SHORELINE — Milk cartons, doll houses, trailers without wheels.
Call them what you will, but the crowd of 52 Shoreline residents was anything but joking when they used these words to describe a proposed development of 16 cottage-style houses on a 1.38 acre site in their neighborhood.
Residents in the 500-foot vicinity of the property located in the 19100 block of Eighth Ave. NW gathered at a neighborhood meeting 5:30 p.m. Aug. 12 to express their displeasure at the idea of building the dwellings near their homes, overall saying that the development would not adhere to the character of the neighborhood with a higher density and lower quality of housing.
The neighbors were also upset that the meeting was held at a time when many neighbors were still at work.
Robert Nehring, an engineer with Sound Design Engineering, facilitated the meeting as a representative of the current property owner, who intends to sell the property to Chrysalis Cottage Development.
The cottage development would fill a niche in the housing community, Nehring said, as more people would be able to own homes. Nehring assured them that the cottage homes are not intended to be low income housing, but a way to efficiently use the land. The houses, he said, would sell for more than $300,000 each.
Neighbors, nevertheless, saw the issue in a different light and many doubted that they would sell for the price Nehring quoted. Several said they would experience a 5-10 percent loss of property value.
Resident Bronston Kenney, who has lived in the neighborhood for five years after retiring, said the cottage homes are much less expensive than existing homes and said after several years, the neighborhood will dramatically change.
“You and the builders come in here, take your money and are gone; you leave us with the problem” Kenney said. “We take all the risk; you are taking all the money.”
Tim Carroll, a resident of the neighborhood for almost 20 years pointed out that the neighborhood is currently zoned R-6 and the cottage houses would double the density to R-12. He said this would be a radical departure on Eighth Avenue.
“This looks like a sham,” Carroll said. “You don’t have our interest in mind, but are taking advantage of a planning situation that has to reverence for residents.”
Another concern neighbors had was about traffic on Eighth Avenue if 16 cottage homes are built, to which Nehring replied that Eighth Avenue is classified as an arterial.
Nehring said that in the past six months, he has met five times with Paul Cohen, Shoreline senior planner, to discuss the permit. The permit has not been submitted to the city, Nehring said, and before doing so, he will take into account concerns from surrounding neighbors.
Brent Smith, who lives to the west of the proposed cottage development, compared the situation to playing cards with a bluff. With a requirement for a retention pond, and the slope of the land to the west, he said he expects fewer than 16 houses would actually be built. Instead of 16 units, there will likely be 12, he said.
“This is a scare tactic,” Smith said. “We know they will need room for utilities and fire lanes.”
Resident Bob Niskanen pointed out that everything the developers are doing is “under the legal umbrella” and can ultimately become a reality.
“If this goes through, I am out of here,” Niskanen said. “I live on the north side.”
According to a handout created by city staff, cottage housing provides an alternative to larger houses with smaller yards and more open space, as well as implements the Shoreline Comprehensive Plan to encourage a variety of residential design alternatives, and meets the State Growth Management Act goal of more efficient use of residential land.
Paul Cohen, city planner, who was not present at the meeting, said that cottage housing requires a Conditional Use Permit in areas zoned R-4 and R-6. Some zonings, such as R-8, which is low density multi-family, permits cottage developments already.
Specific regulations for cottage housing, which are identified in the Shoreline Development Code, include restrictions on the number of homes, setbacks, height limits, open space, floor area, building clusters, porch size and parking.
There are currently three completed cottage housing developments in Shoreline, Cohen said, and three more have been approved. The development code, he said, has provisions for cottage housing, which were adopted in 2000. The provisions resulted after a citizen advisory committee of 30 residents formed in response to large homes being built on small lots. The recommendations then went to the planning commission and the city council for approval.
The ultimate decision is an administrative one, Cohen said, made by the city planning department. After the permit is received by the city, there is a 15-day comment period. Once a decision is rendered, it can be appealed within 14 days, and possibly sent to the hearing examiner.
Nehring said the permit would likely be submitted to the planning department the week following the neighborhood meeting.
At the Aug. 16 Council meeting, Council members embarked on a discussion of cottage housing after several Richmond Beach residents voiced concern. Council member Maggie Fimia said she did not agree that the Council has no say in the matter, especially if there is a disagreement between the community and planning department.
Council member Bob Ransom said he was concerned that the cottage housing ordinance was intended to be implemented on an experimental basis, and statistics have not been collected and reviewed.
“Although cottage housing was to create additional housing, it seems the public feeling is acceptance is becoming too lenient,” Ransom said. “It is time for the Council to have a rehearing on the issue and determine if conditional use is permittable.”
Mayor Ron Hansen agreed that it was time to get feedback about cottage housing to see if additional criteria are needed.
“I want to take a good hard look at this sooner rather than later,” Hansen said.
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