In efforts to enhance the downtown experience behind businesses near First, Second and Third streets through the activated alleyway project, the City of Yelm is currently in the right-of-way acquisition phase to purchase property currently owned by local establishments.
Yelm Public Works Director Cody Colt gave a report on the alleyway project at the request of Councilor Joshua Crossman. Colt said, for the project to be successful, the city has portions of the alleyway it needs to buy from neighboring owners.
“We own the 10-foot easement through the middle of it. There’s more than that,” Colt said. “If you want to put in food trucks, if you want to put in benches, we have to get that [space] from the property owners.”
He said the city has been talking with the property owners affected to make purchases at fair market value. He said every property owner city staff has talked to who would be impacted by losing part of their property has been “100% on board” with the activated alleyway project. Colt said the new owners of the pho restaurant would like to incorporate a portion of their property behind the restaurant to be part of the activated alleyway.
“The other thing we’re working on is dressing up the back of City Hall,” Colt said. “There’s going to be some new things coming to you guys in the future about this backside of City Hall here to dress it up with this activated alleyway.”
Once the right-of-way acquisition phase is complete, Colt said city staff will talk to business owners who don’t have to give up property but will still be affected. He said businesses like Masonry Cafe, White Horse Tavern and Tim’s Pharmacy are all nearby and can benefit from the alleyway.
Colt said the completion of the right-of-way acquisition will depend on how negotiations go but imagines the process should be completed by the end of 2024.
“Once right of way is done, then we will start the actual full-on set plans. We’ll go to the owners around there and get more input from them,” Colt said. “Because we are taking so much of Habitat [For Humanities] property, those negotiations may take a little longer. We’re hoping by the end of this year, and we can start moving forward with full-on plans after that.”
He said Leavenworth has a similarly executed activated alleyway and implemented strict guidelines for deliveries and trash services due to the road primarily featuring pedestrian access. Colt added the council and public will have ample opportunity to comment during the process, and there will be a lot of room for change as they’re currently sitting at 30% completion of the plans.
“There’s people that’ve done this right. It’s not like we’re reinventing the wheel,” Colt said. “We’re going to steal or borrow ideas as much as we can. We want this to be something that’s perfect, and every day gets a little bit better.”
