Safe to say that development is a hot- button topic on the Hill these days.
With major construction taking place on Broadway at the former U.S. Bank site, plus the prospect of large, mixed-use projects on former supermarket properties on Broadway's north end, the kinds of projects that will be built on the Hill, and how well they blend in and connect with the neighborhood, is a highly charged issue.
One step aimed at making sure future development fits with Capitol Hill's vision for itself was taken last week by the Seattle City Council. On Aug. 15, the council approved the Capitol Hill Design Guidelines, a document that will be a blueprint for the kinds of development the neighborhood hopes to see. The Seattle City Council referenced the need for Capitol Hill Design Guidelines when it approved the Broadway upzone earlier this summer.
The neighborhood's design guidelines are meant to supplement the city-wide guidelines already in place. The expectation is that they can become a tool for future developers as they produce new buildings on Capitol Hill, as well as serve as a frame of reference for the city's Design Review Board during a project's review process.
Zoning laws include rules about setbacks, heights and lot coverage, among many other areas, whereas design guidelines refer more to preferences. In the case of the newly adopted Capitol Hill guidelines, the neighborhood is advising the city, and developers, what it would like to see built in the future.
"These are things we want to see," said Randy Wiger, former chair of the Capitol Hill Stewardship Council, the group charged with implementing the Capitol Hill Neighborhood Plan. "It's more about how a building fits into a streetscape - the materials that are used, landscaping, pedestrian-friendly features. They are more about appearance and how a building fits into the whole."
Wiger said that when he began working on the stewardship council he was surprised that the Hill lacked such guidelines.
"Several other neighborhoods had them, and it was almost a little embarrassing that Capitol Hill didn't," he said.
Work on the guidelines first began in 1998, as part of the neighborhood planning process. The process then became stalled for several years until it was picked up by new members Kevin McDonald and Kelly Goold, who took up the project when they joined the stewardship council in late 2002. A draft version of the guidelines was given to the city council over the winter, and formally adopted on Aug. 15.
McDonald, who works as a transportation planner for the city of Bellevue, said he and Goold combed over the city's design guidelines to find areas that seemed lacking when applied to Capitol Hill.
"We looked around the Hill for examples of what we would like to emulate, features of buildings where we saw desirable elements that could be mimicked in new buildings," McDonald said. "We looked at specific treatments and materials, considered how good buildings relate to the sidewalk."
Special attention was paid to pedestrian concerns, of particular importance to Broadway and other Hill shopping districts. The guidelines also reference how buildings might best fit into the neighborhood. Numerous photos are included to serve as examples of the kinds of design elements that are specific to Capitol Hill and help distinguish the neighborhood from, say, Ballard. Avoiding generic business signs, like those often used by national chains, was one element mentioned. Another targeted avoiding long, blank walls in a business district, such as what is found on the former QFC building near the north end of Broadway.
"The idea is not to prescribe a specific kind of building, but provide tools for a developer and the community to see how a new building would relate to its surroundings," he said. "The document says 'here's what issues you should address' not 'here's what to build.'"
McDonald said the process benefited from public participation as well as input from city departments, adding that the final document anticipated the city's decision to allow more building height on Broadway.
"It's important to have them adopted now," he said. "There will be a lot of new development on Broadway. This new development will have the benefit of these guidelines, something we can point to show what the neighborhood thinks is important."
Stewardship Council member Rich Lang, who's been a member of numerous community groups over the last 15 years, said he is glad the guidelines are now in place. But he wishes they had more teeth.
"The document is more or less suggestions to developers. They're recommendations that unfortunately do not have the force of law," he said. "For instance, when it says we want to encourage setbacks, I wish it could have said 'insist.'"
Lang said that the overall success of the guidelines, meaning if they do positively influence future projects, has a great deal to do with the specific person or group undertaking a project.
Lang added that "building good buildings makes economic sense. For the long term it's good business. But a bad developer can come in and do a bad building on the cheap."
Wiger said that the Design Review Board takes neighborhood design guidelines very seriously because it codifies the neigh-borhood's position on design issues, especially helpful in the many cases where few people attend a design review meeting.
"I think these, as a whole, do a pretty fair job of reflecting the community," he said.
"It's certainly much better to have the guidelines. It's good to remind developers that they're not building in Bellevue, they're building on Capitol Hill," Lang said.
A copy of the Capitol Hill Design Guidelines is available at www.cityofseattle.net/dpd/Planning/Design_Review_Program/App licant's_Toolbox/Design_Guidelines/DPD_001604.asp
Doug Schwartz is the editor of the Capitol Hill Times. He can be reached at editor @ capitolhilltimes.com or 461-1308.
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