HomeMy WebLinkAboutC_NRNA Neighborhood meeting follow-up_240502.msg CAUTION: This email originated from outside the City of Renton. Do not click links, reply or open attachments unless you know the content is safe.
Andrew, we always prefer direct communication and really appreciate Varun and Ajit attending our meeting last month. Their willingness to share and listen, helped emphasize the tone
for the meeting which was to connect and understand each other's perspectives. Thank you for helping to facilitate that. And please extend our thanks to them.
Please note we're including City Council and City Planning on this email communication too because we think it's time that all parties connect directly on this topic.
We have several questions, continued concerns, and requests we would like to have addressed, hopefully by you, and where appropriate, by the City.
1. Current traffic study; we want to confirm the study required is being conducted and request an update on the study. As you know, the study is for a Boeing day-time shift change, during
pm peak hours and during a.m peak hours, ideally on three different days of the week, including a weekend. Having this analysis would provide insight into our concerns about an additional
100+ vehicles during these high impact times.
2. We want to understand where the utility easements are specifically located on the property - where is the easement on the east side? West side? We are aware of the Boeing easement,
running north and south in the middle of the block on the east side of the property, but are not aware of other easements or utilities on the west side (or east side beside the Boeing
easement) on the property.
3. What other options have you evaluated for what is described as “alternative parking configurations”?
Other points for consideration include:
4. Will the commercial parking spaces be time restricted so tenants can use it for parking? If not already considered, we recommend this as one alternative and that this alternative
not be in lieu of the number of spaces currently required.
5. We'd like to understand what you will specifically communicate to your residents to "discourage the use of residential streets for building access".
6. We realize you've incurred expenditures and can only imagine your frustration. However, before a Site Plan is approved, we want to get a clear, detailed Site Plan including modifications
made and who initiated those modifications and the reasoning behind them. We appreciate your hope that “opportunities may present themselves” to ease traffic load in the neighborhood,
and support these efforts, and we are heartened to know the city is showing a willingness to ‘rethink” some of the original requirements. Our preference is for these concepts to be
more clearly defined so we know our concerns are being addressed with clarity.
We'd also like to recommend that parties on this email distribution list (parties of record, City Council, City Planning, Varun and Ajit, and you) get together face to face, to discuss
all of the above. We recommend this occurring no later than the end of May, and preferably earlier - definitely before the Hearing Examiner Meeting. An in person meeting would facilitate
a better understanding for the parties involved, which could result in a better process going forward.
Thank you again and we appreciate your patience with our response.
~Sheryl
On behalf of the NRNA
North Renton Neighborhood Association
Community, Crime (Safety) & Communication
Where Everyone is Welcome
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On Fri, Apr 26, 2024 at 11:24 AM andrew kovacharchitects.com <https://gcc02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fkovacharchitects.com%2F&data=05%7C02%7Camorganroth%40rentonwa.gov%7Cc180
fb88924846b4921b08dc6b9ba05b%7C71014141061148858e98cc96a05e1675%7C1%7C0%7C638503563389137738%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sd
ata=nUxvJZ4r1Q%2FOR%2BXY0A%2BfvY0sm6NQUEA0HTDpl7TABBM%3D&reserved=0> <andrew@kovacharchitects.com <mailto:andrew@kovacharchitects.com> > wrote:
Greeting Sheryl and Diane,
Thank you again for inviting Varun and Ajit to the neighborhood meeting. They wanted me to send their thanks for you and the rest of the group's civility and open communication. They
also relayed three key take-aways from the meeting regarding the development project that we would like to address including the preference for parking access off Logan Ave. N, parking
requirements for the building, and safety concerns related to parking access off N 3rd St.
Parking access off Logan Ave. N
Our preference would be to take access from Logan Ave. and the City is actively encouraging us to explore novel ideas that would allow that to happen, however initial City feedback
and further studies indicated difficulty with that option. The narrowness of the site encourages “flat plate” parking and cannot support a winding ramped parking layout. Utility easements
on the east and west property boundaries prohibits use of the current open spaces for roadways, restricting parking circulation to be within the building footprint. In spite of the
challenges we are continuing to search for alternative parking configurations.
Parking ratio
We are currently meeting parking requirement per Zoning Code but do understand the concerns of the community and will continue to look for opportunities to increase the available number
of parking stalls in addition to pursuing providing ride-share and car-share services for the building's occupants. Please also note that there is additional parking for the commercial
spaces that is counted separately from the residential parking requirement.
Parking access off N 3rd St.
Additional traffic analysis is currently underway focused on access to N 3rd St. We are working with the City to review roadway channelization and traffic signaling sequencing to better
control the flow of traffic and discourage use of residential streets for building access. The parameters of the traffic study are standardized and outside of the developer's control.
We have been diligently working with the City accommodating all their plan review requests going on 4 years now and the critical item for us is to obtain Site Plan Approval before spending
more resources on the project. Once we have approval and can move forward in earnest, opportunities to ease traffic load on the neighborhood may reveal themselves. Without the initial
Site Plan Approval, continued expenditures are impractical. The City has already shown a willingness to rethink the original requirements that in many ways molded the current layout.
There appear to be new flexibilities as mentioned above (such as roadway channelization, signal sequencing, access off Logan Ave, etc) not available to us when we initiated the project
that we will certainly be exploring once we have secured Site Plan Approval.
Community feedback has already been helpful in many regards (such as local insight addressing offsite noise issues, traffic safety, open space needs, mid-block access etc.) and will
continue to be as we move forward.
We are grateful the community is open to discussion and understanding of the complexities surrounding developments of this nature.
Thank you for this opportunity for considerate engagement,
Best
Andrew
Andrew Kovach AIA, NCARB
Principal Architect
cell- 206.310.0325
2115 COLBY AVENUE
EVERETT, WA 98201
425.259.0609
www.KovachArchitects.com <https://gcc02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.kovacharchitects.com%2F&data=05%7C02%7Camorganroth%40rentonwa.gov%7Cc180fb88924846b4921b08dc
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On Apr 16, 2024, at 7:14 PM, North Renton Neighborhood Association <north.renton@gmail.com <mailto:north.renton@gmail.com> > wrote:
Andrew - thank you so much! We're really looking forward to seeing them. And they'll find us to be a welcoming group who are really seeking to understand their plans.
Thank you again.
Sheryl
North Renton Neighborhood Association
Community, Crime (Safety) & Communication
Where Everyone is Welcome
www.northrenton.org <https://gcc02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.northrenton.org%2F&data=05%7C02%7Camorganroth%40rentonwa.gov%7Cc180fb88924846b4921b08dc6b9ba05b%7C710141410
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On Tue, Apr 16, 2024 at 6:50 PM andrew kovacharchitects.com <https://gcc02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fkovacharchitects.com%2F&data=05%7C02%7Camorganroth%40rentonwa.gov%7Cc18
0fb88924846b4921b08dc6b9ba05b%7C71014141061148858e98cc96a05e1675%7C1%7C0%7C638503563389157039%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&s
data=nyCHCCCsJtitf%2F9W8%2BXmglNq2%2FeL61rGzk6sdxA2yx8%3D&reserved=0> <andrew@kovacharchitects.com <mailto:andrew@kovacharchitects.com> > wrote:
Greetings Sheryl,
Ambili Sukesan and her son Varun will be attending your meeting. I am in Eastern Washington and not able to attend. They are delightful, well meaning people I truly enjoy working
with. I am sure it will be a fruitful evening.
Best,
Andrew
Andrew Kovach AIA, NCARB
Principal Architect
cell- 206.310.0325
2115 COLBY AVENUE
EVERETT, WA 98201
425.259.0609
www.KovachArchitects.com <https://gcc02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.kovacharchitects.com%2F&data=05%7C02%7Camorganroth%40rentonwa.gov%7Cc180fb88924846b4921b08
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On Apr 11, 2024, at 7:58 PM, North Renton Neighborhood Association <north.renton@gmail.com <mailto:north.renton@gmail.com> > wrote:
4/17 at 6:30 p.m at 211 Burnett Avenue North.
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