Based on all the evidence we’ve been provided, can the Edmonds City Council actually come up with a smart building-heights plan for downtown? Yes, I believe we can and I believe we can do it soon.
Three council members made it clear they won’t vote to raise building heights – ever.
Three council members were inclined to support the Planning Board’s proposal.
One council member wanted the comprehensive plan free of numbers and asked that we put them in the building and design codes. That’s where we are now: trying to agree on what we want and need in the downtown core for design, height, pedestrian scale, economic vitality, etc.
Our consultant, Mark Hinshaw, worked with us for weeks and came up with what he called “splitting the baby”: a 25-foot limit (a down-zone) for Main Street and 5th Avenue (the retail core), and a 33-foot height limit outside that core. While I would prefer King Solomon’s solution of giving the whole baby to the one who loved it the most, I do think these are seeds of an idea we can work with to everyone’s advantage.
Let’s say we limit building on Main and 5th (in the business/commercial zone) to two stories or 25 feet, whichever is shorter.
Let’s say we limit building heights everywhere else in the business/commercial zone to 30 feet.
No council member needs to vote to raise building heights. In fact, we are lowering them.
But, to solve the problems we already created (unusable first-floor commercial space) we need a few additional measures.
No required mixed-use outside of Main and 5th. Owners can build what the market demands – residential, commercial, retail or a mix – but nothing higher than 30 feet (except design elements, such as clock towers, elevators, etc., subject to the design code). Any proposal over 30 feet would have to be approved by the City Council.
Requests for exceptions (buildings higher than 25 or 30 feet) will go to the full council and the majority will decide on a case-by-case basis, based on criteria established in the code.
This is exactly what Bellingham does in its Fairhaven District. Still, we shall limit those exceptions to three stories, with at least a 12-foot first floor and 9-foot second and third floors, measured floor to ceiling.
Finally, let’s eliminate the modulation requirement. It has been dismissed as onerous and counterproductive. We have all seen that it does not produce desired results.
This will solve the unusable sunken first floor that we’ve all complained about. This will once again allow owners outside Main and 5th to build more of what is already there: first-floor open parking, with two floors of commercial or residential above it.
It is time to create a win-win. Our future health as a community depends on how we allow development, beautification and economic prosperity to happen. I think this will work. It is definitely time to decide this issue.
This council can work together and reach logical, beneficial and clear plans for this city we all treasure.
Mauri Moore is a member of the Edmonds City Council.
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