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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1977-06-01 Committee of the Whole MinutesJune 1, 1977 Tukwila City Council 7:00 P.M. COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE MEETING CALL TO ORDER ROLL CALL OF GARDNER, TRAYNOR, HILL, SAUL, PESICKA, VAN DUSEN, BOHRER. COUNCIL MEMBERS DISCUSSION Land within City limits west of I -5 to west City limits (McMicken Heights) M I N U T E S //SS Tukwila Elementary School Multi- Purpose Room Council President Hill called the Committee of the Whole Meeting to order at 7:12 P.M. Council President Hill stated Fred Satterstrom, Associate Planner, would explain the area to be discussed. Mr. Satterstrom said the area to be discussed would be that area which lies within the Tukwila City limits in McMicken Heights as well as a portion which is not located in McMicken Heights but is west of I -5 north of I -518 within the City limits and basically that area at the intersection of 154th and Southcenter Boulevard. This is the only area that will be considered in this meeting. Council President Hill announced this is not a zoning hearing, it is a comprehensive plan of what the citizens feel is the highest and best use for property under discussion. Any property that is presently zoned will not be changed this evening. The changing of zones is an entirely different procedure. Tonight we will determine what the people who live in that area want their property used for. Mr. Richard Wilson, 403 Columbia Street, Seattle, stated he was an attorney representing a group who owned property in the area to be discussed. He said he was speaking in favor of the existing comprehensive plan designa- tions. He said the City Council is faced with determining what the future of Tukwila will be it is one of the most important functions that the City Council can undertake. On the basis of that plan all of the future of the City lies. He said his clients have different views from some of the people here tonight but we do share a desire to do the best for the City. He said they are not asking a new use for the property, that property is presently zoned multi- density. It is zoned RMH. It allows the develop- ment of multiple high density residences. He continued his clients were not trying to change a neighborhood. Some of the handbills that he had seen distributed stated his clients were trying to put in 50 acres of apart- ments. He said his clients own 15 acres toward the north end of McMicken Heights some 4 acres have been given over to right -of -ways, more for green areas, leaving only three or four acres of total development space. He said his clients were concerned about the appearance of the area. He said there are a lot of apartment eye sores on Tukwila Hill. They do not want to see their area turned into a Tukwila hill. The situation is not the same. This piece of property can be used as a buffer between freeway and the residences. They want to see a different kind of development, they want a natural setting. They feel multi residence is right for this area. The Planning Commission reviewed the proposed use of the property. Multi- family houses on that site can be attractive, useful, and fit in with the area. Mr. Wilson showed sketches of the proposed development, calling attention to the green areas and trees, and indicating that many of the apartments can be located below the crest of the hill. Many of the apartments will not be in sight. The plan called for a 30 foot green belt on most sides of the development comprised of the existing trees. They will be preserved as an open space and buffer. Another aspect of this is that the density of the proposed development is not 50 acres of apartments, this is a project that averages 13.5 units per acre. In Tukwila the average is 28 per acres. There is good access to many well travelled streets. Klickitat Drive is two blocks away. There is heavy traffic there now. He said the zoning code calls for 12 parking spaces and they have provided for 1.72 spaces in their development. If this pro- perty is developed as single family residences there would be about 35 single family lots. Family owners have more cars than apartment dwellers. There would be more cars if the area is put into homes. According to Professor Breysse, who talked to the Council about noise, noise travels and goes up. The noise range in this area is 52 to 65 dbs. Professor Breysse said noise is detrimental to one's health. If this property is developed as single family we run the risk of putting people in homes that have high noise levels. Financing such homes is difficult. More money can be spent on apartments to combat noise. Professor Breysse said apart- ments are better for noise areas. In addition, this multi- family development could have a very positive impact on the family residences as it would buffer the noise to the homes. The apartments will cut down considerably on the noise from the freeway. Single family units would not have the same effect. Apartments are needed in the south end of Seattle. Costs are TUKWILA CITY COUNCIL COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE MEETING June 1, 1977 Page 2 DISCUSSION Contd. Land within sky rocketing and people are not going to be able to pay the price for City limits single family residences. The position of the people in the McMicken west of I -5 Heights area is the fact that they have what they want and they want it to to west City remain just as it is. The people are ignoring the rights of other people limits in this area to have a choice of housing needs. There are those who feel (McMicken there are too many apartments in Tukwila. Apartments are not taking over Heights) the City. Through annexation the City will be able to balance the single Contd. family housing. It is the economics of the property owners that have to be considered. Only 35 lots could be developed out of this area. The lots would bring about $7,500 each, extra streets, sidewalks, sewers, etc. would have to be put in. He said his clients are not interested in putting in cracker boxes. They want attractive houses. If it is zoned single family it will take away the profit that they will be able to get for the property. It will not be the case of ruining the neighborhood. The zoning at present is multi family and we would like the City to keep that zoning. When Southcenter was planned this area was shown as multi family. We want the Council to impose and preserve the high density residential that it now has. It is more appropriate now. We do not want to bend the landscape to our will, our project will enhance the area. Council President Hill said the purpose of this meeting is not to change the zoning. The zoning will stay as it is. Mr. Wilson said the zoning will follow the comprehensive plan. Mr Jack Bryant, architect, 134 -C S. W. 153rd Street, Seattle, stated he had been an architect for almost 30 years. When he heard recently that some property had been downgraded in zoning he was amazed. Prior to that time he had done some architectual work for his clients who have about 42 acres of property within the area being discussed tonight. There are 130 units of apartments planned and it was held up because the timing was not quite right. Now the need is here. He said he agreed with everything the former speaker had said, but one point he did not hear was on the energy problem. This is extremely serious and the trend in the future will be for people to live closer to their work. Apartments are the natural result of this trend. This area is between the Southcenter development which is high density and the airport development. If people can live close to these areas where they work it will be patriotic. He showed sketches of his planned development. He said their proposed use of the property is about 1/3 of the density allowed by the zoning. There has been a great deal of effort and expense up to this point for his clients to develop according to the present zoning and he felt they should be allowed to keep that zoning. Council President Hill again said there is no change in the zoning. He said a lot of this property has been zoned since 1962 and we cannot change the zoning, there would have to be an ordinance passed to change zoning. The purpose of this meeting is to get an opinion of the people as to what they want the property where they live used for. There will be no zoning changes unless it is done at a Public Hearing. Fred Satterstrom, Associate Planner, said he would like to explain what the Council is considering this evening. The maps that were distributed were the comprehensive land use map that was considered by the Planning Commission. The Planning Commission made some changes. The area in yellow is low density residential. It was the Planning Commission recommendation that it be medium density residential where it had formerly been high density. Referring to the map on the wall, the part in orange is medium density. The area shown in yellow has been proposed by the Planning Commission as single family residential. The City staff has proposed a revision to what the Planning Commission had recommended. Staff has rolled it back a bit by maintaining the medium density in the part colored orange. The Council is considering these recommendations as well as the existing comprehensive plan as well as any other information that can be introduced. Eleanor McLester, 5118 So. 164th, Tukwila, said she would like to speak against medium and high density residential in McMicken Heights. She said at the time the new comprehensive plan for the City was being considered by a citizen's committee there was no consideration for medium or high density in McMicken Heights. She said where she lives on 164th, close to the freeway, she does not need a buffer because she feels that her TUKWILA CITY COUNCIL COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE MEETING June 1, 1977 Page 3 DISCUSSION Contd. /mss 7 McMicken neighborhood should remain a residential neighborhood of single family Heights residences. Any time you introduce into a total residential area an Contd. apartment you get transient people who come and go. Where you have transients, you have a higher rate of burglaries and crime. She said she was against changing any of the recommendations that were made to the Planning Commission. She would like to have the area low density residen- tial as it is shown on the Comprehensive Land Use Map. Dennis Robertson, 16038 48th Avenue South, Tukwila, said he would like to deliver a petition of 347 home owners asking that the McMicken Heights area remain single family residential. He said he would like to establish what we think the Council should be doing and what legal rights they have. There is a court case pending right now as to the rights of the City Council. The Washington State Supreme Court has supported the rights of the Council to consider the opinions of the people. Planning neighborhoods is more important than planning roads. We are talking about planning what an area should look like. There are 50 acres of undeveloped lands in the area being discussed. Once apartments come in the single family residence ceases, once it starts we will see a lot of apartments come in. The City has experienced developer's promises. Mrs. Edwina Evans, 4544 South 163rd Place, Tukwila, said when she moved to the area Southcenter was not developed. Her family moved there because it was what they wanted for their family. She said now they are being encrouched from the west by commerce moving up from Highway 99. Business is moving up the hill and the residents are being squeezed and they do not like it, it is not what they want. She said they want to maintain their area for the reasons they bought, their desires have not changed. Mr. John L. Orinda, 15814 58th Avenue South, Tukwila, said he moved here when there were dairies and cows in the back yard. Southcenter came in and around us. They moved here to have peace and quiet now we have the freeways. He said we have had RMH in our area and he would like it to remain. He said Professor Breysse talked about sound. He said he worked with sound himself and took readings in his area. The dbs. varied with the temperature of the evening. One evening at 11 p.m. in his home the reading was 62 73 dbs. with windows open. A reading taken at 6 p.m. when it was raining was 65 dbs. In another location the reading was 65 dbs. Professor Breysse said that any reading over 55 dbs should not be considered for residential. He said his recommendation was that the comprehensive land use plan be adjusted to the land use zoning we have now which would be high density. Mr. Frank Loyal, 16223 49th Avenue South, Tukwila, said it had been mentioned that property owners would have trouble getting homes financed if they were built in McMicken Heights. He said that area has probably the best, most expensive homes that have been built in the area in the past few years. The area we are discussing should be a beautiful residen- tial area. Many residential areas are built on the hillside. Trees damper sound as well as anything. Buildings do not damper sound as well. He said one speaker tonight said if we build single residences we would get fewer homes than apartment houses that is the key to what the devel- oper wants. Mr. Robert Crane, 5105 So. 163rd Place, Tukwila, said when the Planning Commission issued the recommendations of the citizen's committee, it is his opinion they were trying to conform to existing zoning. Back in 1959 and when this area was zoned the City needed to build a tax base. This Council is dealing with Tukwila as it is today. We have a large tax base we have Southcenter. The City no longer needs tax base. We want the kind of a City that the people who live here want. We now have more people living in apartments than homes. We do not think that is the kind of a City we want. It has been mentioned that crime is more prevalent in apartment areas where there are more people. Young people commit more crime than older people. More young people live in apartments. In McMicken Heights we are isolated from the Police Department and it takes longer for them to get to that area. We want single family residences. TUKWILA CITY COUNCIL COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE MEETING June 1, 1977 Page 4 DISCUSSION Contd. McMicken Hts. Contd. Mr. Morris, 4420 So. 147th, Tukwila, said he would like to speak about schools. Apartment houses have more transients and when the people are transient it is hard for a school to plan a program. There are more people coming and going. Plans are made for the schools and then the people move away and more move in so the plans cannot be carried out. It is hard to meet the needs of all of the people in the classroom. This is noticed in the Tukwila schools. When there is a great need for occupancy in apart- ments they let everyone in and there gets to be a lot of children. When there is not a need for occupants the apartments take people without children. Schools have been built for the large number of children but when the apartment changes its policy then the child count goes down and the schools cannot plan. Morton Dillingham, 5146 South 168th, Tukwila, said 62 65 dbs of sound does not amount to much. When the people applaud it is like 70 or so dbs. Jim McCann, 16045 48th Avenue South, Tukwila, said most people in real estate are out to make money. It is like the stock market and there are risks involved. The longer you hold on to the property the higher the risks involved. He said when he looked for an investment in a home he looked for an investment in quality. When he sees as area like McMicken Heights it is beautiful and he does not want to see it spoiled. He said he was from Maryland where you do not see the green and trees. He said he wanted a quiet neighborhood with children running around. He wants that quality for his children. He said the thing that worries him is when the apartments go in the people are told it will not affect the quality of the neighborhood. He said he doubted that statement. He has seen apartment complexes in the East. It causes deterioration of the neighborhood when apartments go in. Values go down about 10 there is an increase in crime, vehicular travel is increased, there is an absence of community feeling in apartments. The people of McMicken Heights are here to tell you that we feel it should be single family dwellings in that area. Mr. Dick Goe, 5112 So. 163rd Place, Tukwila, said we have about 65% of the people living in multiple dwellings. He said he felt a number of things have come up and he thought we need a binding site plan so when plans such as presented by Mr. Wilson are proposed they will be put up as promised. Noise control has been brought up. This City does not have noise control in any unit. We need sound buffering effects. The highest and best use of the land is for the health, welfare, and need of the citizens who live in that area. Mr. Goe said when he was younger he lived in apartments but got out as soon as he could. He said the freeway has noise, he can hear it every day. The increase in traffic that will be caused by the apartments is underestimated. He said he would like to see the entire hillside single family residential. Mr. Wilson spoke again saying people are going to be emotional about the impact of apartments in their area. This is to be expected. The kind of a development makes all of the difference. His clients are considering nice apartments. He said he felt it was much too easy to pin crime on apartment dwellings. He said as far as the need for binding site plans, his clients would be happy to do that. Mrs. Carmen Schoen, 4617 So. 160th, Tukwila, said she lives on 160th. If that area is put into apartments they will be right in her front yard. It will have an impact on her life style. Anne Crain, 5105 So. 163rd, Tukwila, said that many people have stereos and they make a lot of noise. Mrs. Grace Nelson, 4427 So. 166th, Tukwila, said she had lived here a long time and had an acre of property. They could have put in apartments, but they have not. Some who own property in the area have built single resi- dences for rental property. There was a burglary some time ago and they found the stolen guns in the apartments nearby. Other rentals have had problems renting apartments would be the same thing. Mr. Richard Kersop, Chairman, Tukwila Planning Commission, said he lived in an area that is noise impacted by the freeway. One of the Planning Commission members was driven out of his home by the noise. He said if the people feel as they have expressed, the City will be in the midst TUKWILA CITY COUNCIL COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE MEETING June 1, 1977 Page 5 DISCUSSION Contd. McMicken Hts:, of a major law suit that will end up with apartments being built on this Contd. land. Dennis Robertson, audience, said he was at the Planning Commission meeting the night they made their decision on the comprehensive plan. He felt the comprehensive land use plan was to protect the people and keep the City out of law suits. Mike Schoett, 4211 So. 17th, Tukwila, said the purpose of a comprehensive plan is to determine the best use of property. The property being dis- cussed tonight could be built into private residences. Councilman Pesicka said we have heard a lot of things said tonight. It has been said that we are too emotional. It has been said we should feel guilty because we do not want apartments in the area of McMicken Heights. The ratio of apartments in Tukwila is high. We have done our part for the poor people in the City. The City Council is elected, they represent the people. When the Tukwila Hill area was considered there were not many people in the audience. She said she talked to many people and none of them wanted apartments. They all said the City Council election campaign had promised they would not put any more property into apartments. Therefore, the people had felt they did not need to be present. MOVED BY SAUL, SECONDED BY TRAYNOR, THAT THE PROPERTY BEING CONSIDERED IN THIS MEETING, AREA TO WEST CITY LIMITS TO I -5 TO I -405 SOUTH REMAIN YELLOW (LOW DENSITY RESIDENTIAL) AS RECOMMENDED BY THE CITIZEN'S COMMITTEE.* Councilman Traynor said it had been his understanding that it was the people of the City who determine what the City is to look like. I do not agree that the developers should tell us what the City should look like. We should take a look at what the people want who live in the area, and not what the developers want. *CARRIED. Council President Hill said there was a small area to be considered that would be north of I -405, west of I -5, east of the west City limits and to the north City limits. Councilman Bohrer said the Council had not had the opportunity to tour this area and he suggested the Council not consider it until they had looked at it. Council President Hill said this area would be considered along with the balance of the map at the next meeting on June 8, 1977. ADJOURNMENT MOVED BY SAUL, SECONDED BY PESICKA, THAT THE COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE MEETING 9:45 P.M. ADJOURN. CARRIED. Norma Booher, Recording Secretary