HomeMy WebLinkAboutIV.D Environmental District
Memorandum
To:
Planning and Community Development Committee
From:
Kevin Snyder, AICP, Assistant Director
cc:
Cindy Baker, Jeff Dixon, Elizabeth Chamberlain, Kelly McLain Aardal, Dennis Dowdy,
Dennis Selle and Ingrid Gaub
Date:
January 21, 2009
Re:
Potential Amendments to Maximum Lot Coverage Requirements for Auburn City Code
Chapter 18.33 – Environmental Park District
At the Committee’s January 12, 2009 meeting, the Committee requested staff prepare potential revisions to
the current 35 percent maximum lot coverage standard specified in ACC 18.33.040.D for Committee review
and discussion at its January 26, 2009 meeting. Specifically, the Committee requested staff prepare the
following:
Revise the current 35 percent maximum lot coverage to 50 percent; and,
Prepare new draft standards specifying how an increase in maximum lot coverage to 75 percent can
be “earned” incorporating potential requirements for low impact development and green building
methods.
Please find attached for Committee review and discussion potential draft revisions to ACC 18.33.040
(Development Standards) and ACC 18.33.050 (Supplemental Development Standards). During the
Committee’s discussion of the potential draft amendments, staff would like to discuss the following questions:
1. Is the Committee agreed on the increase in ACC 18.33.040.D from 35 percent to 50 percent?
2. What are the Committee’s viewpoints on the proposed standards for low impact development and
green building methods specified in ACC 18.33.050.F?
3. Does the Committee want to require a project to incorporate both low impact development and green
building methods in order to increase to the higher maximum lot coverage standard or does the
Committee want to require compliance to one or the other – more of a menu approach?
4. Does the Committee want to consider further increasing the maximum lot coverage based on the
potential requirement to provide low impact development and green building methods as an
additional incentive? For example, an increase from 75 percent to 85 percent?
5. Does the Committee want to consider granting an additional percentage increase (e.g. 5 percent) in
maximum lot coverage to development projects that obtain LEED certification?
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6. Does the Committee want to consider requiring the construction of vegetated roofs as a condition of
increasing maximum lot coverage?
7. Does the Committee want to proceed forward with proposed changes to ACC 18.33.040 and ACC
18.33.050 at this time or does the Committee have additional questions or information needs that it
wants staff to research and report back on at its next meeting?
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18.33.040 Development standards.
Development standards in an environmental park district are as follows:
A. Minimum lot area: none required;
B. Minimum lot width: none required;
C. Minimum lot depth: none required;
D. Maximum lot coverage: 5035 percent, provided that the maximum lot coverage
may be increased to 75 percent if compliance to ACC 18.33.050.F can be
achieved.
E. Maximum building height: 35 feet;
F. Minimum yard setbacks:
1. Front: 20 feet;
2. Side, interior: 15 feet;
3. Side, street: 20 feet;
4. Rear: 20 feet;
An additional 30-foot setback shall be required if adjacent to or separated by a street less
than 50 feet in width of any residentially zoned property;
G. Fences and Hedges. Fences shall be decorative and relate architecturally to the
associated building. Acceptable materials are brick, wood, stone, metal, or textured
concrete. Colored chain link fences may be allowed subject to the planning, building and
community director's approval. Barbed wire or razor wire fences are not permitted. For
further information see Chapter 18.48 ACC. The provisions of this section shall not apply
to temporary fences required for construction projects permitted by the city;
H. Parking: see Chapter 18.52 ACC;
I. Landscaping: see Chapter 18.50 ACC;
J. Signs: see Chapter 18.56 ACC;
K. Performance standards: see Chapter 18.58 ACC. (Ord. 6036 § 10, 2006.)
18.33.050 Supplemental development standards.
Supplemental development standards in an environmental park district are as follows:
A. All activities shall be conducted entirely within a building except as follows:
1. Horticulture activities.
2. Outdoor storage associated with light manufacturing uses pursuant to ACC
18.33.020(K).
3. Refuse containers, provided they are screened from adjoining property and public
or private right-of-way with a masonry fence and a five-foot width Type III landscaping.
4. Uses listed as requiring a conditional use permit which require some outdoor
activity or display.
B. All odors, noise, vibrations, heat, glare, or other emissions are controlled within
the confines of a building.
C. Loading and unloading docks shall not be visible from the street.
D. Mechanical equipment on rooftops shall be sited and designed to minimize noise
and effectively screen the equipment from view from adjacent properties and rights-of-
way. The following methods, or a combination thereof, may be used:
1. Set back from the roof edge to obscure visibility from below;
City of Auburn Planning & Community Development Committee Meeting
January 26, 2009
Review Copy – Version 1
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2. Integration into the building architecture, using building walls, roof wells or roof
parapets to conceal the equipment;
3. Equipment enclosure or sight-obscuring fencing or landscaping;
4. Overhead trellis or roof to obscure visibility from above.
Materials used to screen mechanical equipment shall be the same as or compatible with
the design of the principal structure.
E. No on-site hazardous substance processing and handling, or hazardous waste
treatment and storage facilities, shall be permitted, unless clearly incidental and
secondary to a permitted use. On-site hazardous waste treatment and storage facilities are
prohibited. (Ord. 6036 § 10, 2006.)
F. The Director or designee may approve an increase in the maximum lot coverage
standard from 50 percent to 75 percent for a project if compliance to the following
subsections can be demonstrated:
1. Low Impact Development Methods. A development project seeking to
increase its maximum lot coverage to 75 percent shall incorporate all of the
following low impact development methods, unless otherwise excepted by the
Director or designee based on written professional justification. Any
exception to the implementation of these methods may only be authorized by
the Director or designee following submittal of written evidence by a
registered professional engineer in the State of Washington demonstrating that
implementation of a particular method is impractical based on topographic
features or soil composition. In those instances where site conditions make
application of all of these methods impractical, the Director or designee shall
specify the most appropriate method (s) to be used. In no instance, shall a
development project be completely waived from incorporating low impact
development methods:
Minimal excavation foundations composed of driven piles and a connector
a.
at or above grade to reduce soil excavation and compaction.
Construction and use of pervious pavement composed of concrete or
b.
asphalt or pavers or grid systems filled with grass or gravel.
Soil amendments to areas disturbed during the construction process.
c.
Construction and use of rain gardens (also referred to as bio-retention
d.
cells).
Retention and incorporation of existing topographic site features that slow,
e.
store and infiltrate storwmater.
Construction and use of hydrologically rough on-site landscape that slow
f.
storm flows and design features that slows storm flows and increases the
amount of time storm flows stay on the site.
Construction and use of rooftop rainwater harvesting comprised of
g.
catchment or cistern systems that collect rooftop runoff for irrigation, grey
water or other non-potable water purposes.
Limitation of on-site parking spaces to one hundred twenty-five (125)
h.
percent of the required parking.
Native vegetation shall be used and non-native vegetation shall be
i.
prohibited.
City of Auburn Planning & Community Development Committee Meeting
January 26, 2009
Review Copy – Version 1
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Other low impact development methods proposed by the applicant that the
j.
Director or designee determine are appropriate to the site and type of
development that have been substantiated by appropriate written and plan
documentation and are deemed by the Director or designee
2.Green Building Construction Methods. A development project seeking to
increase its maximum lot coverage to 75 percent shall incorporate design
guidelines and principles specified in the United States Green Building
®
Council’s Leadership in Energy and Efficiency Design (LEED) Rating
System appropriate to the type and extent of construction, provided that
certification of a structure through the LEED system shall not be required.
New construction and major renovations of existing buildings shall be
designed in accordance with one or more of the following LEED programs:
LEED for New Construction
a.
LEED for Existing Buildings: Operations & Maintenance
b.
LEED for Commercial Interiors
c.
LEED For Core and Shell
d.
An applicant shall submit a written proposal on forms provided by the City for
use of one or more of the LEED programs specified above prior to the
submittal of a complete building permit. The Director or designee shall
consult with the City Building Official, and other qualified internal and
external parties as may be deemed relevant to determine the adequacy and
appropriateness of the proposed LEED program (s).
For the purposes of this Section, major renovations shall be defined as the
construction of an addition to an existing structure that is 7,500 square feet or
greater in size or the entire replacement or upgrade of mechanical equipment
or plumbing equipment or heating and ventilation equipment.
Green building methods as specified above shall be required, unless otherwise
excepted by the Director or designee based on written professional
justification. Any exception to the implementation of these methods may only
be authorized by the Director or designee following submittal of written or
plan evidence by a registered professional architect in the State of Washington
demonstrating that implementation of a particular method is impractical based
on site configuration, topographic features or soil composition. In those
instances where one or more site conditions make application of all of these
methods impractical, the Director or designee shall specify the most
appropriate method (s) to be used. In no instance, shall a development project
be completely waived from incorporating green building methods.
City of Auburn Planning & Community Development Committee Meeting
January 26, 2009
Review Copy – Version 1
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