By Kevin Hanson-The Courier-Herald

An upcoming public hearing will address Enumclaw's desire to turn a long stretch of city-owned land into individual parcels.

Ordinance 2382 was approved on first reading in December and will go before the seven-member City Council again Monday night. Prior to a vote, there will be a public hearing on the matter. The session gets under way at 7:30 in City Hall council chambers, 1339 Griffin Ave.

At issue is the land that used to be home to the Burlington Northern Railroad tracks. The city acquired the property when the railroad departed and, subsequently, much of the land has been developed. Sitting on the property are the community library, Park Center Hotel and the commercial building housing Sears and other tenants.

Driving the current effort is the city's desire to sell parcels at the north end of the former railroad right-of-way. The large warehouse building that once housed Industrial Skills, a smaller adjacent building and vacant land across Battersby Avenue (a former BMX site) were put on the market and have willing buyers. The city cannot complete the sales agreements until each has a unique parcel number.

City Administrator Mark Bauer said the city has no immediate plans to put other parcels up for sale. The council is considering, however, a request from the owner of Sears that he be allowed to purchase the land his building sits on.

The city is sectioning only the property north of state Route 410. The section south of the highway is home to the Foothills Trail.

Kevin Hanson can be reached at khanson@courierherald.com.