Centralia Station ready for further development after new agreement between the port and city

May 25-The Port of Centralia and the City of Centralia have come to a solution after disagreement over a traffic light threatened to hold up the next steps of development at Centralia Station.

The Centralia Port Commission on Wednesday voted unanimously to approve an interlocal agreement with the City of Centralia that lays out details of the development of the plots of land around the new WinCo Foods.

Commissioner Ally Pickard described the agreement as "eloquent" during the meeting, highlighting the compromise on an issue that divided the city and the port.

"We have an amazing agreement here, the interlocal agreement, where the city's happy, we're happy, and we're able to move forward in a positive direction and build out Centralia Station without ruining relationships," Pickard said.

The Centralia City Council approved the same interlocal agreement during its May 12 business meeting. According to the agenda from the meeting, the agreement is the result of nearly three months of work between the city and the port.

The anchor of the agreement stipulates that the port will construct a traffic signal at the intersection of Yew Street and Alder Street once Port Park 3, commonly known as Centralia Station, reaches significant development or traffic conditions worsen.

More specifically, the agreement calls for the port to construct the traffic signal once Centralia Station reaches 75% development or when the intersection reaches a D traffic rating - whichever comes first. According to documents included in a Centralia City Council agenda from its May 12 business meeting, 75% development refers specifically to the 17 land parcels that make up Centralia Station.

The 75% development threshold is described as 13 of the 17 parcels receiving a certificate of occupancy from the city for a structure built on the parcel.

The interlocal agreement impacts other parts of the development of Centralia Station that have apparently been contentious as well.

The agreement calls for the port to construct a turnaround on Long Road behind Yew Street that will preserve local access for first responders. It also gives the port more control over the stromwater system in the area, even after the road and stormwater system become city property.

The agreement stipulates that new developments in Centralia Station will need approval from the port before the city will allow them to hook up to the stormwater system.

The port has resisted the city's push for a traffic light at the intersection, pointing out that there are no traffic studies that show a signal is necessary at the intersection.

During the recent Port of Centralia meeting, Commissioner Kyle Markstrom reiterated that point and clarified that the port agreed to construct the traffic light for the sake of maintaining a healthy relationship with the city.

"I've been very vocal about the signal that you and Alder, and just want to be on the record as stating that the port is very much doing this to be a good partner," Markstrom said. "We would be spending taxpayer dollars to put that in to make sure that that neighborhood is above par, and that's that intersection services at a high level in the future, but that's being done at the expense of the taxpayers."

Despite no traffic study to support the desire for the traffic light, as pointed out by port officials, the traffic light at the intersection of Yew Street and Alder Street is identified on the City of Centralia's six-year transportation improvement plan.

Both the city and the port suggested that the finalized agreement over details of Centralia Station development will allow the port to move forward with development in the area.

Expected developments for Centralia Station include a Chick-fil-A location across Art Lehman Drive to the south from WinCo and a new WilCo location.

During the May 12 Centralia City Council meeting, Centralia City Manager Mike Thomas, much like his port counterparts, emphasized the compromise and thanked port staff and officials for their collaboration.

"Not everyone got what they wanted, but we all got what we needed to get out of this," Thomas said.

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