Maple Valley’s Four Corners subarea plan has picked up steam again as the Planning Commission works on a recommendation for a concept for the final piece of the puzzle — the northwest quadrant.

There has been a sticking point on this portion of the plan, however, which has held up progress on adopting that portion along with other circumstances and projects the city’s planning department needed to work on.

“It was forwarded to council in late 2008,” said Planning Commission Chair Larry Lindstrand. “At that point it was tabled because there was some contention and a variety of things going on.”

The concept — developed after gathering input from developers, home owners, businesses and other stake holders — is to mold that section of Four Corners into a pedestrian friendly part of town with a mix of shops and housing.

“What we’re doing, it’s not re-zoning at this point,” Lindstrand said. “It’s strictly a conceptual plan of what that area could become. Council has determined that it’s basically an area that could have more significance for the city’s goals than it has now.”

The northwest quadrant starts just north of Southeast 260th Street and is bounded by Maple Valley Highway to the east and runs south along state Route 169 past Southeast 264th Street.

Work on the subarea plan, according to information provided by Community Development Director Ty Peterson, began in 2006.

Council decided on a proposed course of action for the other three quadrants of the subarea plan, according to documents provided by Peterson, and in late 2009 directed the Planning Commission “to work further on the Northwest Quadrant and consider information not available to the commission during previous deliberation.”

The Four Corners subarea plan would create a blue print for further development for that section of the city, which already has businesses, but has room for more, and planning economic growth is important to the city as it approaches residential build out and slow down in new home construction.

Currently, the Planning Commission is considering a concept for the northwest quadrant that would include a pedestrian friendly street running north to south from Southeast Kent Kangley Road through the 54-acre Legacy Site, which is part of the subarea plan and owned by the city, then connecting to Maple Valley Highway.

Along the street could be a variety of uses such as shops, offices and homes, while to the west the proposal includes residential housing types at a medium density which would serve as a buffer between the trail area and the commercial areas. To the east, the concept envisions commercial and office use near Maple Valley Highway, allowing those businesses the benefit of the high visibility of being along the state Route.

“It’s not something that’s going to happen overnight,” Lindstrand said. “It’s at minimum a 20 year plan. The other thing it’s trying to set the tone for what that area can be.”

Lindstrand knows that business and property owners in the area have some concerns and to that end he worked with the Maple Valley-Black Diamond Chamber of Commerce to hear those issues.

Sue VanRuff, executive director of the chamber, said the business organization that makes every effort to advocate for its members has had concerns since 2008 about the northwest quadrant.

The chamber hosted a meeting on June 29, an informal forum of Planning Commission and Economic Development Committee members, along with those with a vested interest in the northwest quadrant to connect.

VanRuff explained that there was a feeling among business and property owners in the northwest quadrant that there had been a “lack of outreach, a lack of engagement.”

“We wanted to host that meeting because the public hearing is on (July 6) and we wanted to make sure their voices were heard,” she said. “We can’t advocate for them unless we know what their concerns are.”

VanRuff said she understands the need to create a vision, but, she said city officials need to try and see it from the perspective of people who already occupy the quadrant.

“I don’t think there’s anything worse than seeing a vision for a property you’re occupying and not be a part of that planning,” she said. “The future, the plans they’ve made just seem insignificant to that planning process. They felt irrelevant.”

Worse than that, though, many of the folks who have businesses there said they didn’t feel wanted.

“It’s pretty hard for a business owner to sit there and here that the community wants ‘more desirable businesses’ in that location,” VanRuff said. “What about their investments? What about their plans? What about what they want to do? They’ve made huge investments. They’ve staked their livelihood on it.”

VanRuff said it will be important for the city to work with existing property owners, to be aware of their concerns and to work with them as well as try to make some compromises.

“I think it was productive,” Lindstrand said. “You listen to their concerns … and they’re valid concerns.”

Lindstrand wanted to reassure folks that there is no plan to make immediate changes.

“Some people thing we’re going in there and within the next few years and bulldoze it or come in with lawyers and take it away from them,” he said. “That’s not my intention and that’s not the city’s intention. We’re not trying to steamroll anybody.”

Members of the Planning Commission will listen to those concerns and take them under advisement, Lindstrand said.

“It’s a tough decision to make,” he said. “It’s too prime an area to look 20 years down the road and have it serve the same function as it is now. This is a long term plan, not an immediate fix.”