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HomeMy WebLinkAboutPlanning 2011-09-22 ITEM 6 - SOUTHCENTER PLAN - INFORMATIONAL MEMORANDUMCity of Tukwila Jim Haggerton, Mayor INFORMATIONAL MEMORANDUM TO: Tukwila Planning Commissioners FROM: Lynn Miranda, Senior Planner DATE: September 14, 2011 SUBJECT: Briefing on Southcenter Plan ISSUE Over the next few months, Staff will be holding worksessions with the Planning Commission on a revised draft Southcenter Plan. This memo provides a briefing on the background of the planning process to prepare the Planning Commission for the upcoming review of and public hearings on the revised draft Southcenter Plan. Staff has been developing the draft plan for Southcenter, one of King County's designated urban centers, since 2002. On March 14, 2011 the Council Committee of the Whole recommended that staff reduce the scope of the project and revise the current draft plan prior to seeking any additional stakeholder input or public comment. BACKGROUND The Southcenter area (see Figure 1) has been designated as an urban center under the Countywide Planning Policies since the adoption of the revised Comprehensive Plan and Zoning Code in 1995. This designation provides some benefits such as priority for regional infrastructure and transit service. It also aligns with the City's plan for accommodating much of its regional share of employment and housing growth (17,550 employees and 4,850 households by 2031) in mixed use commercial areas primarily in Southcenter, with the remainder in Tukwila South and along Tukwila International Boulevard, leading to the creation of vibrant, walkable mixed use districts linked by transit.' We hope to see new construction at the core of these areas along the lines of the Tukwila Village vision, with high quality multi -story buildings close to comfortably wide sidewalks in order to spur redevelopment and job and housing growth. This strategy will also allow us to protect the existing character and stability of Tukwila's largely built -out residential areas. For a more complete discussion of how the Southcenter Plan fits into the broader State, regional and county policy framework see Attachment A. FEDERAL GRANT In 2002 Tukwila received a $1.4 million federal grant to prepare a subarea plan for Southcenter, one of the region's designated urban centers, including the area designated for transit oriented development (TOD) around the Sounder commuter rail /Amtrak station. The project's objectives were as follows: Prepare a redevelopment strategy for the TUC to create more business activity and generate additional tax revenue, encourage a broader mix of uses and densities in a pedestrian- oriented environment to support improved transit (particularly in the northern part of the TUC), improve internal circulation and create a sense of place. Identify and coordinate the improvements necessary to initiate and support the plan. Develop regulations and guidelines implementing the plan. 1 Approximately 1/3 of the City's forecasted employment growth is planned for the City's Manufacturing /Industrial Center. 83 INFORMATIONAL MEMO Page 2 Complete the evaluation of environmental impacts from the proposed development and designate the plan as a SEPA "planned action FUTURE REGIONAL COMPETITIVENESS One of the motivations for undertaking this effort to develop more detailed development standards was to ensure that the Southcenter area remained competitive with other regional shopping and employment centers. Trends point to the continuing decline of the already overbuilt retail sector, and consumer preferences for walkable, vibrant, outdoor, entertainment driven experiences as seen in the outward nature of the Southcenter Mall expansion, Kent Station, Renton Landing and Burien Town Center. When the General Services Administration put out a request for proposals for office space in our area the requirements included amenities such as retail shops, banks, restaurants and multiple bus lines within a walkable distance of one -half mile from the building. While the Southcenter area contains these types of amenities, in order to diversify into the office and housing markets we need to provide safe, comfortable pedestrian and bicycle routes to get to them. TUKWILA URBAN CENTER (TUC) PLAN PROCESS The TUC Planning process started with a public visioning exercise and was designed to allow many opportunities for public involvement. For a chronology of this process to date see Attachment B. Between May 2002 and May 2004 staff held six public workshops and three joint City Council /Planning Commission work sessions to develop the vision and priorities for the plan, much of which was based on a summary of existing conditions, issues, constraints and opportunities that was prepared for the area (see Attachment C). During that time, staff and the City's consultant FTB met with the Mall on their design and renovation project to ensure that the Mall's project was consistent with the direction the vision was taking. Staff and consultants also flew to Minneapolis to discuss the vision with the Target Corporation. FTB then took this vision and in 2005 delivered a draft plan composed of three parts: the vision for the urban center, development standards and design guidelines to implement the vision, and recommended City investments and actions. From 2005 to 2008 public review of the plan was put on hold due to other City priorities such as the Tukwila South annexation. During that time, staff convened a panel of commercial and mixed use experts from the Urban Land Institute to review the feasibility of the draft plan and make recommendations. Staff also worked to test the draft regulations on other proposed projects, sought funding for some of the implementing actions such as the pedestrian bridge over the Green River and an improved transit center, and coordinated with Sound Transit on the design of the permanent commuter rail station and the Parks Department on the master plan for Tukwila Pond Park to ensure these projects supported the City's vision for the TUC. In the fall of 2008 we resumed the public review process with mailings, open houses, multiple meetings with individual property and business owners, and presentations to interested groups. From March to May 2009 the Planning Commission held a public hearing and 3 work sessions on the draft Plan. During this process it became clear that there was not internal consensus among City Departments on a vision for the urban center that included greater building density, taller buildings, breaking up the superblocks, on- street parking and improved facilities for pedestrians and bicyclists. The public comments were generally in favor of the vision but there was concern about development standards in the TOD area such as the 2 story minimum height, maximum setbacks, entrances facing the street and thresholds for compliance with the new standards. In May 2009, the Planning Commission directed Department of Community Development (DCD) staff to review the comments received from the public on the draft Southcenter Plan and 84 propose revisions to address the issues raised. After reviewing the comments staff decided to INFORMATIONAL MEMO Page 3 address the internal departmental concerns separately from the external stakeholder comments. All of the comments are available on the Tukwila Urban Center Plan section of the City's web site, both in their original form and summarized in a matrix with staff analysis and recommendations. Staff responded to public comments concerns regarding the economic feasibility of the vision and the draft development regulations by contracting with ECONorthwest (ECO), the consultant that prepared economic and market analyses during the preparation of the draft plan. We held three focus groups with property owners, businesses and regional developers to evaluate the vision, approach and regulations in the draft plan. ECO's summary memo recommended the following revisions to the development standards and changes to the implementation strategies: General comments and recommended strateaies: Almost all stakeholders agreed the vision is the right long -term goal for development in TUC. The vision is achievable in the mid to long term with significant, targeted public investment to catalyze and support types of development the City would like to see. Code appears to be more complex than it actually is: it is designed to provide certainty while minimizing discretionary interpretive decisions. Specific recommendations comments: Revise high -rise ordinance to allow mid -rise construction will make the Plan more economically viable and allow Tukwila to be more competitive with other cities. (Note: this has already been accomplished) Achieving multiple storied development is limited due to difficulty in meeting parking requirements When reducing parking requirements, need to provide other options to avoid negative consequences Open space requirements are consistent with other jurisdictions. Staff presented these findings to the Planning Commission (PC) on December 10 2009 and the Community Affairs and Parks Committee on March 22, 2010. Almost all stakeholders commenting on the draft plan agreed the City's vision is the right long- term goal for development in the TUC. The conflict, however, was in how and when the vision should be implemented. Some members of the PC thought that additional public outreach was needed outside of the formal hearing process. WHERE WE ARE Now To address the concern about input from property and business owners, staff proposed establishing a second stakeholders' process to address key issue areas that were identified by ECONW and /or raised during the public comment period. The process was designed to allow the consultant/staff team to work out the individual concerns of the stakeholders, with the anticipated outcome of a set of regulatory refinements to the draft Plan that work for both the stakeholders and the City. In March 2011 staff presented three stakeholder process alternatives to the City Council: the process described above, an advisory group similar to the Sign Code Advisory Committee and a standard legislative process with public hearings. The Council chose the third option along with reducing the scope of the project and directed staff to revise the draft Plan to meet the minimum requirements for accommodating growth and fulfilling regional policy goals. The Council wanted a streamlined review process since the changes from the existing code would be limited. 85 INFORMATIONAL MEMO Page 4 Consequently, no formal stakeholder group process was desired. Instead, public involvement will be accommodated by informal meetings between staff and key individual stakeholders, as needed, and by open houses and future Planning Commission and City Council public hearings on the draft Plan. NEXT STEPS Over the next few months, staff will hold a series of worksessions with the Planning Commission on the revised draft Southcenter Plan (Books 1 -III). Staff anticipates the following schedule: September: Introduction to the Southcenter Planning Process Future Meetings Review of Book I Community Intent. Book I provides the basic building blocks for Book 11, which will contain the new zoning code that implements the community vision. Review Book II Development Code This replaces the current zoning and design review regulations for the plan area. Review Book III Public Private Implementation Actions Open House on revised draft Southcenter Plan Planning Commission Public Hearings on revised draft Southcenter Plan Staff re- writes draft Plan in response to comments, as necessary City Council Public Hearings on Planning Commission's revised draft Southcenter Plan ATTACHMENTS Figure 1 Plan Area Map A Tukwila's Planning Policy Framework Attachment 1 Vision 2040 Attachment 2 Urban Center Criteria B TUC Plan Process C Existing Conditions Summary for Tukwila's Urban Center W