Commission reviews MS-zone design standards and flags active-transportation map labeling for correction
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Summary
Staff explained which design standards apply in the Manufacturing and Shipping (MS) zone and confirmed that extending a storefront frontage designation would require additional ground-floor storefront and transparency standards; commissioners also asked that the Transpo active-transportation map be labeled to distinguish planned routes from built.
Planning staff summarized follow-up items requested at earlier meetings. Regarding the Manufacturing and Shipping (MS) zone downtown, Libby Grange said development in the MS zone is exempt from many site-design standards but that extending the storefront-block frontage designation from Third Street to Second Street would require ground-floor storefront standards where applied — for example, minimum transparency, storefront height and sidewalk weather protection — for redevelopments along that corridor.
Separately, staff confirmed that the Transpo memo included an “active transportation network map” that the commission found unclear because it did not distinguish planned facilities from existing routes; Commissioner Currier and others asked staff to clarify whether the map depicts the planned network or existing facilities. Grange said staff would request Transpo (the city’s transportation consultant) update the labeling to clearly show planned versus existing segments.
Ending: Staff will incorporate the MS-zone design implications into the next draft and ask Transpo to relabel the active-transportation network map so planned routes and existing facilities are clearly distinguished before the Oct. 22 packet.