Snohomish Economic Development Plan

Snohomish Economic Development Commission and Community Development Department, Snohomish, Washington

We recently completed a detailed economic development strategy for 5 different land use districts in the City of Snohomish for a joint Economic Development Task Force involving members of City Council, Planning Commission, Economic Development Council, School Board, and Chamber of Commerce.

City Council wanted to create and implement detailed economic development strategies for the historic business district, airport industrial area, Maple Street, Avenue D, and Bickford Corridor. The city wished to determine which markets, strategies, designs, and other implementation particulars were appropriate and would be publicly supported for each and all 5 districts combined.

We conducted a series of mail-out/mail-back surveys of all employers, employees, commercial store customers, and district property owners. We conducted intercept surveys on a peak day of the historic downtown business district to determine who and why customers frequented the area. We also conducted a series of participatory brainstorming workshops with business and property owners, and the public to assess conditions, propose strategies, and define a detailed action plan strategy for each and all districts.

We developed a series of quick-sketch studies illustrating how each district could capitalize on unique economic development issues and opportunities including stormwater management, traffic calming, former rail corridor rights-of-way, historic on-street parking, and airport recreational markets, among others. We also identified a series of detailed action proposals for joint efforts to provide childcare, adult education and training, job advertisement and placement, property and building space listings, development review procedures, and website linkages.

City Council unanimously adopted the plan following a series of public hearings. As a result of the strategies, the city has since developed a new library-civic center, funded a recreational trail on railroad right-of-way, begun a process to issue an RFP on a county surplus public works site, and revised development review procedures.

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