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Fife staff outline proposed HCT station-area code changes after Sound Transit action; $100M parking access fund shifts parking approach
Summary
Director Larson reviewed draft code language for high-capacity-transit (HCT) station areas, proposing alignment with Sound Transit design guidelines, exemptions for transit columns from setbacks, signage flexibility and a policy approach to some off-site improvements. He noted the Sound Transit enterprise initiative defers parking and established a $100 million Parking Access Fund.
Director Larson presented proposed municipal-code amendments to regulate high-capacity-transit (HCT) station areas, explaining that staff have been coordinating with Sound Transit and adjusting language in response to recent state legislation and Sound Transit board actions.
Larson summarized that state legislation referred to in the meeting (transcribed as "Senate Bill 6309") clarifies a city’s ability to amend development regulations in coordination with transit agencies and exempts certain subdivision rules for transit projects. He also described a Sound Transit enterprise initiative the board recently passed that keeps transit construction funded while deferring development of station parking until resources are identified and creates a $100,000,000 Parking Access Fund to encourage delivery through public–private or public–public partnerships.
"The station is still being built. Parking did not get deleted. It just got deferred," Larson said, describing how the change broadens options and complicates how the city writes parking regulations.
Key elements staff proposed for HCT station-area code language include:
- Design standards: Require HCT stations to be designed consistently with Sound Transit’s station experience design guidelines to preserve the high-level standards the commission favored, while avoiding overly prescriptive local architectural mandates.
- Elevated structures: Exempt transit columns from setback rules provided they meet sight-distance and pedestrian/vehicular safety best practices; staff said Sound Transit uses standardized octagonal columns that provide economies of scale.
- Parking and landscaping: Retain Fife landscaping standards for surface lots, spell out intent for active ground-floor uses in parking structures to promote economic activity, and defer detailed parking delivery rules while staff evaluates multiple delivery scenarios under the enterprise initiative.
- Off-site improvements and policy: Propose removing a municipal-code section that mandates off-site improvements and instead rely on a policy document (non-motorized system access allowance fund) to set priorities and coordinate expenditures with partner agencies.
- Signage and safety: Exempt Sound Transit station signage from Fife’s number/size rules but retain safety, vision-triangle and building-code requirements; staff will ask lead agencies to coordinate with the city on local informational signage.
Larson said the next step is to identify scenarios for structured-parking delivery under the enterprise initiative, revise regulatory language for parking accordingly and return to the commission after further coordination with Sound Transit, fire and safety partners, and other stakeholders.
