Published October 6 2023
Residential development plan can move forward, city remains open to possibly acquiring property for open space
The City of Bellevue learned Thursday that its contracted hearing examiner has approved, with conditions, the Park Pointe Planned Unit Development (PUD) land use permit, and denied appeals to the approved Critical Areas Land Use Permit and city’s determination under the State Environmental Policy Act. The proposed development includes 35 units of housing on a 12.3-acre site near the Coal Creek Natural Area along Lakemont Boulevard Southeast. The PUD project was opposed by a local community group in an effort to preserve the land as open space.
The hearing examiner decision to approve the permit and deny the appeals means the residential development can move forward if the property owner chooses to develop the land consistent with the permit and the required conditions. The hearing examiner’s decision included 58 conditions of approval, many of which are related to reducing the impact of the development on the site’s critical natural areas and some that include requirements to acknowledge the area’s coal mining history.
The property contains connections to Bellevue’s coal mining history and includes wetlands and streams on site. Roughly half of the site, 6.3 acres, will be protected as open space and open to public use in the current development proposal. According to the plan, the remaining six acres on the site would be converted to the proposed residential housing units.
In July, King County granted up to $9.2 million to the city, as part of its Conservation Futures program, to increase open space through the Cougar Mountain Connections project, which is an effort to fill remaining gaps in trails and public open space in the Cougar Mountain and Coal Creek areas. The project has identified 18 acres of land adjacent to the Coal Creek Natural Area and Cougar Mountain Regional Wildland Park that could be preserved, including the parcels comprising the Park Pointe PUD. The city would need to match 25% of the county’s funding to receive the grant and complete any property acquisitions. The value of the Park Pointe PUD property is unknown at this time.
“The county’s grant award is a welcome chance to improve our regional trail systems and wildlife corridors in this area,” said Mayor Lynne Robinson. “We are committed to working with the Park Pointe property owner about purchasing that property if the seller is willing and the price is feasible and within the city’s fiscal stewardship values and financial means while meeting our parks and open space goals. We also appreciate that the current development proposal retains over half of the site as open space, so we are pleased the critical natural areas can be protected.”
Further information on the development project can be found on the Park Pointe Planned Unit Development page.
The city’s long-term plan for parks and open space project investments is articulated in its Parks and Open Space System plan, which was last updated in 2022 and contains the community's long-range vision for acquisition and development of parks and trails and preservation of open space.