2005/04/20 Council Agenda Packet

Planning Commission Meeting March 8, 2005 Page 9 Commissioner Ebert stated that he did meet with the Skotdals because he was advised that he could and that he did it so he could have further information, but that was not what was going to make up his mind. He felt that the request was a minor adjustment and that Rucker was a gateway. He felt that 150 feet can't be built today and did have an opportunity to sit on a developer's forum, the consensus from outside professionals was that Everett was not ready for a high multiple family building. He was not sure if we made the change to 150 feet that we would see 150 feet on Rucker and that 150 feet could be built on Hoyt. He felt that downtown Everett was undergoing change and the height map was developed in 1995-97. Mr. Giffen responded that the map was developed in 1990 and revised in 1995. Commissioner Ebert stated that he was on Planning Commission at the time and they had approved a "wedding cake" effect to define how the heights descend from Colby. He stated that in the previous Planning Commission meeting, he did suggest that the City try to expand the review further west but did not believe that moving the line over to Rucker was a bad idea and would be in favor of supporting more study and looking at some kind of design criteria but in reality anyone that has ever built a building of this magnitude, requires a lot of intensive interaction with design professionals. He asked how high Colby Towers was. Mr. Skotdal stated that it was 142 feet high. Commissioner Ebert stated that would be similar to 150 foot building and that is in a zone that is unlimited. Commisioner Ebert mentioned that Rucker Avenue was no longer an automotive retail corridor and that he would like to see Rucker become more of a gateway corridor. He can support this and he would also want to support a look at some guidelines to help insure public trust and would also like to add a note that we should take a look at the overall downtown and the west slope and would like to consider having some design review that looks at the all the issues that surround a multi-story building. Commissioner Newland stated that it appeared to him to have gone from a nonproject specific issue and would like to address it as that. He stated that he was hesitant to move forward with the rezoning until such time as the City completes the downtown plan and some stricter design guidelines if not design review guidelines. In his opinion, the request needs to go back for some overhaul or a waiting period. Commissioner Ebert stated that there were design guidelines and there was no reason why they can't be amended in the future and he did not want to play to the fear of the unknown. He felt that the change was a modest change and it was something that he could approve. Commissioner Olivers stated that he also met with the Skotdals because he had some questions about the proposal and the answers he received were exactly the same points that were testified to. He felt that greater residential development in the downtown core was vital for downtown Everett and he sees this particular recommendation a logical extension of the 150 foot height. He supported the comments made by Commissioners Newland, Trautman, and Ebert about moving forward with the downtown plan. He would support the action but has concerns about the quality of what is built and was looking for some kind of way to insure that there is a high quality result. Commissioner Dutton commented that he did not meet with anyone and if he had a question that needed an answer to he would not have hesitated to meet with someone. He was not concerned with the request but would support rezoning both sides of the street and that was why he would like to see the downtown plan consider the area to the west side of Rucker to the waterfront. 7