail, light rail, express bus service and the "Train to the Mountain" excursion service all come together for easy user access. The area is connected with the Dome and other major public investments such as the University of Washington branch campus by an extensive pedestrian and bike system. The plan also promotes a variety of housing types in the area, including affordable housing for those who are transit-dependent. In addition to the new Tacoma Dome station, which is currently being constructed, the city and its partners have installed street trees with custom-designed cast-iron grates that identify the district and its transportation heritage, and also added pedestrian-scaled light standards, benches and other amenities.

Honor Award Recipients

The Housing Tax Incentive program by the City of Tacoma exempts property taxes for 10 years on new, multi-family residential improvements in targeted urban areas. The city drafted a bill and presented it to the Legislature in 1995, got it passed, and kicked off the program last January. The first round produced requests representing investments of more than $14 million and 300 new dwelling units; several developments are under construction and one 60-unit project has been completed that provides affordable housing on the downtown fringe, with 13 units dedicated to people with disabilities. The legislation, which Tacoma drafted to apply to many cities around the state, was cut back to just Seattle, Tacoma and Spokane by the Legislature, but is now back in broader form as one of the recommendations of the Land Use Study Commission.

The City of Seattle's Transferable Development Rights program is used to preserve landmark buildings, performing arts theaters and low-income housing downtown. When there's pressure to demolish or change the use of an occupied or vacant landmark and low-income residential buildings, the owner is able to sell the unused but buildable floor area, and the proceeds from the sale are then used to pay for necessary construction rehabilitation costs, so the landmark building or low-income housing can be preserved for the long term. This program was used to preserve both the Paramount Theatre and Eagles Auditorium, as well as 337 units of low-income housing.

While many jurisdictions are building walking and biking trails, the Rainier Boulevard Nonmotorized Corridor Project by the City of Issaquah was singled out for some especially outstanding features. The trail along a former Burlington Northern Railroad corridor connects Issaquah High, a middle school, two elementary schools and the south residential neighborhoods with downtown; it's used heavily by students, in part because it goes by the Community Center, and is used by some people to commute to work. It's hoped that the close link to the schools will help students get used to the idea that you don't have to drive everywhere. Construction involved preservation of a wetland area and building the Issaquah Trail Center, now a meeting place for local trails clubs and organizations; as part of the city's overall trails system, it now connects to the South Issaquah Park-and-Ride and to recreational trails on Tiger Mountain.

The "How to Become A Smart Tripper" workbook by Kitsap Transit and the Washington State Department of Transportation introduces middle-school students to the environmental problems associated with overuse of the car and driving alone, and the benefits of transportation alternatives and it's written to be both fun and informative. The initial printing reached more than 6,000 students in dozens of Kitsap County schools; Kitsap Transit then worked with the state's Commute Trip Reduction Technical Assistance Team so the book could be revised and produced for students all over the state. It was sent to each elementary and middle school in the state, with instructions to call WSDOT for copies for students; all 8,000 copies were distributed within two weeks, and another 12,000 more have been printed to meet demand.

Community Transit's Connect Services program is an example of an idea -- not a huge program -- that can address some unique problems: one is that space for park-and-ride lots in urban areas can be expensive and hard to find, and another is that some less-populated areas are simply not serviceable efficiently by traditional transit. The program consists of two routes, using smaller 19-passenger buses, each dealing with one of these particular problems. One route provides curb-to-curb service between Brier and the Lynnwood Park-and-Ride lot, so people don't have to drive to the park-and-ride, and the other travels from Smokey Point to Darrington by way of Arlington, and is able to travel 3/4 of a mile on either side of a fixed route for much of the route to better serve a more rural area, resulting in an increase of 50 boardings per day.