University Place studies 20-year Town Center subarea plan with housing, transportation and small-business goals

The University Place City Council on June 1 revisited a proposed Town Center Business District subarea plan that officials described as a 20-year guidance document to implement the city’s regional growth center goals.

City staff and consultants told the council the plan is intended to translate Puget Sound Regional Council (PSRC) requirements into locally tailored goals for compact redevelopment, multimodal transportation, and small-business retention. Kevin Briskkey, the city’s community and economic development director, framed the work as “the second study session on the town center subarea plan,” emphasizing it is a guidance document for how the area should grow over the next two decades.

Why it matters: re‑certification by PSRC preserves the city’s eligibility for transportation and planning grants that city leaders said helped pay for recent sidewalk and street projects. The plan also includes interim numeric targets staff used in a development‑capacity analysis for housing and job growth, and staff said adopting anti‑displacement strategies early is part of making redevelopment equitable.

Key recommendations and council questions Briskkey and consultant Mary Chase outlined a portfolio of actions: explore limited zoning flexibility in targeted sites to enable mixed‑use redevelopment; support land assembly for priority parcels; coordinate utilities and infrastructure upgrades with Tacoma Public Utilities and Pierce County; set interim housing and employment targets; adopt anti‑displacement measures; and prepare a parking management strategy for the district.

Chase described the plan’s role: “This plan is meant to be a long‑range vision document. It’s about a 20‑year planning horizon,” she said, noting the document is high‑level and that later implementation steps will flesh out financing and capital costs.

Council members pressed for specifics on how zoning changes would be controlled and whether existing form‑based code flexibility is sufficient. One council member warned against opening the code too widely without detailed safeguards to preserve community character and called for careful drafting of any code amendments. Several members also asked that public safety — in particular fire and police service capacity — be explicitly included in implementation planning so the city can test whether emergency services and staffing will match any anticipated population or density increases.

Transportation and placemaking Consultants highlighted a concept that drew positive attention in outreach: a branded pedestrian loop that would connect Market Square, Homestead Park, Bridgeport Way businesses and Green Firs to create continuous pedestrian circulation and promote street‑level activation. The plan also recommends evaluating a shared‑use regional trail on Bridgeport Way, new pedestrian crossings to improve east–west connections, mode‑split goals favoring walking and transit, and a freight access study to ensure business deliveries and truck movements remain feasible.

Parking and small‑business retention Council members raised parking as a near‑term priority. Staff recommended a districtwide parking management strategy to balance business needs, event demand and goals for active transportation. Economic development actions include a restaurant attraction strategy, support for pop‑up retail and events, and commercial anti‑displacement tools to help retain small businesses as redevelopment occurs.

Next steps Staff said the Economic Development Advisory Commission will further prioritize recommended actions and return to council with refined language. The consultant team and staff also proposed adding explicit language that invites fire and police to the service‑planning conversations. If council supports the revised draft, staff will return with a resolution for formal adoption into the city’s subarea plan work program.

Council members asked for follow‑up briefings and, in some cases, more detailed fiscal and service‑capacity analysis once the council directs staff to pursue particular zoning or infrastructure changes.