Council provides direction on zoning map for the 185th Street Station Subarea
Wednesday, March 4, 2015
 |
| Map is online at shorelinewa.gov/lightrail |
From the City of Shoreline
On February 23 the Shoreline City Council directed staff to make changes to the Planning Commission’s recommended zoning map for the 185th Street Station Subarea.
Council is scheduled to adopt the entire 185th Street Station Subarea Plan package, including the zoning map and development regulations, on March 16.
The overall effect of Council’s changes will be to reduce the size of the rezone area and the allowed building height in the area closest to the future light rail station. The highest density area is concentrated within ½ mile of the future light rail station.
To see the new map of the rezone area, visit shorelinewa.gov/lightrail
The current proposal has the rezone occurring in three phases:
- Phase 1 occurring immediately upon adoption of the Subarea Plan and zoning map.
- Phase 2 would begin in 2021
- Phase 3 in 2033.
Phasing the rezone is another way to ensure redevelopment occurs in the core areas around the station and the 185th corridor first.
Council also directed staff to change the Mixed-Use Residential (MUR) 85’ designation to MUR-70’. MUR-70’ means that building heights in that zone could not exceed 70 feet (generally up to 6 or 7 stories).
Heights in this zone may be increased through a development agreement, which requires the provision of extensive public benefits (or amenities) and Council approval through a public process.
This zone is intended to provide for more intense development in those areas closest to the station.
Existing single-family homes will still be able to exist in the rezone areas and residents will continue to be able to live in them, maintain them, and remodel them for as long as they wish. Any redevelopment in the rezone areas will still require willing sellers and buyers.
The best way to comment is to email Council at council@shorelinewa.gov in advance of the meeting; however, there will also be a limited amount of time for oral public comment at the Council meeting on March 16.
Posts
31 comments:
Does anyone else find this "open" process insulting, noting that even on that map it is a "potential" light rail station. This whole idea that the citizens have any say in this at all is just a lie. Sound Transit has not even officially committed to a 185th Street Station yet, there FEIS has not even been released yet, but the Shoreline City Council is rezoning major sections of the city. In what world does this make sense? There is no fairness or public input, just backdoor deals and lie.
Commenting by email is also the best way for the City to ignore your feedback and it's least embarrassing for them if you email and stay home on March 16. Why not email AND comment in person on March 16. How many ignored and dismissed emails have been sent to City Councilpersons, Staff, and Commission?
Wake up and grow up you curmudgeons! The rezone is a fact. Shoreline is right in the middle of a major city that needs mass transit, and finally it's being built. Trains need stations and stations need things around them. The 185th neighborhood is going to change, and change for the better. This change is coming and it will be for the better. Is there something amazing about 185th St as it is currently that I'm missing?
How quaint.
"Existing single-family homes will still be able to exist in the rezone areas and residents will continue to be able to live in them, maintain them, and remodel them for as long as they wish. Any redevelopment in the rezone areas will still require willing sellers and buyers"
Thank you for stating we'll "still be able to" live next to a 6 floor building, should we choose to.
How about the city pulls up it's britches and before switching up our community with zoning, sends out individual letters to each property owner to tell them this is in consideration, for a possible development plan.
What about the "trees" of shoreline, the birds and wildlife, the reason people move here, affordable single family homes. There is NO shortage of housing, when there are so many rentals options.
This is a brutal take over, and a extremely underhanded. The letter from the city council stating how difficult it is to do their job? Really? I work at a cancer center, that's a difficult job. Not pulling the carpet out of single family tax paying home owners who moved to Shoreline with an intent to stay indefinitely, not until a 6 - 7 story building pops up around it and removes every possible ounce of community, daylight, sunsets and wildlife.
Tell me, city council. Where are you building the new school, how are you going to pay for it, how are you going to pay for the busses, and how are you going to pay for the police officers, and fire department, the extended garbage services. How are you going to pay for the replacement of mature, LOCAL fauna?
Have you had a look at mountlake terraces attempt to prop up a neighbourhood near new transportation?
The lightrail is not a transportation of the future, other cities within the US and other westernized countries have used this for almost a century. It also cannot transport as much as a proper bus fleet. But you don't care about any of that, you only care about revenue through taxes.
You should be ashamed.
Guess who on the city council has a property that will be rezoned.
NONE.
^^^^ What's so great about the Bartell's strip mall running up and down the length of 185th plus? To watch even more businesses struggle (Walcott's)? So we can have more Starbucks? More Walgreens? (Is the two we have practically next to eat other in Shoreline enough?) How about another Walgreens on 185th and tenth? Would that look nice, Anonymous?
Shoreline is right in the middle of a major city? It is? Which major city is Shoreline a part of? Were you in the 'highly gifted' class?
Do you really have nothing better to contribute to the conversation besides namecalling and trying to promote opinions as facts?
We have mass transit.
No one is saying don't build a station or anything around the station, just proceed with a plan that fits in with the existing character of the neighborhood.
You are correct in that change is coming, and that change is unraveling the developer/special interest driven, excessive and haphazard plans that have been laid out behind closed doors.
Buckle up, friend, and start brainstorming some additional namecalling vocabulary, because you're going to need it. We've got sticks and stones (facts, data, public support), all you have shown so far is opinions, insults, namecalling, and ill-conceived logic.
If you ever feel like upgrading from pampers to pull-ups and want to join in the critical thinking conversations that we grown-ups are having, feel free.
"Wake up and grow up you curmudgeons! The rezone is a fact"
Clearly they don't own property in ANY of the the proposed rezone areas. Shoreline is not in the middle of a major city, you dolt. It's a suburb, north of a major city. Do you flock to the well maintained Aurora village bus hub to get into the major city? Or any of the local park n' rides? How romantic light rail seems, it's no more than a few busses on set tracks. You still have to go out of your way to get to it, rather than it coming to you.
Apparently the city will finally be mailing out notice to all those whose properties will be rezoned on Thursday. I think the city needs to allow time for all those unaware people to comment on what will be happening to them. A week or so is not enough time for all the processing they will need. This mailing should have happened years ago and at least one more when preferred alternative 4 came into being instead of after a final decision has pretty much been made.
You have to maintain your home but a developer can buy up a bunch of single family homes and allow them to become havens for rats and garbage - for an example, we have Arabella I and II. Go to the North City Business District. It took years before they finished the first building and they have had 6 years of property tax exemptions to get going on their second building. In the meantime they have dragged down the entire neighborhood with their derelict houses. They are poster children for blight. They bought up single family houses, boarded them up, allowed them to become infested with rats and garbage for years, but the City would never, ever fine them or declare the properties "blight."
This is the part that irks me most:
"The overall effect of Council’s changes will be to reduce the size of the rezone...the highest density area is concentrated within ½ mile of the future light rail station. "
A 1/2 isn't SMALLER than a 1/4 mile. The rezone should start at the 1/4 mile and then fan out over time. The 1/2 mile radius is the MAX range of development anticipated.
We drive through that area several times a week, and there is already blight setting in along the arterials between 15th Ave NE and the freeway. The houses were cheaply built in the '60's and '70's and the ones on the major roads are not in good shape. There are few amenities, and really good local businesses like cafes and shops can't make it because there isn't enough density to support them. the orange signs are springing up and I started to laugh---save what? Moldy ramblers with cars on blocks in the front yards? This rezone is the opportunity of a lifetime to build a sustainable, vibrant Shoreline.
@6:14 pm - you seem to not appreciate that there are no major employers in Shoreline and density is not going to solve this problem. You also are probably not aware of the fact that many small businesses that used to be located along Aurora were forced out by the City of Shoreline. As a matter of fact, City Hall did not want Asian market that you now find driving economic development in Lynnwood and the area of the Ranch Market. Perhaps if you knew half as much as you think you do you would be aware of these facts.
Those so-called moldy houses are affordable starter homes for people who have been priced out of the market in the City of Seattle. These homes you seem to revile support one of the best public school districts in the state.
Personally, I don't see in the rezone plan essential public services like new fire stations, increased police impact, and new schools identified anywhere. Amenities are extras, public safety and K-12 education is not.
Additionally, the policies of the City of Shoreline upon the Shoreline Public Schools are manifest. The school district just finished a $80 million construction bond for 2 new high schools that will not be paid off for around 20 years. Those parks you regard as amenities at Paramount and Sunset are actually school district properties -- if the school district needs the property to build new schools for the light rail station impact (and they will, the city failed to identify these impacts), the city parks at those locations will go away.
Additionally, the Shoreline Public School District includes in their taxing area the Cities of Shoreline and Lake Forest Park. The citizens of Lake Forest Park should not have to pay more property taxes to build new schools when they had no say in the light rail rezoning fiasco. To use the City of Shoreline slogan when they had us vote on the SPU acquistion - it is taxation without representation.
I have some questions. Do the people in this city feel the city council is listening?
Are you really going to allow a group of so called professional staff people redefine the city we live in?
These people are our employees. They need to be fired. If our Mayor and council need the donations from the development industry so badly to get elected then we need to elect people who represent us.
Our city council is composed of people who want to be elected to higher offices. We need people who want to make our lives better.
This process totally disrespects the property owners who have invested lifetimes in creating a great community. We need candidates for office that listen to what the voters want. Call email and show up. March 16 is the day we can find out who stands for the citizens. Hold these people accountable. It is our city!
Please go to Washington Multifamily Housing Association's website..... www.wmfha.org. See who they are, what they do and then figure out on the PDC WA website who they give money to...... then realize that density near the light rail station will be the last to occur. The first density will be 4 story apartment buildings along the "boulevard". The "boulevard" that already exists and think... is there a connection here?
No matter what, no matter the outcry, no matter reality, no matter topography, no matter hydrology, no matter traffic, no matter how many lives affected, no matter the damages to the community, no matter the cost, no matter the families, no matter the damages to property owners, you silly minions.... the city council knows what is best for you. YOU WILL have 45 feet tall apartment buildings towering over your single family homes!
Every citizen in Shoreline will be affected.... show up to speak at the March 16 th meeting. Sign up early before the meeting starts and let's have our voices heard. We have over 50000 citizens. Show up demand your 2 very valuable minutes! show up even if you do not speak!
Oh dear, we seem to have gotten under the skin of a die-hard dense-head. I suppose we can expect you at the 3/16 meetings to preach of the 'moldy homes' and 'council knows best'. Or are you not able to leave your playpen for the evening?
Who started and funded the 185thCC and 145thCC? Here is the proof, Futurewise did, funded by the PSRC: http://www.psrc.org/assets/9046/Equity-Grantees-Round-3.pdf
This 'lasting community-led volunteer team' has been outnumbered by 'real' community-led volunteer teams that have done more 'outreach' in an eighth of the time, without thousands of dollars in grant money. And we've managed to poke holes in every piece of your propaganda without even having to call in the conspiracy theorists or climate change deniers. Isn't that something?
Right on!!
Blight? The homes and yards here in Ridgecrest are well maintained. Our neighborhood rocks, feel free to stay in your own neighborhood,
@8:29 pm - thank you for that list, I see that Senior Services received $15K to do community outreach and complete a visioning process for Shoreline -- something I don't recall them doing at all.
Furthermore, Will Hall is on the transportation committee for the PSRC.
The City is refusing to acknowledge the likelihood of "blight" being a result of developers hustling in on these neighborhoods. They are refusing to acknowledge the reality that the existing homes already provide "affordability" and refuge for so many low income residents. They are refusing to acknowledge any of the risk associated with these Rezone plans. It is unrealistic to go through with these plans without a realistic plan or study for increased traffic, for reserving property for open space, or for preventing flooding and loss of wildlife habitat. There are steps that could be taken to prevent these problems, if the City wasn't insisting on rushing into these disastrous policies. Well, the voters will have the final say!
Janet - the city has not reserved property for new fire stations. Between the Aurora Square CRA, the two light rail stations, Town Center, and the Aurora Corridor, the City of Shoreline will require 3-4 additional fire stations.
The City has not even consulted with the Shoreline Public School District to find out how many additional elementary schools, middle schools, and high schools they will need. If you look at the maps, every single one the city has presented includes rezoning the school district property -- but the City never asked the School District if they plan on surplusing said properties. The city never identified existing fire stations on the maps.
The city has not identified on the maps any land that needs to be taken on 185th to widen the corridor for the traffic leading to the light rail station, this is an impact that is required under SEPA.
Agreed!
Sure will be interesting to see which of these nefarious organizations (PSRC, Futurewise, Affordable Housing Consortiums, Forterra, etc) threatens to litigate the City for not making the proposed rezones bigger than they already are.
Does this prove that Will Hall has violated the Shoreline Code of Ethics? He is on the Regional Staff Committee of the PSRC (http://www.psrc.org/about/advisory/rsc/), who funded the "citizens groups" for the 185thCC and 145thCC with money funneled through Futurewise (http://www.psrc.org/assets/9046/Equity-Grantees-Round-3.pdf). This doesn't even touch the fact that his City Council Bio does not even mention that his full-time job as a Senior Legislative Analyst for the Snohomish City Council, a clear conflict of interest (http://snohomishcountywa.gov/directory.aspx?EID=319). How is this guy allowed to still be on the City Council?
Don't forget Arabella II on the list of litigants against the City of Shoreline
Check this out! Senior Services for their $15,000 Equity Grant from the PSRC held two, count them up, TWO meetings.
One with the Korean community and one with the disabled community, then they gave the rest of the money to Futurewise.
Here is the letter they gave to ST for the DEIS: http://seniorservices.org/Portals/1/Draft%20EIS%20Comment%20Letter%20Equity%20Grant%20Groups.pdf
Here is their little report on their website:
Shoreline Light Rail is coming in 2023, and the planning is going on now!
Senior Services was fortunate to be awarded one of the Growing Transit Communities’ Equity Grants for the Lynnwood Link Light Rail Planning. We focused on outreach and community organizing with Shoreline residents. Our goal was to create a process to assure that people from communities of color and those living on limited incomes had a voice in Transit Oriented Development.
We organized and held two events in Shoreline this year: one for the Korean Community, which was held in Korean, not English; and one for folks of limited incomes, of which about 20% were also disabled. About 100 people attended these two events. We also wrote comment letters in response to the Draft Environmental Impact Statement written by Sound Transit to communicate what we have learned. One focuses on what we learned about transportation through our Aging Your Way events, and the other on what we learned at the two recent events in Shoreline.
http://seniorservices.org/agingyourway/CommunityThemes/Transportation.aspx
I guess they couldn't be bothered with using their Shoreline Center to do any outreach, one of the goals in Vision 2029 is to help people to age in place, but the City only pays attention to one framework goal in Vision 2029 - economic development.
People should be aware that the City Manager's husband has fulfilled various roles at the PSRC for the City of Everett, the City of Shoreline has at least two avenues of influence at PSRC.
How do we fond out who voted for this?
Post a Comment