2018/08/08 Council Agenda Packet

perimeter is not part of the original historic overlay. The Neighborhood Conservation Guidelines of 1992 has the following line The home of William and Tennessee Boner, manager of Weyerhaeuser in Everett, is one of the finest Classic Foursquares in the city. Judy and I bought that awesome home in 2015! There are so many great homes in the immediate vicinity. Head up Rucker Hill to the jewel that is the Rucker Mansion. The historic overlay is a narrow two blocks from Pacific south to 37th. Again, the perimeter identified in the map above is outside the defined historic overlay. It seems weird that an overlay boundary is alley to alley and not street to street, but that must have seemed reasonable in the early 90s. Fast forward to 2018 and this omission is causing a lot of concern for those of us in the vicinity. Building 4, 6 and even 8 story buildings across the alley from two story homes doesn't even remotely sound reasonable. No setback, except maybe the width of a street and accompanying right-of-ways, seems reasonable for this level of disparity. The question we have is why build in this small area? As I show in the accompanying spreadsheet,these few blocks account for about 2% of the area available to build housing for the expected 50,000 additional people living here by 2034. Imagine the impact of adding Aero Apartments, Potala Village, Potala Place, Library Place and Artspace Lofts in this small area. Those buildings currently offer about 680 units. Those buildings aren't currently across the alley from two story buildings, but behind the post office you can see this exact scenario. No homeowner or landlord wants this reality, but that will happen if the northern perimeter of Norton Grand isn't protected. The place to build these high and unlimited density apartments is between Rucker and Broadway. It's easy to find vacant blocks and those ready for development in this area. No crossing Rucker to catch a bus by the courthouse, going to a downtown restaurant, shopping, etc. The associated spreadsheet suggests the area between Rucker and Broadway can easily support housing for 50,000 additional folks. Let's rethink the idea of building huge structures across the alley from two story homes. Understandably, purchasing an entire city block is much more difficult than buying a couple of homes to build an Artspace Lofts or Aero Apartments. Homeowners shouldn't fear a huge structure next door and the accompanying traffic and parking issues. Stop the encroachment upon historically significant neighborhoods. People willing to buy into a community want assurances their investment and hard work will be supported. The mayor, city council and planning department can support homeowners by limiting heights next to homes. Three stories should be the maximum height on Rucker Hill.