<body><div>Submitted by Walter Neary, Lakewood.As we see box apartments going up around Lakewood, and 800 more people potentially moving onto the Barnes and Noble property, I thought The Suburban Times readers would be interested to know that Lakewood has been laser-focused on giving developers the highest possible profits.This came up at a recent City Council hearing. The council is going to consider maybe someday charging developers a fee so that they’re helping to pay for traffic improvements, parks and other amenities for new residents. I would encourage anyone interested to watch the discussion at this link: https://www.youtube.com/live/sKmsHrqrhX0?si=dvC-7RFCxYM-70AX&amp;t=3602 which should automatically open at one hour into the meeting.<div style="position:relative;width:100%; height:0; padding-bottom: 56.25%;"><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/sKmsHrqrhX0?start=3613&amp;feature=oembed" allowfullscreen frameborder="0" style="width:100%; height:100%;top:0; left:0; position:absolute"></iframe></div>Most cities and counties have been charging impact fees for decades. It’s basically a way for developers to set up their future tenants with improvements in their new community.Meanwhile, developers must call our town Housingwood. Take a look at the bar chart that I have attached. This shows what cities charge for a developer to invest in a town so it can provide traffic improvement to the new residents.<figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=2XRmkN_0wCyLpbl00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=2XRmkN_0wCyLpbl00" width="757" height="1200" ></figure>See what Lakewood charges.Wait.I don’t see Lakewood’s name anywhere on that list.You would see Lakewood’s name missing on similar charts for park improvements or anything else except sewer and water charges, which are imposed by the county and the water district. Ah. So it’s the current residents who are paying for the traffic improvements, parks and amenities of the new residents.That’s very nice of us, isn’t it? And sincerely, it is one way to welcome someone to town.As my regular readers, both of you, already know, the city is well underway in trying to give developers a tax break for lining Gravelly Lake Drive and other locations with apartments and condos.It turns out this is a heap of icing on the free cake we’re giving to developers already. If you’re a developer, I can’t understand why you’re not already taking a hammer to the Clover Park Shops. Though of course you will once the city talks about imposing an impact fee for those who weren’t politically well-connected enough to see this coming.If you’re one of those people who think Garry Oaks are there to be torn down and used to frame homes — this is great. Surely if Housingwood opens wide for developers, they will build apartments and housing and prices will go down. I’m sure someone must be writing about how housing prices and rental prices are falling in Lakewood. Though I’m not sure I’ve seen any of those stories.If you are a citizen in Lakewood already — you’re here to subsidize housing developers. And provide amenities to new folks, though of course now they’re here to add to the community.If you’re a state legislator, you’re puzzled why the city is saying it’s a state mandate to pack Lakewood with more housing when there’s nothing in state law that says existing residents have to help developers make a lot of money.If you are a developer — the message is clear: If you want to build the most basic of housing, the City of Lakewood will gift you more than anyone else.</div></body>

Mountain View, CA

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Letter: Lakewood-Where Developers Win, and Residents Chip In

Submitted by Walter Neary, Lakewood. As we see box apartments going up around Lakewood, and 800 more people potentially moving onto the Barnes and Noble property, I thought The Suburban Times readers would be interested to know that Lakewood has been laser-focused on giving developers the highest possible profits. This...