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INFORMATIONAL MEMO <br />Page 2 <br /> Tukwila International Boulevard Design Manual (1999) <br /> Tukwila International Boulevard Plan (2000) <br /> Transfer of SR 99 to the City (2003) <br /> Establishment of the Urban Renewal Overlay (2009) <br /> Tukwila Village Development (2015-2021) <br /> Justice Center Development (2020) <br /> TIB Rising (2017-2020) <br /> Transit-Oriented Development Housing Strategies Plan (2021) <br /> <br />Though great effort has been made by residents, community members, stakeholders, and staff <br />to advance the six original goals of the Pacific Highway Revitalization Plan, current development <br />standards do not align with market realities in supporting new investment in further advancing <br />these goals and supporting the City’s overall priorities. <br /> <br />As affirmed by market studies conducted as part of the Housing Strategies Plan and discussed <br />within the most recent comprehensive plan update, development standards for housing have <br />not kept pace with construction type realities and increases in development costs. The existing <br />development regulations are not competitive with many comparable development sites in South <br />King County. <br /> <br />Low height allowances of three to four stories, high requirements for parking and recreation <br />space, restrictive upper story stepbacks, limited permitted uses, and other outdated standards <br />have forced recent desirable developments to go through negotiated and one-off development <br />agreements or contract rezones to achieve viability. This creates a permitting bottleneck and <br />introduces a large amount of ambiguity in the development process, which creates significant <br />unpredictability for potential projects and discourages private investment. This situation results <br />in this area lagging similar peer locations and reduces the city’s capacity for growth. It also <br />increases the risks of gradual displacement among residents of un-subsidized affordable <br />housing as area housing costs naturally increase, and the affordable homes are not replaced <br />with new affordable housing. <br /> <br />In the interest of furthering the goals for the TIB District and benefitting all current and future <br />residents in this area, staff is proposing to undertake significant code amendments to zoning <br />and development regulations within this district. Areas of expected code amendment proposals <br />could include: <br /> Anti-displacement provisions <br /> Affordability requirements <br /> Modification of the TIB study area <br /> Changes to the zoning districts <br /> Changes to development regulations including height, density, and massing <br /> Changes to the parking and recreation space requirements <br /> Modifications to the design standards <br /> <br />Parking and Use Chart Consistency <br />The municipal code contains separate tables that list permitted uses for zoning districts outside <br />of and within the Tukwila Urban Center (TUC). The same is true for parking requirement tables. <br />In many cases, the uses listed in these tables do not match, making it difficult to pair parking <br />requirements with the established use type and compare uses across different zoning districts. <br />This creates confusion for applicants and is difficult for staff to administer. <br /> <br />Through permitting experience and applicant feedback, the Department has also identified <br />parking requirements which are out of step with realistic parking needs. These requirements <br />raise costs of development by mandating largely unused parking areas, limit reuse and <br />12 <br /> <br />