Title
Neighborhood Centers Update
Recommended Action
Committee Recommendation:
The Land Use and Environment Committee and Planning Commission have both been briefed on this item and have shared feedback, which is outlined in the staff report below.
City Manager Recommendation:
Receive an informational briefing on the Neighborhood Centers project.
Report
Issue:
Whether to receive an informational briefing on the Neighborhood Centers project.
Staff Contact:
Casey Schaufler, Associate Planner, Community Planning and Development, 360.753.8254.
Presenter(s):
Casey Schaufler, Associate Planner, Community Planning & Development.
Background and Analysis:
Olympia’s Comprehensive Plan identifies 17 areas for future neighborhood center development. Neighborhood centers are small walkable and transit friendly business areas within neighborhoods that serve the day-to-day retail and service needs of residents. These destinations are important to achieving community goals to reduce environmental impacts, improve human health, foster community interaction, and create resilient neighborhoods.
Despite these long-held goals, neighborhood centers have not developed as envisioned. Following the last periodic update of the Comprehensive Plan in 2014, the Planning Commission set out to better understand why they have not developed, and to help create solutions. Initial work included stakeholder interviews and an online survey, after which no further work was done until 2021. Results of this early work were consolidated into the attached 2014 Summary.
Staff briefed the Land Use and Environment Committee in September 2021, just before starting the recruitment process to hire a consultant. The successful team was MAKERS Architecture and Urban Design and Leland Consulting Group. Outcomes from these tasks are incorporated into the Neighborhood Profiles and Market Analysis.
Following public outreach events held throughout the summer of 2022, the consultants worked with staff to identify policy and regulatory recommendations to address barriers to neighborhood centers development. The final deliverable is the Olympia Neighborhood Centers Strategy report.
The Olympia Neighborhood Centers Strategy updates a 2014 effort by the City to foster small Neighborhood Centers (Centers) that provide commercial services to local residents as called for in Olympia’s Comprehensive Plan. Specifically, the project evaluated the performance of existing centers, and recommends actions to enhance their viability. To accomplish this, the consultant team conducted an in-depth survey of the existing Centers’ economic, demographic, and physical characteristics, explored opportunities for their growth and enhancement, and prepared recommendations for improving their performance. At the same time, the team analyzed the current City Comprehensive Plan policies and criteria for designating centers to identify measures to deal with centers more effectively at the policy level. The team also identified development regulations that act as barriers to development within Neighborhood Centers.
The draft report was presented to the Land Use and Environment Committee on April 25, 2024. Committee members expressed interest in how the Comprehensive Plan and Olympia Municipal Code could be updated to allow small commercial uses. Members discussed small commercial uses not limited to just designated neighborhood centers, but also the feasibility of small commercial uses in additional residential areas throughout the City of Olympia.
The Olympia Planning Commission was briefed on the draft report on May 6, 2024. Planning commissioners shared similar interest in exploring small commercial uses in residential districts outside of the Neighborhood Retail zoning district. Commissioners also discussed economic incentives that would create public spaces in and near neighborhood centers that would allow for community members to congregate. This is similar to previous Planning Commission discussion and interest in exploring urban parklets.
Climate Analysis:
The Neighborhood Centers Strategy will provide recommendations for long-term reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. It will facilitate development of small commercial services for established residential neighborhoods. Development of small commercial uses in existing neighborhood locations will result in a number of benefits in regard to climate impacts including the following: reducing sprawl; providing goods, services, and jobs proximity to existing housing; emphasis on construction of a more efficient transportation network with more connections and more opportunities for active forms of travel; and a reduction in vehicle miles traveled.
Equity Analysis:
Businesses in general will benefit from additional residents located in close proximity to their establishments. Residents of adjacent neighborhoods will be able to use modes of active transportation (walking and biking). Residents without vehicles may benefit from improved access to local services and gathering spaces that otherwise would only be available through use of public transit.
Neighborhood/Community Interests (if known):
Neighborhood centers garnered robust public interest during the last Comprehensive Plan update in 2014. Public engagement included a workshop, popup events and an online survey held in the summer of 2022. Engagement and survey summaries are available on the Neighborhood Centers Engage Olympia website.
Financial Impact:
The project is funded by the Community Planning and Development Department’s base budget. The contract with MAKERS Architecture and Urban Design and Leland Consulting Group is in the amount of $111,680.
Options:
1. Receive the briefing.
2. Do not receive the briefing.
3. Receive the briefing at another time.
Attachments:
Draft Olympia Neighborhood Centers Strategy
Neighborhood Profiles
Market Analysis
2014 Summary of Findings
Link to Engage Olympia