Downtown’s future in council’s hands

Everett’s new strategy for growth could build up the skyline, shrink its supply of free parking and bring thousands of new residents to downtown.

Called simply “The Downtown Plan,” it proposes to rezone 15 downtown blocks from industrial to business uses.

The plan goes before the City Council tonight.

“It’s not a plan that’s going unnoticed,” said Allan Giffen, director of Everett’s Planning and Community Development department. “I think a lot of people are expecting things to go on after the plan is adopted.”

The meeting starts at 6:30 p.m. at the City Council Chambers, 3002 Wetmore Ave. It is open to the public.

The plan focuses on the downtown core. That area is bounded by Everett and Pacific avenues and Broadway and W. Marine View Drive.

Crafted by consultants, city planners and the public over the past year, the downtown plan de-emphasizes the car. It encourages more walking, bicycling and use of mass transit.

It sets goals for increasing the number of people who live downtown with hopes that new residents will support more retail businesses and a vibrant arts and entertainment scene.

The plan anticipates up to 4,000 new residents moving downtown in the next two decades, as the stock of condos and apartments nearly doubles.

Business owners and city officials say that would serve as a catalyst for more private investment.

More than $1 billion in public and private money has been spent on downtown in recent years, including the construction of the Everett Events Center and Everett Station.

Sue Strickland with the Downtown Everett Association, an advocacy group for 100 property and business owners, said a downtown renaissance would have positive effect on property values across the city.

“If you have a healthy downtown core, it can do nothing but enhance the entire area,” she said.

In addition to zoning changes, the plan strengthens design standards, especially for larger buildings.

Requirements for landscaping, hidden parking garages, special window treatments and building materials are among the tools officials expect to use to ensure new developments conform to the city’s downtown vision.

Historic preservation, particularly along Hewitt and Wetmore avenues, is also encouraged, to retain a sense of the town’s past.

Perhaps more controversial are restrictions on new ground-floor social services agencies, teen clubs, video-game arcades, tattoo parlors, pawnshops and food banks, on portions of Colby, Hewitt, Rucker and Wetmore avenues.

The establishment of a parking authority and installation of parking meters downtown could also meet turbulence tonight.

While it places a 200-foot height restriction on buildings along the Colby Avenue ridge, developers can exceed that ceiling by using bonus credits awarded for setting aside open space and following special design requirements.

That means new buildings on Colby and Wetmore avenues could climb above 300 feet. That’s double the height of downtown’s current tallest buildings.

While the downtown plan paves an avenue for high-rise ambitions, it is also limited in its ability to drive growth.

“I don’t think for the next several years you’re going to see many tall buildings downtown, because the market has to drive it and developers need tenants to fill them,” planning commissioner Earl Dutton said. “It will take shape over time, but it will take a long time.”

Reporter David Chircop: 425-339-3429 or dchircop@heraldnet.com.