Fred Meyer Backs Off Superstore in West Gig Harbor

It looks like — the retailer most closely linked to an effort to increase retail building size limits in west Gig Harbor — won’t be opening a new 100,000 square foot superstore after all.

The retail supermarket chain has pulled its letter of intent to move into the proposed Olympic Towne Center on Pt. Fosdick Drive NW just north of the Olympic Drive NW intersection, said Randy Boss, the agent for the owner/developer, WWR Properties LLC.

Boss relayed the news at last night’s , in which residents overwhelmingly spoke out against a zoning amendment that would increase the allowable square footage for retail buildings in the C-1 zoning district from 65,000 to 100,000.

“[Fred Meyer] did not want to be looked at as trying to jam something through that the city or residents would not be in favor of,” said Boss, adding that WWR Properties had been told of the decision only a couple of weeks ago.

The pull out is another setback for the Olympic Towne project, which has been stalled over zoning issues for more than two years. Fred Meyer’s participation has been its key driver. It has also been the motivation behind WWR Properties’ effort to increase the allowable square footage in the 46 acre zone that runs primarily along the west side of Highway 16 between the Wollochet and Olympic Drive interchanges.

Fred Meyer has wanted to expand its footprint in the harbor since the 1990s, but its superstores are typically 165,000 square feet in size. An initial request to the commission to up the maximum to that size fell on deaf ears. The developer came back late last year with its current proposal for a maximum of 100,000 square feet.

Since then, Boss said there was even some discussion with Fred Meyer about reducing its site size to 80,000 square feet. But ultimately store executives decided their hope for the new store just wasn’t working.

“They were breaking their mold to come to Gig Harbor. It’s hard to get someone to take a flier on something they’ve never tried before and risk all that investment in a plan that may not be successful,” said Boss.

The proposed text amendment before the commission wasn’t written specifically for Fred Meyer, however. It would allow any retail space in the C-1 zone to have up to 100,000 square feet, with those exceeding 65,000 square feet requiring a conditional use permit.

The prospect of opening up the area to such big box stores is why Gig Harbor residents argued against the amendment at the July 21 hearing.

More than 50 people were in attendance. Nearly 20 got up to object to the amendment. In addition, the city's senior planner Jennifer Kester estimated another 20 or so had voiced their opinions in writing, with only a couple of the submitted comments being in favor of the change.

Big box stores in west Gig Harbor would only exacerbate traffic congestion and safety issues on Pt. Fosdick and Olympic Drive, they said.  

Their nondescript designs would take away from the scenic character of the section of Highway 16 that passes through Gig Harbor by turning the stretch into an extension of Tacoma’s Sixth Avenue.

In addition, they argued that changing the size restrictions would run counter to the stated vision and intentions of the city’s comprehensive plan, which designated Gig Harbor North as the place for superstores so that west Gig Harbor and other areas could retain their community feel.

“We’re not like everybody else,” said Andrew Williams, a west Gig Harbor resident. “We have a unique flavor that I don’t want to lose.”

Boss took the community comments in stride even though he maintained that he and WWR Properties have already gone to great lengths to address their concerns, including buying property for a traffic mitigation plan designed to keep from adding to congestion at the Pt. Fosdick intersection.

“There’s a group that is anti-growth and I think they coalesced here this evening and came to make comments. We should address those comments respectfully and we will,” Boss said.

He believes it is ultimately to the economic benefit of west Gig Harbor to do so. Boss remains hopeful that Fred Meyer can be persuaded to rejoin the Olympic Towne project if the planning commission ultimately approves the text amendment.

“We’re going to see if it can work with Fred Meyer because we think they are a good fit,” he said. “They are the kind of reasonably sized and quality tenant that we need on the west side.”