EDMONDS – There was no shortage of public comment at the Oct. 27 public hearing hosted by the Edmonds Planning Board. More than an hour and a half was dedicated to listening to the community speak their mind about the possibility of varying building height limits around downtown Edmonds.
“I feel some of the alternatives being proposed are misguided, discriminatory,” said resident and Edmonds business owner Chris Fleck, who added that he felt designating some downtown areas to include higher buildings was unfair.
Resident and local developer Bob Gregg represented a different point of view.
“I think your process is commendable … but we need to get use variance,” Gregg said. “We’ve built buildings that have sat for a long time not because of the economy or anything but because the ceiling height was too darn low … We can’t get five pounds of flour in a four-pound bag.”
The Board currently is in the process of refining its recommendations for the City Council regarding this draft and other portions of the Downtown Waterfront Plan. City staff said those proposals most likely will be made by the end of November.
The draft proposal on the table right now includes separating downtown Edmonds into different “districts” with different height limits based on their location, said Rob Chave, manager of the Edmonds Planning Division. Those districts could include Fountain Square, the area immediately surrounding the fountain at 5th and Main, following the current city code building height limit of 30 feet and a first- floor height minimum of 12 feet to ensure preferable retail space. Other suggestions include allowing buildings including most of those in the retail core areas to potentially have a height maximum of 35 feet. The increase, city staff said, would allow developers to build three-story buildings with the bottom story for retail and two stories of residential space. This style, they said, is the the economic driver for developers and could potentially bring in more property and sales tax revenues for the city.
“If we keep it the way it is, we’re going to see the same development,” Chave said, adding that members of the Board feel this is a “risky way to proceed into the future.”
But many community members said they feel raising building heights may cause Edmonds to lost its “small town” and “quaint” feel.
Resident Sandy Eastly said, “There’s something about the Edmonds charm I feel would be lost if we raise our building heights.”
Natalie Shippen, also an Edmonds resident, added, “If you want to maintain the profile we have now, you would not adopt what is before you.”
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