Everett Offers To Sell Land To Tulalips -- Tribes Don't Want City To Build Development Within Reservation

Everett has offered to sell the Tulalip Tribes a 906-acre parcel of city land within the reservation.

The city and tribes have scheduled a Feb. 2 meeting to discuss sale terms. Everett paid Unocal $2.4 million for the property in 1990, but its current value has not been determined.

The relationship between the city and tribes has become increasingly testy in recent months. The city has been working with Snohomish County planners on a proposal to build two 18-hole golf courses surrounded by pricey homes on the Tulalip property.

The tribes are disturbed by the city's plan because it would eliminate a large section of forested watershed that feeds the reservation's salmon hatchery.

Tribal leaders say a letter they just received from city officials was the first sign that Everett might be willing to sell the property.

At a recent Snohomish County Planning Commission hearing, a commissioner asked a tribal official whether the Tulalips had talked to Everett about buying the land.

"I said, `You know, I started every meeting (with Everett) off by saying the tribes would really like to get all the land back on the reservation. If that isn't direct enough, what else could I have done, hit them on the side of the head with a two-by-four?' " said John McCoy, the Tulalip's government-affairs director. "That drew a little laughter."

But in Everett's eyes, that was not direct enough, said Don Hale, the city's executive director.

"At that last hearing . . . was the first time I ever heard him say the tribes would like to buy that property," Hale said.

Snohomish County officials have been working with the Tulalips for two years to create a mutually acceptable zoning plan for property on the 22,086-acre reservation owned by non-Indians, including the tract owned by the city of Everett.

If the County Council adopts the compromise plan now before the Planning Commission, the zoning designation for Everett's land would change from one home per 2.5 acres to one home per 10 acres. Golf courses wouldn't be allowed.

However, if Everett were to complete its development application before the County Council acts, the golf-course project would be allowed under existing rules.

Everett originally planned to use the property as a disposal site for sludge from the city's sewage-treatment plant. But opposition from local residents, including many non-Indians who live on the reservation, caused Everett to drop that plan.

Everett Mayor Ed Hansen recently said that if the city can't build its golf-course community, it might have to reconsider using the land for sludge disposal.

Diane Brooks' phone message number is 425-745-7802. Her e-mail address is dbrooks@seattletimes.com