Editorial: Courtyards at Skansie should move forward

It's been 2 1/2 years since a Hearing Examiner decision approved the Courtyards at Skansie project, although we had little knowledge at the time that the City of Gig Harbor would drag it out for this long or put up such a fight. Now it’s time to move forward and allow developer Gordon Rush to move to the next step in the process of the 174-unit lot.

Rush thinks so, too. That’s why he filed a $15 million claim against the city last week. The city has 60 days to respond.

There are several issues at hand here, but from the city’s perspective, the most pressing concern is maintaining the look and feel of Gig Harbor. The Courtyards project would infringe on the idea simply due to high-density population. The units would be jammed into a space just less than 19 acres, and that scares some folks into believing the floodgates would open to larger developments in areas more prominent than the proposed northeast corner of Hunt Street and Skansie Avenue.

None of us wants Gig Harbor to be the next Bellevue. But the Courtyards aren’t attempting to get into the view basin or historic downtown, either.

The technicalities of zoning issues have been weighed, and the city has continued to appeal, first to Superior Court, then to the Court of Appeals and, finally, to the state Supreme Court, which denied to hear the case. All affirmed the Hearing Examiner’s decision.

One of the reasons for the decision is based on the state Growth Management Act, which forces future population growth inside existing city boundaries. And since Gig Harbor is running out of buildable lots, population density likely will increase with several homes on small pieces of land or taller buildings, such as condos or apartments. Courtyards at Skansie Park does just that.

Another positive is the notion of affordable housing, something this community greatly needs if it wants to retain young families and blue-collar workers. The Gig Harbor area is an attractive place to live, and its amenities and accessibility continue to improve. Just this year, St. Anthony Hospital, the Boys & Girls Club and all of its partners, and many businesses have opened their doors, adding to the self-sustainability of the harbor.

We need to keep those families on this side of the bridge, both with family-wage jobs and housing they can afford.

Rush originally aimed for housing to start in the “low 200s” at Courtyards, but those prices will continue to increase the longer the city delays the process.

While we do believe growth within city limits should pay for itself — connection fees at new developments should be the responsibility of the developments themselves, not all city residents — we also want Gig Harbor to remain open for responsible growth that will help us remain sustainable in the future.