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Six Neighborhood Commercial zones have been approved for large
grocery store-type developments, like "PCC" at Avondale &
116th Ave and "Bridle Trails" at 132nd Ave. NE and Old Redmond Road.
One development is allowed per zone. CLICK 2X TO ENLARGE
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"We certainly understand the need to keep residential development and rendering plans separate, but do not see the immediate incompatibility of a corner coffee shop, produce store or bakery with the needs of residents who might walk to such an establishment."
-- Redmond Planning commissioners Phil Miller and Tom Flynn's Minority Report to City Council on "Neighborhood Commercial," as follows:
"We need to remind ourselves that one of the principal justifications we have been given for the establishment of the Neighborhood Commercial (NC) classification is to improve “walkability” in our neighborhoods. [ ] We have not seen to our satisfaction that forcing neighborhood residents to walk an extra ½ mile accomplishes anything but encourage the use of automobiles for even very short trips. ½ mile excludes a large number of people in Redmond from convenient commercial. [ ] It isn’t the intent to force car trips downtown, but this certainly is the effect. Read More >>
¼ mile is the outside of the range transit agencies typically use to determine capture for individual routes, and that doesn’t include walking up steep hills or carrying bags of product home from the store. [ ] Given the growth projected, planned and produced in these areas, it seems as though the City has bent over backwards to establish a lush and prosperous business climate in Downtown and Overlake. Such a climate does not exist within reasonable walking distance of many if not most residential neighborhoods in Redmond, especially so if we consider the impediments to pedestrian mobility represented by wide streets, fast moving traffic, incomplete sidewalk networks and by the hills of our town.
We certainly understand the need to keep residential development and rendering plants separate, but do not see the immediate incompatibility of a corner coffee shop, produce store or bakery with the needs of residents who might walk to such an establishment."
Excerpted from Letter to City Council, undated
-- By Tom Flynn and Phil Miller, Planning Commissioners
Photo of map is courtesy of City of Redmond
Mr. Flynn is a candidate for City Council in the November election
Please express your opinion to City Council or write a Letter to Redmond Neighborhood Blog with your name, please.
Edits for form and brevity by Yoder
I'm still not convinced this is a good idea, and won't become a slippery slope.
ReplyDeleteMy house falls directly in one of those blue zones and I really don't want to wake up one morning and find myself living beside the dirty parking lot of a late-night convenience store just because they've labeled themselves as selling "fresh produce."
I like the idea of a walkable neighborhood, but it scares me to see my house directly in that blue zone. What's to stop a Bakery-n-Bong shop from opening up on the path my kids use to walk to school?
Education Hill Neighbor - The city put together and elaborate Review process for any neighborhood affected by a commercial project. Click the "Minority Report" link and scroll to the bottom italics to read how we are "protected" from projects we don't want.
ReplyDelete-- Bob Yoder
The Planning commission writes, "We certainly understand the need to keep residential development and rendering plants separate, but do not see the immediate incompatibility of a corner coffee shop, produce store or bakery with the needs of residents who might walk to such an establishment."
ReplyDeleteThis kind of "planning" seems very out of touch with reality. The reality is that development in each zone is largely complete. We already have plenty of coffee shops, produce stores, and bakery shops in Redmond.
We folks moved out to the suburbs (Redmond) and fell into the State Growth Management Act (1990). A tension was established that pits constant development with a desire for open space, and quality of life. Enough is enough. Let us live in peace, without commercial development in our neighborhoods.
There are so many reasons this is a bad idea and so FEW reasons it might even be close to a passable idea that I'm shaking my head. Crime, traffic, garbage, truancy, nutrition are just a few of the reasons this is an entirely horrible idea for existing residential neighborhoods.
ReplyDeleteThe City is reminding us that Avondale REQUESTED a Neighborhood Commercial zoning. They forget that was not an existing developed area surrounded by schools, churches and parks.
PLEASE write to the council and urge them to reconsider their positions on this re-zoning.
Education Hill is busy and noisy enough with the schools, Hartmann Park ballfields/lights, etc. Please! This is my home on the hill...away from the stores and the shopping and commercial chaos. I want peace and quiet...not commercial zoning and all the pitfalls that go along with it!
ReplyDeleteTo all concerned neighbors above: You obviously never lived in the place where you can do following:
ReplyDeleteWake up, take a walk to the corner store and buy fresh bread and milk, say hello to your neighbor on the way home.
Return from work and go out to neighborhood cafe to have a cup of coffee with your friends, without driving anywhere.
Believe or not, such places exists. I never understood Americans who go all ga-ga over charm of European cities and villages, but at same time work hard to prevent re-creating such nice things here.
Things like nice and quiet neighborhood with local retail exists. I just came back from Europe where I was staying at family's house in one such small town.
I am amused by your inability to imagine that retail business can work without dedicated parking and that you have to drive any time to go pick up carton of milk.
I live last 10 years in US, after coming from western Europe. If I leave US, it is because we are missing that quality of live which you cannot achieve here.
People in Europe also move out of the cities to suburbs to get peace and quiet. Only, in Europe, suburbs are compact villages of few hundreds or thousands residents, compact, retaining old retail core, where you can walk across the village in less than 10 minutes. When there is multi-family development, it frequently includes retail at ground level, with very minimal parking (store size of Trader Joe's would have ~5 parking spots).
All in all, if US was following European development patterns, instead of one big Redmond city, we would have several villages around one small town here. Education Hill would be one compact village on the hill, with their own small retail core and with one bus stop to take people down to Redmond to shop, and kids to school.
To the above European citizen:
ReplyDeleteSpoken like a true European!
Obviously you don't know what it's like to wake up in the morning, grind your own coffee beans, brew your own coffee and relax out on your patio listening to the morning doves. You don't know what it's like to bake your own bread, go out to your garden and pick a ripe tomato or Asian pear.
In my 20's I lived in a big city (Chicago) for several yrs before escaping out to the suburbs. I also lived in Europe for 18 mos. Lots of conveniences there, but not worth it if you want peace and quiet and a backyard for growing some veggies.
Walking over to the local coffee shop may appeal to some, but most of us (particularly those married with children) don't want the "Friends" sitcom lifestyle. Our home is our sanctuary from a chaotic, busy world. People need a place to refresh and renew...our health depends on it.
I would venture to say that virtually nobody gets in their car to drive off the hill to only buy a carton of milk. Most people nowadays combine trips off the Hill for efficiency. (BTW whatever happened to neighbors borrowing a cup of sugar or milk?)
There is a reason Education Hill is such a desirable community. It's close enough to it all, yet nestled on a Hill away from it all. Let's keep it that way. :-)
--GardenMom
Dear Anony2: I'd like to post your Letter on a page but need I your name. redmondblog@gmail.com
ReplyDeleteBob Yoder
Editor
To Garden Mom:
ReplyDelete"Obviously you don't know what it's like to wake up in the morning, grind your own coffee beans, brew your own coffee and relax out on your patio listening to the morning doves."
Guess what, I know.
My cousin's house in Europe is in town of ~5,000 people, in dead-end street, with nice backyard and patio. Does espresso machine grinding fresh coffee counts as 'grind your own'? We usually had our morning coffee on their patio, watching mountains around us, while kids would be in front of the house riding skateboards up and down the street. At same time, grocery store was ~10 minute easy walk from there.
As it comes, my cousin is not big gardener, so he does not have vegetable garden, but there is space if they really would like it (there are few fruit-bearing trees and grape wines, though...)
I am wondering why you equate neighbor store with hustle and bustle of the traffic?
Designing a neighborhood like you mention can be done from scratch and people who want to live in such a neighborhood can choose to buy their homes there. But people I know on the Hill moved here to be away from commercial buildings. Trying to retrofit the European paradigm into this already established single family home community cannot work without huge consequences.
ReplyDeleteOur family takes regular recreation walks around the neighborhood and we rarely see others walking about. Does anyone remember the promotion to get parents to walk their children to school instead of driving? I don't think a lot of people will walk to a coffee shop/store on the Hill. I think they will drive and it will increase traffic.
--GardenMom
I moved into this neighborhood to live in a SUBURBAN residential area. I did not move into this neighborhood to be able to walk to shops; i was more interested in schools, churches and families than I was getting my produce just a few blocks away.
ReplyDeleteFor the people that want to live in a neighborhood where they can walk to their grocer, cafe or post office, they are welcome to move to an URBAN setting such as downtown Redmond. Within just a few blocks these people who wish to live in an urban setting may walk to bus stops, restaurants, grocery stores, and a host of other amenities. That's what makes it an urban setting.
Leave our suburban residential areas alone. PLEASE?
After reading Tom Flynn's Minority Report, I thought; finally, a step in the right direction...too bad it doesn't include Education Hill. I moved here from Capitol Hill to get out from under the flight path, but in the frenzy of house hunting, I didn't realize that I was giving up the ability to run errands without having to drive. I may be only 6 blocks from the nearest convenience store, but it's a 225' climb...and that hill seems steeper every time I climb it. I like Redmond, but it isn't pedestrian friendly and I don't see myself living here when I get older. As for people's comments that neighborhood commercial would bring more noise with it...the idea is to get people to leave their cars at home, so why would it be any louder?
ReplyDelete