As condominium and apartment projects continue their upward sweep from West Seattle's commercial corridors, business owners along California Avenue already weathered in change are making the best of a situation some think might eventually hurt their bottom line.

Thousands of potential new residents - along with their cars - and a years-long construction boom could mean parking chaos for business owners in the West Seattle Junction, but some are already looking forward to the influx of expected retail spending.

"Any business owner would welcome the opportunity to sell merchandise to thousands of people who aren't here right now," said Dave Montoure, a West Seattle native who opened West 5 on California more than five years ago. "New retailers are already looking for space in the West Seattle Junction."

The Junction serves as a city-designated Hub Urban Village, bordered on the east and west by 31st Avenue Southwest and 44th Avenue Southwest, Southwest Dakota Street to the north a Southwest Dawson Street to the south. Mixed-use and multi-family housing is expected throughout the urban village as part of the City's Comprehensive Plan. Though myriad projects have sprouted during the past few years, several key projects add close to 1,000 new units to the area, including a development at 4116 California Ave. S.W., another at 4100 S.W. Alaska St., a third that will add another 136 units, another 184 units at 3922 S.W. Alaska Street and a 206-unit mixed-use development at 450 38th Ave. S.W. Combined these projects representing a sample of the development activity in West Seattle would add a total of 720 residential condominium units during the next two years.

Hundreds of other are being built or contemplated further to the east along the Alaska corridor.

The concept of the city's original Comprehensive Plan, passed in 1994 to fulfill Seattle's requirement under the Growth Management Act, is fairly straightforward, said Diane Sugimura, director of the city's Department of Planning and Development. The city was sectioned off into Urban Centers and Villages designed to bear the brunt of the city's growth during the next 20 years. Urban Centers downtown at South Lake Union, around University Village, and at Northgate are expected to serve both residential and employment growth. Urban Villages such as the West Seattle Junction will serve as residential hubs.

According to Sugimura the city did not have to rezone the Junction in order to accommodate planned urban growth; it's been slated for mixed-use since the mid-1980s.

"The lack of past urban housing projects were because of the market, not the zoning," said Sugimura. "Ballard has seen a lot of this sort of activity already. West Seattle is a little behind."

Though roads will be kept up to standard, Sugimura said parking will continue to be a challenge.

"Parking has been an issue in West Seattle for a long time," Sugimura said. "What we're really trying to encourage is walking."

Walking - along with a bus rapid transit system slated to arrive in West Seattle in 2011 - may help combat the Junction's lack of parking, but many business owners are also wary of the losing customers during the seemingly endless construction process.

"We're hoping the eventual density will help, not hurt, the business owners," Sugimura said.

West Seattle businesses will likely benefit from the residential influx headed their way, but stress on the community's infrastructure, parking woes and construction headaches shouldn't be ignored, said Fritz Wagner, managing director for the Northwest Center for Livable Communities and a research professor of Urban Design and Planning and Landscape Architecture at the University of Washington.

"Economically, those businesses should do better with more people living and working in West Seattle," Wagner said. "But it's a community's parks, open spaces, libraries, schools and basic infrastructure that create quality of life. Any surge in development is going to stress the system - there's no doubt about it - and the government will have to respond to the lack of amenities. People have got to be concerned about an amenity package that keeps West Seattle a livable place."

Wagner said Seattle should look to Europe and Asia for examples of how cities can infill over time without losing their quality of life.

"You can look at those places and see our future," Wagner said. "It's an evolution in the way our system has developed over time."

West Seattle, Wagner said, is in an enviable position.

"At the very least, the city is concerned about this development issue and is doing the best it can," he said.

West 5 owner Dave Montoure agrees that the city has been more than willing to address the concerns of the Junction's business elite, including the issue of parking.

"The city if putting together a parking program," Montoure said, that includes parking stations and resident permit zones. "Overall, the city has a plan. I think we have good access to the people who make decisions."

In addition to his role as a business owner, Montoure is also the president of the West Seattle Junction Association, a Business Improvement Area that collects quarterly dues from the roughly 300 merchants within its borders. The association's main budget item - leasing the Junction's four, trust-held parking lots - has kept its small business community vibrant.

"The Junction has waxed and waned through the years, Montoure said. "We've seen a very strong resurgence during the past six or seven."

The association's 270-stall ward began as single family homes purchased in the 1950s by a consortium of forward-thinking Junction businessmen. The lots are held in trust, Montoure said, encumbered by covenants held with the city that stipulate that, if the lots were to be bought out, the developer must replace them with an equal number of free stalls. The details of such an arrangement, however, have left some business owners in the Junction wary.

"The potential of those lots is tremendous," Montoure said. "Every business owner that I engage with on a regular basis is concerned about (parking)."

Despite the potential infrastructure challenges, Montoure said a majority of the Junction's business owners are excited that West Seattle is finally getting the recognition so many believe it deserves through these "new and exciting projects."

A Seattle neighborhood known for its fierce independence, West Seattle is currently in a time of well-known transition, said Patti Mullen, executive director of the West Seattle Chamber of Commerce.

"People have waited on the sidelines for years for this kind of investment in our commercial core at the Junction," Mullen said. "The city is looking more proactively at creating relationships in West Seattle. I'm looking forward to seeing what the city and the community can accomplish together."

"Change is always uncomfortable, but if you have a shared vision, it makes it a little easier," Montoure said.

Hilary Reeves is a West Seattle resident and may be reached via wseditor@robinsonnews.com