Record South Whidbey
INSIDE
Wild for wood on Whidbey ...A8
SATURDAY, AUGUST 30, 2014 | Vol. 90, No. 70 | WWW.SOUTHWHIDBEYRECORD.COM | 75¢
Need a lift? Image courtesy of the City of Langley
This rendering prepared by Langley’s Community Planning department shows one view impact of the proposed Langley Lift, a bridge and elevator connecting Wharf Street and South Whidbey Harbor to Cascade Avenue and the business district.
Langley looking at elevator, bridge view impact on Cascade By BEN WATANABE South Whidbey Record Renderings of a bridge and elevator give a glimpse at what Cascade Avenue in Langley may look like. The city’s Community Planning department published the “Langley Lift” pictures showing the bridge and tower’s view impacts from Cascade Avenue. Public comment is being accepted in writing at the planning blog designlangley.org or at Langley City Hall. The overall assessment, which is not an official staff recommendation, is that the structure proposed by the recently-deceased Paul Schell will not “significantly” impact the primary scenic views of the Cascade Mountains, Puget
Sound, Saratoga Passage or Camano Island. Based on the view assessment renderings created by the city’s planning intern, Katy Hima, the most drastic view change is looking north on Cascade Avenue. Along the walkway, the once sweeping sight of Saratoga Passage and Camano Island is blocked by the bridge and elevator shaft. In an attempt to mitigate the view loss, architect and designer Eric Richmond of Flat Rock Productions changed the bridge to have a mesh or lattice covering that will allow people to see through it. A viewing platform was also added to the end of the bridge, which will wrap around the elevator tower with a 5-foot walkway. “There’s the issue of public views in rela-
tion to the regulations in our shoreline master plan,” said Langley Director of Community Planning Jeff Arango of the street view impact to one of the main arteries getting into the city. The project has gone through a few iterations. Under a different mayor, the idea for transporting people from South Whidbey Harbor on Wharf Street up to Cascade Avenue was embodied in a funicular, an enclosed pod that would track people up the bluff. The current project being reviewed is the Langley Lift so dubbed by Schell and Richmond. Schell came up with the idea as a way to create a skyline feature for the city and provide a connection from the water to the commercial area. Schell died July 27 after complications
An environmental review of the proposed Mukilteo ferry terminal is officially completed. With the Federal Transit Administration’s Record of Decision, the state Department of Transportation, Ferries Division can move on to the terminal’s design. Interim Ferries Division Assistant Secretary Capt. George Capacci heralded the federal OK this week as a major milestone for his department.
“We needed to get this Record of Decision, which signals the completion of the environmental review process, behind us,” said Capacci during a phone interview Thursday. Work is slated to begin with the demolition of the property’s defunct Air Force oil tank farm and pier by spring 2015. A call for bids is expected to go out in October. Ferries Division estimates the total cost for the project at about $129 million. While all of that money is slated to be spent on the Mukilteo-side of the ferry route, no money is marked
SEE LIFT, A16
Alleged bank robber caught
Environmental review ends for proposed new ferry terminal By BEN WATANABE South Whidbey Record
from a heart surgery, leaving his last project unfinished. Richmond said his plan is to see it through as far as he can with the support of Schell’s widow, Pam Schell. “It was something he wanted done, and this is how I can help out,” Richmond said. “The intention is to move forward and see it finished,” he added. “There’s no one person who’s going to slide in and take Paul’s place.” The elevator would land on the Schells’ property near the Drake’s Landing building by the marina. Next to the elevator, the Schells and Richmond were planning a multi-story building as an expansion for the Boatyard Inn with a restaurant at street level. Langley
By JESSIE STENSLAND South Whidbey Record Ben Watanabe / The Record
Vehicles load onto the M/V Tokitae at the Mukilteo Ferry Terminal on Friday while a walk-on passenger waits to board. Recently, the Federal Transit Administration issued its Record of Decision on the proposed new terminal, signaling a major step in the process. for the other half of its run in Clinton. Highway 525 is connected from Snohomish to Island counties only by the ferry system, which transported an estimated 3.8 million riders in 2012. The route is projected to
transport 5.9 million riders by 2030. South Whidbey residents questioned state transportation officials about what can be done to mitigate traffic impacts on the Whidbey side SEE TERMINAL, A7
A former Whidbey Island resident made a name for himself this summer. They call him the Alabama Band Bandit. King County prosecutors charged Michael R. Hardesty Jr. last week with first-degree robbery for a July 11 heist at a Whidbey Island Bank in Seattle. He’s also the suspect in four other bank robberies in three counties during the month of July, court documents show.
This still from security footage allegedly shows Michael Hardesty during a bank robbery. A spokesperson with the U.S. Attorney’s Office SEE ROBBER, A16