lots o' land use -- Columbia Plaza, St Gobain, and more
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Started by: scottplanscottplan
On: 1246320638|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover
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lots o' land use -- Columbia Plaza, St Gobain, and more
scottplanscottplan 1246320639|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover

After months of little activity, suddenly the City's Land Use Bulletin is full of Columbia City.

  1. Notice of Decision for the Columbia Plaza site. This came out today. DPD's decision comes in advance of the Landmarks Board's approval — maybe that's normal.
    • No conditioning for morning shadows on Columbia Park.
    • No conditioning for height, bulk and scale impacts.
    • Some conditioning to maintain open sidewalks along the west side of Rainier during construction.
    • Discussion of construction noise, and an intent to condition, but no follow-through. I guess that's a slip-up.
  2. Revised notice of application for the St Gobain site, in two separate notices: MUP 3007279 and MUP 3010062
    • I haven't yet figured out how these differ from the most recent notices.
    • Last I heard, Harbor Properties (developer) was trying to modify their purchase & sale agreement to acquire the property in phases — neighborhood gossip. Sounds like all parties are in an economic bind.
  3. An interpretation about allowed uses for Columbia School, discussed here.
  4. Another Notice of Application, this one for the Iglesia Ni Cristo, south of Hillman City.
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Unfold lots o' land use -- Columbia Plaza, St Gobain, and more by scottplanscottplan, 1246320639|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover
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Re: lots o' land use -- Columbia Plaza, St Gobain, and more
Joanne Kelly (guest) 1246389468|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover

Scott, what does "no conditioning" mean? Is it related to whether or they do or don't have to do an environmental impact study?

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Unfold Re: lots o' land use -- Columbia Plaza, St Gobain, and more by Joanne Kelly (guest), 1246389468|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover
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Re: lots o' land use -- Columbia Plaza, St Gobain, and more
scottplanscottplan 1246407426|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover

Thanks for the question, Joanne. I dashed that off, and didn't take time to explain the land use jargon.

The City's decision determines that environmental impacts aren't significant enough to require an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS).

The analysis addresses these environmental elements:

  • air quality,
  • noise,
  • parking,
  • traffic,
  • pedestrian circulation,
  • height, bulk & scale,
  • shadows on the park.

Of those elements, the decision finds some environmental impacts, but nothing that rises to the level considered significant. Some negative effects warrant "mitigation" — extra measures to reduce the environmental impacts. Those measures are identified as conditions of permit approval.

DPD decided not to require anything further to address the transition in height, bulk and scale (a tall building next to an area of lower buildings) or shadows on the park. The planner conditioned the project to keep the sidewalks open, except in certain circumstances. The analysis suggests there should be limits on construction hours to limit noise impacts, but it doesn't follow through and actually impose the condition.

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Unfold Re: lots o' land use -- Columbia Plaza, St Gobain, and more by scottplanscottplan, 1246407426|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover
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