Sep. 1--LACEY -- A request to allow a self-storage center at Summerwalk illustrates the continuing challenge of attracting business to the pedestrian-friendly development.

The property owner, Summerwalk Yelm LLC, filed an application last month to develop the 9-acre parcel along Yelm Highway east of College Street with up to 600 storage units, small retail shops and restaurants. The request needs approval by the City Council because it amends the development's master plan, last revised five years ago.

A hearing examiner will make a recommendation to the City Council. A hearing has not been scheduled, but a decision is expected by the end of the year.

Summerwalk was the first village center in the city to receive master plan approval, in 1997. City planners saw it as an opportunity to develop a neotraditional neighborhood with the intent to "promote creation of places which have pedestrian emphasis, connectivity, mixed use and centralized public spaces," according to the zoning code.

The property has slowly developed. More than half the homes and town homes proposed for the first phase of residential development have been built. A second phase sits vacant. A Mormon church is planned on an adjacent property.

Community vision and market reality have hampered development of Summerwalk's commercial area.

Village centers are paired with one of two types of commercial development: neighborhood commercial, which limits building size to 10,000 square feet, or community commercial, which allows for larger buildings. Officials selected community commercial for Summerwalk because of its location along a major thoroughfare and its proximity to competing retailers, including Safeway, QFC, Rite-Aid, and, most recently, Lowe's, explained Rick Walk, the city's community development director.

FAILED PLANS

The former property owner attempted numerous times to bring Wal-Mart to the property, but the City Council denied the requests, saying the store was too large for a village center.

The owners finally gave up and sold the property to Summerwalk Yelm LLC, managed by Hall Equities Group, a development and property management company based in Walnut Creek, Calif.

The company sold the residential property to Pageantry Homes and set out to develop the commercial area.

Its master plan amendment in 2004 called for a mix of retail buildings that appeared to fit the village center concept. The largest building was 44,000 square feet and was intended to house a smaller niche grocery or drug store, for instance.