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The Centralia City Council approved a petition to vacate a portion of Long Road as part of the development of Centralia Station, which currently houses WinCo Foods and will soon feature Chick-fil-A and Chipotle fast food restaurants.
The City of Centralia and the Port of Centralia have been working together on the design of rights-of-way for the Port Park III, also known as the Centralia Station development. The port’s plan for the development included extending Yew Street south of Alder Street and connecting it with the southern half of Long Road, and then vacating Long Road to create consolidated parcels east of the new Yew Street. In exchange for vacating Long Road, the port will dedicate the new Yew Street extension to the city.
With the council’s approval during its Tuesday business meeting, the port will be able to go to bid for a fill project on Long Road. This project will include clearing and stripping existing grade and stockpile; stripping, spreading and compacting available site soils to the line of the grade; and temporary erosion control measures and associate improvements, port Executive Director Kyle Heaton told the port commissioners during their Wednesday, July 16 meeting. He added that the engineers’ estimate for the filling work is between $240,000 and $280,000.
In April, an application was received to vacate a portion of Long Road in the 1000 block at the intersection of Long Road and South Yew Street at Centralia Station. The city council adopted a resolution in May to set a public hearing date with the planning commission, which was held on June 12. A portion of Long Road is already unused and blocked off.
Next, an ordinance will be presented to the council enacting the transfer of the right-of-way ownership.
Heaton told the commissioners that this area is the last port-owned portion of the Centralia Station that needs to be addressed, and its completion will finish the street frontage improvements. The city council’s approval of the petition on second reading opens up the port to get started on utility work.
“Once that’s completed, we have some coordination to do with the City of Centralia regarding utilities that will come off of that street,” Heaton said July 16. “We already have new utilities to replace them on Yew. It’s a matter of making the connections and doing the abandonments where they think it’s best. Our engineers are coordinating with them on that, as well as the hammerhead on the end of what’s left of Long Road for those properties that are in there.”
Heaton added that this is work that must be completed in order to complete the Chipotle transaction, among other needs for the Centralia Station development, including the addition of two new users of the site that will be brought to the port commissioners in early August. He also provided an update on the progress of Chick-fil-A.
“Not only for Chipotle, this will also bring back the infrastructure and the extend to the back of the site that will be required for two additional users that we’ll be bringing to you in early August,” Heaton said. “Chick-fil-A is making considerable progress. It has received its first approval from corporate Chick-fil-A that the site of Centralia as a region is acceptable. We’re now working through minor site plan modifications that they’ve submitted, [including] moving their electric car charging stations to the rear of the building closer to I-5, which is better. People still park there and walk over and have a sandwich while they wait. Our planners are reviewing that now, and we think it substantially complies with what was originally submitted.”
The ordinance vacating a portion of Long Road includes several conditions. One which is a paved turnaround to be constructed at the north end of the vacated land. A utility easement for a water main extension and any other public utilities shall be granted over, across, upon and under the north end of the proposed vacated land and the adjacent property between Long Road and South Yew Street. An easement for ingress and egress over a portion of the vacated land will be granted to property owners residing on South Yew Street to provide access to the street.
Centralia Station is made up of WinCo, which is housed in an 84,000-square-foot building, north of another 11,000-square-foot retail building for additional businesses and a 2,750-square-foot restaurant building for Chipotle.
Groundbreaking for the Chick-fil-A is expected to happen in late 2025, according to a March Port of Centralia news release.
The restaurant lot will also include a possible 32-car electric vehicle charging station.
