Ordinance 3768-20 - Laserfiche WebLink

Hope Covenant Church Comprehensive Plan Amendment and Rezone Narrative Hope Covenant Church and Schmidt Investment Group LLC. are requesting a comprehensive plan amendment to their combined parcels in the 4500 block of Rucker Ave. The amendment will be from Single Family to Multifamily with a concurrent rezone is from R-1 Single-Family Residential to R-5, high density multifamily residential for the Hope Covenant Church parcels. And from Single Family to Mixed Use with a concurrent rezone is from R-1 Single-Family Residential to E-1,Mixed use for the Schmidt Investment Group parcels. The purpose for the request is converting the existing residential lots to higher density residential zoning for the church-owned parcels and mixed-use commercial for the northern parcels owned by Schmidt.No specific plans are proposed at this time,but an apartment building,potentially with some mixed commercial use on the first floor, is primarily what is envisioned for the south. An expansion of the existing dental business to the north is envisioned for the northern single- family house, as they are owned by owners. The site is currently occupied by a church and its accessory parking areas, as well as a single- family home and its garage. It is poorly suited to residential use as the site, for the most part, takes direct access from and fronts Evergreen Way. This is a"through"lot,with road frontages on opposite sides,which further makes single family residential development less pleasant than it otherwise would be. Other properties similarly situated in the vicinity,especially to the north and south,are developed with commercial uses. The more logical use for the site would be as a transition between commercial uses and the heavy traffic of Evergreen and the established single-family neighborhood on the interior and to the southeast. Multifamily residential is a good way of doing this, as it is frequently taken to be a transition use between higher intensity uses and traffic and lower intensity uses and traffic. For the northern site parcels owned by Schmidt, any expansion of Commercial designation should be seen as an expansion of the uses in the existing dental building. The Glacier View portion of Evergreen Way has changed dramatically since the 1994 comprehensive plan was crafted,and this fact has been recognized by the introduction of the El zone on almost all parcels that front it to the north and south of this parcel in 2012. In 2009,the Swift(Blue)BRT bus line was introduced, giving the area a new interest in transit-oriented development and mixed uses, which led to the existence of the El and MUO overlays along Evergreen. Numerous large, modern stores, clinics, offices and institutional structures populate the area,including the 2008 built structure two parcels to the north. There are several reasons that these parcels should be considered for the Multifamily residential zone. Unlike several other single-family residential zoned parcels that border the site and are across the street,this site takes access from Evergreen and also has a parking area directly adjacent to the road. Unlike the other