I am writing to express my concerns regarding the recent actions taken by the Town Council, the Community Development & Planning Director, and Guard Street Apartments LLC concerning the property located at 1032 Guard St in Friday Harbor.
On April 24, 2023, Guard Street Apartments LLC purchased two commercially zoned lots at this address and subsequently proposed a 38-unit apartment complex. While Friday Harbor’s commercial zoning permits hotels and other commercial activities, it does not allow multi-family residences. The LLC, therefore, required a zoning variance to reclassify the property as multi-family
With the approval and recommendation from Ryan Ericson, the Community Development & Planning Director, the Town Council granted this rezoning. However, almost immediately after the variance was approved, Guard Street Apartments LLC listed the properties for sale, marketing them as a “rare multifamily development opportunity” complete with utilities and comprehensive reports.
This sequence of events raises serious questions about the decision-making process and motivations of those involved. Was the rezoning genuinely in the best interest of our community, or was it fast-tracked to benefit a private developer who had no intention of fulfilling their proposed project? The swift turnaround from rezoning to marketing suggests a lack of genuine commitment to the development and more of a strategy to increase property value at the community’s expense.
I urge the Town Council to reflect upon its decision and take into account the long-term impacts of such actions. The residents of Friday Harbor deserve transparency, accountability, and decisions that genuinely serve the interests of our community, not those of opportunistic developers.
Editor’s Note: Both lots were sold together for $1 million on April 24, 2023 to Guard Street Apartments LLC. After the rezoning, the LLC put the property up for sale at an asking price of $2 million.
https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/1032-Guard-St-Friday-Harbor-WA-98250/228490541_zpid/
https://docs.sanjuanco.com/WebLink/DocView.aspx?id=1388187&dbid=0&repo=SJC
Jeremy Nash