Redmond Reporter, January 29, 2016

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REDMOND

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REPORTER

NEWSLINE: 425.867.0353

FEATURE | Sanchez-Gonzalez has life-changing experience at academy [7] CRIME ALERT | Redmond Police Blotter [3]

BUSINESS| Hoffman’s Fine Cakes & Pastries sets up shop in Redmond. [8]

FRIDAY, JANUARY 29, 2016

A DIVISION OF SOUND PUBLISHING

Meeting attendees weed through retail marijuana store issues Shane Coakley pauses in thought while discussing the suspect who left behind a Ku Klux Klan-type robe and rope at his mother’s Redmond consignment store, From Rags to Riches. ANDY NYSTROM, Redmond Reporter

A standing-room-only crowd was on hand Wednesday night in the Redmond City Hall council chambers for a hearing on proposed regulations for retail marijuana stores in the City of Redmond. SAMANTHA PAK, Redmond Reporter SAMANTHA PAK spak@redmond-reporter.com

Redmond residents, business owners and other interested parties filled the Redmond City Council Chambers Wednesday evening to share their thoughts and concerns regarding marijuana retail stores at a public hearing during a planning commission meeting. As previously reported, the City of Redmond was initially allotted two marijuana retail businesses — which was recently increased to four — but there was nowhere they could be located per the city’s zoning for retail businesses. A change in state legislation may now make it possible for retail businesses to open in Redmond as cities now have the option to reduce previous buffer zones between retail busi-

nesses and certain other uses down from 1,000 to 100 feet — or anything in between. This change means Redmond may soon see its first marijuana retail store in town. But before this could happen, city staff has been studying the issue to see what this would look and part of that has been gathering feedback from the community. Jason Rogers, a senior planner in long-range planning for the city, said in addition to Wednesday’s public hearing, people were able to share their thoughts through an online survey and by emailing city staff. As of Wednesday afternoon, the online survey received about 1,300 responses and staff received more than 50 emails from residents, business owners and other members of the

community. Rogers said some of the main themes they saw from the online feedback was concern regarding the possible reduction in buffer zones — which would apply to other uses, including game arcades, libraries, recreation and community centers, daycare or childcare centers, transit centers and parks. The two exceptions to this are uses that are schools and playgrounds, meaning there still must be a 1,000-foot buffer between themselves and a marijuana retail business. Rogers said feedback online also indicated that there are people in the community who are opposed to having retail marijuana businesses in Redmond altogether. There were also people who supported the idea of having marijuana [ more MARIJUANA page 3 ]

Store owner and son ‘horrified’ after they receive KKK-type items SAMANTHA PAK spak@redmond-reporter.com

On the evening of Jan. 20, Shane Coakley and his mother Leona Coakley-Spring were working in her consignment store, From Rags to Riches, at 16648 Redmond Way in downtown. At around 5:45 p.m., a man in his mid-20s entered, telling Coakley he had a couple dresses to sell. Coakley told the other man that they were not taking dresses at the moment but the man insisted Coakley-Spring take a look. “He said that she wants to see these: ‘Trust me. She really

wants to see these dresses,’” Coakley said. It wasn’t until after CoakleySpring purchased the dresses from the man and he had exited the store that the two realized he had left behind more than just two formal dresses. In a separate bag, they also found a white robe, white hood with eye holes and a loose rope — all of which appeared to be items similar to those worn by the Ku Klux Klan (KKK). Coakley-Spring initially thought the garment was a choir robe, but Coakley said he knew what the items were and [ more STORE page 6 ]

LWSD board of directors approves $398M bond for April ballot MEGAN CAMPBELL Reporter Newspapers

Overcrowded and aged schools could receive some much-needed attention if the public approves a $398 million bond on the April ballot. The Lake Washington School District (LWSD) board of directors unanimously approved during its Monday meeting to put the

bond to a public vote April 26. If approved, the bond measure would address the district’s immediate needs, providing funding to rebuild and enlarge aging schools and to create new classrooms for the steady influx of student enrollment. “The plan that we’ve developed does involve sub-

sequent bond measures to fund the longer term needs,” district Superintendent Traci Pierce said Monday. “Bond measures won’t increase tax rates. Those tax rates will be maintained at the 2015 tax rate and will be kept steady over the next 15 years.” The district anticipates $21 million from state assistance and another $10 million

from school impact fees, bring in the total projects cost to about $430 million. Among other things, the 2016 bond would fund two new elementary schools and a new middle school to be placed in Redmond; it would upgrade the Old Redmond Schoolhouse Community Center (ORSCC) to include a preschool; and it would

replace portables at Explorer Elementary School in Redmond. Former Redmond mayor Rosemarie Ives spoke at the meeting and noted that she is sympathetic to the challenges facing the district and that growth in Redmond is out of control. On the ORSCC, Ives said: “So with the proposed

district bond issue priced at $398 million, I believe it is strategic to remove any recommendation that presents a vulnerability to the whole of the bond passing. The ORSCC recommendation doesn’t make financial sense, doesn’t make operational sense and breaks a 40-year lease of a building as a community center benefitting [ more BOND page 3 ]


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