Memorandum

 

DATE:            March 13, 2008

                       

TO:                 Shoreline Planning Commission

 

FROM:           Paul Cohen, Senior Planner

 

RE:                 Code Amendments to Address CB, RB, I Moratorium

 

 

Moratorium #488 was passed on October 29, 2007 and expires 6 months later on April 29, 2008.   The moratorium (Attachment A) was adopted by Council after hearing strong concerns expressed by a number of citizens to a proposal for a 6-story, 240 unit development on N. 152nd Street a block east of Aurora.  The site was zoned RB and abuts an R-6 zone. Though RB zoning has been in place since before the City incorporated, the development potential and therefore its impact, were not apparent to nearby residents until an actual project was proposed.  The City code presently has relatively few protections for low density areas (e.g., R-4, R-6, and R-8 zones) abutting these high intensity/density zones (e.g., CB, RB, and I zones).

 

The issue of transition between low density residential and high density/intensity uses exists across the City (Attachment B).   This round of code amendments is intended as a short-term “patch” to reduce impacts to adjacent single family neighborhoods before the moratorium expires.  Longer-term planning efforts, such as subarea plans and implementing zones, are likely to yield further refinements to the City’s design and dimensional standards.

 

Currently, the Development Code has one area that conflicts with the moratorium intent and three areas where the amendment needs to be repeated since it does not have its own code section. 

 

 

Proposed Amendment for Transition Area Requirements (Attachment C) in italics followed by staff comments.

(1)   All development in commercial CB, RB, or I zones abutting to or across a rights–of-way from single family zones R-4, R-6, or R-8 shall meet transition area requirements. 

 

The reason to include only properties abutting or across rights-of-ways is to simplify which commercial zoned properties are affected by the transition area requirements and to show the effects of transition area requirements the first 100 feet into a commercial property rather than the moratorium’s limit of any property touched by the 90-foot margin around single family.  This definition of transition areas affects fewer properties than those affected by the moratorium.

(a)  For these commercial zones abutting to or across a street rights-of-way from R-4, R-6, and R-8 zones transition areas allow a 35-foot maximum building height at the required setback and a building envelope within a 2 horizontal to 1 vertical slope up to the maximum building height for the commercial zone.  

 

The intent is to match the adjacent maximum single family building height on the commercial property with the current 20 foot setback and then use a 2:1 building envelop.  This will reduce the looming quality of a 60 foot high façade with decks peering into single family backyards (Attachment D).

(b)  In addition to setbacks, building facades abutting R-4, R-6, and R-8 zones must have insets minimally for every 50 horizontal feet of façade.  The inset must be a minimum 800 square feet of open ground with a minimum 20 foot horizontal dimension.  

The intent is to complement the 35-foot height limit of single family with a horizontal element to break up the potential for a broad and voluminous building mass for more of a single family house scale.  Each inset will potentially remove three, 800 square foot apartments.      

(c)  Transition area setbacks shall contain Type I landscaping along property lines abutting R-4, R-6, and R-8 zones and Type II landscaping along property lines with right-of-ways across from R-4, R-6, R-8 zones. A solid, 8-foot in height fence shall be placed on the abutting property line.  Patio or outdoor recreation areas are allowed up to 20% of buffer area and no less than 10 feet from abutting property lines if Type I landscaping can be effectively grow.   

 

The intent is to provide ample landscape area to grow Type I landscaping abutting single family.  Type I acts as a screen with mostly native conifers, 10 feet in height at planting and planted 10 feet apart with shrubs 3 feet apart.  Patio and outdoor recreation areas are limited to provide more privacy to the single family properties.

Overall, this set of amendments is to make compliance simple and clear while protecting the single family neighborhoods.  Staff’s intent is to look at the development code more wholistically for our design and dimensional standards to be more coordinated.    

Attachments:

A.  Moratorium 488

B.  City Map of Affected Properties

C.  Proposed Code Amendments

D.  Cross–Sections