Planning Commission Dec 18 - Aurora Square, Landscape, 185th subarea
Friday, December 12, 2014
The regular meeting of the Shoreline Planning Commission will be held on Thursday, December 18, 2014 - 7pm in the Shoreline City Hall Council Chamber, 17500 Midvale Ave N.
Link to full Agenda
Link to full Packet
Comment on Agenda items
STUDY ITEMS
Link to full Agenda
Link to full Packet
Comment on Agenda items
STUDY ITEMS
- Presentation
- Public Comment
Council designated a 70-acre area around the Sears, Central Market, and the WSDOT development as the Aurora Square Community Renewal Area (CRA) in September, 2012. By designating the CRA, Council established that economic renewal would be in the public interest, and that City resources can be justifiably utilized to encourage renewal. Subsequently, Council adopted the CRA Renewal Plan to guide City renewal efforts by identifying projects designed to make all of the current businesses function better while adding new businesses and residents
- Presentation
- Public Comment
The Landscape Conservation and Local Infrastructure Program (LCLIP) was passed into State Law in 2011. LCLIP creates incentives for both land conservation in the county and infrastructure improvements in the city. The City recently received a grant to study the feasibility of applying LCLIP in the 145th and 185th light rail station subareas, Town Center, and the Community Renewal Area (Aurora Square).
- Presentation
- Public Comment
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1 comments:
For anyone who is looking to delve deeper into this issue, you may want to view the detailed agenda and attachmentst for the 12/18/14 Planning Commission Meeting.... brace yourself for this excerpt, especially if you're in a proposed MUR-85 zone. Your rights and options as a homeowner will be stripped away in 5 years. And who's to say what happens after that?
"Single-family as permitted use in MUR-85’
This was a topic of substantial consideration as there are potential benefits and unintended consequences of either scenario. In draft regulations (Attachment A), the Commission decided to include single-family as a permitted use in MUR-45’ and -35’ zones, but not in MUR-85’. This was partly because MUR-85’ surrounds the future light rail station, and the Commission did not want this area to be redeveloped with singlefamily units that would maximize allowable footprints (even if R-6 standards were applied), creating expensive low-density homes where more transit-supportive mixeduse styles were envisioned.
However, if single-family were simply a “grandfathered” use in MUR-85’, the committee was concerned that homeowners who wished to modify or expand their more modest homes or add additional structures in the future may not be able to. This is because the City’s current Code language regarding non-conforming (“grand-fathered”) uses allows for replacement, and even a ten percent expansion of such uses, but no more.
Theoretically, if a 20 foot tall rambler burned down in an MUR-85’ zone where new single-family was not a permitted use, the owners could rebuild it in the same footprint, with a ten percent expansion, but that would not equal the existing allowances of the R-6 zone. It could also mean that if a homeowner in an MUR-85’ zone wanted to put in an Accessory Dwelling Unit, new garage, or deck that was more than ten percent of the square footage of the existing home, it may not be allowed. The committee wishes to support owners who want to stay and invest in their homes, and does not want to create a scenario that could unintentionally penalize these households.
The recommendation that emerged from the discussion was to include single-family as a permitted use in MUR-85’ zones, but for this provision to sunset 5 years from adoption (2020). The reasoning was that this time period would allow for greater public awareness of zoning or other potential changes in the neighborhood, and allow homeowners to make informed decisions about whether and what improvements to make to their property, without allowing for a significant influx of larger, more expensive single-family homes on land better-suited to transit-oriented development in the longterm."
From: http://shorelinewa.gov/home/showdocument?id=19095
Please bookmark the following community links to join in the conversation and take action:
Shoreline Preservation Society:
http://preserveshoreline.wordpress.com
Sound Off Shoreline:
http://soundoffshoreline.wordpress.com/
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