Liberty Harbor amendment: planning staff proposes moving townhouse allotment into towers; council asks for affordability language
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Summary
Planning previewed a Liberty Harbor redevelopment amendment that would replace townhouse allocations with two towers and reconfigure parking; staff said total floor area and permitted unit counts would not change. Councilmembers requested offline briefings and discussed writing in affordability requirements and parking limits.
Planning staff gave council a first reading overview of a proposed amendment to the Liberty Harbor redevelopment plan. The amendment would reconfigure an area currently planned for townhouses and move floor area into taller towers adjacent to the waterfront and golf course; net permitted square footage and maximum unit counts were not changed in the proposal.
Tanya Marillone of City Planning said the plan reduces the number of physical structures while relocating one tower closer to the water and consolidating parking into a base parking structure rather than dispersed podium parking. She emphasized the amendment does not increase the total permitted units or gross floor area in the redevelopment plan and therefore does not, by itself, trigger inclusionary (ICO) requirements.
Council members expressed concern about the project's impact on the waterfront walkway, on parking maximums (a reference was made to 0.5 minimum to 2 maximum per unit), and on how the amendment could change neighborhood character. Several members said they would pursue offline briefings and asked whether the council can write affordability requirements into the redevelopment ordinance for the affected residential district; planning staff confirmed council authority to do so for the district under consideration.
The administration indicated it would pull the ordinance from the immediate agenda to allow more in‑depth discussions with council members before a subsequent vote.