Design Review Board approves Mill Creek warehouse elevations and landscaping with conditions

The Design Review Board on a voice vote approved the building elevations and landscaping for Mill Creek Warehouse (application PL20250012), a proposed two-story industrial building with offices on an approximately 4.5-acre parcel, with conditions requiring minor site adjustments and future return of signage and other details for board review.

City staff described the application as a binding site plan for an approximately 36,500-square-foot industrial building with office space on the upper floor and a ground-floor warehouse. The project includes 41 surface parking stalls, two loading stalls and a 35-foot landscape buffer along Bothell Everett Highway. City staff concluded that the submittal “meets the intent of the code and guidelines of MC section 17 13, 0 4 0,” and recommended approval with conditions.

The recommendation and the applicant presentation focused on materials, massing and site layout. Jackson Maine Architecture’s team said the building would use muted metal siding and split-face masonry at the base, and showed a meandering sidewalk in the required landscape setback intended for possible future right-of-way widening. The applicant said the lower floor would function as warehouse space (approximately 18,198 square feet cited for the main floor) and the upper floor as offices; no tenant has been identified.

Project designers described two external stair towers and an elevator at the primary entry to meet code egress requirements and to modulate the long façade. On signage, the project team clarified that the dark rectangles shown on the elevations are “in fact our proposed signage areas,” and said the application did not include a monument sign (the team said any monument sign would be returned to the board for approval). The applicant also confirmed roofing will be TPO with parapets and that roof scuppers and downspouts would tie into the storm system.

Board members raised questions about loading operations, accessible parking, pedestrian circulation and landscaping. Several members expressed concern that locating a loading bay adjacent to the main entry could interfere with entry use; the applicant and project consultant said the central loading location was chosen to allow flexibility for one or two tenants and to keep the dock central to the warehouse area. The project team said the loading doors will be sized for medium delivery trucks (the presenters said the door height would likely be about 12 feet and that the building floor-to-ceiling height on the warehouse level would be about 15 feet) and that the site is not configured to accommodate tractor-trailer semis.

On parking and accessibility, board members recommended moving the two ADA stalls closer to the main entrance and adding low, pedestrian-scale landscaping between the ADA stalls and the loading area to separate pedestrian access from loading activity. The project team agreed that the ADA configuration and landscape striping were reasonable adjustments to make.

Landscaping consultant Jeff Varley said the planting palette emphasizes low-maintenance native species with ornamental plantings at the entry and added shrubs and groundcover in parking islands at the city’s request. An arborist for the applicant reported that nine trees (primarily black cottonwood and red alder) would be removed and that most retained vegetation is at the southern corner of the site and in wetlands; the team said the buildable area is largely a previously created fill pad.

The board’s approval was made with conditions to: (1) relocate or adjust accessible stalls to serve the primary entrance and add low landscaping between accessible parking and the loading area; (2) extend the sidewalk along the full length of the lot as shown in revised plan materials; (3) return any monument signage and detailed stair screening/security materials to the board for future approval; (4) ensure the trash enclosure meets the city’s site-obscuring and security standards; and (5) finalize minor material and color clarifications on elevations. City staff confirmed many earlier staff comments had been addressed in an updated submission sent to the board prior to the meeting.

A motion to approve the design review, including the suggested conditions, passed by voice vote; no roll-call tally was recorded in the hearing record. The board directed that remaining details — signage, stair screening, final ADA stall layout and trash enclosure details — be returned as discrete items for review or noted as conditions on the final permit set.

The applicant team said construction sequencing and environmental work would follow the site-development permits and other agency reviews required by city and state rules; staff noted final building permit review and utility/storm connections remain prerequisites to construction.

Plans and the staff report list the project as application PL20250012 and identify the site fronting Bothell Everett Highway near 70 Third Street Southeast. The applicant said no tenant has been secured and that the building could be subdivided for two tenants if needed; the board’s conditions were framed to preserve flexibility for future tenant build-out while addressing pedestrian safety and streetscape improvements.