Key design standards, parking changes and incentives in proposed South Town Center plan

During a staff briefing, planners walked commissioners through the proposed design and development guidelines that would implement the South Town Center Subarea Plan.

Staff described three frontage types (primary commercial, secondary mixed and residential), active‑commercial corridors (Main Street and Mill Creek Boulevard), and requirements including 70% active frontage on primary corridors and active uses on intersection corners. They proposed an upper‑level setback requirement (stepping back upper floors by at least 8 feet) and a maximum building length of 180 feet to preserve a human‑scaled streetscape.

The proposal would reduce some parking minima and recast how parking is calculated (for example, retail at 3 stalls per 1,000 square feet and residential to 1–1.25 stalls per unit, with lower rates nearer transit stops). Staff explained that the existing open‑space minimum of 250 square feet per unit would drop to 100 square feet per unit with project caps and allowances to count shared indoor or rooftop amenities toward required open space.

Design controls would require high‑quality facade materials on ground floors and limit large blank walls (20 feet on active corridors, 30 feet elsewhere). The plan would also create an urban form overlay district to carry these standards across the subarea. Finally, staff proposed a development‑incentive program that grants a 25‑foot height bonus (raising the cap from 60 to 85 feet) for projects that deliver public benefits — for example, 70% commercial frontage, 30% three‑bedroom units or 20% for‑sale units.

Provenance: Design standards and zoning changes covered during the presentation (topicintro SEG 762, topfinish SEG 1790).