Consultant focuses on Terrace downtown parking
Flexible plan needed for development
The Enterprise
January 5, 2007
By Oscar Halpert
Enterprise editor
Mountlake Terrace
Traditional mall-style parking won't work within the new Town Center Plan the City Council is reviewing.
That's the message John Fregonese, a city consultant, left the council with following a work session after the regular council meeting Tuesday Jan. 2.
"The key to parking downtown is balance," Fregonese said, adding that cities often struggle with how to plan downtown parking. One approach, favored by suburban mall developers and big-box retailers, is to create a parking lot in front of the store. The number of parking spaces is based on the building's square footage.
A better approach for creating "walkable" downtowns, he said, is to create a mix of parking types, from on-street, metered parking to off-street, shared parking.
Having lots of parking available isn't the only factor in what makes a downtown work for pedestrians, businesses and residents, he said.
"Every main street and downtown faces this conflict," he told the council. "Downtowns need a reason for people to go there. There are lots of broken downtowns with plenty of parking."
The council has been reviewing staff recommendations for a host of zoning changes, design recommendations and parking requirements that would be part of a redeveloped downtown along 56th Avenue between 244th Street Southwest and 228th Street.
Business owners and citizens reviewed proposals last year. Based on feedback from those meetings, the city put together three options for re-development: no action, moderate action, with development of two or three parcels per year, mostly south of 236th Street; and the "Vitality" option, which would allow the most extensive redevelopment, including buildings of up to 10 stories in one block at the center of town.
The proposed Town Center Plan sets aside about 2,000 parking spaces, combining on and off-street parking.
But that part of the proposal has been challenged by, among others, Councilwoman Angela Amundson, who believes that the number of vehicle trips generated by new buildings would require far more parking and street improvements than the city has proposed.
Amundson and other council members say they want to ensure that developers share the financial burden any development would have on the city. Much of the discussion Jan. 2 centered on the timing and suitability of environmental reviews required under the State Environmental Policy Act. The council can require that a Planned Action Ordinance be drawn up. Such an ordinance would allow the Town Center Plan to proceed without the need for environmental reviews at every step along the path. It also would look at the project as a whole, rather than at individual portions of the project.
Councilman Doug Wittinger pushed for this option, arguing that SEPA reviews of past projects have "let the city down." In the end, council members decided to allow SEPA review but reserved the option to come back at a later date and implement a Planned Action Ordinance.
In other action, the council:
• Agreed to extend for six months a moratorium on certain conditional uses in the Town Center area. The uses include adult group homes, nursing homes, day care centers, gas stations and body shops, and automobile dealerships, among others.
• Approved an agreement with the city of Shoreline and the city of Edmonds for an engineering study on lowering the water level of McAleer Creek and Lake Ballinger. The cost of the study will not exceed $25,000 and Mountlake Terrace's share will be no more than $11,800.
• Elected Councilwoman Laura Sonmore as Mayor pro tem.