POULSBO — A new development on Viking Avenue south of Lindvig Way could be announced soon, but involved property owners are keeping any possible news close to their chests.

Courtesy Auto president John Hern, who owns a lot of property on the major thoroughfare, has not returned phone calls to the Herald. But Poulsbo City Councilman Ed Stern, chairman of the city’s Economic Development Committee, said April 27 that affected Viking Avenue property owners were expected to make an announcement in about two weeks. Stern would not comment on the  development,  saying  that was an announcement for the property owners to make.

Pressed, Stern would only say, “It’s a national name brand on a small footprint. It’s not going to turn things around on Viking … but it’s the first positive out there since the ebb tide started.”

The two-week mark was Wednesday, and still no announcement. (Representatives of Safeway said last week they are considering building a store in Poulsbo, but no decision has been made. And on Friday, Brian Hunter, Walgreens senior real estate manager in the Pacific Northwest, said “Poulsbo is on our radar screen. We’re looking at Poulsbo as a possible location.” But he said “we’re not that close” to signing a lease or purchasing property.).

In 2010, the city received $296,860 as its share of sales tax revenue generated by Viking Avenue businesses — down from $633,091 in 2007, a reflection of the departure of Poulsbo RV and all dealerships save Courtesy Ford. Traffic on Viking Avenue has declined from as many as 22,000 cars a day during the auto row heyday, to 12,724 a day, Stern said.

Hern, Mitch James of James Lumber/Ace Hardware, and Viking Ave. Investments, owner of the former Poulsbo RV property, are among the largest commercial property owners on the thoroughfare. They are working on plans to revitalize the once vibrant stretch of commerce. Mayor Becky Erickson initiated a soon-to-be-launched city marketing website, CrossroadsPoulsbo.com, which follows the same design as the city website and has information about city demographics, business districts, zoning and development code, and community organizations. Erickson has also toyed with a theme for Viking Avenue, and developed a mock flyer touting the thoroughfare as “The Man’s Side of Town,” in reference to the auto-related businesses there. (Other businesses include a bank, brewery, children’s clothing store, grocery, restaurants, and home services.)

Stern and Councilwoman Connie Lord, both members of the EDC, said owners have indicated to them that they want to take the lead on revitalization, not the city. Some property owners are still smarting from disruptions caused by street improvements during the last decade.

“That ruffled a lot of feathers,” Lord said. “We’re trying our very best to get them to know we can support them, that we really want them to thrive. There are some things the city can do.” If the area is redeveloped as a master-planned area, she said, there are some tradeoffs — the developer gets increased density, the city gets some say on beautification.

While property owners would like to see Viking Avenue revitalized, they admit the vision is not clear. The commercial owners hired Jon Rose, CEO of Olympic Property Group, as a consultant to develop a plan. But there’s a group of large residential property owners who have been meeting to discuss possible future uses of their property, and the commercial and residential owners don’t know what the other has planned. And some city officials would like to see Viking Avenue’s vacant commercial space redeveloped with village-like mixed uses, with street-level stores and cafes and upper-level apartments and homes.

Mitch James of James Lumber thinks daily traffic is too heavy for village-type development.

“This has always been a commercial zone with uses that lent itself to standalone buildings that are set back, not along the street,” James said. “We commissioned a study, and one of the things recommended was an anchor-type grocery store. We looked at what money is leaking out of Poulsbo vs. staying here — it was grocery and pharmacy.

“We need something that would generate some sort of traffic flow — retail, grocery, a large Walgreens. You’ve heard the saying, ‘It’s location, location, location. Well, here it’s ‘traffic, traffic, traffic.’ We looked at a three-mile radius from Viking Avenue, and a lot of it is going to Silverdale.”

Olympic Property Group’s Rose, speaking as a citizen and not as a consultant, said Viking Avenue represents “the single best transformative opportunity for the city of Poulsbo.”

“I think Viking Way has a healthy average daily traffic that would lend itself to providing retail and other services. There’s a real wide variety of retail that could fit there — dry good, auto services. A grocery is already there. Things that you see along 305 to some level could potentially find a home there — people selling stuff you could put in a bag, furniture showrooms, restaurants.

“The challenge is, when you build new, you have to find a way to make it fit comfortably and gracefully with the stuff that’s already there.” He said some existing, vacant buildings may not work for some new uses.

“It’s challenging to dream about all the things that could be there.”

Attorney Robert K. Hawkinson is a member of the group of residential property owners; he owns five of 70 acres of land that could be available for residential development. John Johnson owns almost 45 acres, but some of it is not in the city. Brad Watts, owner of Valley Nursery on Bond Road, owns 20 acres.

Hawkinson believes residential development could play a part in transforming Viking Avenue.

“One of the things we learned is commercial people are not interested in coming over this way unless there is more residential. They wanted to see more housing on the books or in the process,” he said.

He loves Viking Avenue and sees nothing but potential, particularly with the impending extension of the downtown boardwalk that would provide a pedestrian link between Viking and downtown.

“It can be more neighborhood friendly, with more walking areas, places to ride bikes, there’s a potential for trails. There’s a lot here. But there needs to be more housing, and mass transit has to play a role.”

Traffic, traffic, traffic
Where the traffic is in Poulsbo; cars per day

— Section of Highway 3 that parallels Viking Avenue: 36,000

— Highway 305: 22,000-25,000

— Between Finn Hill/Lindvig and Highway 3: 15,000-18,000

— Viking Avenue: 12,724