Urban Form Study

What's New in SLU?

September 27, 2007

Urban Form Study

Between now and 2024 it is projected that 16,000 new jobs and 8,000 new households

will be added to the South Lake Union neighborhood. With significant growth projected, it is the City’s goal for the neighborhood to provide a diverse mix of uses, housing and employment opportunities as well as transit-friendly neighborhoods. Stakeholders of the SLU neighborhood have worked long hours to reach a consensus on an integrated vision and set of priorities for the SLU Urban Center in order to accommodate such growth.

By directing the greatest growth within the City’s 5 Urban Centers (including South Lake Union), single-family neighborhoods, critical areas and natural resource lands will be protected. The neighborhood wants to maintain its unique character as it grows. It believes that sustainable, walkable, livable communities with a diversity of uses, buildings and people are key ingredients of a successful urban center.

The goal of the City and SLUFAN Community Council is to ensure that the changes are executed in a manner that provides a quality urban environment for those who live, work and play in the neighborhood. The Mayor is proposing to conduct an urban form study to look at the future character and quality of this neighborhood.

The City’s Department of Planning and Development (DPD) is the lead agency on this project, and will staff the SLUFAN Community Council meetings. DPD will help SLUFAN and other stakeholders understand the options and alternatives. They will hire an urban design facilitator to run the meetings. The City will hold an open house tentatively scheduled for the week of January 7, in which they will talk about the process and invite public question and comment.

The City will also hold a 2-day public charrette forum tentatively scheduled for January 18 and 19. The charrette will include a designated group of participants who are stakeholder representatives from SLU neighborhood and adjacent neighborhoods.

The following principles are important in shaping the development of the SLU urban form:

Achieve a vibrant, humane environment at street level that allows for a mix of different levels of activity
Maintain a dynamic mix of residential and commercial uses
Provide a variety of building shapes, heights and sizes
Support development that encourages walking, bicycling and transit use in order to reduce auto dependency
Increase density while promoting access to light and air. Consider views from and through the neighborhood
Recognize the importance of Lake Union and existing parks
Recognize the topography of both the neighborhood and adjacent neighborhoods
Properly transition to adjacent neighborhoods and Lake Union
Support the City and neighborhood’s goals for growth and economic development
Alternatives and applicable public benefits (incentives) should address the needs of the SLU community, concerns of the broader community and must be realistic and financially feasible.

The charrette proceedings are open to the public to observe and, at the end of each day, there will be a 2-hour open house where time will be spent exploring public questions and comments. Public comment will be incorporated into the analysis of recommendations and proposed solutions for the Urban Form Study. Topics will cover height increase, setbacks, potential zoning recommendations, view impacts and public benefits. The discussion and information gathered at these forums will help develop preliminary zoning alternatives which will be considered in a formal environmental impact study (EIS) that will follow the charrette. The EIS will include several public meetings for continued public questions and comment.

For more information please contact Steven Paget at: spaget@olympicassociates.com

<<Previous Article

Next Article>>

Print-Friendly Version

Send to a Friend

This Issue

SLU Neighborhood Plan Priorities Completed - Open House

Urban Form Study

South Lake Union Gets In Motion This Fall!

Streetcar Construction Notice

Uptown Queen Anne/South Lake Union Open House

Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center Seminars

MOHAI Moves to South Lake Union Armory

Mark Your Calendar