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Height Conditional Use Permit
August 4, 2021
Jill Ding, Senior Planner
City of Renton
Department of Planning and Development
Renton City Hall
1055 South Grady Way
Renton, WA 98057
RE: Harrington Redevelopment
PRE- 20000078
The purpose of this letter is to justify the Height Conditional Use Permit requested for the Harrington Redevelopment
Project. We are requesting to go above the maximum height from average grade of 70’-0” per Renton zoning code 4-2-
120.A. This condition will include building structure and mechanical equipment located on the roof. With the height
adjustments, the current design is set to a measurement of 78’-6”.
Building height increase justification
Our goal for the building design is to commit to the growth of downtown Renton while also creating interesting architecture.
With the base design being a 7-story building, the structure is well aligned with height limitations, but left little room for
massing modulation and general building components. To fully address zoning code intent with a compliant design
including upper-level roofline modulation, a reduction of one building story would be required, rendering the project
financially infeasible. Please read the following for justification of the conditional permit on how it complies with city and
code objectives:
1. Comprehensive Plan
a. Residential Mixed Use Ceiling Height Requirements 4-4-150
Renton commercial code requires clear ceiling height of 18’-0” per RMC 4-4-150. On the project site, the
commercial areas are set to face onto the main roadway of Sunset Blvd and turn into NE Harrington Ave. Retail
here is optimally placed for visibility, viability, and activation of the public realm. This location however places the
retail spaces at the highest grading on site, therefore pushing up the code-compliant ceiling clearances would not
locate the retail in the best place with respect to urban planning, public interaction or building usage. This causes
the building to be raised higher than if the commercial were located at the south. By raising the height restriction,
we can get the clear height space needed in the commercial occupancies while locating the retail spaces in the
optimal location on site.
b. Renton Urban Design Intentions 4-3-100.E3 Roof Lines
Renton zoning code requires roofline variations per RMC 4-3-100. With the height limitations, we were left with
almost no room to give any variation in our roof line. The proposed design provides shifting penthouse elements,
a continuation of the building’s play of modulation, and intriguing roof overhang elements. This helps break up
the massing scale and prevents the building from having an out of scale presence from the human perspective.
Renton Height Conditional Use Permit
08/04/2021
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See building design before and after from the building restricting itself from the height limitation to the building
being able to break beyond those limits. The modulation not only will create interest from the exterior but also
create unique spaces for future renters within the units.
c. Building code and equipment requirements
There are many elements of code required equipment and standards that must be implemented for the building
to work. The elevator penthouse needs additional height from the highest level to provide space for equipment
and structure that allows the elevator to function. In addition to the elevator equipment, we have shafts for
ventilation, exhaust, along with a solar panel array, as required by the WSEC, which also requires extra height
above the typical height limit. All these elements, whether individually or in whole, require additional
consideration for elements of the building exceeding the maximum height limit.
2. Effect on Abutting and Adjacent Properties
Structure exceeding the height limit will not impact adjacent properties or sensitive areas nor impact solar access or view
potentials.
3. Bulk and Scale
Raising portions of our roof line above the height limit allows the project to better break up the building massing and create
a dynamic roofline and to play with modulation and materials. These variegated penthouses and projecting elements
objects are pushed and pulled with respect to the main massing to gain emphasis on shift in scale and form articulation.
4. Light and Glare
None of the building proposed above the height limit will include light sources which would generate light or glare to
adjacent neighbors or the general ROW
5. Shade and Shadow
Structure exceeding the height limit will not impact adjacent properties or sensitive areas. The neighboring property to the
south is similar in scale to the proposed project and will not be affected by shadow. Neighboring property to the east is a
parking lot with no nearby buildings. There are rights of way to the north (Sunset) and to the west (Harrington)
This concludes our conditional use permit justification letter. Please feel free to contact us with any questions or concerns
you may have on the justification.
Sincerely,
Kyle Stevens
Project Architect