WOODINVILLE, Wash. — A proposal to bring residential units to Woodinville's Old Town has ignited fierce backlash from business owners who fear they will be priced out or forced to relocate. Julio Ortiz, owner of Twisted Cuban Cafe & Bar, is leading the charge against this.
"This is the last untouched part of it. They're just going to fill up Woodinville with more traffic, more cars, killing our businesses," he said.
Earlier this month, Ortiz led a group of people to a council meeting where he and others spoke against the proposal. A zoning change request has been made to allow ground-floor residential units in Old Town. Mayor Mike Millman said the businesses don't have anything to worry about. He blames their worry on "misinformation that's being spread."
"We support our hard-working business owners," Millman said.
According to the mayor, the zoning change request would allow 40 townhomes to be built on the block at the intersection of Northeast Woodinville Drive and 126th Place Northeast. The project would force Cookhouse Restaurant and Bar to relocate. It would also tear down a single-family home. Mayor Millman said several times during his interview with KING 5 that the zoning change would be confined to that one block.
"What is being spread, and is incorrect, is that would spread to the rest of the businesses around there, that zone. We can confine it to that one block," Millman said. According to him, the city's legal counsel determined that is something they can do.
Earlier this year, the city's planning commission recommended against the zoning change request, but Millman said what's being proposed now is different because it's been confined to one block.
Some confusion may arise from a 2019 proposal passed by the council and would have brought 161 apartment units to Old Town. Millman said that would have been bad for the business owners and people in Woodinville. He's certain the 40 townhome proposal will be a good thing for everyone, noting this will be the first home-buying opportunity in downtown Woodinville since the 1990s.
Many business owners worry it'll increase their rent. Millman doesn't believe that will happen.
"The townhomes are residential. They don't have a direct correlation with commercial retail property value. Our proposal, the townhomes, would actually help the businesses. You're going to have 80-90 built-in customers within a one-block radius," Millman said.
Ortiz isn't convinced. He's already helped organize another big group to attend next week's meeting. He's afraid if this is approved, it won't take long for a new city council or mayor to approve rezoning where he's had his business for almost 20 years.
"We wanna keep Old Town the way it is," Ortiz said.
Woodinville City Council will meet Tuesday, Sept. 3 at 7 p.m.