Planning staff present downtown core zoning update; proposals would limit some street-front heights

City planning staff on March 17 presented the third formal update on downtown-core zoning and design guidelines, detailing outreach, modeling and preliminary recommendations for height limits and design-review changes.

Hillary Patterson, community planning director, said the effort began about two years ago with a 14–18 member working group and 27 meetings. “We are here to give you an update, let you know what we’ve been doing and seek some direction from you on how we should move forward,” Patterson said, noting staff had run outreach including a survey that drew about 250 respondents.

Staff outlined a set of options: limit building heights on Front, Sherman and Lakeside avenues to 45 feet to better match the historic core; allow taller buildings (about 110 feet) on Coeur d'Alene Avenue west of 6th Street; discourage additional 220-foot towers; increase tower spacing from 50 feet to 80 feet; and strengthen the design review commission’s authority and review standards.

Kevin Jester, a working-group member and longtime downtown property owner, summarized stakeholder priorities such as pedestrian-friendly street-level design, storefront activation and historic-feature protections. “We did our best to be objective in our thinking, to be comprehensive in our thinking and to listen to what the stakeholders in this downtown core brought to us,” Jester said.

Staff said modeling and visualizations informed the recommendations and that the council had previously suggested a phased, incremental approach rather than a wholesale overhaul. No formal zoning changes were adopted; staff asked for council direction on which options to prioritize and whether to proceed with code amendments. Staff indicated they will return with refined code language and modeled scenarios for council consideration.