The city’s Department of Planning and Development has conditionally approved the proposed four-building development at 10201 Greenwood Ave. N. The developer proposes 263 residential units in three, four-story buildings, plus six live-work units, 212 enclosed parking spaces, and 3,900 square feet of commercial space.

Sketch courtesy of Grouparchitect.

The city determined there were no significant environmental impacts associated with the project. You can view the full decision. Appeals of the decision must be received by the hearing examiner by Jan. 31, 2012.

Update Jan. 19: The city has reissued its decision on the project, making it more specific with regard to issues of soil remediation. You can read the full decision here.

Earlier: The proposed development at 6010 Phinney Ave. N. has hit a new snag. The Department of Planning and Development had previously issued a Master Use Permit for the project, but then withdrew that decision after questions about soil remediation on the site.

The project would demolish the one-story building now housing Chef Liao, Phinney Ridge Cleaners, Daily Planet Antiques and the former Roosters Breakfast Club, and replace it with a four-story mixed-use building with 19 residential units, 2,708 square feet of commercial space, and below-grade parking for 23 vehicles.

We’ve got a message in to DPD for more specifics. We’ll update this post when we know more.

DPD Planner Shelley Bolser tells us that the city withdrew its decision and is drafting a new one because it wanted to be more clear about the Washington State Department of Ecology’s role in soil cleanup.

“We…wanted to make sure that we had properly described any of the soil contamination impacts,” Bolser said. “The Washington State Department of Ecology is actually the entity that reviews soil contamination and any cleanup program. So the applicant has applied with that state agency to go through their voluntary cleanup program. We also added a condition that prior to issuance of a building permit, the applicant will need to show the city proof of whatever Ecology has approved for a cleanup plan.”

The Northwest Design Review Board will discuss the proposed four-building development at 10201 Greenwood Ave. N. at 6:30 p.m. Monday, Dec. 12, at Ballard High School. The developer proposes 263 residential units in three, four-story buildings, plus six live-work units, 212 enclosed parking spaces, and 3,900 square feet of commercial space.

Sketch courtesy of Grouparchitect.

The public can comment at the meeting, and then the Board will discuss its recommendations regarding the design.

Fred Meyer has applied once again to the Department of Planning and Development to redevelop its Greenwood store.

After plans for a major development – including a 160,000 square foot store, approximately 250 units of residential, 25,000 square feet of retail space for other businesses, and a three-story parking garage – were shelved last August because of the economy, Fred Meyer decided to do a down-to-the-studs remodel of the existing store, and planned to turn the Greenwood Market building into its home and garden center.

Those plans have now changed again after Fred Meyer decided that the building currently housing Greenwood Market was not suitable for remodeling.

The new plans instead call for the 20,950-square-foot Greenwood Market building to be demolished, and for the existing Fred Meyer store to expand by 55,305 square feet.

The 340-square-foot kiosk housing Pacific Lock & Key will be relocated from the middle of the site to the west side.

The new plans call for parking to be reconfigured for a total of 449 vehicles at and below grade.

The plans are subject to environmental review. Comments on the plan may be submitted online through July 27.

Seattle’s Department of Planning and Development is holding an Early Design Guidance Meeting for a development proposed for the old Leilani Lanes site at 10201 Greenwood Ave. N. on June 13. The meeting will be at 8 p.m. at the Ballard High School Library. The public is welcome to comment.

The developer is proposing a three-story structure with approximately 250 residential units, four live/work units, and 4,000 square feet of commercial space, plus a 200-space underground parking garage.

The site is zoned C1-40 (Commercial, with height limits of 40 feet).

Leilani Lanes opened in 1961, closed in 2006, and was torn down in 2007. A 2008 development proposal went nowhere.

On Monday, the Seattle City Council unanimously adopted legislation to streamline enforcement of overgrown vegetation and junk storage on residential properties.

From the press release:

The new changes create a consistent set of standards to help negligent property owners understand the rules and clean up their yards.

“Neighbors rightly get riled when nearby owners turn their properties into junk yards or car storage depots,” said Councilmember Sally J. Clark, Chair of the Committee on the Built Environment.

Currently, different types of violations are regulated under different sections of the city code, which have different enforcement procedures. This legislation creates one unified code section making the rules and fines levied more understandable so owners can comply with the laws as quickly as possible.

In 2007, Council passed the “Clean Up Your Act” legislation that requires property owners to keep their lots in decent condition, for the sake of neighborhood character and safety. The ordinance adopted on Monday improves and refines the original legislation.

You can report a problem property online, or call the Department of Planning & Development’s violation complaint line at 206-615-0808. Reports can be made anonymously.

There’s nothing like a discussion on neighborhood rezoning to bring out the passionate crowds. About 100 people came to an open house presented by the city’s Department of Planning and Development at Phinney Ridge Lutheran Church on Tuesday night.

The topic was the proposed rezoning of the Greenwood Town Center site (Fred Meyer and Greenwood Market on NW 85th Street), as well as surrounding residential areas. Several months ago, the Greater Greenwood Design Development and Advisory Group (GGDDAG), which includes some members of the Greenwood Community Council, proposed rezoning a 100-foot-deep swath across the street on NW 85th Street, NW 87th Street, and 3rd Avenue NW to allow for multi-family units. The idea was to provide a “step down” between the major development that Fred Meyer has proposed and the surrounding single-family neighborhood.

After hearing from angry neighbors, the council backed off on the part of the proposal that upzoned the residential areas, but the city decided to go ahead and get neighborhood input on the entire proposal.

The proposal is divided into three subareas.Virtually everyone seems to agree on rezoning Subarea #1, which includes the site currently occupied by Fred Meyer and Greenwood Market and their parking lots, from C1-40 (commercial that promotes 40-foot high “big-box” stores and large parking lots) to NC-65 (neighborhood commercial that is pedestrian and transit friendly and encourages mixed-use developments up to 65 feet tall.)

Proponents say rezoning Subarea #1 will protect the neighborhood in case the Fred Meyer development doesn’t go through (their current design for a mixed-use development adheres to the general neighborhood commercial guidelines).

The controversy comes with Subarea #2 and Subarea #3. Subarea #2 would rezone a 100-foot deep parcel along NW 87th Street from 1st Avenue NW to 3rd Avenue NW, and along 3rd Avenue NW from NW 88th Street to NW 85th Street from Single-Family 5000 to Lowrise 3. That would affect dozens of single family homes.

Subarea #3, which includes the old “Checkers” building on the corner of NW 85th Street and 3rd Avenue NW, and the area south of NW 85th Street between Palatine Avenue North and just west of 3rd Avenue NW, would be rezoned from NC2 P-40 (neighborhood commercial, pedestrian overlay with a 40-foot height limit) to NC2 P-65 (increasing the height limit to 65 feet).

“What you’re doing here tonight is very difficult,” City Councilmember Sally Clark told the crowd at the beginning of the meeting. She said talking to neighbors about zoning is hard, especially as a neighborhood grows and changes. The idea is that someday when you leave that neighborhood, “what do you leave behind as a map?”

Seattle City Councilmember Sally Clark (right) talks to concerned neighbors.

DPD Senior Urban Planner Andrea Petzel started off the meeting by emphasizing that each of the three subareas is being treated as separate entities.

“Each of these subareas is being considered separately. It is not a package deal,” she said.

Two people from the GCC or with knowledge of the proposals were stationed at each Subarea station to answer questions. People wandered around the room, writing comments (mostly negative) on sticky notes and placing them on the appropriate drawing.

Leslie Moynihan’s house on the southwest corner of 3rd Avenue NW and NW 87th Street was featured in a photo on DPD’s presentation board because it will be inside the rezone area.

“We bought a home on an arterial street and we understand the implications of that,” she said. But she says the wide street acts as a natural buffer and there’s no need for a step-down area, especially since it would be just feet away from a single-family home. “Moving the buffer into the middle of a single-family block doesn’t make any sense to me.”

Neighbor Brian Hart agreed. “I think the street is a much more natural buffer than the eight feet to my neighbor’s house.”

Hart’s house on NW 86th Street and 3rd Avenue NW would be just outside the buffer area, meaning his house could be just feet away from a taller multi-family building. He and other neighbors think there’s plenty of empty multi-family space in the neighborhood, and we should fill that up before changing the zoning that could add even more. “Ask me in 10 years. Maybe it will be really different,” Hart said. “Now I don’t think that it’s necessary.”

Janet Dockery lives on NW 87th Street inside Subarea #2 and went door-to-door informing neighbors of the proposal and about the meeting.

“I like my neighborhood and I like the single-family homes,” Dockery said. “I like the character of the neighborhood…and I sure don’t want to live next to one of those things,” she said of taller, multi-family buildings.

She says any stepping down in height should be done inside Subarea #1, with higher buildings in the middle of the Fred Meyer site and lower ones along the edges.

“People say they like their neighborhood. It’s affordable single-family houses and they understand there’s going to be some density in the middle,” she said. “But moving it into the single-family block is really upsetting to some people.”

Neighbor Matt Heilgeist agreed. “It seems everything is a foregone conclusion these days, like it’s going to happen no matter what. And most of my neighbors feel the same way,” said Heilgeist, whose house on NW 87th Street would be just outside the rezone area.

There’s still time to make your voice heard on the proposal. The DPD is collecting feedback through July 15. You can take an online survey (only one per IP address). DPD will then develop a draft of rezone recommendations and will present those to the GCC in August. DPD will finalize those recommendations in September. If DPD does recommend any rezoning, it will then begin a SEPA (State Environmental Policy Act) review, along with an email comment and appeal period in October. Rezoning Subarea #2 would have to go to the City Council as part of a Comprehensive Plan Change to the Future Land Use Map in late 2010 or early 2011, followed by a city council public hearing sometime next spring.