Panel passes some hot potatoes to City Council

The issues, which the council's Urban Development and Planning Committee passed on to the full council Thursday, include designating North Highline a potential annexation area, changing a land-use designation to accommodate a commercial and residential center on Goodwill's Little Saigon site, and allowing businesses, landlords and developers to build less parking.

The committee made no recommendation on the annexation area proposal, leaving it to the council to decide Monday. Committee Chairman Peter Steinbrueck and Vice Chairman Tom Rasmussen worried about the cost to existing city residents and said county officials did not meet conditions the council previously set out, including assurances the county would pay for any repairs to a nearby bridge in South Park.

Mayor Greg Nickels' budget office estimated annexing the area, which is part of White Center, would cost Seattle almost $5 million a year, plus nearly $6 million in one-time transitional costs. Rasmussen said he wouldn't be surprised if it cost far more.

"If I were to vote with my heart, of course I would embrace North Highline immediately," Rasmussen said. "But this is also a business decision for the city."

Existing neighborhoods have needs the city cannot pay for now, he said. Steinbrueck agreed that the annexation brought "way too much financial risk."

Councilwoman Sally Clark agreed with these concerns, but noted the designation would not automatically bring annexation. She said she would support the measure to put city officials "at the table" in discussions on the area.

The committee also made no recommendation on the Goodwill change because it is part of a package that includes the annexation area.

The change, which drew dozens of opponents to a hearing last week, would help pave the way for a new four-story Goodwill center, 400 homes and 600,000 square feet of retail space, anchored by Target and Lowe's stores.

Area residents asked the council to delay approval until a community-benefits deal could be hammered out with the developer. Project representative Darrell Vange, president of Ravenhurst Development, said Thursday that he was reaffirming his commitment to working with the community.

"We're fully prepared to have as many meetings as it takes to have a resolution," he said. "This project does have tremendous potential for community benefits."

Rasmussen said the development had great potential to benefit or harm neighbors. He and Steinbrueck said they would propose a resolution calling for both sides to go over issues with a facilitator. After the comprehensive plan change, the development still would need a rezoning to commercial use.

The council committee did endorse what Steinbrueck called the largest overhaul of commercial land-use rules in more than 20 years.

Changes to allow less parking have attracted the most attention, but Steinbrueck said the crowning achievement of the overhaul was replacing most open-space requirements with a new "Seattle Green Factor," which lays out a menu of landscaping features, with an emphasis on environmental benefit and visibility to pedestrians.

"In time, it could lead to a dramatic greening of Seattle's business districts," he said.

Other recommended code changes would, among other things: eliminate limits on street-level residential use on most lots not facing busy streets; change limits on the location and size of various uses; add flexibility for building configuration; expand pedestrian zones in Columbia City, Lake City and Greenwood/Phinney Ridge; impose stricter limits on blank walls along sidewalks and expand the places where the city applies street-level design requirements; and add new design rules for apartment, condo and commercial buildings.

COUNCIL MEETING

The Seattle City Council is scheduled to discuss planning proposals during Monday's meeting, which starts at 2 p.m. on the second floor of City Hall, 600 Fourth Ave. Details: seattle.gov/council/

P-I reporter Aubrey Cohen can be reached at 206-448-8362 or aubreycohen@seattlepi.com.

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