The City of Olympia will hold a public hearing June 8 on a proposed five-building development at the site of the former Hardel Plywood facility.
The development, West Bay Yards, is being proposed by West Bay Development, LLC, and would be located at 1210 West Bay Drive.
West Bay Development first submitted an application for the project in 2021.
The project includes a mix of uses across five buildings, including 478 residential units, 823 parking stalls, cafes, restaurants, public amenities, an elevated public plaza, public access through and around the site, shoreline restoration and a waterfront trail.
Shoreline restoration project components would include placement of granular fill over the existing hard armored shoreline to create a naturally functioning intertidal beach.
The project will also replace the existing degraded nearshore with native vegetation, convert approximately 0.5 acres of aquatic land to upland, and extend intertidal restoration to 150 feet beyond the existing ordinary high-water mark.
The construction of the buildings will take place in three phases. Phase 1 includes the two mixed-use buildings, Phase 2 includes two of the three single-use residential buildings, and Phase 3 includes the third residential building.
Abundant pedestrian plaza and amenities will be constructed during all three building construction phases.
The development of the site will be undertaken in two phases. Phase 1 of site development will include development of the shoreline, waterfront trail and partial frontage improvements, having accessible pedestrian, vehicular and fire access paths around the site with connections to West Bay Drive.
During this phase, all the required utilities for the Phase 2 residential buildings and infrastructure for future buildings will be laid.
In Phase 2 of site development, all utilities and amenities required for the five buildings will be completed.
The City of Olympia’s review team made a recommendation on the project to the hearing examiner, who will make the decision whether to approve the project application.
That decision will be forwarded to the Department of Ecology for a final review that must be completed before the process is complete.
The City of Olympia did determine in January that the project met all the requirements of the State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA), but that determination has since been appealed.
The appeal of the SEPA determination will be combined with the June 8 project hearing, but those who are not affiliated with the appeal will not have an opportunity to comment on the SEPA determination.
Public comments regarding the project will be heard in two time slots during the public hearing on June 8.
The first runs from 9 a.m. to noon. The second starts at 6 p.m. and does not have a set end time, but if public comment extends into the night, the city said that the comment portion of the hearing would likely be extended into the next day, Tuesday, June 9.
The hearing will be held primarily remotely via Zoom, but for those without internet access, space to participate in the online meeting will be provided at Olympia City Hall in the council chambers. The hearing examiner and staff will be attending remotely.
The staff report and supporting documents are available on the city’s website at: https://www.olympiawa.gov/info/construction_in_olympia/west_bay_yards.php
These documents are also available for review through the following link 10 days prior to the scheduled public hearing. https://olympia.legistar.com/Calendar.aspx
