Greenwood Town Center Rezone
Recommendations
The following report outlines DPD's recomendations for the Greenwood Town Center Rezone.
 
The recommendation wll be forwarded to the City Council in approximately March 2012. A SEPA determination was published on April 28, 2011, which was which was followed by an appeal hearing at the Hearing Examiner in September 2011, and a subsequent finding that DPD should provide additional information in its environmental analysis. The SEPA materials for the original environmental analysis are linked below, and the amended analysis will be posted in January 2012 when it is ready for public review:
 
Overview of 2011 Director’s Report and Recommendations
 

In response to a proposal from the Greater Greenwood Land Use Design and Development Advisory Group (GGLDD), the Department of Planning and Development (DPD) is recommending rezones for a 13.4-acre portion of the Greenwood/Phinney Ridge Residential Urban Village. The recommended rezones are intended to encourage future infill development consistent with the objectives of Seattle’s Comprehensive Plan as well as neighborhood goals to further enliven the Greenwood neighborhood. DPD’s recommendations are:  

Subarea A
1.       Rezone from Commercial 1 (C1 40’) to Neighborhood Commercial 3 (NC3P 65’ (3)) with a Pedestrian “P” designation. 
Subarea B
2.       Rezone from Commercial 1 (C1 40’) to two zones: a Neighborhood Commercial 2 (NC2 65’ (3)) and a Neighborhood Commercial 2 (NC2P 65’ (3)) with a Pedestrian “P” designation for the property that abuts NW 85th Street.
Subarea C
      3.    Rezone from Lowrise 2 Residential-Commercial (LR2 RC) to Neighborhood Commercial 2 (NC2 65’ (1.3)).
Subarea D
4.       Rezone from Neighborhood Commercial 2 (NC2 40’) to Neighborhood Commercial 2 with a Pedestrian “P” designation (NC2P 40’).
 
(These rezone recommendations include changes in the labeling of subareas – see Figures 1-4 below. The new Subareas A, B and C in the final recommendations are equivalent to Subarea 1. Subarea D is equivalent to part of the old Subarea 3. The old Subarea 2 has been deleted from the rezone.)
 
Height Limits: Recommended increases in height limits include a 65-foot height limit in Subareas A, B and C. In Subarea D (the south side of NW 85th Street), the existing 40-foot height limit is proposed to be retained.
 
Pedestrian “P” designation in the NW 85th Street vicinity: Within Subareas A, B and D, the Pedestrian “P” designation is recommended to be added to the zone designations. The P designation would require non-residential uses oriented to the street level, including retail sales and services, restaurants, lodging, theaters, and various types of institutional uses or parks/open space. Eighty percent of the street-level fronting along NW 85th Street would need to be occupied by such pedestrian-oriented uses.
Incentive Zoning: The number in parentheses following the proposed zone designations describes the base amount of floor area allowed in new development (indicated by a floor area ratio or FAR). DPD recommends that the rezones incorporate an affordable housing incentive program that would apply to floor area to be built above a designated base amount indicated in the new zoning. Any floor area to be included above the stated FAR must be gained by participation in the incentive zoning program for affordable housing in Chapter 23.58A of the Land Use Code.
 
The affordable housing is intended to primarily serve modest-wage workers. The incentive zoning program is currently applied in Midrise and Highrise zones and certain downtown zones. The City Council has signaled an intention to extend the incentive zoning provisions at the time of area-wide rezone actions.
Overall Conclusions on Relationship to General Rezone Criteria
The recommended rezones would represent an evolution in the neighborhood’s zoning that is advisable in order to promote the long-term achievement of a denser, expanded and revitalized mixed-use center in the heart of the Greenwood neighborhood, as is encouraged by Seattle’s Comprehensive Plan and neighborhood planning efforts.
  • Recommended rezones would increase permissible densities for mixed-use development in ways that would remain compatible with the neighborhood’s overall character including its core and the uses surrounding the rezone study area.
  • Recommended rezones in this part of the Greenwood/Phinney Ridge Urban Village core would encourage a denser, mixed-use growth pattern consistent with Comprehensive Plan objectives, rather than continuing to encourage a low-density automobile-oriented character envisioned by the existing C1 zone in Subareas A and B.
  • Pedestrian orientation of development would likely increase over time by virtue of the recommended Pedestrian “P” designation and NC2 and NC3 zone designations.

Figure 1  

Figure1_web  See Figure 1 in full size 

 

Figure 2

Figure2_web  See Figure 2 in full size

 

Figure 3 

Figure3_web  See Figure 3 in full size

 

Figure 4 

Figure4_web  See Figure 4 in full size

 

Last Updated:

December 27, 2011