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10 <br />1. SITE PLANNING. <br />a. Building siting, architecture, and landscaping shall be integrated into and blend <br />harmoniously with the neighborhood building scale, natural environment, and <br />development characteristics as envisioned in the Comprehensive Plan. For instance, a <br />multi - family development's design need not be harmoniously integrated with <br />adjacent single - family structures if that existing single - family use is designated as <br />"Commercial" or "High Density Residential" in the Comprehensive Plan. However, <br />a "Low Density Residential" (detached single - family) designation would require such <br />harmonious design integration. <br />The site is located in the City's Urban Center. There is no residential development in the <br />vicinity of the project site. The proposed building will set the standard for future <br />redevelopment of the area. The building is sited to provide a presence along Andover Park <br />East and the parking garage is screened by the building from the existing street. <br />Neighboring buildings are much smaller in scale and this building will be a landmark <br />building and visible from all sides. The L- shaped building does make the building appear <br />larger as the north and west facades are not differentiated, nor is there any break in the <br />skyline. At the city's request the applicant has introduced a darker brown color to help <br />distinguish the west facade from the north facade. However there is still an opportunity to <br />articulate the facade to differentiate the hotel wing from the apartment wing and add visual <br />interest and break down the scale of the building. <br />b. Natural features which contribute to desirable neighborhood character shall be <br />preserved to the maximum extent possible. Natural features include, but are not <br />limited to, existing significant trees and stands of trees, wetlands, streams, and <br />significant topographic features. <br />There are many healthy trees that line the north and south property lines. The existing trees <br />are European Hornbeam, Carpinus betulus fastigiata, and based on their size are considered <br />significant trees. Staff asked the applicant to preserve the existing trees as they not only <br />provide canopy cover but also help screen the rear side of the buildings on the adjacent <br />lots. Some of the buildings on the adjacent lots have completely blank walls with no <br />windows, modulation or articulation and the trees help soften those facades. Applicant <br />revised their plans to adjust interior parking lot islands so that a total of nine trees could be <br />saved, however that means that the interior islands do not meet the spacing requirements of <br />a maximum of 10 stalls between landscape islands. There are more than 40 trees that line <br />the north and south property lines. There is an opportunity to save more trees and preserve <br />the perimeter landscaping strip along the south property line by realigning the parking <br />stalls to 60 degree angled parking and designating them as compact parking stalls. This <br />option would leave an approximately 5'8" landscape perimeter along the south property <br />line. Under this option the proposal would exceed overall interior landscaping <br />requirements, but would not meet the requirement to have an island after every ten stalls. <br />Additionally, the code states that a maximum 30% of the stalls can be compact stalls and <br />this realignment will increase that percentage to more than 30 %. However under TMC <br />18.70.090, the Board of Architectural Review may take into consideration the existing <br />landscaping and modify the standards. <br />Page 6 of 19 <br />