Redmond is trying to do something like this. Woodinville, above is designing some attractive buildings and open places for pedestrians and bicycles. These buildings are next to City Hall. Notice the wide sidewalks with lighting and landscaping on either side. The corridor is an alley.
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I'm one of the few in Redmond that actually listen in to the Planning Commission meetings. [I think the city is working them too hard.] The commissioners studied the "Urban Pathway" concept last night. Elements are 12-foot wide sidewalks with 8-feet of landscaping on either side. The sidewalks have lighting and are intended for pedestrians (not scooters.) They will connect to plazas. Setbacks weren't discussed. A favorite commissioner, Tara Van Niman was very positive about alleys. She said they draw people in and are perfect for cafes and pubs.
Urban Pathways are intended only for the Overlake Urban Center area. The planners missed their calling for the downtown. Very sad. However, the concept could be applied for the Nelson Legacy Village and Redmond Town Center.
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SHOCKING! Currently, Overlake is zoned 12 stories. Now the city is seriously looking at 30-story heights for Overlake, in the vicinity of Sears, as noted in the 9/7/2022 PC meeting.
Laugh at me if you will, but could the 30-story rezone be attributed to downtown seismic conditions as described on one of my posts by a blog reader?
Well put Bob! We discussed this at length during one of the planning meetings for the Redmond 2050 planning process. Most of us felt that due to the aquifer and the risk of earthquakes we need to push more of the development into the Overlake and surrounding areas. However some of the surrounding areas are at risk for landslides. There’s no perfectly safe space, but losing her aquifer because the building collapses into it would be catastrophic for Redmond. Thank you for responding, I am also being more aware of the various buildings going up near downtown. I feel like we don’t get enough of a notice. I think the city should be required to send notices to a wider area for each project. There are projects that are Amir two blocks from me that I have not received information for. Be alert citizenry and reach out
Jeff Churchill, the intelligent Long Range Planning Manager went back and forth with the commissioners on how the three major master planned developers in Overlake would respond well to a 30-story rezone. (Sears, Limited Edition, and Seratige) It appears the city is encouraging the three to wait for the 30-story rezone; especially Sears. Is the push to densify Overlake attributed to the seismic conditions of our shallow downtown aquifer? Council Member Dr. Jeralee Anderson would be a good one to ask. She has a PhD in Civil Engineering.
-- Bob Yoder, opinion, 9/28/2022
Ugh! As a neighbor rather than a citizen of Redmond (crossroads, so REALLY close) I find this increase to be disturbing. I would like to see the justification in anticipated growth, as well as what it would do to the city - and what it will do to alleviate the lack of affordable housing in BOTH cities.
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