Public Hearing on Development Density at Tuesday’s Woodinville Council Meeting

The public has a chance to voice concerns on the density of future development in the City of Woodinville at Tuesday night’s council meeting at 7 p.m. at City Hall.

Despite the Woodinville City Council approving a temporary moratorium on single-family residential development which exceeds the base zone density on Jan. 17, Wood Trails Homes LLC (formerly Phoenix Development LLC) filed an application to build 24 single family houses in the Wellington area of Woodinville, with lots ranging from 12,000-22,344 square feet (see map). just before the moratorium was to go into effect. Most of the homes in Wellington are on one-acre lots.

Currently, Woodinville’s municipal code allows developers to put more houses than the R-1 zone allows, with subdivision approval, but the city has never stated the exact minimum size for a residential lot in R-1, which is why the council passed the moratorium, to stop any new developments before the council had a chance to pass an ordinance defining minimum lot size.

Phoenix Development’s History with the City and Wellington

The history of the city, Phoenix Development, Inc. of Lynwood (now called Wood Trails Homes LLC), and residents in Wellington is a long and contentious one.

The , favoring the City of Woodinville and Concerned Neighbors of Wellington (CNW) in a land rezone case. In a 9-0 vote, the court agreed that the city was within its rights to deny Phoenix Development a zone change that would have increased the number of houses allowed in the Wellington neighborhood.

The case started when , which owns two undeveloped properties in the northeast area of Woodinville known as Wellington, requested a zone change from R-1 (meaning one house per acre) to R-4 (four house per acre) in 2004. According to court documents, the developer wanted to build 66 houses on 38.7 acres (1.7 houses per acre) as one subdivision and 66 houses on 16.48 acres (4.005 houses per acre) as a second development.

After CNW raised objections to the developer’s plan, the city looked more closely at the proposed zone change. After two years of reviewing the proposed development for environmental impacts and its compliance with the city’s growth plan and codes, the city denied the rezone. Phoenix sued the city and in 2008, Superior Court Judge Dean Lum ruled in favor of the city. Phoenix Development appealed to the Court of Appeals, which overturned the previous decision, ruling in Phoenix Development’s favor. The case was then appealed to the state’s highest court by the city and CNW.