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Density Increase Conditional Use Permit
August 10, 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 Unit Density Conditional Use Permit requested for the Harrington Redevelopment
Project. The square footage of our site is 29,359 sf (.67 acres) allowing us 54 units per Renton’s multifamily unit
calculation. We are looking to provide 69 (an additional 15) units in our building by introducing affordable housing in order
to receive a maximum 30% increase per Renton zoning code 4-9-065. The additional units will be provided in the form of
(8) affordable housing units and (7) standard units.
Density increase justification
Our goal for the project is to commit to the growth of downtown Renton and we wish to provide the opportunity for people
of different incomes to have an option of living in the new development. With the growth of the urban environment, we
hope to give the chance for people to remain or move into downtown Renton while also maintaining the objectives of
Renton’s Comprehensive Plan:
1. Comprehensive Plan
Renton’s comprehensive plan includes a vision in which the City is looking to grow and provide a healthy and vibrant
community. Within this plan we are aiding in the community effort by providing quality housing choice for people of all
income levels and the proposal to increase density with the affordable housing and associated bonus market rate units
therefore is in alignment with that vision. We are hoping to increase local residents and promote the city economy by
giving the local business more clients, customers, and potential new employees. In Planning for efficient land, if we can
provide more homes for people into the neighborhood in the given lot area, and we can continue to make this area of
downtown a growth center for Renton. Being in the Center village Zone is all about revitalizing the area as an urban center
and allowing people on different levels of income to create a more vibrant diverse urban center to this area of the
community. Letting the density increase on this multifamily will only help promote the effort in helping this CV zone reach
the city life goals and expand on area’s development.
2. Location
Our building is located along two main roadways NE Sunset Blvd. and Harrington Ave. NE. The additional 15 units will not
have a negative impact on the environment and infrastructure of the area and the existing roadways. The additional units
will not trigger additional curbcuts or ROW improvements per City of Renton standards. More residents will only support
the growth of the CV area by bringing more attention and emphasis to Sunset and the downtown and commercial life. We
Density Increase Conditional Use Permit
08/10/2021
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are looking to revitalize this section of Renton by bringing in more pedestrian traffic and vehicles to the area, raising the
amount of action happening and visual safety of pedestrians on foot. With more people there will be more use of
downtown shopping areas, the neighboring grocery store, as well as the Renton Highlands library and Sunset Park. The
building site is also adjacent to a 240-bus stop that provides route from Renton all the way up to Bellevue giving residents
access to public transportation and may bring more people from Bellevue or vice versa for city interaction. See Traffic
report for more information.
3. Diverse Unit Mix
Within the design of the 69 units there is a mixture of open 1-bedroom, 1-bedroom, 2-bedroom units and a 3-bedroom unit.
The breakdown of the units is (10) open-1 bedrooms, (32) 1-bedroom, (26) 2-bedroom and (1) 3-bedroom. Among these
units the affordable housing units will be distributed proportionally in the same percentage amount as the types per the
total, yielding (1) open-1 bedroom, (4) 1-bedroom, and (3) 2-bedroom units. Affordable housing unit types will be located in
different sections and on all levels of the building to diversify the selection of these units for different sized families.
4. Light and Air
All units are located along the exterior of the building and will provide all air and light requirements per housing standards.
Natural light intake will be affected based on unit location around building. Units will be in different sides of building to
provide different options of natural light access.
5. Parking
Parking will be provided on site per City of Renton requirements with the support of a proposed parking reduction request.
The parking reduction request will reduce the required parking for market rate units but will not decrease parking provided
for affordable units, calculated at the rate of one stall per 4 units. Currently the project is required to provide 75 stalls per
the combined requirements for commercial and residential uses, and the project is proposing 69 spaces, an 8% parking
adjustment. See parking modification letter and traffic report for more information on parking justification.
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