Edmonds City Council members on Tuesday took what they hope will be the next step toward design guidelines for the city’s downtown core.
As part of their regular meeting, council members listened for nearly two hours as consultant Mark Hinshaw gave his impressions of what is important to the city based on a review of the current codes and comprehensive plan. On a proposal by Council member Richard Marin, Hinshaw was hired last month – on a 4-3 vote – to facilitate three council workshops as a prelude to establishing the design guidelines that would presumably include some kind of overall building height limits.
“I view this as a series of evolving discussions,” Hinshaw said of the process.
“(Building heights) is a lot more complex than assigning a number. This is your town, not just a math game.”
Hinshaw, who works for LMN Architects of Seattle, said, “I’m not predisposed to any particular direction.”
At one point, while talking about retail uses, Hinshaw said that ceiling heights of less than 12-feet on the first floor “just won’t work.”
Council member Michael Plunkett asked Hinshaw if he were speaking in the economic sense. “Wouldn’t one of the definitions of working be the high cost of (retail) square footage?” Plunkett asked, apparently alluding to lease rates.
Hinshaw agreed but also said 12-foot ceilings are more likely to attract quality retail businesses. “That doesn’t mean 100 percent of the time but more often,” Hinshaw said.
In his presentation, Hinshaw showed two slides of buildings in the Fairhaven area near Bellingham. “I would suggest you may want to take a tour,” he said.
After the session, Plunkett, who had voted against hiring Hinshaw, said he still wasn’t happy about the expenditure but liked the session. “I’m pleased to get a fresh look, a new vocabulary and new ideas,” Plunkett said. “Absent the heights, it was fine little discussion.”
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