Resolution 6184 - Laserfiche WebLink

• Accessibility to public transit, and traffic reduction measures proposed by the applicant to reduce dependence of the proposed use on the automobile. During the public review for the SPU permit, neighbors will have the opportunity to provide input related to the evaluation criteria stated above. The Hearing Examiner may approve, deny, or approve with conditions if necessary to ensure the proposed use is compatible with surrounding uses and that impacts are minimized or mitigated. 4. Environmental and Community Impacts. In addition to the SPU permit process review for compatibility, the City's SEPA environmental review process is required for new construction or additions exceeding certain thresholds. For non-residential use, this threshold is 4,000 square feet, and for residential construction, the threshold is 4 dwelling units. Any proposal exceeding these thresholds is subject to preparation of an environmental checklist through a public review process of environmental impacts. The City may apply mitigation measures through this process to ensure that environmental impacts not already regulated by other City codes are not significant. 5. Other Identified Issues. City staff has raised two issues of concern related to the DVS proposal: • Underutilization of the south portion of the property if the transitional housing is not allowed by virtue of the city council choosing not to amend the policy of the Consolidated Plan pertaining to new construction of subsidized low income housing in areas where more than 20% of the existing housing stock is comprised of subsidized housing units. If the City Council determines that this policy is so important that it will not allow for continued concentration of subsidized low income housing in this neighborhood, the south half of the parking lot would remain a large, paved parking lot that would meet DVS' parking needs, but with substantially more pavement than needed. Staff has suggested that if the Consolidated Plan policy is not amended, another use should be identified for this portion of the site. • Under-building the site in terms of the permitted density and the City's need for additional housing to accommodate anticipated growth. DVS has indicated that it needs 20 transitional housing units, assuming the Consolidated Plan policy is amended. The south portion of the property has approximately one acre that is not needed for the parking demand of the DVS shelter and administrative building. The density of 20 dwellings per acre is much lower than the site will accommodate under the BMU zoning. In response to staff's concern, DVS has indicated that twenty (20) units is a more realistic number given the transitional housing demand experienced historically by DVS. G. Other Uses Considered During the review of the NOI proposals by the citizens committee, City staff and DVS identified the Consolidated Plan policy related to the over-concentration of subsidized low income housing within the Oswald ARC neighborhood as an issue needing to be addressed. In order to determine if the transitional housing on the south half of the site could be allowed, this policy must be revised to allow the DVS — EHA partnership to develop the housing on the south half of the site. The citizens committee, in recommending approval of the DVS emergency shelter for the existing buildings on the property, asked staff to evaluate other potential uses for the south 16