Council approves Langley Marina land transfer

Changes at the Langley Boat Harbor took another step Feb. 2 when the Langley City Council and two developers signed an agreement to swap public and private land.

After several months of negotiation, the city of Langley and Boatyard Inn owners Paul Schell and Tony Puma traded a total of about 9,000 square feet of land near the Langley Marina.

Schell and Puma purchased the Langley Marina property in 2004 from Linda Moore and Ginger Miller, and said the trade would help them to redevelop the Langley Marina. The city intends to use the property it acquired in the swap to increase public access to the city’s waterfront and to implement the Langley Boat Harbor master plan. The property traded will also allow the city to eventually build a sidewalk on Wharf Street.

The five small parcels included in the trade appraised at approximately $388,000. The value of the property traded on both sides were found to be of equal value in two appraisals paid for by the city and Schell and Puma.

The properties range in size from 288 to 4,225 square feet. Included in the city-owned property is one parcel of 3,050 square feet of waterfront uplands valued at $55 per square foot, and 300 square feet of unimproved tidelands at $11 per square foot. A second parcel of non-waterfront uplands is 580 square feet and valued at $35 per square foot. Langley’s property totals approximately 4,000 square feet and is valued at $191,000.

The Schell-Puma property in the trade includes 4,225 square feet of improved tidelands valued at $40 per square foot, 288 square feet of non-waterfront uplands at $35 per square foot and 450 square feet of improved tidelands at $40 per square feet. At approximately 5,000 square feet in size, it is valued at $197,000.

“It was everything the council wanted and they agreed to it all,” Colburn said this week.

Schell and Puma said they will tear down the Langley Marina building and dock. In place of the large marina building, they plan to build two smaller buildings pushed further back from the shoreline. One building will be new rooms for The Boatyard Inn. The other building will house a marine hardware store and deli on the ground floor, and a private residence above.

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