City Council Minutes 2021 07 13 - Laserfiche WebLink

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City Council Meeting Minutes July 13, 2021 Page 5 of 11 Director Zuccaro noted staff finds the application meets the downtown design guidelines, the downtown framework plan, the PUD criteria, the SRU criteria, and the final Plat criteria and he reviewed those in detail. If this development is built it will add about 7100 sq ft to downtown, leaving the core area still below the downtown development cap. The Historic Preservation Commission and Planning Commission both voted to approve the project. The applicant has made minor changes to this design since it went to Historic Preservation Commission. Staff recommends approval of the resolution. Mayor Stolzmann asked if the first floor of the Spruce Street building could ever be used for residential. Director Zuccaro stated this application only considers residential for the second story. Mayor Stolzmann asked how the residential units on Front Street fit the framework plan. Director Zuccaro stated the development as a whole is largely commercial and staff feels the first floor residential on Front Street is secondary to the larger commercial area in the core of Downtown and the development retains commercial uses. Mayor Stolzmann stated she is concerned other downtown buildings will ask for residential on the first floor and that would change the character of the area. Erik Hartronft, applicant presentation, noted that post COVID many companies need less space now and there is not as big a market for commercial space as there used to be. One of the goals of this project is to add this mixed use to activate these spaces and level out the daytime population of downtown. He reviewed the history of the site and the current proposal. He noted the new residential units on Front Street are specifically designed to have home occupations and a street level office. Councilmember Dickinson asked why the residential units on Front Street don't have first floor commercial. Hartronft stated there really is no market for it but it is designed to allow for a first floor space for a home occupation with direct access to the street. Councilmember Brown also noted some concern with having first floor residential in this area. Public Comments — None Mayor Stolzmann asked to add a finding that the primary street facing uses remain predominantly commercial for the Spruce Street portion of the project. MOTION: Councilmember Lipton moved to approved Resolution No. 46 with a finding that notes the primary street facing uses remain predominantly commercial for the Spruce Street portion of the project; Mayor Pro Tern Maloney seconded. Councilmember Lipton stated this building has always suffered from vacancies. Its design doesn't support the civic core very well and it is time for a change. He stated integrating some living units in might invigorate the building and would be an improvement over the current site. It would overall benefit downtown.