2025/06/18 Council Agenda Packet

EVERETT 2044 COMPREHENSIVE PLAN 6/17/2025 COMPREHENSIVE PLAN DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT ELEMENT Page 37 Design And Development Element Vision: Everett’s neighborhoods and commercial districts are inviting, attractive, and functional for all people. Element Scope / Description: The Design and Development element guides the design of the city’s-built environment and preserves its historic identity. Design and development shapes how Everett looks and functions. Past development, in combination with the natural landscape, has shaped how the city is experienced. Future development, and the treatment of built and natural heritage, has the potential to create a better, healthier, more efficient, and more pleasant Everett. New development and redevelopment can promote vibrant, accessible urban places for people of all ages, abilities, and backgrounds, while also enhancing natural resources, providing aesthetically pleasing experiences, protecting health and safety, and promoting resilience. As a metropolitan city that is expected to accommodate a significant share of regional growth forecasts, Everett faces design and development challenges, as well as opportunities. The policies in this chapter encourage development that respects context, preserves historic and cultural resources, engages innovation and creativity, reduces carbon emissions, improves resource efficiency, minimizes risk from natural hazards, limits impacts to wildlife and natural systems, and integrates nature into the urban environment. The design of buildings and other development can affect the safety, health, and quality of life of building users, neighbors, and the environment. The goals and policies at the end of this element direct the future design and development of Everett. Everett’s Neighborhoods The City of Everett has identified nineteen neighborhoods, some containing smaller communities. Neighborhoods vary in density, with many multi-family housing units, commercial and office space to neighborhoods that are primarily residential with a small amount of commercial space serving the local community. They offer a diverse range of living environments, from historic districts with distinct architecture to more modern apartment and condominium developments. A variety of retail shops and restaurants, schools, and parks are accessible across the city. Each neighborhood has a distinct identity that has evolved over time and continues change as the people living and working in the area change and their needs shift. The neighborhood associations provide a dynamic and engaging system for working collaboratively with the City of Everett to address community concerns and enhance local events. Bayside Established in 1892, Bayside encompasses much of the downtown core of Everett, offering residents a mix of boutiques, restaurants, and coffee shops. With a mix of apartments, condos, and single-family houses, interspersed with the downtown buildings, the architectural diversity of Bayside adds to Everett’s cityscape. It has a diverse population with a wide variety of cultures, people, and history.