Eatonville Town Council votes down ordinance to amend city’s commercial zone

One out of two first readings of ordinances passed at the March 13 meeting of the Eatonville Town Council.

An ordinance amending the town’s municipal code to add a new section establishing a commercial district overlay zone went down to defeat.

The proposed zoning amendment was meant to preserve the primary commercial character and the viability of the downtown corridor for commercial purposes, encourage the development of multifamily housing in the walkable area of the town, and maintain a desirable look to the town’s commercial district.

Concerns about infringing on property rights ended up dooming the ordinance.

“I’m trying to figure out exactly what it is that we’re trying to fix by putting additional restrictions on these parcels,” Councilmember Bill Dunn said.

He went on to add he didn’t know “if there’s a need to create adding a section to the municipal code to prevent that from happening.

“We have people who are living in houses in this district — in this proposed district — whose rights to utilize their land the way they want to is going to be significantly inhibited by the town of Eatonville government coming in and saying now you’re part of this designated commercial overlay zone,” he said.

The council did pass the first reading of an ordinance to adopt final revisions to Eatonville’s Shoreline Master Program by the state Department of Ecology. Shoreline master programs are land-use policies and regulations that guide the use of Washington state shorelines.