Afco & Sons has submitted a preliminary fee simple unit lot subdivision application (the land use permit for townhome developments) for a 52-townhome development on the Cedar Park Christian School property between 55th and 54th Avenues West, NextMLT reports.

Afco & Sons is the developer for the Arbor Village and Atlas236 projects at the southeast and northeast corners of 236th Street Southwest and 56th Avenue West. Cedar Park Christian School also owns a parcel on the east side of 54th Avenue West

The site is in the RS-T zone, which allows single-family residential, townhomes and parking lots associated with Town Center development.

The site plan has been refined since the pre-application in April.

The plan includes 52 townhomes on the 2.1-acre property and would have vehicular access from a new cul-de-sac at the end 55th Avenue West and two driveways off 54th Avenue West. A total of 88 parking spaces would be required on the project but 99 have been provided. Eleven of those spaces are surface parking near the large open-space area in the middle of the development. Additionally, there will be on-street parking along 54th Avenue West.

There are three areas designated for trash/recycling, which should satisfy some criticisms of other townhome developments in the neighborhood where there are individual bins that need to be put on the sidewalk every week.

The site plan has been improved in that it eliminates unnecessary drive aisles shown on the pre-app submittal. Pedestrian connectivity to adjacent developments has also been improved. As shown below, the new sidewalk along the western and southern border of the site will connect to the alley currently planned in the adjacent Promenade Living project, creating a new pedestrian connection between 236th Street Southwest and 234th Southwest. Construction of the Promenade Living project appears to have stalled and the project has been listed for sale.

At one point, the Mountlake Terrace Planning Commission recommended upzoning this property to the proposed TC-3 zone, which would have prohibited townhomes and only allowed taller buildings. An Aug. 1, 2019 letter from the developer of the property, Afco & Sons, showed their frustration with this potential last-minute change. It also appeared as if the planning commission wasn’t aware with how far Afco & Sons were in the design process. Ultimately, the city council elected to maintain the property’s current transitional zone designation, which does allow townhomes.