Title
Briefing & Discussion about Downtown Plan Scoping
City Manager Recommendation:
Receive briefing from staff; provide guidance on principles to shape the scoping process and how to address the existing downtown plan (see options).
Report
Issue:
First discussion about downtown plan scoping, set to begin in early 2015. Staff will provide an overview of Olympia's past downtown planning efforts, what is in the current downtown plan, what other cities have done, and what in general can be achieved with a new downtown planning effort.
Staff Contact:
Amy Buckler, Associate Planner, Community Planning and Development, 360.570.5847
Presenter(s):
Amy Buckler, Associate Planner, Community Planning and Development (CP&D)
Leonard Bauer, Deputy Director, CP&D
Brian Wilson, Downtown Liaison, CP&D
Background and Analysis:
The City Council will adopt a Comprehensive Plan Update in December of 2014. Goals GL17-19 and related policies in the Land Use Chapter relate specifically to downtown, including:
PL17.1: Adopt a Downtown Plan addressing - at minimum - housing, public spaces, parking management, rehabilitation and redevelopment, architecture and cultural resources, building skyline and views, and relationships to the Port peninsula and Capitol Campus.
The City has a current plan for downtown which is outlined in the existing Comprehensive Plan and development regulations. The current downtown plan is the result and evolution of over 70 years of continued focus on downtown by the City and various other stakeholders.
As part of the Comprehensive Plan Update, sections of the existing Comprehensive Plan specifically related to downtown (with exception of GL17-19) were moved to a separate 26-page document (Attachment 3) proposed to be adopted separately from the Plan. Thus, "the downtown plan" would not formally be part of the Comprehensive Plan, rather a separate goal and policy document that could be updated and include strategic actions and b...
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