360Rich
03-02-2007, 07:00 PM
Vancouver's downtown plan: The Height of Controversy
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Friday, March 02, 2007
By JEFFREY MIZE Columbian staff writer
City council's proposal to guide redevelopment encounters opposition over how tall buildings can be
Nine years ago, Vancouver adopted its Esther Short Redevelopment Plan with hardly a word of protest.
Today, as the city council prepares to approve a broader City Center Vision Plan, officials are feeling push-back from those who question some policy decisions that will guide downtown revitalization for the next 20 years.
Members of the Hidden family, owners of The Academy, object to height restrictions they say will prevent additional development near the historic structure at 400 E. Evergreen Blvd.
The Hiddens also oppose a provision requiring that gravel parking lots be brought up to city standards -- complete with pavement, streetlights, landscaping and storm drains. The Academy has the largest of the 19 lots that would need to be upgraded within three years, and one estimate placed the family's cost at $1.16 million.
Identity Clark County, the pro-business group that agreed to contribute $50,000 toward crafting the downtown plan, also is concerned about height maximums. Specifically, the group worries that a 60-foot restriction proposed for Main Street would limit new buildings to only four stories and could discourage, rather than promote, revitalization.
"This appears to be a shortsighted vision for what should be the most valuable and most densely developed property within Vancouver's city limits," Ginger Metcalf, Identity Clark County's executive director, and Larry Paulson, Port of Vancouver's executive director, wrote in a letter delivered to the city council last month.
The council, after several lengthy work sessions, remains uneasy with some of the height restrictions, but the council is expected to vote Monday to proceed with a March 19 public hearing on the vision plan and its implementation measures.
"I think there are ways we can come to agreement on the little sticky issues," Mayor Royce Pollard said.
City officials have spent more than three years working on a plan that encompasses 130 blocks, a much larger chunk of downtown than the 1998 plan, which covered 30 blocks around Esther Short Park.
According to a city report, the original Esther Short Plan spawned $250 million to $300 million of private investment in the city's downtown, and the vision plan has the potential to generate another $750 million.
At the top of the city's wish list for the future is redevelopment of the Boise Cascade site on the Columbia River waterfront. Steve Burdick, Vancouver's economic development manager, told the city council this week that a consortium led by Gramor Development of Tualatin, Ore., would like to have the property rezoned to accommodate a mixed-use waterfront community before it completes the land purchase.
Building heights are a tougher issue. Vancouver already has maximum heights in place, but they do not comply with Federal Aviation Administration regulations for safeguarding airspace near Pearson Field.
The city also wants to reduce the existing maximums on Main Street north of Eighth Street to prevent an envisioned retail corridor from morphing into a garish mishmash of building sizes that would sully the area's historic roots.
Councilman Dan Tonkovich believes the new and the old can be blended together.
"There is an opportunity here to create a vision for Main Street, which is supposed to be one of the more significant avenues in a downtown core," he said. "There is an opportunity to create a significant vision in terms of vibrancy, in terms of look, in terms of the feel."
But Metcalf believes the city can protect its historic core through design guidelines, without height limitations that fall below what is necessary to protect Pearson's airspace.
"If we want people to come in and invest in downtown, there has to be some incentives," she said. "A 60-foot building height limit is a disincentive to invest on Main Street."
Metcalf also worries that Vancouver appears intent on preserving some buildings that might not be worth saving. City officials have developed a map showing a number of structures lining Main Street that are eligible for Clark County's historic register.
"If you look closely at some of those buildings, you might contest whether they have historical significance," Metcalf said. "We envision that it could create some development constraints. We're not proposing 30-story buildings in downtown Vancouver. That is not Vancouver."
Laura Hudson, the city's long-range planning manager, said developers always have the option of asking the FAA to allow construction that exceeds the city's regulations.
"They have given exceptions or let people go higher with specific mitigation measures, lighting on the roof, all kinds of things," she said. "If you build to the height limit on the map, we know you will get through FAA."
For The Academy, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the city proposed to increase the existing 40-foot height limit on most of the property to 75 feet. But the zero limit on the property's southeast corner, along Evergreen Boulevard and West Reserve Street, would remain in place to preserve The Academy's historic entry.
That is a stark contrast to what is proposed just across Evergreen Boulevard: a 150-foot height limit where Killian Pacific wants to build the $165 million RiverWest project.
Bill Hidden, one of the three brothers who own The Academy, believes his family is being singled out.
"Can you find any other location where you can find a zero on it?" he asked. "I just want to be treated fairly and the same as others."
Downtown Buzz Terms
A quick look at the details in the Vancouver City Center Vision Plan and associated regulations. Some requirements already are in place and would be extended to a larger section of downtown.
Messy vitality: Defined as "a dynamic and rich mix of residential, cultural, civic, retail and entertainment places that will attract growth, jobs and round-the-clock activity." A guiding principle to downtown revitalization and specifically mentioned in waterfront redevelopment guidelines.
Creative class: A general term for young professionals, including engineers, designers, artists and writers, that Vancouver wants to attract to downtown.
Blank walls: Large walls without windows, doors and other features that create a sterile urban environment. The city doesn't want pedestrians to feel like they are walking through a concrete tunnel.
Maximum building heights: Regulations crafted to protect the flight space for planes taking off and landing at nearby Pearson Field, as well as historical character along Main Street and at The Academy. Developers in some areas can appeal to the Federal Aviation Administration to exceed the maximum heights.
Parking control: Regulations on where and how parking is provided in downtown. Encourages building parking garages by banning new surface lots, except in some areas as part of a phased development plan, and requiring substandard gravel lots to be improved within three years. The city also proposes to eliminate requirements to provide a minimum number of spaces for new commercial development to craft a tighter, more pedestrian-friendly urban environment.
Downtown rezones: A series of changes to comprehensive plan designations and zoning. The biggest change would switch the zoning for the former Boise Cascade waterfront site from heavy industrial to city center mixed use, which provides for a diversity of residential and commercial uses.
Waterfront design standards: Guidelines crafted to steer redevelopment of the Boise Cascade site. Specifically, they call for building to the highest possible densities within height limitations, extending the waterfront trail west from the Interstate 5 Bridge, prohibiting parking garages between the Columbia River and buildings closest to the shoreline, varying the footprint and facades of buildings facing the river, and creating connections between the waterfront and downtown.
Artisan and specialty goods: Bakeries, microbreweries and other small-scale manufacturers, 10,000 square feet or less, that are currently banned but would be allowed in downtown. Manufacturers must allow public viewing, such as a window that lets people see brewers at work, or provide a tasting room or other customer service area.
Rainwater protection: Awnings, balconies, roof overhangs and other features to provide some pedestrian protection during rainy weather. The city proposes to extend protection requirements to Main Street in Uptown Village and to Broadway south of 15th Street.
Building lines: Requirements that construction of new buildings and expansion of existing ones must extend out to the sidewalk to encourage the continuity of window display and to promote a pedestrian environment.
-- Jeffrey Mize
http://www.columbian.com/printArticle.cfm?story=110644
http://www.columbian.com/_images/newsPhotos/newsPic110644_23629.jpg
Friday, March 02, 2007
By JEFFREY MIZE Columbian staff writer
City council's proposal to guide redevelopment encounters opposition over how tall buildings can be
Nine years ago, Vancouver adopted its Esther Short Redevelopment Plan with hardly a word of protest.
Today, as the city council prepares to approve a broader City Center Vision Plan, officials are feeling push-back from those who question some policy decisions that will guide downtown revitalization for the next 20 years.
Members of the Hidden family, owners of The Academy, object to height restrictions they say will prevent additional development near the historic structure at 400 E. Evergreen Blvd.
The Hiddens also oppose a provision requiring that gravel parking lots be brought up to city standards -- complete with pavement, streetlights, landscaping and storm drains. The Academy has the largest of the 19 lots that would need to be upgraded within three years, and one estimate placed the family's cost at $1.16 million.
Identity Clark County, the pro-business group that agreed to contribute $50,000 toward crafting the downtown plan, also is concerned about height maximums. Specifically, the group worries that a 60-foot restriction proposed for Main Street would limit new buildings to only four stories and could discourage, rather than promote, revitalization.
"This appears to be a shortsighted vision for what should be the most valuable and most densely developed property within Vancouver's city limits," Ginger Metcalf, Identity Clark County's executive director, and Larry Paulson, Port of Vancouver's executive director, wrote in a letter delivered to the city council last month.
The council, after several lengthy work sessions, remains uneasy with some of the height restrictions, but the council is expected to vote Monday to proceed with a March 19 public hearing on the vision plan and its implementation measures.
"I think there are ways we can come to agreement on the little sticky issues," Mayor Royce Pollard said.
City officials have spent more than three years working on a plan that encompasses 130 blocks, a much larger chunk of downtown than the 1998 plan, which covered 30 blocks around Esther Short Park.
According to a city report, the original Esther Short Plan spawned $250 million to $300 million of private investment in the city's downtown, and the vision plan has the potential to generate another $750 million.
At the top of the city's wish list for the future is redevelopment of the Boise Cascade site on the Columbia River waterfront. Steve Burdick, Vancouver's economic development manager, told the city council this week that a consortium led by Gramor Development of Tualatin, Ore., would like to have the property rezoned to accommodate a mixed-use waterfront community before it completes the land purchase.
Building heights are a tougher issue. Vancouver already has maximum heights in place, but they do not comply with Federal Aviation Administration regulations for safeguarding airspace near Pearson Field.
The city also wants to reduce the existing maximums on Main Street north of Eighth Street to prevent an envisioned retail corridor from morphing into a garish mishmash of building sizes that would sully the area's historic roots.
Councilman Dan Tonkovich believes the new and the old can be blended together.
"There is an opportunity here to create a vision for Main Street, which is supposed to be one of the more significant avenues in a downtown core," he said. "There is an opportunity to create a significant vision in terms of vibrancy, in terms of look, in terms of the feel."
But Metcalf believes the city can protect its historic core through design guidelines, without height limitations that fall below what is necessary to protect Pearson's airspace.
"If we want people to come in and invest in downtown, there has to be some incentives," she said. "A 60-foot building height limit is a disincentive to invest on Main Street."
Metcalf also worries that Vancouver appears intent on preserving some buildings that might not be worth saving. City officials have developed a map showing a number of structures lining Main Street that are eligible for Clark County's historic register.
"If you look closely at some of those buildings, you might contest whether they have historical significance," Metcalf said. "We envision that it could create some development constraints. We're not proposing 30-story buildings in downtown Vancouver. That is not Vancouver."
Laura Hudson, the city's long-range planning manager, said developers always have the option of asking the FAA to allow construction that exceeds the city's regulations.
"They have given exceptions or let people go higher with specific mitigation measures, lighting on the roof, all kinds of things," she said. "If you build to the height limit on the map, we know you will get through FAA."
For The Academy, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the city proposed to increase the existing 40-foot height limit on most of the property to 75 feet. But the zero limit on the property's southeast corner, along Evergreen Boulevard and West Reserve Street, would remain in place to preserve The Academy's historic entry.
That is a stark contrast to what is proposed just across Evergreen Boulevard: a 150-foot height limit where Killian Pacific wants to build the $165 million RiverWest project.
Bill Hidden, one of the three brothers who own The Academy, believes his family is being singled out.
"Can you find any other location where you can find a zero on it?" he asked. "I just want to be treated fairly and the same as others."
Downtown Buzz Terms
A quick look at the details in the Vancouver City Center Vision Plan and associated regulations. Some requirements already are in place and would be extended to a larger section of downtown.
Messy vitality: Defined as "a dynamic and rich mix of residential, cultural, civic, retail and entertainment places that will attract growth, jobs and round-the-clock activity." A guiding principle to downtown revitalization and specifically mentioned in waterfront redevelopment guidelines.
Creative class: A general term for young professionals, including engineers, designers, artists and writers, that Vancouver wants to attract to downtown.
Blank walls: Large walls without windows, doors and other features that create a sterile urban environment. The city doesn't want pedestrians to feel like they are walking through a concrete tunnel.
Maximum building heights: Regulations crafted to protect the flight space for planes taking off and landing at nearby Pearson Field, as well as historical character along Main Street and at The Academy. Developers in some areas can appeal to the Federal Aviation Administration to exceed the maximum heights.
Parking control: Regulations on where and how parking is provided in downtown. Encourages building parking garages by banning new surface lots, except in some areas as part of a phased development plan, and requiring substandard gravel lots to be improved within three years. The city also proposes to eliminate requirements to provide a minimum number of spaces for new commercial development to craft a tighter, more pedestrian-friendly urban environment.
Downtown rezones: A series of changes to comprehensive plan designations and zoning. The biggest change would switch the zoning for the former Boise Cascade waterfront site from heavy industrial to city center mixed use, which provides for a diversity of residential and commercial uses.
Waterfront design standards: Guidelines crafted to steer redevelopment of the Boise Cascade site. Specifically, they call for building to the highest possible densities within height limitations, extending the waterfront trail west from the Interstate 5 Bridge, prohibiting parking garages between the Columbia River and buildings closest to the shoreline, varying the footprint and facades of buildings facing the river, and creating connections between the waterfront and downtown.
Artisan and specialty goods: Bakeries, microbreweries and other small-scale manufacturers, 10,000 square feet or less, that are currently banned but would be allowed in downtown. Manufacturers must allow public viewing, such as a window that lets people see brewers at work, or provide a tasting room or other customer service area.
Rainwater protection: Awnings, balconies, roof overhangs and other features to provide some pedestrian protection during rainy weather. The city proposes to extend protection requirements to Main Street in Uptown Village and to Broadway south of 15th Street.
Building lines: Requirements that construction of new buildings and expansion of existing ones must extend out to the sidewalk to encourage the continuity of window display and to promote a pedestrian environment.
-- Jeffrey Mize
http://www.columbian.com/printArticle.cfm?story=110644
