By KIMBERLY A.C. WILSON
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER

If Mayor John Wiltse has his druthers, change will pay "the Park" a visit.

Four years ago, the Burien native served on a planning commission to develop the retirement home Fernwood at the Park on the thoroughfare that provides access to Normandy Park.

At first, neighbors balked. But since it opened in 1996, nearly all of the center's 107 independent lifestyle apartments have been occupied, mostly with area residents.

Now Wiltse has another vision for the city.

He'd like to see its commercial side grow, beginning with a cafe.

All but one of Normandy Park's 70-odd streets are bare of storefronts and businesses.

And fewer than 50 businesses line First Avenue South, the thoroughfare that separates Normandy Park from its eastern neighbor, Des Moines.

Among the highlights: a locally owned lumber store, two national grocery chains, a drug store, an old-time barber shop, an archery shop, a music repair shop, a Dairy Queen, a handful of restaurants and a few medical offices.

What is missing, Wiltse believes, is a Starbucks coffee shop.

"That's my example when somebody asks what kind of development I want to see here. Something for a real residential community like we are."