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Council weighs zoning options near Swamp Creek, balancing housing and buffer protections
Summary
Council discussed staff proposals for 13 parcels adjacent to Swamp Creek on the 522 corridor: options include keeping TOD rules, replacing the overlay with Urban Corridor East/Urban Residential zones, and offering height bonuses (up to 85 ft) tied to buffer restoration and an increased affordability requirement (25% at 50% AMI). Council members were split on heights, timing with Ecology shoreline guidance, and tradeoffs between density and environmental protection.
City staff presented options for regulating 13 parcels adjacent to Swamp Creek on the 522 corridor and asked council for direction to draft code. The parcels retained an older overlay after the 2023 TOD updates; staff recommended removing the overlay and rezoning to Urban Corridor East (west side) and Urban Residential (east side), with an incentive structure that increases affordable requirements (from 10% under TOD to 25%) and allows increased height (from 65 to up to 85 feet) in exchange for buffer restoration and enhanced environmental mitigation.
Planner and staff described the technical analysis: a Swamp Creek study ranked 155 parcels; within the 13 parcels six were medium priority and seven low priority for conservation/restoration. Staff modeled housing outcomes under multiple zoning scenarios, showing that urban corridor and urban residential options could yield more affordable units (25% requirement) and—if paired with buffer enhancements—could maintain or increase overall housing supply. Several council members urged caution: some favored the staff recommendation and incentives, while others preferred lower height limits (50–65 ft) and argued changes should wait for the Department of Ecology’s forthcoming shoreline guidance and the next Shoreline Master Program update (expected in the coming 1–3 years), to avoid regulatory conflict.
Council direction: staff said a majority leaning toward the staff recommendation would move them to prepare draft code in the fall and schedule a public hearing; staff noted interim regulations expire at the end of November and that an extension might be required if more time is needed to finalize code.
