Puget Sound

Fall 2005 Brown Bag Recaps

by Brown Bag Coordinator Steve Ladd except as noted

Fall 2005 Brown Bag Recaps in .doc format.

City Redevelopment & Transit Connectivity
10/19/05

Scott Kirkpatrick of Sound Transit works with cities to get the most redevelopment bang from their transit links.

Dick Loman, a developer fairly new to the public sector, told Burien's story. Burien was in a long economic downtown, but they had a transit center used by 5,000 people daily. The City rehabbed the main street with an LID. Dick then helped the City assemble ten acres next to the transit center. It cost 10M$, from which the City will experience a slight profit. The expected projects include a city hall, library, performance theater, Red Lion Hotel, cinema, residential, and retail. Dick said the hardest part was knocking on 120 doors for the LID and being rejected by many nay-sayers. But stakeholders need a face to go with the proposal, and the City ultimately got 67% approval.

Nate Torgelson is Kent's Economic Development Manager. Kent's downtown retail anchors had moved to East Hill, but Mayor Jim White was determined that downtown would not die. Over three terms he invested vast political capital in downtown redevelopment, suffering criticism for large City expenditures. The pieces are coming together. The four-story Sounder commuter rail garage is built. The Regional Justice Center is right next door. With help from FTA and State Economic Development grants, the City has built infrastructure and assembled 20 acres, mostly an old manufacturing plant. Kent Station is being built, where a 10-screen cinema is triggering multiple restaurants. Green River Community College will built a branch. A hotel and condos are on the way.

The speakers seemed to agree that, though theory may dictate that housing comes before retail or offices, the actual sequence may vary. Success comes from understanding developers' goals (which are short-term), willingness to take risks, and rapidly developing a sense of place that will sell itself to investors.

Fixing the Condo Liability Problem
10/26/05

Due to unfamiliar new energy regulations and building materials, and the entry of many single-family homebuilders into the condo market, many 90s-vintage condos had moisture-related problems. Insurers lost their shirts then got out of the market. Construction of mid-priced condos has plummeted. Recent legislative fixes (RCW 64.35, 64.50, and 64.55) include additional inspections and arbitration of homeowner association/builder disputes. These fixes should help in the long run, but insurers will remain cautious until the benefits are proven. Further legislation is unlikely. Apparently, we just have to hope it works. In the meantime, apartments and single-family attached units avoid the insurance problem because attorneys have no incentive to facilitate lawsuits for individual landowners. Apartments may successfully convert to condos later on. Thanks to speakers Scott Hildebrandt of the Master Builder Association of King & Snohomish Counties, Jeffrey Hamlett of Callison Architects, and Jay Soroka of Acordia Insurance.

Preserving Steep Slopes as Open Space
11/16/05

Engineering geologist Donald Tubbs explained the types of surfacial and substrate slides common to the Puget Sound area and the geology that causes them. He also reviewed the topographical, soils, geologic, and groundwater factors that indicate hazard. Landslide hazards have been mapped in some areas. LIDAR has enabled more exact hazards maps. In the Seattle area, many slides have occurred where Esperance sand overlay Lawton clay.

Michelle Connor presented projects where Cascade Land Conservancy helped preserve steep open space cherished by the local community. She said regulations should be the first line of defense, followed by funding sources such as Conservation Futures. Development rights may have to be bought or clustered.

Tim Trohimovich of Futurewise reiterated the stakes involved. In the 1996 storm alone, 8,00 homes in Western Washington were damaged. GMA requires that local regulations prevent exposing both the site in question and nearby properties to increase slope hazards. Less than four units per acre are allowable in such areas.

Steinbrueck on the Future of Downtown Seattle
11/30/05

"Downtown is everybody's neighborhood," says Councilmember Peter Steinbrueck. Beginning with a history of Seattle's plans for its Downtown, and progressing through a photo-essay of the Belltown area, Peter covered the burning issues of urban form, open space, and pedestrian orientation. Seattle's Downtown has only a fifth the housing units per job as Vancouver's Downtown, so new housing needs to be a priority. An elementary school is needed to attract families with kids. Peter opposes street-grade parking, favors green streets. Plain-speaking and enthusiastic, architect as well as politician, Peter clearly inspired the fifty planners and community activists assembled to hear him in the Seattle's new City Hall.

Tree Retention & Preservation
12/7/05

Liz Ellis, Seattle Department of Transportation (DOT), organized City of Seattle staffers plus a developer, an arborist, and a landscape architect to create this half-day extravaganza. Seattle's tree canopy is a meager 15%, and significant trees are often lost despite the best intentions. But their Green Streets and similar programs are making a difference. DOT and the Department of Planning and Development coordinate on saving trees along streets and in new developments. Professionally, the players are planners, arborists, developers, and inspectors. The codes pertaining to trees are complex and dispersed among many code titles. Speakers emphasized the flexibility they offer through such means as design departures, and the physical adaptations necessary in a highly urban environment, like barriers to protect trees during construction. Steve Speidel noted that saving too many trees can cause sprawl; sometimes it is better to remove them and plant anew. Steve also warned planners to consider the pre-existing layers of regulations when adopting new tree regulations. Thanks to speakers Liz Ellis, Bill Ames, Barbara Gray, and Paul Janos from the City of Seattle, John Tellefson of Seascape Homes, Stephen Speidel from R. W. Thorpe & Associates and David Reich of City Foresters.