Published June 24 2014
Also, more work on SMP Update
The City Council on Monday moved a step closer to allowing the construction of a new Target store in the Wilburton commercial district, east of downtown and Interstate 405.
A final vote on a rezone, land use code amendment and development agreement, is scheduled for the council's July 7 meeting. If approved, Target Corp. has indicated it could begin construction of the approximately 150,000-square-foot building this summer, with a store opening sometime in 2015.
On Monday, the council held two public hearings to facilitate the project. The first hearing was to consider a land use code amendment for the areas zoned Community Business within the Wilburton subarea. The amendment would allow larger retail buildings of more than 100,000 square feet. In addition, it would allow taller buildings of up to 75 feet within a specified area along 116th Avenue Northeast. Four people spoke at the hearing, three of them in support of the land use code amendment.
The second public hearing was on a development agreement between the city and Target. Among other provisions, the agreement specifies standards for streetscape design, building design and signage. Two people spoke in favor of the agreement.
In a separate item, the council received a report and recommendation of the hearing examiner on an application to rezone the nearly five-acre Target site at the southeast corner of 116th Avenue Northeast and Northeast Fourth Street.
The rezone application is tied to the extension of Northeast Fourth Street, from 116th to 120th Avenue Northeast. Part of the project is currently under construction. The extension, and the "retail village" vision for the area along 116th Avenue, known as auto row, is part of a 2008 long-range planning update for the Wilburton/Northeast Eighth Street area. council agenda materials
Review of draft shoreline regs continues
Councilmembers continued their review of a draft Shoreline Management Program Update. It was the seventh meeting at which the council considered the draft SMP, including several in-depth policy discussion on issues identified as important to the Planning Commission and council. Discussion topics on Monday concerned provisions on critical areas, moorage and shoreline stabilization.
Work to update the SMP, originally adopted in 1974 and essentially unchanged since that time, began several years ago. Once the updated SMP is adopted, it will regulate the development and use of the citys shorelines.
The next council session to consider the SMP update is scheduled for July 14. agenda materials