In Woodinville, where some two dozen wineries have clustered in a Tourist District (so-designated by the city), there's a parking lot midway between the Hollywood Schoolhouse and the Herbfarm restaurant that locals are eyeing with interest. The parking lot is meant to serve the adjacent baseball diamonds fields, home to the Northshore Little League's training facilities, with half a dozen batting cages and practice fields, used by Woodinville kids as they progress through the Little League program (T-Ball through Pee Wee, Minor and Major). Right now, the land is owned by King County, but it's being eyed by the City of Woodinville. Not the ball fields, just the parking lot, mind you.
The parking lot is already used by visitors to the Red Hook Brewery, whose facilities are located to the immediate west, and as overflow parking for event-goers at Chateau Ste. Michelle, on the south side of NE 145th. Woodinville thinks more can be done by annexing the parking lot into the city so that it can become an official part of the Tourist District. The intent would be to relocate the parking lot, perhaps to the north side of the road along the Tolt pipeline, according to city manager Richard Leahy. Then the current parking area would be available for potential tourist-related business development.
"It would fill in the last gap between the roundabout and the Columbia-Ste. Michelle intersection," he said, adding that it would make the area more pedestrian-friendly. The council will take up the topic at its next meeting, October 24th.
Woodinville City Staff Propose Annexation in Tourist District
[Photo Courtesy Lisa Bauman, Woodinville Patch]