On Sept. 23, 2010, Mayor McGinn signed Ordinance 123392, approving and adopting revised Neighborhood Design Guidelines for the Pike/Pine Urban Center Village, and amending provisions in the Pike/Pine Conservation Overlay District to better maintain the character of the Pike/Pine neighborhood. This ordinance becomes effective on Oct. 23, 2010.
The legislation amended by Ordinance 1233921 includes additional design guidelines to supplement the existing Pike/Pine Urban Center Village Design Guidelines to address concerns related to the area’s recent designation as the Pike/Pine Conservation Overlay District, includes revisions to the design review process to address special conditions that apply to the conservation of character structures in the conservation overlay district, and revises the prohibition on internally-illuminated cabinet signs to allow small signs. More specifically, the adopted legislation does the following:
- Adds a new section to the existing Pike/Pine Neighborhood Design Guidelines that addresses neighborhood concerns about building height, bulk, and scale. In particular, the new section addresses developments that incorporate “character structures” (defined under previous amendments to the Pike/Pine Conservation Overlay District as buildings 75 or more years old) located on the same site. The current Design Guidelines were adopted in 2000, and did not have a neighborhood specific section that addresses building height, bulk, and scale.
- Includes additional guidelines related to signs under the exiting section addressing the pedestrian environment.
- Revises the current guidelines, primarily to update the illustrations and examples.
- Requires that, as part of the design review process, when a character structure is located on the site of a proposed new project, the developer evaluate the key architectural elements of the character structure, and provide at least one design proposal that would maintain those elements and the integrity of the character structure.
- Specifies that the local Design Review Board can grant departures from the method prescribed in the Land Use Code for incorporating a character structure into a new building if a developer requests such a departure.
- Allows an exception from the prohibition against internally-illuminated cabinet signs in the Pike/Pine Conservation Overlay District for signs that are no larger than three square feet, to allow more flexibility for small signs that fit in with the current character of the neighborhood.
A copy of the ordinance and the guidelines are attached for your reference. Citizens may obtain copies by contacting the City Clerk’s office at (206) 684-8344 or by accessing the Clerk’s website at http://clerk.ci.seattle.wa.us/~public/CBOR1.htm. If you have any questions about the adopted legislation, please email or call Dennis Meier at (206) 684-8270.
To view the Pike/Pine Design Guidelines, please visit: http://www.seattle.gov/DPD/Planning/PikePineConservationOverlayDistrict/Overview/default.asp