2012/10/03 Council Agenda Packet

Planning Commission Meeting Minutes July 17, 2012 9:01:31 PM Item 4: Public Hearing and Decision on an Amendment to Off-Street Parking Standards in the Hewitt Avenue Corridor east of Broadway Ave. John Jimerson, City staff,asked Commissioners if they had received CJ Ebert's letter in support of the code amendment. They responded yes. Mr.Jimerson stated that the intent of the code amendment is to facilitate the occupancy, reuse, and investment in older buildings in the Hewitt Avenue Corridor. The properties are located in the C-1 zone between Broadway and I-5 except for the PUD Administrative Building. In response to comments made at the previous workshop,the code amendment would only apply to buildings constructed prior to the initial adoption of zoning in Everett which is December 1, 1956. He referred to Exhibit A which shows a date of 1966 which will be amended to 1956. The existing zoning is a limiting factor for property owners in their ability to change uses in the corridor because many of the properties do not meet or do not have any extra parking on their sites because they were built prior to any zoning or parking standards. Under the existing code, if a change a use is proposed to a use that has a higher parking requirement,the new use would have to comply with the parking standards. The proposed amendment would eliminate that requirement to allow for a change of use to occur. He presented a map of the area which was color coded to show which properties were built prior to and after 1956. The properties shaded in green would be eligible to take advantage of the proposed code amendment. He presented a few pictures to show what the nature of the corridor was. The older buildings are 60-100 years old and have been built right up to the sidewalks and extend the width of the lot with little or no parking. There are a range of uses along the corridor. He presented a couple tables regarding the on-street parking utilization analysis that was prepared by the City's traffic engineering staff. Mr.Jimerson stated that the recommendation from traffic engineering was that there was a surplus of parking that can be taken advantage of as long as the redevelopment does not go overboard,at which time,the parking would have to be reevaluated. The staff recommends that Planning Commission adopt the resolution. The code amendment would only apply to buildings built prior to December 1, 1956; would not apply to building expansions; nonconforming sites must be certified as legally nonconforming;would not apply when you are converting non residential use into residential use; and would not reduce the number of spaces available to the existing residences; and, it would not reduce the number of off-street parking spaces. Mr.Jimerson added that the City did conduct an open house last week at Planning Commission's request and had a few property owners attend. Citizen Comments 9:12:59 PM Pete Sikov, 1705 Hewitt, asked if there had been any discussions regarding the north side of Hewitt where there are no side streets for people to park. He felt that there was a grid of streets at the most easterly part of Hewitt for people to park which made a lot more sense. In regards to the Northstar building,there are no side streets in that area. He read the CJ Ebert letter into the record which supported the code amendment.