land use signs

i just came across a great post! and in fact a great urban blog!! greg raece at the smarter neighbors blog provides some good advice about what to do when you find one of those little yellow sings pop up near your home.

those signs are in fact invitations to participate in public debate about land use and development. however, it's not very clear (and intentionally so in my opinion) that we as citizens can represent our own interests in these design meetings. this is particularly important in my neighborhood, the denny triangle, which is zoned as "DOC2" (Downtown Office Core 2).

as part of the new high density legislation, building height limits in the DOC2 zone were increased. however, "tower spacing" requirements were eliminated altogether. sound logical? check this out--the following is noted in the land use changes document (reference: City of Seattle Land Use Code, Title 23 of the Seattle Municipal Code):

"In addition, the CM Steinbrueck recommendations propose variations from the Executive Proposal in detailed aspects of bulk control, accessory uses, and fee-related topics including:

* changes to the tower spacing requirements, including increasing the spacing for towers within block in an area zoned DMC 240'/240'-400' between the retail core and Pike Place Market, and excluding DOC2 from spacing requirements for residential towers;"

in other words the new zoning requirements (SMC Section 23.49.058) for DOC2 do not regulate building spacing. the mayor’s preferred EIS requested the addition of spacing regulations for residential buildings in the DOC2. however, as i understand it, the city council (ref: CM Steinbrueck recommendations) modified the mayor’s proposal by eliminating provisions of residential building spacing in DOC2. as a point of reference, the Downtown Mixed Commercial (DMC) zone requires 80-125ft spacing for residential buildings at heights above 160 feet.

moral of the story: go to the design review meetings and tell them how you/your building will be impacted. apparently there is room for negotiating the interface between you and the monster next door -- but only if you attend the meetings.

i need only look out my window to be reminded of the difference between 15ft and 80-125ft spacing.