where
she
see your mother that's where her mother
lives I thought down there at the South
Pole huh I down there at the South
Pole okay thank
you gu of
oh somebody drop
something
please good evening and welcome to the
April 16th meeting of the isqua
development Commission
uh this is a uh a very interesting
occasion for us for a number of reasons
uh the first is that this is the first
meeting of the development commission
that will take place with the under the
new guidelines that have been
established by the city as a result of
their review of the various boards and
commissions that uh uh exist in the city
of isqua so we're going to be using a
little bit different process tonight
which I'll U I'll outline for you uh the
second is that we are here tonight to
consider the application for or what is
the first uh the first applicant uh to
come forward under the new Central isqua
plan so U this is an opportunity to uh
consider this and uh to get public
feedback and that's the purpose of the
meeting so let me tell you how this is
going to uh work this evening as I said
it's a little bit different for those of
you who are familiar with the uh
previous uh meetings like this that were
called uh oh Lord uh Community
conferences this is not a community
conference this is considered simply a
meeting to consider the application uh
to get staff input to hear the applicant
to have the opportunity for public input
uh after which there will be an
opportunity for each of the
Commissioners to ask questions seek
clarification and to make comments and
recommendations uh the way we're going
to do this again is a little bit
different in that the uh first
presentation will be made by the
applicant previously the city staff
would make the the applica of the uh
first presentation it will be made by
the applicant uh in this new process uh
that will be followed by uh the city
staff uh my understanding is that the
objective there is in switching the
roles is to allow the applicant to make
H their full presentation and then the
city staff will address issues that were
not uh brought up by the uh by the
applicant or uh to make comments on what
the city feels are different positions
from those uh defined by the applicant
rather than going through the whole uh
the whole list of issues a second
time uh after the city staff makes their
presentation we'll ask any members of
the public who wish to speak to do so uh
we ask that when you do if you have
desire to speak you come up to the
microphone over there and you start by
giving your name and your address uh for
the record and we would also ask that uh
in respect for the unusual number of
people we have here tonight and we're
delighted with that that you try to hold
your comments to about 5 minutes uh so
that everybody gets a chance to to speak
uh the public comments will be followed
by uh comments by the Commissioners uh
this will be an opportunity for
individual Commissioners to ask
questions to seek clarifications to ask
members of the public the applicant the
city staff for questions and
clarifications and it will close with
the individual members of the commission
uh making their comments on the
application as it exists we uh have
about two hours scheduled for this
tonight and if it goes longer it'll go
longer but we'll be here to address
everybody's
concerns um with that uh I would ask the
applicant uh to come up and identify
himself oh I'm sorry check that I I see
all ready we have to approve minutes I'm
sorry just a minute we have for those of
you who don't know we have not had a
meeting since last August so we're a
little rusty here and can I um Mr
chairperson have one minute after you've
approved the minutes before we start
absolutely um so the minutes have been
sent to us the minutes for the uh
meeting last August and I assume
everybody's had a chance to review them
so I will ask if there are any
clarifications or changes requested by
any member of the
commission if not can I get a motion to
approve I move approval of the August
7th 2013 meeting minutes second any
discussion
thereof all those in favor I I I all
those
opposed it'll be shown that the minutes
are approved
unanimously so good evening I'm Lucy
slowman land development manager for the
development services department thank
you for that excellent redu um
introduction you covered many of the
same points that I had thought I was
going to have to do and I'm delighted I
don't the um one the two piece of paper
I just wanted to introduce you to the
two things that are um that you were
handed by staff one is this chart um
many of you received that uh this two
weeks ago when we did a training it just
summarizes the criteria um for review
and approval of um the two main permits
that um the development commission
reviews and the um other chart um is our
test case um many of you are familiar
with the green sheets um which was an
adopted tool and is still in effect if
you were reviewing doing a permit
outside Central isqua but since that's
an adopted tool um we were trying to
find something that provided some
similar format but was consistent with
Central isqua so this is our first try
at that we thought we would give it to
you tonight so you could take notes on
it and begin using it and we um will
it'll be an evolving thing as you give
us feedback and we see how this
works thank you Lucy again I'd like to
remind folks that it's been a while
since we we've met and the procedures
have changed a little bit so you'll have
to bear with us we'll uh try to get
through this as efficiently as possible
so with that said may I ask the uh
developer and the applicant to start
their
presentation
commission you'll need to speak closer
to the microphone I'm
not
that's um I'm representing uh lar multif
family communities um and since I assume
you're willing to make good on that
threat to go longer than two hours I'm
going to be really brief uh lenar is um
was formed in the early 50s as a single
family home builder and is Building
Homes all over the country uh or has
been since that time about three years
ago they branched
into uh multif family uh communities
primarily in the East uh on the
primarily in the South
um we opened an office in Seattle about
a year and a half ago and we currently
have three projects TWO Urban infield
sites in Seattle and the site that we're
going to talk about tonight um in isqua
um all three of which are about to move
into the construction phase so it's it's
a pretty exciting time we're small
office but uh we're we're busy um we're
really excited to be here tonight to
show you this project we were're we're
very proud of it um we are also very
cognizant of the fact that we're very
conspicuous
um by virtue of our location and some of
the issues around the property and as
you suggested Mr Chair by by the fact
that we're the first ones through this
process um so uh we we suffered I think
some of the difficulties of pushing the
bow wave um but for the most part I
think I'd like to report to you that it
has gone incredibly smoothly um that
staff has been responsive and has uh
been full of Integrity the whole way
through and and we're we have a very
ambitious calendar and we're we're
really close to it and I'm really
grateful to staff several of whom are
here tonight uh that we were able to
work together um toward that toward that
goal um I don't think I really have
anything else to say I'm going to turn
it over to Alan Granger from GGO but
actually I do want to introduce um Allan
and the rest of his team Michael lipco
where is everybody else John
Brianna Leslie I'm so sorry um who have
been uh remarkably responsive so it's
it's been a joint effort we're really
pleased
okay A little toll than
usual I think that'll do my name is Alan
Granger I'm a founding principal of GGO
Architects uh we are providing uh uh
comprehensive Design Services for this
project from the Urban Design and site
planning architecture landscape
architecture and interior design and uh
have uh been very pleased to uh have
worked in the city of isaka many times
uh in the past and have a number of uh
projects in in the wings but uh some of
which will probably be coming to you
shortly
also U so we we were faced with a
challenge uh with the central isqua plan
uh because the process was not defined
uh
completely uh and yet we were working
with an extremely uh comprehensive
document uh uh which was uh extremely
well uh put together and made it very
easy for us to understand the vision and
the goals that the city of isqua has
that they want to have implemented
through this Central uh isqua
plan so what I'm going to go through
with my presentation tonight is talk
about the site some of the constraints
of a site I think you all uh understand
that there are some issues uh associated
with this uh uh tired uh retail uh strip
mall development um and then uh address
how we are uh
uh using those issues to actually shape
the development pattern which is uh
going to occur on the property we're
going to tell you how we are meeting the
goals uh and requirements of the
centralal plan uh and uh I'll do a
summation at the end to let you know
that we've sort of Hit the key
points
um so uh
what I'm going to do is just layer on
top of this site diagram the different
constraints that uh this this property
has uh it is not just your regular block
uh uh square piece of property we've got
uh uh out Parcels uh where the uh
Kentucky Fried Chicken and the auto
parts uh stor is on Gilman uh and of
course the montor school is uh I'm
supposed to be sorry I just realized
Lucy told me the point where this the
montor school down here uh other than
that uh we have the the longest Frontage
on sth Avenue uh and uh uh the the
second Frontage on Northwest
Locust uh as you may be aware the site
uh and the retail spaces have had uh
different uses in the past and those
uses have actually left their remnants
behind uh so there was a former dry
cleaner and that has left a hot spot uh
uh in that location uh there was a
former gas station uh which has been
demolished for quite a long time but
that left a tank uh on the location of
that site and then where I have unknown
there there's actually uh some
indication that some of that uh
pollution uh has drifted from one part
of a site to
another sorry I'm going the wrong
way uh you also know that uh we're
fronting on a isqua creek and uh
although there has been a plan for many
years to
repair uh what is actually a a a breach
in the west side uh of isok Creek uh
that has has uh never been put into
place and so um the low point of that
west side of a creek is actually a
delation 65 I'm going to give you these
numbers so that you can understand uh
how this is impacting uh the existing
side and then how that's being taken
care of in the future
development so you can see that anything
that does come over that uh Creek uh is
now entering a site which has basically
got an elevated of 64 so it's uh it's
lower than where flood water is entering
the site and then the departure of flood
water from this site is going
into uh the the culbert and joining the
uh the sale which is sort of the the the
most uh recognized feature as you're
driving along Gilman Boulevard just uh
Northwest of this site which is the the
drainage Swale which is running past all
of the business businesses through there
so that that's the uh route that uh
flood water leaves this
site um not all of
it gets through that pipe uh uh because
the city's infrastructure is not
actually uh designed for the capacity uh
of the flood water that's uh coming out
of isqua Creek and so there are times
when the flood water uh as you can see
the
65.3 feet is the low point on Gilman and
at times the flood water does come
across Gilman at that point sorry uh
seventh at that
point in addition to that you probably
uh remember that there is a very deep uh
drainage ditch and uh uh that that was
once uh part of a an overall system of
drainage ditches uh put in place Place
throughout the city of isqua uh but now
it is actually recognized as a class
free stream uh and is considered that it
has a habitat uh associated with
it uh in a what's called a 20-year flood
uh the water comes over the actual
different colors here are sort of giving
you some indication uh of where uh the
depth of water changes the lightest is
the shallowest and the the deepest uh
blue is the the deepest water but that's
the existing condition in uh an overflow
for a 20year
flood so uh I'm going to start adjacent
to isqua Creek because we're actually
doing a number of things to uh improve
the the uh the West edge of where this
property meets is aqua Creek uh we're
we're creating uh both a rep riparian uh
and a buffer
enhancement and
uh I'm I'm zooming in now on um on a
small section of that uh and what I want
to draw your attention to is that the
the area in outlined in red here is a
basically a uh a large shelf area where
the the edge of a creek is being pulled
back in this is doing a number of things
uh uh but the primary piece is it's
creating new habitat uh for wildlife
along the edge of isqua Creek here uh
this is partly replacing the uh uh
habitat from the drainage ditch of a of
a the class 4 stream which is there but
it's also adding some capacity to the
storage uh the vol volume of of water
storage of isaar
Creek
um okay and
uh so I'm the sequence of slides that
I'm going to go through are going to
actually let you see the kind of things
we're doing I should just mention that a
a a a good part of this uh uh riparian
Zone actually has fallen trees uh which
will be put in place uh there'll be root
balls which are in yeah it's it's
recreating the edge of of a creek into a
more natural setting but in addition to
that we're adding a whole series of
plants which are appropriate to live in
those conditions and plants that are
also going to assist with this building
of the um habitat for the Wildlife both
aquatic wildlife and uh and and birds
the next piece of the of the puzzle
along the creek is that we're actually
restoring uh uh the the top of the uh
Creek wall so of a creek area so that
there is not a low point which was uh
taken out in past years and so that is
building it back up to a 66 foot
elevation and this is uh uh perhaps I
can point out through here this is just
slightly
higher than the 100-year flood elevation
but when we're looking at these
elevations of what Creek gets to uh in a
in a flood State the creek water is not
a sort of a a level amount of water
running through it's uh uh it's moving
with some velocity it's surging at times
and so uh even with this water will come
over the top of that and enter the
site um we uh in this uh buffer zone um
it gets its own planting but uh We've
also provided a a gravel foot path that
runs through this area uh which is part
of uh the interpretive uh uh route which
will actually let people understand what
is happening uh at the different zones
on the edge of the
creek so again we're moving up uh from
water level of the creek and we're
moving into a different group of plants
which are appropriate for this uh Upland
uh buffer
enhancement uh to uh follow on from that
uh what we are uh doing then moving west
of this area is that we are uh providing
a uh a park we're we're calling it a
pocket park this is actually following
in a a larger area here which is
identified as a neighborhood park but
that's a great big lozen shape which
actually stretches and just a tip of it
touches this property but it still is an
area uh where uh development could occur
but we're keeping all of the development
out of that
area uh but we're using the the shape
here to actually start to take any water
which uh comes over the uh side of a
creek and start to move it uh
westbound this is just looking again at
a at a contour rating so we were we were
focused in on this area right here and
now you can start to see how the the
Swale that we are creating is actually
moving the uh any flood water from the
east side of a site to the very North uh
West part of the site which is where it
uh rejoins the city's Swale and drainage
system which eventually goes to the
lake uh so this is just looking a little
more closely uh at how the planting will
occur within this
area sorry uh because uh there is also a
high water table on this site there are
times when the bottom of this sale will
actually have water uh in it at
different times of the year not just in
uh in a flood condition but when there's
a a higher water table and so again we
have a different uh planting which will
occur in the different elevations of
this Swale uh and in the very bottom of
the Swale uh we've got plants which uh
will enjoy having their feet wet and
will Thrive and and not uh not suffer
because of
that uh I should I should say that uh
the top uh I'm sorry I'm supposed to be
pointing with this the the top section
is actually through the widest part of
the sale and you can see where that is
fairly uh uh gentle with a slope of the
sides and the other section is cut uh
through uh here where we're actually
dealing with some structured walls to
contain uh the sale
again I'm moving into the second Zone uh
different planting uh different exposure
to water uh and all of these plants are
uh are here to create uh an area which
is uh a wildlife habitat but it's also
uh an attractive area uh throughout the
the year whether it's rain sun or
snow and then as we move further up this
uh uh the the Swale to the sides we
actually can start to introduce uh uh
seasonal flowering plants which uh which
will line and you can see the area uh
which is running through the site which
will have
those and then we get to the very top of
the sale and at the top of the sale
we're getting into larger trees larger
shrubs and uh uh it's it's where the uh
um the landscape is actually joining
into the more structured landscape that
you'd expect to find in a uh a more
urban site development this is a very
naturalistic feature on this site and so
if anything it's it's the one piece of a
puzzle here which which isn't sort of
following the the uh move to the urban
character that the central isqua plan uh
uh refers to uh but it's actually a very
uh a park like uh part of a site which
is running
through and so that's
uh uh starting to indicate when there is
a flood uh and there is a 2-year event
uh the the the water uh will only go out
across the new shelf where the riparian
enhancement was put in and so that is uh
uh starting to indicate how that is
going to work through that
area in a 10year event it is expected
that the uh the water will come over but
the water will pretty much be
contained uh throughout this Swale and
eventually leave the site and start
moving down Gilman
Boulevard a 20-year event is uh there's
more water uh and uh uh you can start to
see that it is actually uh uh flooding
in different other parts of the uh
neighboring sites and then uh this is
just looking at what the condition is in
a 100-year flood with the existing use
of the site and the existing buildings
that are on the site and uh in the
future uh that 100-year event is going
to be contained into the Swale there
will still be some flooding which will
occur on neighboring properties uh but
the goal is to get the water back into
our new soil uh so it can leave the
site just a visual comparison you can
also start to see that um this raises an
issue for the uh character of a
development on the site uh we are
actually providing uh below grade
parking uh but the below grade parking
is at an elevation and the entrance to
those garages
is at a point where we are above the
flood waters uh on the site before any
uh water would enter uh no water would
be entering the
garages so I'm going to go back to the
park for a little while because the park
actually uh connects into uh uh part of
the uh uh overall green necklace uh that
the the city uh speaks of uh we've got
several different areas each with its
own character uh the uh the area uh
between the the new buffer and and the
the Swale is actually going to be a
naturalized lawn area this is the kind
of a slope which will be coming down
from areas where people could picnic but
down into the head of a sale we're
actually bringing uh a foot Bridge
across here which which is part of a
shared use Trail which I'll address in a
little while as to how that connects
into the rest of the city's uh shed use
Trails uh we are providing a uh a fenced
dog run in this area so there is an area
where there can be some containment of
uh animals that they're not just running
all over the property um and uh
obviously that comes along with
responsible uh
looking after picking up the poof and
stuff like that but that's concentrated
in that area uh and then this is the
area where we're
actually we're actually preserving uh
the majority of the stand of existing
trees that are directly east of the uh
Kentucky Fried Chicken and and Taco Bell
uh restaurant and so through this area
uh those those trees running through
here
then being enhanced with the new
planting okay this is just to give you
an idea of the the plant different plant
material in the different zones of the
park uh so there are you know existing
Trails uh around us but uh they're not
connected and so uh uh you know the
Juniper Trail comes in down here there
is actually a multiuse trail which is
running up the west side of 7th Avenue
um and then of course there is the foot
bridge that comes ac across the creek
and moves uh uh further east towards uh
Gilman
Village so what we're doing with this
development is creating a more
comprehensive shared use trail system
running across this property uh we're
we're connecting into this Trail U just
to orient you this is the corner where
the Starbucks uh coffee shop is and U
this is the uh entrance to the uh retail
Center here and so at that point is
where we're bringing pedestrians across
and the shared use Trail is uh coming
through uh beside our access drive and
then cutting across the bridge that I
described earlier through the park
connecting to the second bridge across
the creek uh that's existing and then
we're bringing it down uh to connect
into Fifth Avenue uh so that we're
getting an East West and a north south
connection uh into the trail sort
of uh responding to the uh the necklace
uh
notion one of the things things that is
uh uh not allowing us to follow the
exact rules of the central isqua plans
shared use Trail is that down at Fifth
Avenue uh the shared use route will be
coming around um but it's actually going
through an area that is used by uh
adjoining properties although this is uh
this is within our uh sort of project
site boundary and so what we're uh
asking for here is an adjustment to the
10 foot wide trail with two feet of
Landscaping on both sides and we're
asking for uh in order to not
disturb uh or prevent the users uh for
instance of the dent dentist office
through here or access coming through uh
for parents delivering children to
children to the montari school we're
creating um the shed use route as a
continuous was paved area but instead of
the planting we're suggesting that the
boundary of it is defined through this
section by the the grass set in the
pavers so that there is a an indication
to vehicles that there this is a shared
use space but the shared use Trail
typically doesn't include vehicles uh
the shared use Trail is uh you know
people pedestrians and bicycles but uh
the vehicles are already here they're
already using this property but we still
believe Um this can be a valid part of
the shared use trail running through
here uh again the uh shade use Trail has
a requirement for Fairly extensive
Landscaping on both sides of it and uh
so we're looking at that being a
combination of trees uh uh perennials
and ground covers as they're running
through down both sides
the character of this shed use Trail
changes throughout the site because in
in some parts it's actually associated
with larger Landscaping areas and and so
the the edges of it get blurred and then
in some places it's actually running
through the park uh where the edges get
sort of extended out into the
park now in addition to the shed use
Trail we're actually building a stronger
pedestrian uh sidewalk connection uh
through the South again we're focusing
on uh this providing a connection both
north south and east west uh and so uh
the uh uh the new Street improvements
along 7th Avenue will of course include
uh new
sidewalks um we'll be connecting into
what will be uh a new sidewalk and uh
treatment uh here um this is where the
the new bus stop will be relocated to uh
for uh uh for passengers and we're
actually introducing a trail following
the sale and then Crossing another foot
bridge to come back into the
site uh in addition to that uh we we're
actually uh using one of the tools which
is recommended in the central isacar
plan which is a through block passage
when a block gets very large uh uh
rather than uh pedestrians not being
allowed to get from one side to the
other um there's a uh a trail which is
running through here it is pedestrian
only it is fully
accessible um but it is making a
connection from Locust Street through
the middle of a site and heading up to
the bus stop uh and then you can see how
uh other sidewalks here are connecting
into different parts of the shed used
trail
uh this is the uh the just the 4ot wide
gravel path that I was describing which
is part of the uh uh opportunity to get
closer to the improvements along the
side of the creek and then we are making
extensive improvements to Locust the
north side of Locust Street uh which
includes sidewalk uh treatment there
also so I'm going to start up at the
northwest corner of the site and then
I'm going to move uh down Gilman uh
across Locust and then back into the
shared uh uh back into the through block
passage
uh clearly with uh such an extensive
storm water system running through here
uh we're not able to uh build the
building uh up to the uh 0
10t setback from public streets which
the central isaar plan uh requires uh in
this mixed use uh Zone um but what we're
uh what we're doing here is we're uh
allowing that uh area to start to create
the new Edge to uh Gilman Boulevard and
I'll I'll tell you a little bit about
what some of the issues are through here
uh that are influencing our our choices
here uh because of the uh uh increased
traffic we are installing a new signal
uh at Gilman and 7th Avenue uh in
addition to the new signal we're
installing turn Lanes uh on Gilman which
will allow signalized uh turning uh for
people who are arriving at this
intersection and going to the North and
then uh we're actually removing the
median um uh through the area east of
this intersection in order to create a
new turn lane to allow turning movements
to come into uh 7th Avenue and to get to
the uh retail Center as well as this
development uh for those of you familiar
with the site this is one of the
existing Islands um that is there and
then there is a there is another median
Island which is in this area it is
actually had uh got a row of trees in it
and so we recognize that uh we're
starting because of the traffic
improvements we're starting to remove
some of the trees and we understand that
uh the the population of trees uh along
Gilman Boulevard is part of what gives
it its
character and so
um hold that
for um in addition to uh the turn Lanes
um we're actually uh Gilman Boulevard is
not meeting uh at the moment the city's
own standards for for Boulevard uh
traffic lanes and so we're actually
moving the curb on the south side of
Gilman Boulevard uh to
the just GNA go so we're moving that
curb
uh a foot to the South in order to
provide the appropriate size Lanes the
requirement here is that we have 11 two
11t travel lanes and a bike
lane what you would normally then get in
the city's
Boulevard requirements is you would get
uh six feet of landscaping and then
you'd get a six foot
sidewalk uh because the uh Metro buses
are being relocated uh but Metro likes
to stop past the intersection not before
the inter
intersection and so because the the uh
the Metro bus is is now stopping in this
area through here um we're uh concerned
that the new Street trees that we're
planting through there uh will not
survive adequately in just the six foot
uh uh uh Zone and so we're providing a
wider planting zone to allow uh the
trees to have a greater opportunity to
thve without being whacked by the bus uh
every time the buses are pulling into
the bus
stop um the buses will uh just because
of the boulevard section that the city
has the buses will pull into the bik
lane uh in order to drop the passengers
off
uh uh what we are uh been doing uh is
that we're I'm sorry let me just go back
to this one we're actually adding a a
second row of trees because uh uh of
widening the boulevard because of
um the buses because of the trees we're
actually having to remove the existing
uh uh trees which are on the curb side
uh of the street but we're also removing
a a row of hazelnut trees which are
running along
uh very basically on our property line
so we're we're uh replacing that with a
second uh row of trees so this is
creating a more of an alley uh along uh
with trees on both sides of the
sidewalk and you can see that here
uh I just I put this up in case you
wanted to come back and get into the
details of what we're doing with this
intersection from a traffic point of
view I'm not going to dwell on it uh but
uh the uh the traffic
study uh has been based upon uh what we
would call the worst case scenario so
there's been no credit given and I just
want to draw your attention to uh this
section here there's been no credit
given to we already know from the 2010
census that uh uh
8.5% of residents in in in the area use
Transit the 12.5% use car pools and Van
pools uh and another 10% walk or bicycle
uh and then another
2.5% uh of the isqua people actually
work from home that has not influenced
the traffic study nor the requirement
for the the lane so the the light and
the Turning Lanes so we've we've kept
with the worst case scenario here um and
uh just wanted to bring that to your
attention uh and the pieces of the
traffic mitigation uh which are being
included is the signal
signalization um front Frontage
improvements along 7eventh
Avenue uh new Frontage improvements to
Gilman Boulevard and then Frontage
improvements on
Locust so this is just looking a little
more closely the the requirements from
Metro are um that we create in this
location uh a good size minimum 8 by10
uh area for uh people to get off a bus
they recognize that uh some buses have
different exits depending on whether we
have a single length bus or an
articulated bus
or whether there is actually uh the
potential of two buses arriving right
behind one another um they have
requested that we uh provide up to 50 ft
of area where people can actually be
stepping out of a bus we're looking at
that being more of a crushed rock area
but the main bus stop being the 8 by10
requirement that they're looking
for so now in this plan you can start to
see uh how we're placing the the uh the
6t wide concrete sidewalk how our new
trees are running through we are
actually hoping to be able to keep a
couple of the uh hazelnut trees uh which
are uh healthy not all of those trees
are healthy but we're looking to try and
keep a couple of those this is on the
the food route uh of of fruiting uh and
nut uh
trees um and then we're we're bringing
the sidewalk from the stop diagonally
across and down to joining the
improvements uh on 7th
Avenue uh we're we're proposing to
provide a uh a seat wall across here and
some uh a shelter uh with uh weather
protection and with some trellis uh and
one of the ideas we've been floating is
that uh potentially the introduction of
hops this used to be a hop Farm uh in in
the p and Evac can be reintroduced as a
a gesture towards the past uses of this
property as we move down uh 7th Avenue
you can see that uh there are fairly
extensive improvements which are
required under the central isal plan uh
we had one travel Lane we have bicycle
lane we have a parking Lane we have a
planting area we have new sidewalk and
then we have additional landscape
stepping back to the
buildings uh what we're showing in our
uh two elevations running through here
this is the West facade of the
northernmost building is how the
different how the massing of the
buildings are actually uh introducing
some free story elements it's another uh
pointer in the in the isqua Plan central
isoa plan uh to actually break down the
scale of the buildings uh uh and then
we're actually using um a what we've
been calling our Twisted Corners to
actually start to identify some of the
key uh uh ends of the buildings uh where
we're uh for instance down here
identifying where the entrance to
building a
is I do want to point out that we are
applying uh uh what is currently called
healthy living standards to these
buildings uh and basically that is
meaning that uh we do not just have a
front door to these buildings uh every
multif family building that's built also
has an egress stair and very often those
egress stairs are uh internal to the
buildings and they don't have natural
light daylight or air and what we're
doing in all of these buildings is we're
actually bringing those stairs to the
exterior of the building they're getting
uh windows they're getting n uh daylight
and we're actually using those as a
secondary entrance for the people who
actually want to come into the building
and use the stairs or leave the building
using the stairs rather than everyone
being focused uh to elevator use uh and
so you'll see that in each one of these
buildings that I'm talking about uh but
there's a second uh access
point um I actually I mentioned before
that uh this our access Drive which is
coming in running through the site is
actually lining up with the uh access
Drive which is going into the shopping
center uh and that is where the uh
crosswalk will be bringing um the shed
use route across that site the two main
uh uh public spaces of what we're
calling our building a on the left and a
Building B on the right uh both of their
main lobbies uh the leasing space and
amenity spaces are all gathered around
this corner so these are the most uh
public portions of these buildings and
we actually are extending that further
back along the shared use Trail so we
have an exercise uh and a yoga studio
and they're fronting on this uh more
publicly used uh route through the
site uh I'll come back to it later but
you'll also see that each one of these
buildings also has its own uh Courtyard
Garden spaces for the residents and some
of them are as in this building are open
to the sidewalk so you get a a view into
those there's just the uh Juniper Trail
uh and then connecting into the shed use
Trail so I was talking about uh how um
this new street is being addressed uh
basically what you're you're seeing is
uh from the center line of the street uh
this is the existing uh condition which
is uh on the retail parking side of a
street and so it's a travel Lane uh with
planting with the existing uh pedestrian
route running adjacent to that um what
the central isqua plan uh is uh asking
is that we actually provide a 10-ft
travel Lane Lane we're providing the
bike lane uh we're providing on street
parking uh uh the on street parking and
the bike lane both uh uh traffic calming
uh then we're providing 8 fet of
landscaping uh so that we can get a
major scale of Street trees running
along here um we're providing 8ot
sidewalk along this this is U uh this is
the core Street this is a core Street
under a new definition of your street uh
nomenclatures uh and so this is sort of
the profile of all the pieces that need
to fit into uh the Improvement of the co
stre so uh basically it finishes up
taking 39 ft uh of
uh area to be able to do that again
similar to what I was talking about of
getting significant Landscaping on both
sides of the sidewalks to enhance The
Pedestrian environment the space between
the sidewalk and the building is also uh
uh heavily
landscaped I should have mentioned that
whenever you're looking at these we've
got a little key plan in the corner so
if you want to know where you are on the
overall say sorry I should have said
that earlier um there's a key which lets
you see where we're uh where we
are so as we move down uh we're actually
getting more open space uh adjacent to
the lobbies uh so the sitting areas uh
we uh are providing uh ramp and stairs
going into into the buildings because of
the water table because of the flood
water um the parking garages are not
sunk completely below grade but are at a
level where um they are put above the
highest flood uh level that's
anticipated on the site uh to the main
residential level and then the entrance
to the garage is is also above that
flood level uh but I think you could see
from the previous uh uh section we're
actually using the space adjacent to the
sidewalk to actually hide the fact that
the uh the building is slightly raised
out of grade uh there is no parking
garage which is exposed in any of these
buildings
so this is uh sort of looking at that
profile this is what I was calling our
Twisted Corner this is the entrance to
uh the lobby space here and you can see
the profile that the Landscaping is
taking um directly adjacent to the
lobbies on both sides uh we've got uh
handicap parking uh accessible parking
connecting into ramp systems we've got
the required parking for the United
States Postal Services dedicated spot uh
uh and we've also got loading uh areas
uh for people that are moving in and out
of these
buildings the materials that were shown
in there uh and this is uh this is
actually looking at the the three
feature colors that we're proposing for
the the corners on each one of the uh
buildings uh but we are also including
uh uh brick uh we're including some lap
siding uh Ceda siding on this sorry this
wasn't lap siding and then we're uh we
have uh ctitious sighting which is being
used in both a Bard and batn pattern and
then a lap
sighting so moving down to U Building B
um this is where this this corner which
is directly across from Starbucks is
where the main leasing uh
uh space will be and so it is at a very
prominent uh corner and it's got very
easy access it's going to be very
transparent uh to be able to see uh into
this space and very
welcoming so uh here the uh the scale of
this changes actually to being a
two-story uh scale of the ground floor
here uh We've deleted residential units
which were above on this
level as we turn the corner and go on to
Locust Locust uh has been established as
a neighborhood street in the uh uh
definition uh of the city these
definitions have been defined as we've
been working on the on the project they
weren't necessarily established at the
beginning uh but we've worked with staff
to be able to meet the standards for
these core course Boulevard Street cor
Street neighborhood street uh as part of
the plan uh what we have here then uh is
this is actually requiring a dedication
of uh 15 ft of additional land to meet
the requirements of building the streets
to these standards and so the current uh
property line is here and the new
property line will be um at the back of
the sidewalk
what what again you're seeing uh are our
access to buildings which are uh through
the stairs this is the beginning of our
through block passage which I'll come
back to uh we have an entrance to uh
Building C uh through here and then it
continues on uh to the other end of the
access Drive which is coming in from the
southeast
Corner this is uh the street entrance to
building C
uh and then this is the character of the
uh neighborhood street as uh defined
we're actually doing a couple of things
slightly
differently um in order to be able to
get some larger scale trees uh in this
relatively narrow Corridor um we're
actually uh creating some bulb
outs uh between parking spaces along the
street so that in those locations uh we
were able to plant a a slightly larger
tree uh so we've got two scales of tree
uh and they'll form a rhythm going down
the
street going back to the uh end of the
uh through block passageway on on Locus
Street uh this perhaps was one of our
biggest challenges to make sure that
this did become accessible for everybody
and so we actually uh we we have brought
the sidewalk uh around uh following the
curb and then ducking back in behind the
planting uh but we've included a system
of ramps to get up into here uh as well
as providing stairs uh through in in
this area and then used that again to uh
start a larger tree
planting this is the car that we're
running through there the through block
passage requires a 10 foot wide path
running through here within a uh within
20 fet so there uh 5T of required
Landscaping we're providing a
considerably wider passage than that and
the the Landscaping is actually being
included in uh
um in it's it's shaping some of the
private spaces outside the residences
that are on the ground floor so we have
uh the uh public space running through
the middle and then some private space
uh but overall we're meeting the 10t
through block passage we're creating
some interest with the planting and
defining semi-private spaces uh and
running down the middle of here from
building to building we have some ker
lighting which will be uh uh what is uh
just down light shining in the middle of
this uh route which will be providing
the uh
Safety and
Security I I know you you're probably
not remembering every plant which has
been put up here but I just want to
point out that what we've been uh we've
got a great landscape team that have
been working on this and what they have
been doing is actually looking at
variations of planting so each of these
areas which some of them have got
different solar exposures but they each
have a slightly different palet of plant
so uh it's it's not just the same uh
throughout the whole
site so this is looking at sort of that
in in more detail and then the more
detailed section as to how the light is
working and how we're getting uh
planting this is above the top of the
parking garage and so all of this
planting is on the structure uh running
through here and that's why you you see
these planting areas being raised up to
get the other
soil now I mentioned that when I showed
you the uh Street entrance for for
building SE uh there was just stairs
going into there we're actually bringing
in the accessible entrance to this
building from the north uh and coming
through what is a fairly large Courtyard
in the middle of this c-shaped
building um so uh this is the entrance
it's actually right across the lobby
from the entrance from the Street uh but
there is a uh again an accessible
entrance coming up to uh a a courtyard
the area uh closest to this is the
shared use trail running through here
the area closest to the shared use Trail
is more of a uh sitting area for the
residents who are living here um we have
a slight uh disagreement with staff here
uh we are uh suggesting that one access
point to this Courtyard is adequate
where staff had raised a question as to
whether there may be a second one we're
advocating that uh we'd rather see more
planting than more Paving uh in this
area um and that this is uh a sitting
area um and Landscaping which is more
focused with access from the residential
Courtyard rather than from the shared
use Trail or directly across the street
from the from the pocket par
uh Building B Courtyard uh this is where
the one of the major amenity spaces as
well as the leasing is going to be and
this is uh so this is oh here we go
uh uh this is on Seventh and so this is
a Westerly facing Courtyard and this is
our major uh amenity space in this
building uh and there is extensive uh
amenity spaces continued outside uh uh
for a more active use by the whole
community and on building a the uh uh
outdoor space is actually on the uh east
side of this building and this is the
actually the edge of the building and
we're sort of blurring that to uh be
able to take advantage of uh all of the
new plant material which is occurring in
the Swale which is just just to the east
of
here uh so I'm just going to cover some
of the key points uh from the central
isqua plan um the first is that uh we're
in the mixed use Zone here and the focus
of the mixed use zone is to create a
mixed use neighborhood uh in this area
we have the retail we have the
restaurants we have offices uh and this
is the first residential that is being
introduced in this portion of uh uh this
Zone and so uh we're adding uh in the
three buildings a total of 344
Apartments uh we have onsite and uh as I
mentioned structured below grade parking
uh we have been able to uh meet the
city's requirements of not exceeding 60%
of that being compact uh spaces and the
rest being fullsize
spaces um we're providing
uh extensive amenities both on the site
for the public and a lot of amenities on
the site uh for the residents uh
including the landscape Courtyards uh
Gathering spaces in the buildings and
exercise
Studios I think you got the message but
we're doing extensive Street
improvements uh and uh that's including
uh the traffic uh signalization and
improvements at Gilman uh and seventh um
we're providing uh easy uh pedestrian
connections to get to Transit uh the um
in addition to the bus stop uh eastbound
being located here will be moving the
bus stop on the other side of the street
so that it is also at the other side of
of a light uh and so uh for westbound uh
people going into the cities uh they
will be uh uh catching the bus on the
other side of the
street um we've also uh made an effort
with the choice uh of plant material to
increase the tree canopy uh I think you
all know that this is a
um sort of basically a a
asphalt parking lot at the moment with
very little uh Landscaping associated
with it and so we're uh increasing the
tree canopy here
extensively uh and then as I mentioned
before we're developing to the central
isaquel PL new standards of uh the
course Street and the neighborhood
street
and and then the last piece uh we uh we
love the the green necklace piece of the
the central plan and uh so we're uh
happy to be creating a connection in
that overall uh with our pocket park
with our shed use uh route across the
site with the food block passage and and
just with the overall standard of the
attractive Landscaping in the
site that completes my presentation and
I think it's over to Jerry
for the staff presentation thank you
very much you're welcome
car that was rather complete and it's
going to be hard to
top hello commission
members think uh Katie and Richard I
don't know but I'm Jerry Lind with the
development services office and I know
everybody else an audience uh there is
the agenda on the table and there's also
a sign up list too so when I'm done
speaking to you'll have an opportunity
to also speak but if you would please
sign the list to also tonight too I've
taken a lot of names and email addresses
from our Riven storm uh River and
streams board meetings we've had in the
past and our neighbors notices we've
given out to so I've got a pretty good
comprehensive list and if you do want to
receive a copy of our final notice of
decision you will want to uh make sure
you're on that list of names
too uh the application is not only the
site development permit but it's also a
shoreline application to the project is
on the Western Bank of isquat Creek and
Shoreline management is required for
those uh properties within 200 feet of
that ordinary high water mark uh most of
the development you've seen tonight is
primarily on the western side
but the Eastern side has a number of The
Pedestrian areas too uh including
notably the uh the park and so those are
the elements that will be u under the
jurisdiction of Shoreline
management uh you saw the vicinity map
and there's another view of it too of
our major roadways highlighted in yellow
on the site within the black area so
it's right in the center of things on
Gilman
Boulevard an aerial photo of the
site this uh site of course does wrap
around O'Reilly's Auto Parts and the KFC
Taco Bell site which is on Gilman so
those are not included with this and
then you have the dental office and the
monor school at the southeast corner too
so it's got a a rather odd configuration
the yellow lines that you see in the
site are the parcels there's eight
Parcels that make up the site and uh
eventually as it goes through the
construction phase these Parcels would
be
Consolidated an overview of the project
it is they're all three of them are
fivestory buildings and they're all
located above the garages the parking
that we saw there are some surface
stalls uh linear one through the through
the site and then a smaller lot just
west of O'Reilly autle parts and then
there's a u uh a garbage storage
area for U pickup in that location as
well too the site is just over six acres
and with about 400 parking stalls to
serve the needs of the site uh the
parking count does meet the minimum
requirements and it is well below the
maximum too this is something new that
we didn't have under the old plans uh
today we do have maximum numbers for
parking spaces uh for unit counts we
used to see a number of units per acre
now it's floor area ratio so these are
uh different elements than uh what's
been
shared in the past with the development
commission uh the park and shared use
route those are very key elements of the
green necklace plan with the uh City and
then having interconnecting walkways to
the site which they've provided to the
landscape
Swale uh they'll turn that into not only
a functional part of the site but as an
amenity too worth seeing
uh it's qu Creek buffer improvements
quite a bit of that has been done to
compensate for uh the sell that you see
along 7th Avenue now which would be
piped and then of course Street
improvements on the three budding
streets these are some site photos taken
recently on a nicer day day than today
uh viewing Southwest you see on the left
you can see the uh O'Reilly Auto Parts
with the red horizontal stripes on it
and that's Tiger Mountain in the
background
uh the photo on the right is viewing
South that's 7th Avenue you can see the
uh the two lanes that we have today and
then a lot of grassy areas to
the to the east of the
street and to the right on that photo
that's the Safeway isaquel
Commons shopping
center uh the applicant mentioned that
it's it's a pretty Barren parking lot
and you can see it is mostly asphalt
there's some trees in the center of the
site those trees would be removed the
trees over in the Grove by the KFC would
be
retained and the final photos I took
again is viewing South towards Tiger
Mountain again it's a lot of asphalt
this is taken from about the street side
of
Gilman and then the photo on the right
is kind of a messy area it's right to
the west of the
Monas skull and this will be parking and
Landscape so uh you can see in the
background behind the deciduous trees
that's Loca Street and some mixed
commercial which is along that
street uh the s's in the center and I've
taken some views so you can actually see
the three streets that are there now
Gilman Boulevard is in the best shape of
the of the three streets but uh of
course it does not meet the street
standards we'll have to be moved the
curbing uh a foot
Southward um to get the uh Street Lanes
proper the parking strips and
sidewalks uh some of the trees out there
have been removed recently I understand
in this area it's our edible
landscape uh the filbert trees some of
them are in bad health and Parks has uh
taken some out I'm not sure what the
status is of the trees on this site but
you know again we want to maintain some
of this uh Greenery that's part of our
Greenway established in the city uh 7th
Avenue is over on the left and it's got
a little bit of a curvature you can see
too and again that green uh strip
between the street and the existing
store and then Locust Street which
almost looks Al like today would have
that 15 ft of dedication and then the
further Street improvements on its
northern side to meet the
standards
circulation is a key part of it uh the
heavy lines in the Deep Red are the
major streets the shared juice
route uh actually takes two directions
an East West Direction which you see
here and then the north south which
connects from Loca Street up to that
little plaza where the foot bridge is at
Gilman
Boulevard
uh uh people will want to get a little
closer view of this qu Creek and so this
is kind of a little minor Trail 4T wide
of pervious
gravel um that'll be the Eastern side of
the park
space um the other buildings and
sidewalks have a series of sidewalk
connections too and as the appan show
here's the through block connection here
that's required when you have uh blocks
that are greater than 300 ft so this
kind of brings it down to more of a
human
scale
this part here is in the
uh the plan the central isqua plan you
can see
the
um streets and the
sidewalks uh primarily you'll
see where you have existing
bikeways proposed bike WS which is in
the dashed purple
unlike the solid purple and then where
you have the green which is dashed
that's the shared use route which is the
12T wide paved uh strip with uh the
Landscaping on the sides of it too and
you can see the greater picture of the
central plan how this will connect to
these other regions of the city as these
areas in the future will
develop uh the idea is to make uh
pedestrians and bicycles more at par
with vehicles and so we really want to
push more pedestrian orientation in this
plan uh these elements that you see here
are pushing towards that
goal the Shar derus took two little
Snippets from uh the project drawings
that were given you can see the
connection here up by 7th this is the
link that goes across 7th Avenue to the
isquat Commons shopping center
uh the route does meander it's got a
different pavement pattern than the
other walkways and and definitely
different than the uh Asphalt in the
parking lots uh the lower one is the
sherar Rus route that takes the more
north south direction that heads up to
that little foot Bridge uh by the creek
and that's a real Pleasant spot up there
if you haven't been up there it's really
nice the uh Central wad plan calls for a
a number of parks in the Valley these
parks are specified to be 2 acres in
size uh they can be done in pieces and
uh this site here will not have two
acres but it does have a fairly good uh
uh portion of the park you can see it
extends from Holly Street to the South
to uh the Interstate 90 Freeway to the
north the portion of the park uh by the
uh project is right here the
neighborhood
park most of the building or most of the
parking I should say is contained within
the buildings below ground the buildings
are being elevated to be above the
100-year flood plane and this area here
this pad area which is the entrance into
the two garages are also built higher
than the 100-year flood plane to uh uh
keep the water from entering those um
parking areas there are the two parking
lots that are surface spaces surface
Lots I should say uh the small one to
the North and the Meandering one that
you see between
buildings uh a and BC the parking
garages and BC are actually connected
together underground the buildings are
above
those and U generous amounts of
landscaping is being placed in the form
of islands insul is to break up the
appearance of the asphalt within those
surface
Lots uh the parking lots that are on the
surface do require buffering on the
sides that's a three foot wide buffer uh
where you have the shared use or two
feet I should say that where you have
the shared use route you'll have the
twoot buffer plus you'll have the
three-foot buffer by the parking lot and
you may have a little bit additional too
if parking stalls or shortened uh for an
overhang as well
too so you can see how that
works to screen the sides there's a few
Cuts within the parking areas they're
about 2 feet wide and this will keep uh
users in those stalls from trampling
down the Landscaping but it works nice
and they're done kind of at uh a regular
pattern you'll see them down here
too
that's the overall site
plan uh not as colorful as the one we
just saw but again the existing grova
trees and the park and the dog park
which is right where the where grov is
located uh one time there was going to
be a a Pea Patch Garden that's been
taken out of the plan but there is a Pea
Patch Garden just to the south at the
city's new park um so that's encouraging
uh the drainage swell which runs through
the area that's a large green space you
can see the buildings a b and c and the
courtyards which each building has as
well as the uh the shared Court between
buildings B and
C uh most of the green spaces within the
Park area and along the creek and again
with the
Swale so it's definitely is a greening
of the site from what you see today
uh there are the uh three main plazas
for each building and they have the
connections to the common spaces on the
first floor of those buildings and then
the shared uh route between buildings BC
that runs northward connecting to the
trails and sidewalks that will connect
to Gilman
Boulevard these are enlargements of
those Courtyards I think the color
looked a little better but the black and
white has the same information that you
just saw so they're fairly active and
they have
uh that's a mix of both hard spaces and
Landscaping uh soft Landscaping
Courtyard Building C faces
northward that's what this one here so
it's going to be a little bit more
shadier than the other two Courtyards so
we would ask that some of the trees
maybe not be quite as large maybe they
use lighter
colors uh with the building and um
Pavements and Furnishings within this
area 2 to make it a little bit more
pleasant because it will be a little bit
on the dark Shady Side um majority of
the year and we want to use these spaces
year
round there were three uh prospective
drawings in your packet that you were
given and these are the three buildings
as well as the one on the lower right
that's on the cover sheet and there is a
material board I've got it on this table
right here too and I'll share that with
uh with Randy our chair tonight and you
can you can distribute it among your
members too to see it a little bit
closer but it's got uh the three basic
colors on those Corners that identifies
the buildings other elements in the
buildings kind of tie it
together this is the uh a map from our
Shoreline master program it's a fairly
new program that was adopted and as you
can see with the little red star that's
thec location of the site it is a
shoreline commercial mixed use
designation so it does allow mixed use
residential and Commercial uh the zoning
does as well too the applicant has
proposed um completely developing the
site with residential with what you see
tonight there is an option for where
some units in the future could be taken
out to allow commercial now the reason
the shoreline is important too is under
Shoreline management your building
Heights are limited to 35 ft in height
these buildings are all Beyond The 200t
Mark of the creek so they are not
subject to the same Heights as charlot
management and they are built to the uh
to the standards
Allowed by the central isqua
plan that's our
Creek um it looks actually better there
than it does uh at other times there's
uh a lot of non-natives on the left side
of this that's the the site for the
seventh at Gilman you've seen the name
Cadence the night too and that name is
is changing I don't know if that was
brought up but it started out as seventh
that have our seventh at Gilman then to
Cadence and it will be changing names
again so you'll see that at our next
meeting that comes up in May and it's
not uncommon for names to change a few
times before it gets to the building
permit stage and even time sometimes to
the selling stage or the sold stage um
so this area that you see on the left
will be restored as part of the creek
restoration plan uh you've seen uh a CP
determination it's in your packet and so
there's quite a bit of information that
talks about what will be required here
in five years of
monitoring of this uh restored Stream
area uh uh the next steps after
tonight's meeting we will be taking
questions from the development
commission you may have uh some
questions about what's been presented
tonight uh you may have some issues
about the conditions or something that
you may even want to add to it too There
are 16 conditions in the staff report
and then there's also a number of
additional questions which are not
really the site development permit but
those that would be handled with the
construction uh in former days we bind
them together but we find it's a little
bit easier if we separate the conditions
in this fashion these construction
conditions we can still work them out
with the applicant as the project
evolves with the sea determination
there's also 11 conditions placed on
that
to uh the sea review is complete it's
gone through that comment and appeal
perit so that part is done this will be
coming back to the development
Commission on the first first Wednesday
of May that's May 7th we will be
preparing a
briefing uh response for any questions
that come up where we can research a
little bit more and then um upon that
there will be findings the fact prepared
and they will be signed by the
chair uh these findings of fact with the
notice decision then would be mailed out
and there will be a two-e appeal period
on that copies of that notice of
decision will be given to the audience
too uh if you are on our list as a party
of record too and then once the twoe
appeal period is done then we will be
transmitting the project to the
Department of ecology to they also have
a 21 day on their part but their appeal
period will not start until after our
period expires uh the applicant would
still have the ability to work on those
areas outside of Shoreland management
though so uh that would include
demolition of the buildings and other
site work that would be involved
too thank
you Jerry just one quick question of
clarification before we get into it I
know we're not supposed to when would
you tell share with the audience when
this actually goes to the city council
this project does not go to the city
council does not go no the decision
makers of this project is the
development commission so it but it used
to in the previous system we would we
would make our recommendations no that's
not true either
um this was new yeah the site
development plants have have always been
approved by the development commission
uh in some
cases you had minutes in your packet
this morning uh as we started the
meeting for the new isqua middle school
now the isquad middle school has a dual
application it has a site development
permit and because it's 15 Aces and
greater also has a master site plan to
it now Master site plans are approved by
the city council and on the middle
school which will be coming up to you in
the future we'll be doing a Consolidated
review and for the master site plan then
you will have a recommendation to the
city council and that's the difference
between the two if it's just a site
development permit and adjustment of
standards that comes with it or a short
plat with it uh the decision be solely
with the commission okay so if you look
at that um that's why we put the chart
together because we found that um
several of our commissions are having a
hard time uh if you look at the second
line down the DC where it says DC
roll if you look at the second line down
DC rooll um you can see under site
development permit you're the decision
maker whereas under master site plan
permit you're making a recommendation to
council okay um we found that's hard to
keep all those different roles
straight I don't think we have too many
opportunities for more um Master site
plans in the city most of the the larger
sites have been taken up and uh
certainly this Central isqu plan took a
lot of that space too uh so the isqua
MCO maybe uh the last one that comes up
even okay thank you
Jerry all right we're now entering the
section of the meeting wherein members
of the public who wish to make a comment
or to ask questions of anybody whether
it's the applicant the staff uh whatever
may speak again as we've said before if
you'd like to speak we'd ask you to sign
your name on the on the sheet there and
then uh step up to the microphone and
identify yourself as far as your name
and your address so if there's anybody
in the public that would like to make a
comment on the
record
hello uh my name is Kay Johnson I live
at402 Southeast 46 way in bellw I'm here
as a a person of longtime interest in uh
the community of esqua I worked for King
County library system for 30 years and I
was instrumental in the downtown library
development and the King County Library
service center development here in isqua
I've also been a vendor at the uh uh
Gilman Gallery which is one of the
businesses that uh will be displaced by
this development for some 10 years now
uh my comment though uh was aimed at uh
the project that we have before us here
uh I thought the uh landscape was
absolutely fabulous uh I love all the
shared walkways I think it's going to be
such a huge Improvement and people are
really going to love it I wondered
though about the architecture I really
felt that the buildings looked a little
plain particularly in contrast with such
a complex
Landscaping uh development and so I
wondered particularly on the South and
West sides if there was uh better ways
of handling solar screening or some way
to U make the materials on the outside
of the building seem more Rich the other
thing that I was thinking of the other
night as I was on Interstate 90 these
are going to be tall buildings
particularly in comparison to the other
uh buildings on Gilman Boulevard I
thought well now what's it going to look
like from Interstate 90 and that may be
beyond the purview of this particular
commission but I thought this is what as
a newcomer I'm going to see as a isqua
because most people are on the
interstate unless they they move south
of here and so I really wondered what
kind of impact that would have on
people's uh thoughts about isqua it was
kind of a bigger visioning process that
I was thinking about instead of just
looking at okay I'm going to live here
I'm going to write a bus I'm going to
shop at Safeway I wanted to look at a
little bit further back about what the
impact would be thank
you
oh please print clearly too for
us she's a
librarian
good my name is uh Blake flood I live at
24213 Southeast 40th Place in isqua uh
you probably didn't want to have a flood
for another hundred years but here I am
and that's that's really my my kind of
overreaching concern is is this is a
site I walk by every day five days a
week I work downtown um I I understand
what's been done to
to basically protect the building from
water I've been in the construction
industry for 35 years I have my doubts I
I understand there's professionals
involved but I I've seen some things uh
my I know from history I've lived here
for 21 years I've seen the site flood
several times it's it's typically a
gathering of people saying you know it's
12 cars and and a lot of empty
businesses but it doesn't impact a lot
of people uh with this
building uh if the water is a problem
and it will be at some point you're
impacting 300 if there's one person in
each apartment a lot of vehicles and uh
potentially the city of isqua where do
those people go so it just seems like it
impacts a lot of people if you compare
it to what we see now uh second thing is
the uh mixed use portion I
know kind of from the isqua plan what
I've seen I like the idea that it's a
it's it's true mixed use there's retail
there's there's a variety of things this
is very single use which I understand
why I understand that a
retail business is not going to want to
be in an area that floods so it's not
going to be like your lenar development
in uh West Seattle where you have a
Whole Foods down below I I understand
that but to me so to me it's the wrong
thing for the wrong it's the wrong thing
for the site that's just my personal
thing but I think it needs to be said uh
the other thing
was uh what the previous lady mentioned
visibility I think lenar gets some great
visibility it's the biggest thing you're
going to see from my 90 uh they get
Great Schools recently the tag most most
livable City uh there's a lot of
benefits to them I'm not sure we get the
same benefits no
offense um and then I don't know maybe
this question has been asked I don't
know were there tax
credits for this project none on okay
and and that's really all I had to say
so thank you is there anyone else any
other member of the public that wants to
speak
so my name is Connie Marsh and I have a
store at 1175 Northwest Gilman Boulevard
and also live here in
isqua
um and I think most people's concerns
are and continue to be the veracity of
the flooding situation and so one of the
things that is interesting is that it
will still flood and so when you bring a
bunch of people into Apartments where
they may not be familiar with the area
um they might not even understand
because nobody really reads that in the
middle of the night one night they might
become surrounded by water and there
does not seem to be a Street or a
sidewalk that would not be covered with
water and so they could be stranded in
or out of their apartments for some
period of time and there does not seem
to be a code in the city against that it
seems minimally at least unwise to me uh
but the only thing I can do to offset
that is ask for some sort of plan that
they would get a package telling them
what they're supposed to do when that
happens so that there isn't a panic
because they say well it's only six or
eight inches of water but in the dark
for example you don't know how deep it
is and you're always told well don't go
into flood waters and if you aren't used
to it I think it I I think you need to
educate people on that and also tell
them you know where they can look up the
information to see if a flood is coming
because it's not intuitive and I didn't
see a condition of that sort uh we're
also right next to isqua Creek and I
didn't see anywhere that there would be
ccnr requirements for what herbicides
pesticides or use things you could use
uh throughout the area to prevent uh
harm going into the critical areas I
didn't see signage requirements
educating people on the interface with
the Creek why it's that way and I
believe in the river and streams
meetings they seemed uh reasonably
interested in creating some sort of an
interpretive structure about the creek
uh if you're having all of these
walkways it seems like you should also
entertain people and teach them about
the great area that we live in and I
didn't I didn't see any of of those I
guess I would call them amenities
they're they're doing a lot um one of
the things they're doing is they're
bringing
in if they actually put all those plants
in they're bringing in this amazing
pallet of plants that someone is
actually going to have to know what
they're doing in order to keep that
amazing pallet of native vegetation
functioning and what that is likely to
be is don't do anything don't try to
turn it into a box or a circle like most
of the commercial areas that take the
native plants and try to make
squares but people don't know that and
so we we have some decent examples in
town and that's the new medical center
on the north side of the freeway and the
isqua highlands when they can keep up
actually do a pretty good job and I
don't know how you write a condition to
say if you're going to spend your money
on doing this make make it look awesome
long term right
and so you can have fun with that one uh
the other situation is when it
floods that is very powerful and it's
likely to wipe out a lot of the
vegetation that's on the creek they're
going to have a 5-year establishment
period for the buffer vegetation I just
want to be sure that that is maintained
in
perpetuity um and would be considered
Landscaping rather than buffer
vegetation because I think there's the
code in our landscape code that says you
have to Main maintain your Landscaping
in perpetuity that is correct okay so
then also in the Swale where they're
planting all of those plants when it
floods what's going to happen is all the
muck goes into the Swale and then
they'll have to clear out the sale
because it's flood capacity and they're
going to be clearing out all their
little plants with the
Bobcat um and so that also needs to be
considered Landscaping because well the
plants would probably love the muck the
capacity doesn't like the Muk and so
that would be I think that needs to be
clear that that needs to happen long
term and let's see oh so much of the
central issaqua plan was about the view
peekaboo views of the
Alps and I didn't see when I just went
through the language again I don't see
where in our guidelines we say okay have
we checked all of the courtyards have we
checked how we're angling the um
separations between the buildings or the
trails to get the views of the mountains
that we're trying to protect because you
know Jerry was showing us tiger I saw
squawk I saw I saw all kinds of places
so
um I think that needs to be considered
here and then try to figure out how we
put that into the plan Al
together
restrictions
uh okay I think that's all that I have
here I would like to say I I I agree
that you got a lot of vegetation and
then you have these very Stern looking
buildings um and I think a lot of that
is there's no variation at all in the
roof lines and that seems awkward it's
very severe up here and then you got all
this going on down here it seems like a
little bit of moderation and the color
palette caution and can we have some
like Bears peeking out Out Underneath
benches or something to amuse us in a
silly way as we go around
thanks thank you is there anyone
else all right we will now come to the
oh I'm sorry
sorry sorry for my tness um good evening
members of the commission uh my name is
Matthew bot and I'm here as a citizen as
well as representing the greater es
squat Chamber of Commerce and I just
wanted to offer our our general support
and excitement about this plan uh
something I've become a little more
familiar with in the past few weeks and
I understand it's the first under the
the central roqu plan or one of the
first obviously so certainly has
precedence and um something that U is
important from that perspective and so
um adding to the momentum of the
Redevelopment goals of the plan and of
the community so I think that's
important um I I think it goes without
saying but the you know this plan
represents substantial Improvement to
this parcel along one of the major
thorough fares of the community um the
the uh the the trails the plazas the the
the the space that's created there I
think is pretty special um I really
appreciate the safety issues um along
that are addressed in terms of the light
um the the um uh the median changes I
know we've had members of our staff that
have had accidents in that that area and
there's been that's just a trouble spot
in the community so addressing that
through the median uh changes and the
the light are are pretty important and I
think I appreciate the applicants uh
attention to that um I'm also privileged
to serve on the economic Vitality
commission uh pure commission to this
commission and I I know we spend a lot
of time uh looking at Workforce housing
issues um which are pretty severe as you
know um and um getting housing of this
nature at this price point on the valley
floor is pretty important um both to the
large businesses in town and to the
small businesses uh the chambers and
employe are V individuals and we we
suffer from that uh in trying to find
folks with uh uh who can who can afford
to live here so um housing at this price
point I think makes a lot of sense from
that perspective whether you're talking
to the business Community or human
service agencies they'll say you know
this is this is the right thing to do um
long term for uh for economic
sustainability and to support uh folks
who can live and work in the same
Community um so that that's important
and then a just in a little esoteric uh
piece this really is a project among
many other projects that will support
job creation um in our community and I
can tell you that the businesses in the
I think it's the isqua commons that are
sort of next door they're really excited
about this obviously uh those are all
retail businesses and this is new
customers for them so um just overall
just we're real supportive of it we
appreciate your attention to this and
and uh the work of the applicant and
trying to address the needs of the
community and the and the goals and the
the thoughts and uh thank you for your
time thank you sir would you Matthew
would you sign if you didn't you sign it
please go
ahead hi there my name is Ethan sherard
and I'm a resident of bellw I live at
5027 159th Place Southeast uh I've been
working at the Antiques Mall on the site
for about two years now and I'm also
going to school at the University of
Washington I'm studying mechanical
engineering um I think I think the
project is very very exciting I like the
green spaces I like the shared use
Pathways I like the courtyards I think
there's been a lot of consideration put
into amenities that are going to be
available to both the residents and to
the public um I just wanted to present
one concern I had about earthquake
safety uh I've read
the uh I've read the geotechnical
feasibility evaluation that lenar got
from pangio Incorporated which uh made
some recommendations about what kind of
foundation should
be uh built with the building and um in
that feasibility
evaluation the soil was was uh there was
a number of B holes done to discover the
various layers present in the soil and
in that
evaluation the soil was R was ruled
likely not to liquefy in an earthquake
at a depth of oh let's see yeah at a
depth of less than 23 ft so there so
there is soil likely to liquefy but not
above 23 ft is what this evaluation said
and my concern is simply that uh I've
spoken with a dealer who was present on
the site multiple dealers were present
on the site in the 2001 earthquake and
there were a lot of undulations and
ripples going on at the surface of the
parking lot so I doubt that the lique I
doubt the liquefaction is limited to
depths of greater than 23 ft and if
that's the case then the simple floating
Foundation that they plan might uh tilt
and present a greater
deformation than this deenal feasibility
evaluation allows for and my only
concern is that perhaps a different kind
of foundation might be better one that
uh sends p down to former soil or uses
packed rocks in ways that the uh in ways
that the geot technical feasibility
evaluation actually recommends the
floating Foundation was the lowest
recommended uh foundation in this report
so I have a short letter I just like to
be able to leave it with the council I
have five copies of it and uh oh I have
one I have one question before uh before
I finish for Jerry thanks and uh Jerry
my question for you was you said said
that there might be opportunities to
replace some of the units with retail
spaces in the future that is possible
yes and uh what would that be just some
of the ground floor units some ground
floor
units and then the retail 7th would have
access from the parking spaces that are
on the property or parking spaces that
are on
sth well if it's retail they could use
those parking stalls on seven okay they
get full credit for it all right all
right thank you thank you very
much thank you is there anyone
else just talking here I don't do these
things I'm really shy okay I'm Darlene
Cohen um I don't know where I reside I
guess I reside at 625 Northwest Gilman
Boulevard because I'm there about 12
hours every day I own Gilman
gallery and as Tom knows and he's been
very darling and very sweet and
extremely supportive know you have you
have you have um there's no retail space
in isqua you're going to be losing the
business that's the only business in
this town that wins Awards king five 425
magazine I could go on and I could name
them we are named in the Seattle
magazines as one of the five
destinations to go outside of Seattle
for the tourist and you're going to lose
this there's no
retail when you have no retail you also
have no
employment and though I love what
they're
doing I wish that they were supplying
jobs because in
America our biggest problem is
unemployment so this is a mixed use even
when they put a contract on this and you
know what Gilman Square looked like it
was
full except for one area where the
electrical boxes are they left that
little teeny space where sisters used to
be in because they needed access to the
electrical the main
panels and Gilman has been here for what
almost 30 years we're a
destination I can't tell you how many
people from out of state even come into
our Mall just not on a monthly basis but
on a daily basis let
alone I don't think you guys I mean
there's a lot of you here that shop in
my mall and I see you practically two or
three times a day I mean you know I they
I just can't tell you that this town
needs retail it needs to supply jobs for
those people who are going to be living
in buildings that you're building where
are they going to work if you do not
supply jobs to them that's all I've got
to say oh by the way Gilman's going to
be leaving is aore because there's no
space there's no
retail thank you
hi I'm Sandy Marshall and I'm a resident
of samamish and I'm one of the hundred
small businesses in currently in Gilman
square that uh we'll be looking for a
new place to do business I'd like that
to be isqua but we're getting less
commercial space now instead of more one
concern that I have is just being
someone who parks and drives isqua
almost daily and because of Gilman
Square it brings me to isqua from the
plateau I may change I may start going
to the highlands I may start going to
Redmond as my where I do my banking my
post office my shopping my grocery
shopping because again there's going to
be less retail uh for me and my place of
business but one concern because I I
drive uh Gilman Boulevard every day is I
look at the parking and I see the 400
parking spaces and when I do the math of
344 units and I'm going to say I'm uh
I'm not sure but I'm going to say 1.5
cars per unit between one two-bedroom
and a lot of times uh at this price
point in apartments there's two people
uh sharing apartments and splitting the
rent um I get
56 and I see 400 spaces including
underground and outside
um if anyone tries to park on the street
in
isqua uh I'm not sure where a hundred
more cars are going to go so it seems
like there may need to be some provision
for this if there is an impact that
there needs to be a condition because
this complex would be putting those 100
cars I don't know where and um so I
think that's just something for the
commission uh to think about thank you
is there anyone
else good evening my name is Suzanne
Suter I live at 133 140th Place
Northeast in bellw and I do have um a
picture that I would like to share with
with you uh if it's possible um perhaps
Jerry if I could share I only made three
of them but okay that be
fine can we keep you can have them yes
you can have them you can see I they're
just just
pictures um having moved to isqua in
1964 I've seen a lot of Chang
and um although I don't live in isqua
anymore uh but have certainly spent most
of my adult life here and working here
as well uh the Reed Redevelopment of
this Gilman Square I think is long
overdue I remember being absolutely
thrilled when uh the Hyo shopping center
was built when before it was just a cow
pasture and Georgie Porgy Bakery some of
you are way too young to remember all of
those things but it was very exciting
because when moved here in ' 64 we
didn't have a shopping mall we had to go
to
bellw so I having taken a long hard look
at this property in its present
condition which I think
has been less than desirable for a
number of years and having witnessed the
uh floods even seeing pictures in the
paper with one of the floods with a rbo
out in the middle of the parking lot
people sitting in a rowboat that was
able to float that's how deep it was I
believe this property deserves the time
and Innovation to create a silk purse
out of a
saer an opportunity not to be missed
when you step back and take a real
serious look at all of the structures
along Gilman Boulevard which when I
moved here it was Highway 10 and when we
created this Boulevard a lot of the
architecture has not really been
indicative of a Boulevard so I think
that this Prime piece of property
although
if life was perfect I must say that the
auto part store and the the drive-in I
wish that they'd go they they'd be moved
so that it could be an a total open
space because looking back at it through
the lens of that particular picture with
the isqua Alps with squawk mountain in
the background and setting it back as
The Architects have designed I think is
highly
desirable
um the thing that I agree with many of
the the remarks that have been made is
the scale and the scope of the buildings
themselves I think that uh in view of
all of this emphasis on the on the uh
landscape which is extraordinary almost
building a forest out there uh and the
pathways are remarkable to build the
links that we all cherish with the park
with the walkways and Pathways along our
stream and connecting all the dots
throughout our community from the lake
to the Hatchery and so on but I do think
that a hard look needs to be looked at
this architecture because I think it's
very uninteresting in comparison to all
the emphasis on the um on on the
landscape itself so I'm thrilled with
the fact that something hopefully
marvelous will come of it and I Look to
all of you to making marvelous decisions
thank you thank you
Suzanne if there are no further public
comments we will now turn uh to the
commission and we're going to I'm going
to do things a little differently in
keeping with the tone of the evening um
I'm just going to make an observation I
alluded at the beginning of the meeting
uh to the fact that there is an unusual
Confluence of events that's going on
right now in isqua we all know that the
economy has uh affected isqua as it has
every other part of the country and um
the fact that we haven't met since
August and August was the first meeting
in about maybe a year
uh is indicative of the change of pace
for for us here uh that's changing we
all know the econom is getting better
and it just so happens and this is the
point of my uh my observation not a
comment I hope is that the residents of
isqua right now are faced with a real
great opportunity and that opportunity
is to evaluate two different approaches
to
growth as we speak there
are there is a proposal to take 49 Acres
of
forest and cut it down and build about
350 residential
units at the periphery of the city
limits and then there is this project
which proposes to take about seven acres
that is already asphalt covered and put
about 344 units in it I would suggest
that this is a textbook example of
different approaches
to growth and to development and it's a
real good opportunity for us to
individually look at it and make some
decisions about what we think is best
for the future of
Visa so with that I will turn it over to
commissioner
Morgan
oh commissioner
Morgan make sure I have this on
um and I'll just I guess go through some
questions Jerry and they may seem random
um the I guess first question is on the
two
driveways from Gilman with the
relocation of the
driveway it looks like we're going to
have two driveways that'll be about 60
feet apart the existing one into the KFC
and
the there is one uh between the KFC and
O'Reilly's 2o you're right yeah till
that site gets red developed uh I guess
I was wondering about um are we going to
have would we be able to pull up a the
site plan so we can look at
this guess my concern is when I first
saw that I wondered
about you want an existing
plan well or the new one
showing so I guess that one so so the so
that new driveway that's the driveway
the new driveway that's being driveway
there moved uh Eastward right so we're
going to have three driveways within
maybe 120 ft or so you will yes is
that traic engineering it's not the best
solution for us uh I guess we would
prefer to see if we could eliminate that
one between the
KFC um but it's not part of the project
it's off site well there is spacing but
I I would you be would it be all right
if the applicant spoke because I think
they have more familiarity with um some
of the requirements they're facing in
terms of driveways yeah it's true and
and that property owner oh sure I'm I'm
happy with that but also it always seems
to me in the past we've heard the city
raising concern about distance between
driveways and I don't know maybe this is
acceptable but
I'd
love there actually has been quite a bit
of discussion about this between
ourselves and the staff and we all
recognize that this is not the most
ideal
situation uh What uh is sort of behind
um part of the uh traffic Arrangement
here is that there are some
unusual uh easements and
requirements uh placed on the property
that lar is developing by the adjacent
property
owner and for instance uh uh provide
this is the property line uh but
providing uh access around this site uh
in order to service that property was
written into uh the legal agreement
between the owners U at a time in the
past uh in addition to that uh the
reason why we have um this bridge across
the sale here is because there is a a
cross property easement which is uh
required to allow uh this the property
uh I've lost this property to have
access to this property clear clearly
when it was all surface parking retail
there was reasons you know behind all of
these uh uh and then in addition to that
um there is a driveway here which
actually has an easement which is
running across the area of the property
um where we're not developing and and it
is actually falling within the the
shoreline uh area so having said said
that um we are making the first step
towards improving the traffic uh access
to these sites um the existing uh
driveway is actually coming uh through
here and sweeps around uh and comes into
the property like this with
the uh requirement to have the
signalized intersection that driveway
has to be
relocated uh it is too close it's
actually too close to the uh seventh and
Gilman intersection and it actually
creates um uh it is uh it is where the
current break is in the
median uh and is actually responsible
for a dangerous cross
Boulevard uh access point uh at that
place place so that uh danger and the
issues relative to the intersection are
being resolved uh
by uh
moving this current driveway which comes
here to this point right here where it
is a right in and right out only so all
three of those will be right and write
out yes when they're done uh and uh yes
in the future if uh if this parel is
developed um there will clearly be a
different access uh relationship uh onto
Gilman but uh we have to take the first
step towards solving the bigger problem
because of the Improvement uh to the
intersection at 7even and Gilman which
starts to have the ripple effect down
but we also then have these legal
requirements to provide access to that
property owner uh of the neighboring
property sorry sorry it's so complicated
okay that's okay that's that's great
thank you but since I have be up there
I'll if you don't mind I'll jump in the
parking garages are at 60 feet so that's
below the 100-year flood plane I take it
the uh the lowest level of the park and
garage yes the park and garages are
actually being designed as complete
bathtubs um will they are there ways for
them to flood though no that's the
that's why the entrance to the garage is
here and here are both at an elevation
uh above the level of the 100-year flood
so so given that sometimes I've heard
water goes over the 100e flood if water
gets in there how does it drain out or
do it pumped out uh if we're at that
point in time the water is more likely
to be Crossing uh seventh than it is to
be entering the garage GES okay seventh
a low point on sth with
65 um great so so that's uh that's sort
of how the whole garage entries have
been designed so that we do not have
access of water going into the garage
great thank
you and I guess um another question yeah
sure I guess a question on the the
shared
use uh route with the vehicles at the
southeast Corner any other I guess werf
ideas other than just grass
create um well what we're what we're
trying to do there is actually just
indicate uh it's almost like a rumble
strip uh we're trying to create some
texture which includes some plant
material that uh lets people uh know who
are who are parking here on the adjacent
property that they're going across that
we um know those the people in montor
school and and the users of the uh uh
office dental office building MH um they
have been using this space for Access
for many years and so lenar is
attempting to accommodate their use of
this property but satisfy the City's
goals that pedestrians bicyclists uh
will also be coming through the same
space okay which which I think is great
and I just wondered if there's anything
more I don't know anything more than
just again sort of grass create
that and and and I don't know I'm not an
architect so um but I understand what
you're doing and I wondered if there's
something better we'll keep our thinking
great thank you
um oh um question on the the second
connection to the shared use route and
this would be a question Mr grer yeah um
the second connection to the shared use
route from the building C Courtyard yes
and I can understand your desire to
maintain a um um sort of that Central
area for those residents but when I look
at that and I couldn't tell from looking
at the Landscaping plan it just said
that it
was
planting material that surrounded that
and I wondered if I came out of building
C and I and I wanted to go to that
shared use route and I wanted to go to
the right I thought would I just walk
along that path and then cross through
the Landscaping straight to the trail I
don't know you well enough to answer
that
question that's right but but I wonder
is the planting material designed to
keep people from doing that or U the the
idea of the planting bear and uh when
we're just looking at the plan we're not
actually seeing what our Landscape
Architects have have tried to do in
three
dimensions uh we we have sort of tried
to burm up around that uh Jerry Jerry
mentioned that this is North facing
Courtyard and what we've been trying to
do is to get a sitting area that the
residents can use as far to the North as
possible without it feeling like the
residents go out to read a book in the
Sun and that they're sitting on the shed
use Trail so we were trying to create
some separation both with the grading of
slight buring and birming associated
with
planting um to create uh an area where
the two uses Could Happen very close to
one another great we we we just we think
there are maybe 40 or 50 feet apart and
um yes people might do exactly what you
describe no but I I won't walk Overhill
so you I won't go through it so that's
great yeah thank
you uh that Mr I think that's all I've
got for right now thank commissioner s
thank you well I I appreciate the
president presentation I think it was
really really good and I I really lik
the the pictoral uh demonstration or
explanation of the water flow at 100
Years of existing condition and the
future condition that was really really
helpful but obviously water is a big
concern for people and so I I think
you've done a good job addressing that I
get the two uh the two areas that I I
just had had interest in while I was
looking through the plans was the the
courtyards and the a five story building
on a covering over an East aspect of of
the courtyards at least in uh building a
and probably building sea are going to
make planting uh pretty problematic of
getting enough sunlight in there to make
it feel pretty decent you know that's my
own guess so I hope you're paying
attention to that and I I also shared
the you know a five-story building U
along 7eventh street is going to be
pretty Stark and I I think that the the
color palette that used was
intriguing uh but I'm I guess I have to
confess I'm an engineer and so it
doesn't take much to Intrigue me I think
that the notion of uh the notion of
thinking maybe of modifying a a roof
line or or doing some other
architectural things to really enhance
the interest you know when you look at
the uh Central isqua plan and the intent
of the building design is to establish a
design standard that creates a vibrant
pedestrian friendly built environment
and uh and I don't know that I thought
felt very vibrant so that's
it can I jump in Mr are we doing prese
we're going to come back through for
comments are we just in the question
period now I actually think that this is
a Consolidated my understanding is that
this is a this is a a Consolidated
comment question and comment and that
the the we might do it the way we did it
before we asked the questions first and
then do the comments but yeah I would
say that if you if you do have comments
commissioner Morgan go ahead and you
should make I'll wait okay been talking
all
right commissioner BR commissioner
Morgan wants to play the old school
approach and we will challenge ourselves
to blend them together so um first um I
do appreciate the the the materials that
were presented to us and um presentation
by the applicant team and staff I think
that was very informative and and it
answered some of my questions in the
presentation but I do have a a couple um
first flood obviously and the challenges
offered on this site are of concern to
the public that has addressed the
commission tonight and also just as we
were reading through the material and
heard it um one of the questions about
the the flooding and I don't know that I
fully understood this but so we're we're
doing some we're going to raise the
level of the buildings um to take them
above the 100 year one foot above the
100 year flood plane um but to do that
we're creating we're putting material in
the FL Zone and so is there compensatory
storage that was created for that offset
that happens or are we pushing the flood
waters now when we do have a flood
condition you know out and across seven
Street and I think that's a concern that
I saw in some of the public comments and
I was just concerned about how that
particular issue is being addressed and
and from a flood condition are we moving
it to a different location or we
adequately um creating uh compensatory
storage space on this site and the
regrading that's happening
this great you're welcome all right
would you just repeat your name just for
the record please everybody thank you
with lar um the the compensatory storage
was actually um U created when some work
was done I believe in the late 99s on
esqua Creek that involved taking some of
this property and so in agreement
between the city and the the previous
property owner uh the comp the the
compensatory storage was uh was
prospective in that sense so there there
is the ability uh of this property owner
to fill up to I think it's 610
CFS um of volume and I think we're
filling 380 so we're actually leaving
more storage than than there was
previously good great make sense
absolutely thank you that
helps I missed that in the staff report
sorry will find that information
actually within the sea determination
too and it talks about because of the
the floods we had back in 1996 it was
really severe and the channel there it
was widened and improved and to
compensate for that they were allowed to
do this I will admit I did not confess
that I did not read the seek the
determination I'm sorry okay uh another
question um the shared use Trail um near
the dentist office looks like we had one
of the constraints is that there's
parking looks like it's on this site
that is provided for the dentist office
am I reading the plan
right yes okay and
that's the parking itself is actually
offsite but the just to the edge
although I think you could see that some
of the cars actually are going to extend
over onto our property um the access to
the parking is on our property and it's
our belief that the first of all I think
there's a Good Neighbor policy going on
here I think we we want to try to
continue to provide access to this
business owner we want to try to
continue to create a safe uh circular uh
circulation system for the Monas I think
it's also fair to say that the dentist
probably has a prescriptive easement
just just from having used it for 30
years so we we are then constraint and
have to get creative with as Morgan was
talking about how we differentiate this
particular space and create a safe
environment for what would be a so it's
a shared use and then some yes with
vehicles so that understand
uh this is relatively straightforward I
think the I heard you mention that as
part of the agreement with Metro on the
bus stop that you're providing a
concrete slab
for um getting on or off the bus and
then the rest of the 50 or 60 feet is
gravel or crushed rock and I was curious
about why crushed rock and um is that
the right material there um over time
does that just get make a mess get
kicked around um is there another option
to do some other material that's more
stable in that location or is that a
requirement that they give
you
plan this
one my name is Michael lipco I'm
landscape architect with GGO um working
for lar on this
project um the question about the using
the gravel pavement our our belief was
that it would be nice to be able to
continue the boulevard of Street trees
instead of interrupting them with
concrete pavement or putting trees in um
um and tree grills or grates within that
space we thought the health of the trees
would do better coming up through um
compacted gravel versus
concrete so the thing that and this is
the first time we've seen it and it's
kind of a Construction level detail but
I think it's a good conversation to have
we don't actually allow gravel that
close to ride of way because of M of
City maintenance issues so it's just a
it's a material detail we will have to
work on okay there's always an issue
about gravel hitting cars and windows
and dings
too yeah so I just flag that as an area
of interest and I think probably a
fairly simple thing to solve
so uh this is uh uh the the courtyard a
couple of questions recorded or maybe
comments um related to the Courtyard
Courtyard C again um this a question for
staff are are the courtyards for the
purpose of public use are they um inward
facing to the project for uh the
resident use or is there a combination
does a code specify one or the other so
the central isqua plan has a combination
of community spaces some that are
intended for the public and some that
um are primarily focused to Residents
although there wouldn't be any reason
that they couldn't choose to make them
more public they're not required to be
more public and there's no specific area
required one over the other as far as
the public versus the private there are
some size requirements and and the
proposal meets the requirements okay in
in the code the reason I'm asking the
question is the configuration of
Courtyard SE with kind of one way in and
one way out is it it wouldn't be
inviting for people on the mixed um use
Trail to come in because they would feel
like they're going into some of these
private space because it's leading to an
entrance to the building and it's
private um if the idea is to invite
people into the space space then
obviously you want to like open it up a
bit and have a circular walk that would
walk through there so people could go in
sit down take resit from the trail if
they want to and um relax for a minute
um if that's not the requirement then I
think uh and it is more for private use
then I think the one way in one way out
would be the way to go I mean maintain
more privacy in that route so that's
that's just an an observation on that
one and I did uh I shared um share the
observation about the the shading that
these buildings are going to create and
particularly um with the um in my
observation at least with the through
block Crossing um that's going to be uh
not in my observation getting a lot of
sun um so it's going to be necessary to
be you know um deliberate in how you
provide lighting I know you're going to
use Canary lighting Etc in there in the
vegetation but that that's that over
time that can become a very um dark um
Mossy space so um I think that that was
just and I don't know just based on the
configuration of these buildings where
you can solve that problem but that is
something you need to be mindful of I
think and another question for staff the
retail this project um is not proposing
retail at this point um the the land use
code of the zoning allows for retail in
this building it does but it doesn't
require it it does not require
no uh it it seems and and I understand
that you've got to have enough
population Etc to support it even
neighborhood retail 300 plus units
obviously provides a significant new
population there but I think I guess one
concern is it it and we've heard it from
this from the speakers from the public
this evening about the loss of retail
space over time I think that with the
plan we're going to see more retail
space because it'll be supported by the
density of population growth but we're
kind of in this transition period which
is difficult um and and you're going to
have you know you create retail space
now it doesn't work it sits vacant and
so then you've got kind of dead space or
shuttered building but I think we need
to think about how we accommodate that
transition into the future and and think
about that in the building design you
can't just flip a unit and turn it into
a retail space you got to think about
that in advance and try to accommodate
that and I don't know if that's
something we can do as a requirement or
just something we should think about um
because I think in the future future
that would probably work on this site
but I can understand why now it may
not
and those are the only questions I have
I guess my comments um a few things that
I really liked about this project and
you've heard from others I I really um
appreciated the work that you did in
creating the on-site um the integration
of the Trails um kind of isolation of
the the parking areas you move that back
to the center of the site away from the
streets and move the buildings to the
streets um a little concerned about the
issue related to the the Gilman um bull
the uh the frontage on Gilman and the
lack of a building face at the at on
Gilman which was anticipated I think in
the plan and I noticed in the conditions
we've got a condition that is to try to
create a feature out there um but I
think um that's going to be a hard one I
think you're going to have to try to
make sure it's interesting to people who
are walking along Gil Gilman Boulevard
but at the same time the idea is it's
not an urban face that we're creating
it's a more of a park face um and I not
a bad thing but it's not what the plan
really anticipated so I think U maybe
some architectural features as you noted
at the intersection and anything else we
can do along there even an art introduce
art maybe the city could help with that
um to create a more urban condition I
think along that Frontage would be
helpful do you look at the uh photograph
examples we gave in the staff report did
you have any thoughts about some of
those examples that we
showed I looked at them I can't say that
I had any thoughts about them hang on I
I'll give them to you on the Fly here
and you don't have to be put on the spot
yeah um I mean if if you have thoughts
we would love to hear them but you don't
I think whatever it is it it needs to uh
it needs to reflect the urban character
that we're trying to create um just a
simple um light gauged you know like the
rod iron fence for example example that
that that's that doesn't generally work
for me something that's more significant
like the upper right corner with kind of
an awning and some major uh elements
that that might be Overkill in this case
but those sorts of features that are a
little bit more in an urban scale
condition I think will be good and and
again this is since this is a catalyst
project the first one out it's going to
feel really awkward for a while but over
time we've got to think ahead here and
make sure we're we're designing a
building and constructing a building
that's going to fit in the long term cuz
it's going to set the framework for what
comes next so I think we got to make
sure we're thinking about that and uh is
it if you don't mind me jumping in the
is it possible too that they could
incorporate
signage into the that 60 feet of are you
talking about Monument type signage we
we we are trying to discourage Monument
signs out have I saying they've got to
create what 60 ft of of streetcape or um
I don't know what we call it a street
wall right that'd be the minimum yes
minimum can can the signage be
incorporated into that street wall we've
we've begun talking with the applicant
about that and we're we see some real
nice opportunities just because since
the building is set back um that would
be a logical place for a sign to be if
there was a building so
okay thank you I'm almost
finished um I I really appreciate what
you've done with the street Frontage
improvements
particularly around on Locust Street I
think that's going to transform that
that street I mean I think Jerry you
called it an alley um I think it's going
to be much more than that when we're
finished and again it sets the kind of
the new um framework for what comes next
along that street and I particularly
appreciate the creative solution you've
got for the elevation change um getting
into the C the through block connection
with the ramps and the stairs integrated
I think that looked um interesting and
um integrated and not looking like it
was just added as a you've got to do it
and just figure out a way to build a
ramp in there you actually built it into
the into the transition there with the
sidewalk going out into the street I
thought that was uh well done and
appreciated that
uh the building design uh comments on on
the building design I I also it's it's
it's interesting what you've done with
uh pulling modulating the building and
pulling out pieces on the two and three
story level make a little more
pedestrian interest in The Pedestrian
level little more at pedestrian scale
the top of the building is I tend to
agree with everybody else um it just um
it doesn't have any interest in it and I
if there's something we can do to create
more relief more um attraction uh to the
building uh particularly at the top but
even some additional relief of there's
some architectural features we could add
to that I think it would help the colors
are going to be pretty bold um so again
this one's going to be fairly striking I
think in the color palette that's been
selected so I think we need to be
cautious with how much of the bright
color we introduce here but at the same
time it does create part of the
architectural interest that you're
trying to create I understand that so
again it's it architecture is kind of
like art you know people all have
different opinions about what they like
and what they don't like but I do think
this is a lot of building and a lot of
flat roof uh flat uh top building um um
to not have some sort of relief that
happens um for the eye at the
top and then um the last La I guess my
final my final comment is uh again I
think this is a a a catalyst project for
the central isqua plan it's the starter
and I think it's going to be looked at
and it people will um provide all kinds
of comments about how they love it uh
how they may not like it so much what we
could have done better um and that's
just part of this process but I do
appreciate the work that's gone the risk
that you're taking to actually Advance a
fairly significant element and I'm
looking forward to seeing this thing
move on through the process and head
into construction so thanks for the
work thank you commissioner commission
Caris oh I don't think my mic
worked so I will just start with some
comments and then I have some question
questions um I I think this is a great
project I think isqua is really lucky to
have you guys lenar and GGO working on
this uh first CIP project and
um I think it's great I think it's very
creative and um attractive I like the
creativity with the
Landscaping I I was interested in the
idea of having some kind of visual
simulation from
I90 and
um going along with that I think it's
important for everybody to realize as
has been brought up before that this is
the first project
so even if from I90 we're going to be
seeing this big building that pops out
at us um it's important to think about
20 years down the road when this Gilman
area of the CIP is more developed and so
this building how is this building going
to fit in with the rest of it so it's
important to think about not just the
next five years but the next 20 when
you're looking from further distances
back
um I like the idea of interpretive
signage especially
um in relation to uh the historical
elements that you brought up like having
hops on the site I think that's a cool
idea and people might not know what is
all about if um if there's not some some
uh
historical information there so I think
that's a good idea that Connie brought
up uh I like the features on the
building that break up the
scale I I like the bright colors and I
know that's just a that's just my
opinion
um and I love that you're increasing the
tree canopy I love all the variety of
plants and trees and Heights and
grasses and I just have a few questions
and these I know are not the maybe the
most pressing issues about the project
but there some that um that I thought
about uh I noticed I just quickly looked
at the sea review and I know I saw 344
units and 346 units wonder if you looked
at the um the total increase in
population uh I know they're most one
and two bedroom units so how many more
people in total so I'm thinking like 800
or 600 I'm not sure if you looked at
that and uh being a parent with schoolly
children and the the elementary school
just a couple blocks away I know that I
have heard from parents at our school
you know they are just wondering about
it and I know with the size of the unit
there might not be very many Elementary
age or or middle or high school age
students but just something that again
probably not the most important issue
but something that might need to just be
stated
somewhere uh let's
see there's been some discussion about
the monor which is which is great I know
that they have a and sounds like you've
worked closely with them so you probably
already know this but I just wanted to
bring up quickly that they have a
student drop off
so you know that okay so the car come
cars come in and they sit in line for a
while probably right on top of the plan
shared use
path so I just wanted to bring that up
and it sounds like you're working with
that thought it was allow
however so they kind of I think as I
remember um we used to come in and turn
turn into that dead end area and do a do
a loop and then drop our student off at
the fence there right right I'm just
envisioning like cyclist starting to go
through and you know it's obviously
going to be a conflict but we thought it
was more important to allow for that
Loop that you described rather than have
parents pull in back up back up back up
and then pull out again with with kids
in the parking lot so we just thought it
was better to maintain it the way it is
now which is obvious working not
withstanding the potential conflict of
and then maybe some yeah I don't know
how if it's going to be uh it probably
wouldn't be the type of trail that would
have a lot of fast cycling going on but
if it is then some signage or something
like that probably be a good idea or
some kind of barrier so that they slow
down or something Katie you may see that
there is a discrepancy in the number of
units too with what you read in the CP
determination versus the staff report
and the number of dwelling units it has
fluctuated as this project has evolved
too and so uh you know it's possible the
number may change again too depending on
the size of the units too oh okay like
number of bedrooms
yes
okay um great let's
see um I appreciated hearing about the
contamination from the historic uses on
the property the dry cleaners in the gas
station and I I'm assuming that's all
contained
underground and I was wondering if um
there would be any conflict with that as
you're building the sale because you'll
have to dig
underneath right no we're not just going
to cap cap it over we're going to overe
excavate remove it and dispose of it
yeah okay yeah same with the underground
storage tanks
okay uh let's
see
I am also just wondering how many
businesses are located in Gilman square
and how many employees currently work
there okay so that's full-time and
parttime mostly part-time
or darling could you come up to the
microphone
please I
apologize I think we heard you say 113
pronounce myself again yes if you would
um I'm Darlene Cohen Gilman
Gallery um in my spot 113 and um prior
to that um in
Lombardi's there was probably about 15
to 20 people
employed um at sister's next door um she
has a rotating staff besides herself so
there's three or four um there was a
furniture store next door me home
furnishings there was five people
rotating in there um the bar stool place
was family so there was four of them in
there um the gun shop I think had six or
seven people I think I believe that's
what maybe maybe rotating nine I'm not
sure and let's see who else was in there
the bar stools that that that that's
yeah so you're looking for other space
it sounds there is no space in isqua
isqua lacks retail I'm sorry to say that
but it's true um does anybody know about
the other I tried I and and and Tom
helped me but
unfortunately um as we know Alberton was
bought out by a company from alberon's
people and the land is lease land and
Savers from Value Village um it's just
they haven't even finished lease right
Tom they haven't even they're not
finished with it they're it's going to
close um but he was looking for somebody
he's taking two-thirds of it he was
looking for somebody through the other
small part left to pay for his part and
so we've been trying to negotiate with
them but he won't budge and um you know
for 19,000 square feet and I would even
call it a vanilla shell myself and if I
split it with somebody I get a little
entry way that I have to pay for that
would cost me the entry way would cost
me probably 9 10,000 a month um it
doesn't work uh so there's no place for
us to move here you're going to lose us
and we've been a destination here for
how long I don't know I mean there's
nobody else here who wins Awards but us
and I'm really proud of that because
I've got a great amount of people that
work in that place and I have a
wonderful terrific
staff we are real showcase I hate to say
it in answer to your question uh at
least one of the businesses that was
there has relocated across Gilman
Boulevard okay they they went yeah the
gun shop went up above up there but they
don't take very much space because guns
you guns are the employees are still
there yeah well the guns you know the
gun shop it was just like a small place
like this you know not even as big as
this but half so thank you all right
you're welcome I think that's it for me
I I really like the project so thank you
very much oh thank you thanks you made a
great presentation so thank you thank
you Jerry I've got a couple of questions
the first one we seem
to I thought gloss over a little bit was
traffic
concurrency I uh I find it hard to
believe that there's not going to be an
impact or that there's that
with all these units and cars and peak
times we used to talk an awful lot about
that and this this time all of a sudden
it is not going to be a problem and we
moved on well it's not that there won't
be a problem it's not a major problem
though there will be 70 four new trips
that will be generated by the project
and uh the the concurrency that was done
on the project
did uh talk about the delay time at the
intersections which is fairly small and
if it's below 5 seconds it's it's not
changing the level of service uh there
will be a traffic signal required at sth
and Gilman as part of this project and
further traffic review even on the uh
entrances on 7th too know whether there
has to be left turning lane how much and
and even with the Gman Boulevard left
turning lane too there will be an impact
but it's not great they are getting full
credit of course for the retail Center
that's there
today okay it just I I I just have uh
some heartburn with the fact that many
units coming in on Gilman Boulevard and
it's not and it's not going to be a
problem I it just doesn't doesn't seem
to make sense to me but I will go along
there is I mean it the definitely is
going to be a larger impact on 7th I
think about 90% of the traffic will be
using 7th Avenue to enter the site 10%
would be using
Locust we me it mentioned in your in the
presentation that that ditch on 7th is a
stream now it's going to be tunnel it's
going to be covered converted to a
culvert is there a problem with that in
regards to the fact that there's now
it's got a habitat and stuff and if we
put it into a culvert the habitat goes
away is there an offset for
that not that I necessarily think that
it's really a habitat it's a ditch but
well one of the things that I've learned
is it doesn't matter what you think or
what I think it it is it has habitat
value you identify but but actually I
want to go back to your traffic uh issue
first could you mention your name I'm
sorry Tom Bartholomew with lar um I
think it's pretty safe to say that the
traffic situation is going to get better
um the the the numbers and the models
that were used to determine the
difference in terms of trips um in its
in the in the current condition assuming
it's least obviously assuming it's fully
least compared with what it's going to
be with 344
units we weren't allowed to take into
account um people who ride buses people
who uh work at home and all those kinds
of things so I think the impact that's
been demonstrated in the traffic report
is probably actually overstating it uh
in addition to that taking uh an
intersection at seventh and Gilman
that's current currently level of
surface F so it's already failing um and
we're going to make it level of service
C with a light so I think
counterintuitive as it might be I think
the situation out there is probably
going to get better is there an issue
with two traffic lights that close
together because you're going to have a
traffic you got a traffic
light just the next intersection up I
mean it's just it's very clear I I don't
know what the rules are traffic signal
know to the west to the west to the West
over at the isal commment yeah is there
traffic light right there the next one
it's up by
uh so what what we'll do with all of the
questions that you're asking is we'll
prepare this briefing response memo so
sometimes we don't have answers but
we'll have them in the memo we don't
need to take time that's fine um thank
you sir the um back to well except for
the uh the habitat I guess that
um according to Washington department
fici model if that is a class three or
class four stream um and we worked with
them extensively to try to develop a
mitigation plan um in exchange for
taking that in habitat and
so what we what we've actually done has
provided a great deal more than what
we're taking up in terms of square
footage um the the sale becomes massive
amount of habitat and also uh what we
worked out with wdfw really had more to
do with the repairing the changes we're
making along the repairing Corridor so
cutting back that slope and creating
that bench yep which creates habitat
okay that answers that I think uh Jerry
I just again I see there's just a little
bit of maybe just an exper further
explanation compared to Prior packages
that we've done we've always had a big
discussion on perious and impervious
surface in this one we got one line and
is that because it's almost all parking
lot now and so whatever we do is going
to be an improvement or because all we
talk about is that it's it's uh 90%
maximum and this is going to end up
being approximately
65% it will under under the old code
this used to have the our retail zoning
and that the maximum impervious then was
65% I don't know what the shopping
center has they may be you know close to
that being so much pavement um they are
providing about 65% and that's because
they got so much with the park the
restored area along the creek the new
grass SE swir that's com in in all the
islands peninsulas and parking a lot
improvements okay well we in the past
we've really we've focused in on that an
awful lot in these different projects
this one just seems to be one line that
it's okay and we're moving on I just
want to make sure that that we would you
like to see a number that I can give you
the numbers then too well I I think
probably the changes that in the past
you know the impervious percentage was
so much lower that there was a lot of
work to figure out how you were going to
comply and studying it in a lot of
detail because the central isqua plan
significantly increased that and this is
so far below that maximum there really
isn't a lot to discuss so I asking a
question that's all yeah
um regards to
parking the parking that's created on
7th and Locust is that included in your
parking
totals for off street parking or is that
just general that's Street just general
parking that's required as part of the
street standards they do not get credit
for this for the apartments okay okay
it's not part of their um I had the same
kind of concern that the lady that spoke
earlier uh said in regards to the number
of parking and I understand there's
Chang standards and stuff yeah under
concerned with
uh the number of parking spots in
particularly at many apartments yeah and
under the old code we had a minimum of
two stals per unit we did not establish
a maximum under the old code this one
does and it's based on the number of
bedrooms too now okay we'll see what
happens um and one thing that we can do
in the response um and we've had to do
this with some other projects is provide
a little more context about the kind the
amount of parking that we're seeing
needed there have been some really
detailed studies in King County about um
the the parking Trends and and
especially with these kind of units and
we can provide you a lot more
information in the response thank you
the other it was mentioned just fleeting
and passing by one of the one of the
citizens that spoke I guess was the the
word affordable came up is there any
requirements for number of these units
to be affordable housing there's no we
have no I don't know if there's anything
that there nothing granted to the
developer
for you know there's some requirement
there's some requirements if they're
going to build extra tall taller
buildings they're not within that range
okay um I think the term that you
probably heard was Workforce housing
which often is affordable housing I'm
not sure that this I just wondered if
there was some some of the one of the
one of the uh incentives that we talked
about in the past in regards to
developing the central plan was
affordable housing as an incentive to I
didn't know if they were giving giving
any incentive in regards to the number
of these units that were going to be
classified as
affordable um there's just a little bit
in the in the in the in the report I it
says construction standards what's the
fire department say about these units
and the area they go in we in the past
we've talked an awful lot about uh
access turning radiuses and that's been
looked at by the fire department too for
their ladder trucks and they've uh
accepted the radius and turns on the
site and they accepted they have yes
okay there was a whole sheet that I mean
I don't know whether it ended up in your
packet but um it's in the building
standards or the construction standards
was it in here too um there was a sheet
that where they demonstrated you know
how the um fire trucks would move
through in East Side Fire drawing of a
fire truck I just want to make sure that
our that was their drawing I want to
make sure our fire department
like their
drawing okay
um the flooding is a concern and I guess
none of us will ever know until the
100-year flood happens then we'll see if
the basement fills full of water and we
swim in it for a couple days I was also
concerned uh in regards to the the
access to the buildings that all the
surrounding
roads would be under water on 100e flood
and I don't know if there's anything
that can maybe the solution that Connie
suggested you got to just tell the
residents
that it could happen and I don't know if
that you know the sky Chicken Little the
sky is falling type thing but it was a
concern uh I want to for my comments I
think it's it's great I looked at the
color selection and I think my shirt is
perfect
yeah you want it matches your red very
nicely or whatever it is you're such a
slave to Fashion I know I know reminds
me of a certain gas station we argued
about once
before um and yeah the U I thought the
pictures were fun the only thing that
bothered me about it was when I first
got the package and started looking
through these
drawings I got to the draw to the the
site elev ations you know the East West
stuff look at
it the building looks just like this
piece of
paper big
rectangle and I wish there was some way
to change the modulation I mean looking
down at it or from the front or from an
angle you see all those angles on the
side but if you look at it from I90 as
you're going along it's one big
rectangle and I don't know if there's
anything that you can do and I don't
know if we
can
uh put something on the roof I don't
know if that'll comply with they right
at you're right at the limitation now
for for height I guess but I don't know
if there's any modulation vertical
modulation that can be added to the
buildings to break up these big
rectangles which is basically what
you're looking at and if you had
something that a turd on the end or
something in the
middle you know something would just
break up that upper level so it doesn't
look like just just big rectangle that's
what I would like to
see uh the the The Works you've done on
the Swale and the Landscaping it's it'll
be a gorgeous piece of property compared
to what it is now um
and look forward to the next stage I
also would like to thank the members of
the public I'm sure the chairman was
going to do that but it always makes our
job much easier and we hear from people
that are concerned enough to come to
meeting so thank you all for
coming thank you Carl um I'm not going
to go over a lot of the things that I've
already been said but I've got a couple
of questions uh is access to the
buildings going to be secure as in a
keypad okay so the public access that
we're encouraging is not going to uh
endanger the security of the residents
because they can't get into the building
unless they have the keypad access okay
uh on the uh Crossing there of uh 7th
Avenue is there going to be uh a
pedestrian warning such as there is by
the Hatchery across Newport
Newport and if there isn't why not where
the um shared route would cross yeah I I
there would be signage I don't know if
there would be anything beyond signage I
would suggest that that uh this gets
into the comment I mean the question is
is there anything planned there and if
there isn't uh I would suggest that
maybe we look at the same standards that
were used for the one there by the
Hatchery uh across Newport because this
is going to significantly we've all
heard it's going to significantly
increase the traffic on seven and people
are going to be running back and forth
there people are going to be coming out
and looking one way to see traffic and
then going the other way across that
pedestrian which I think is a great idea
and it's very logical but uh
I the the kind of thing that flashes
that they've got there on Newport by the
Hatchery I think would be a very good
investment uh for
security uh those are actually all the
questions the other questions that I had
have been addressed by my fellow
Commissioners so I'm just going to go
into uh my brief final comments um I
when I first and I'm going to be really
bluntly honest about this when I first
heard about this you know I I I love the
central plan the theory and everything
and participated in some of the
workshops and not to the extent that
commissioner Morgan has but but it just
seemed exceptionally logical to me that
it's either when we look at growth in
isqu it's either up or out and uh pretty
clear how I feel about that uh but I had
serious questions about the floodwater
and serious questions about the traffic
uh I want to thank the staff for this
material which I used to walk this site
uh I've talked to members of the uh
rivers and stream board uh and I will
say flatly that my concerns about
traffic and uh water control have been
addressed as far as I'm concerned uh it
will be definitely a significant
improvement over what is there now uh I
understand the employment issues and
that's regrettable but it's in terms of
the uh execution of the central isquat
plan going forward and how isqua
accommodates growth um it's a good thing
now I'm going to say what I alluded to
at the beginning and that is that there
is a both a challenge and an opportunity
for lonar and for the city frankly in my
opinion because you're the first so
everything that comes after is going to
be measured against what you do so
you're setting the standard for the
central isqua plan and that carries with
it I would suggest that carries with it
a a a responsibility I was going to say
burden but I won't I won't go there
carries a special
responsibility I think you've heard from
members of the public and several
members of the commission if not not in
fact all of us uh some concern about the
design of the building uh what went
through my mind is if you looked at that
building and looked at some of the newer
stuff in U Mercer Island and some of the
newer stuff in U Bellevue or Redmond uh
it's indistinguishable there's nothing
that says isqua on it it's contemporary
structure it's uh you know it's the
design standards are very very uh
commonly used uh on new multiple uh use
buildings I get it uh they're absolutely
uh green and up to up to standards on
energy use but there's nothing that says
isqua and there's nothing that says
distinct about that architecture as I
see it and I frankly I think the
opportunity is there at this stage in
the game to put something in there that
is that's a landmark that people look at
and say oh yeah that's that that's that
new uh apartment complex in isqua wow
and that's maybe what we're all looking
for here is the wow and the long-term
wow I'm not talking about something
that's fattish and I'm not talking about
something that's contemporary colors
which the green is kind of I don't know
what that's going to look like five
years from now but uh something as has
been noted by my fellow Commissioners
that's going to have the wow factor and
the distinctive fact factor for a long
time to come because you're setting the
standard and I think you've done a great
job it's a very challenging lot it's a
big a big challenge to come in and try
to deal with something as different as
the central isqua plan but I believe
that the staff and um the applicant and
quite honestly the way this has been
executed by the city over the years with
the public input uh is a model and it's
a a continuation of why Sunset magazine
picked isqua is the best suburb in west
of the Mississippi this is the kind of
thing that does it and it's particularly
important for people in the public as my
fellow commissioner not noticed and has
said is particularly important to this
process for people in the public to come
in here and participate and listen and
do their homework and sit through an
entire meeting and I can't tell you on
behalf of the commission I can't tell
you how much we do appreciate that so
with that um Miss do you mind if I throw
in my comment oh your comment I'm I I I
apologize sorry Mr chair
um the uh I'll try to be quick the
number one I'm extremely pleased that we
are seeing a large residential project
in the central isqua plan a big Focus
the the city and the citizens put a ton
of work into the central isquat plan and
a big focus of that was to get more
residential development in downtown
isqua so it's so gratifying to see a
large project come into town I
understand the concern about losing
retail which is never good but we have
far more retail than residential in
downtown isqua right now this helps
bring some balance and long term more
residents will bring more demand for
more
retail
um I'm have been very impressed with the
Creative Design on this site I when I
heard this was going to be developed I
kind of wondered how would anybody build
in a flood plane and uh I think it's
extremely creative what you've done with
uh the swailes with the trails the
connections um it's it's a greatl
looking project and thanks for the
presentation um and also thanks for
staff for the excellent report that you
put together the first time through in
the CIP and uh a difficult thing to
convey and it was very helpful the
report that you did um I don't think a
second path through the building SE
Courtyard is necessary I'd agree with
the applicant that creating that area
for the residents separated and with a
burm that creates
that um uh deterrent to people just
crossing through there anyway I would
agree with the applicant with that um I
do also agree with commissioner uh
Harrison that it's chair Harrison that
it's important I think to get some kind
of flashing sign at that crosswalk
because I hopefully there's 's going to
be a lot of traffic on that trail and
people going from here over to the
retail area and we would I when I say
traffic I mean a lot of pedestrian
traffic so I would love to see them
protected so um can I um yeah just add
one comment um I've talked to the isqua
police about those signs because there
was another location where we had
thought that was a good idea and and
they were fairly resistant so this is a
great opportunity to go back and have
that convers again so we'll find out
more information um but I just want to
warn you that I've I've gotten kind of
mixed messages um about I I don't it
doesn't have to be the kind of thing
that's on Newport as far as I'm
concerned it just has to be something
that addresses uh people's attention
we'll get more information on thatas
great um uh question about the parking
being adequate um and if this was a big
focus of the CIP and Miss Marshall I
think it was brought this this up as a
concern the and as Jerry mentioned the
the code had been two stalls per unit
regardless of size so a Studio unit
would require two parking stalls one of
the ideas behind the CIP is to encourage
people to get out of their cars to not
require a car to live in downtown isqua
so the number one I don't think a
developer wants to build a partments
that people won't rent because there's
not adequate parking but number two the
central isqua plan wants to reduce
parking in order to encourage people to
use Alternative forms of transportation
whether it's the bus or a bike or
walking to work perhaps at a store or an
office in downtown isqua so um I know it
can be a
concern but hopefully we've got a lot of
people that would still want to live
here and say you know what maybe I don't
need a second car maybe I can do
short-term rental something else um I do
agree uh with Miss Marshall we should
have a interpretive info something at
the creek uh is she brought up um and
another good point that Connie made
about the buffer vegetation should be
considered uh Landscaping so it's
perpetually maintained I didn't realize
that was the case and so thank you for
bringing that up and I think it's a
great
idea um as for the Flood information the
city of isqua provides an excellent
comprehensive
uh pamphlet on flooding for Citizens the
isqua citizens Corps last year uh
delivered pamphlets to everybody that
lived within a certain number of feet of
isqua Creek we went around door too
delivering these to make people aware so
you should be getting it anyway but I
would suggest you talk to the city it's
a great pamphlet it's already there and
it's would be excellent for the
residents um and then finally I think on
the the building design design I think
it they're very interesting buildings in
a lot of ways but they're I'd agree the
monotone roof line um I think is a bit
of an issue and the fact that it only
modulates in two planes I like the
modulation that's been done but it only
really modulates in two planes and if
there can be some some angled elements
added to the building whether
it's some shading over Windows things
like that I think that could be very
helpful and I think we've heard a few
Commissioners talk about
the design issue and again thank you for
coming in and thanks for the public for
your participation thank you Mr
chair if there are no further comments
from members of the commission um then I
will declare this meeting to be
adjourned thank you very
much