Town Center regulations taking shape
December 29, 2009
By J.B. Wogan
By J.B. Wogan
Regulations that could define the look and feel of Town Center are on their way to the City Council.
The Planning Commission has wrestled with the development and zoning regulations for more than a year. The commission approved their rough draft of the regulations Dec. 10.
“It’s a pretty tremendous accomplishment, to take basically a 120-page document and to flesh that out,” said Tom Vance, Planning Commission chairman.
The scope of the Town Center area will be from 222nd Street to the west to 233rd Avenue to the east, from East Main Street on the north to Southeast 8th Street to the south. It encompasses about 240 acres, though much of it is unbuildable wetlands.
Once its completely built, which could take decades, Town Center would add between 1,300 and 2,000 residential units and up to 600,000 square feet of commercial space.
The commission’s recommendations are not the final word. The council will begin reviewing the regulations in January 2010.
Residents will have opportunities in 2010 to attend council meetings and give their input on what does and doesn’t work about the commission’s recommendations.
They can also e-mail the council with their thoughts at citycouncil@ci.sammamish.wa.us.
Here are some highlights of what the commission has recommended:
u Developers must use low-impact development techniques wherever possible. The commission outlined preferable options such as reusing rainwater, planting roof gardens and installing permeable pavement for roads and sidewalks.
While the regulations are strong in encouraging low-impact development, it falls short of an outright requirement. If developers say it isn’t possible from a financial standpoint, they don’t have to do it.
u Developers are required to provide affordable housing using a sliding scale mechanism. At least 10 percent of their housing units must be affordable to a household making up to 80 percent of the median income for King County. In 2009, the median income for a family of four was $84,300.
Developers have an option to provide fewer units, if they make them affordable to lower-income families.
If units are affordable to a household making between 50 percent and 70 percent of the county’s median income, developers don’t have to build as many.
The regulations also try to entice developers to build even more affordable housing. If developers build affordable units beyond the mandate (up to 10 percent more), they are allowed to build extra regular price, or market-rate, units.
For every affordable unit built, developers get two additional market-rate units. The ratio gets slightly higher if the units are more affordable ( about 2.3 new market rate units for one affordable unit).
u Unlike the citywide parking requirements, which have only a minimum parking requirement, Town Center has a maximum number of parking spaces for most areas. Single-family homes are an exception — they just have a minimum requirement of at least two parking spaces, the same as citywide.
Religious institutions have the same minimum requirements as elsewhere in the city, but the regulations put maximums on the number of spaces.
u The regulations also encourage parking garages. For residential uses — with the exception of cottages — at least 80 percent of all required off-street parking must be in garages, such as an underground lot. For commercial uses and any development needing more than 90 spaces, the parking must be in garages.
u On the east side of 228th Avenue, 55 percent of the commercial space allowed must be office. This aligns with direction from the council’s Town Center master plan, which said the east side should be more oriented around office than retail.
Reporter J.B. Wogan can be reached at 392-6434, ext. 247, or jbwogan@isspress.com. To comment on this story, visit www.SammamishReview.com.
Regulations that could define the look and feel of Town Center are on their way to the City Council.
The Planning Commission has wrestled with the development and zoning regulations for more than a year. The commission approved their rough draft of the regulations Dec. 10.
“It’s a pretty tremendous accomplishment, to take basically a 120-page document and to flesh that out,” said Tom Vance, Planning Commission chairman.
The scope of the Town Center area will be from 222nd Street to the west to 233rd Avenue to the east, from East Main Street on the north to Southeast 8th Street to the south. It encompasses about 240 acres, though much of it is unbuildable wetlands.
Town Center is broken into areas which are designed to allow fine-tuning of the coming density. Graphic by Dona Mokin
Once its completely built, which could take decades, Town Center would add between 1,300 and 2,000 residential units and up to 600,000 square feet of commercial space.
The commission’s recommendations are not the final word. The council will begin reviewing the regulations in January 2010.
Residents will have opportunities in 2010 to attend council meetings and give their input on what does and doesn’t work about the commission’s recommendations.
They can also e-mail the council with their thoughts at citycouncil@ci.sammamish.wa.us.
Here are some highlights of what the commission has recommended:
- Developers must use low-impact development techniques wherever possible. The commission outlined preferable options such as reusing rainwater, planting roof gardens and installing permeable pavement for roads and sidewalks. While the regulations are strong in encouraging low-impact development, it falls short of an outright requirement. If developers say it isn’t possible from a financial standpoint, they don’t have to do it.
- Developers are required to provide affordable housing using a sliding scale mechanism. At least 10 percent of their housing units must be affordable to a household making up to 80 percent of the median income for King County. In 2009, the median income for a family of four was $84,300. Developers have an option to provide fewer units, if they make them affordable to lower-income families. If units are affordable to a household making between 50 percent and 70 percent of the county’s median income, developers don’t have to build as many.The regulations also try to entice developers to build even more affordable housing. If developers build affordable units beyond the mandate (up to 10 percent more), they are allowed to build extra regular price, or market-rate, units. For every affordable unit built, developers get two additional market-rate units. The ratio gets slightly higher if the units are more affordable ( about 2.3 new market rate units for one affordable unit).
- Unlike the citywide parking requirements, which have only a minimum parking requirement, Town Center has a maximum number of parking spaces for most areas. Single-family homes are an exception — they just have a minimum requirement of at least two parking spaces, the same as citywide. Religious institutions have the same minimum requirements as elsewhere in the city, but the regulations put maximums on the number of spaces.
- The regulations also encourage parking garages. For residential uses — with the exception of cottages — at least 80 percent of all required off-street parking must be in garages, such as an underground lot. For commercial uses and any development needing more than 90 spaces, the parking must be in garages.
- On the east side of 228th Avenue, 55 percent of the commercial space allowed must be office. This aligns with direction from the council’s Town Center master plan, which said the east side should be more oriented around office than retail.
On the Web
For the complete version of the Town Center reccommendations, visit the city’s Web site.
Reporter J.B. Wogan can be reached at 392-6434, ext. 247, or jbwogan@isspress.com.
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