City Wants No New Medical Clinics On Ground Floor In Metro Everett

For the past couple of years the City of Everett has been working on a proposal that would define how the center of Everett would develop far into the future. It is known as Metro Everett.

The current Metro Everett proposal calls for medical and social service facilities on a few select streets in the downtown core. In a recent Planning Commission hearing City of Everett staff advised the council that the city administration wanted to exclude ground floor clinics and social services within the entire Metro Everett area.

That idea did not sit well with many members of the Planning Commission who expressed concern that property owners who had tenants that provided medical or social service could be adversely impacted by the decision.

MyEverettNews.com last week reached out to the city for an explanation and received the following via email from Meghan Pembroke, Executive Director Communications and Marketing for the City of Everett:

“The draft Metro Everett plan included restrictions on medical clinics and social services for most of the Metro Everett area, with the exception of a few corridors. In an effort to reduce confusion and create consistent regulations throughout the metro area, the proposal that was brought to the planning commission on Tuesday extended the proposed restriction to the entire Metro Everett area.”

“The goal of the restriction is to promote economic growth in our downtown core by preserving ground-floor spaces for retail activity. We appreciate the feedback from the planning commission. Our planning team is exploring options to balance the concerns raised by the commission with our goal of creating a vibrant urban center.”

The Metro Everett Plan is still very much a work in progress and once Planning Commission recommendations are concluded it will move to the Everett City Council for final adoption and approval. Any changes to uses currently allowed within the Metro Everett area would apply only in the future. Current medical and social services operating on the ground floor would not be affected. Here is a link to the video of the most recent Planning Commission meeting on June 5th where this issue was discussed.