Mayor Nickels’ Sidewalks Proposal

Mayor Nickels has announced proposed changes to land use rules regarding sidewalks:

Sidewalks Proposal
It is the City’s goal to ensure a safe, contiguous, and geographically appropriate pedestrian network throughout the city. The sidewalk proposal is intended to further that goal by ensuring that new development contributesappropriate pedestrian infrastructure commensurate with the increase inpedestrians associated with new housing and other development.

The Proposal
The Mayor is proposing revisions to sidewalk requirements as they currently exist in the Land Use Code. Current regulations include thresholds and exceptions that exempt development projects of a certain size or type from building sidewalks. As a consequence, some types of multi-family and otherdevelopment are occurring without the infrastructure to support theresulting increase in population density. The proposed revisions aim to correct this inequity by revising the code to focus on the highest priorityareas for sidewalk improvements, as follows:

• Sidewalk requirements would be determined initially by the location of the proposed project, providing an opportunity to target improvements to the highest priority areas of Urban Centers, Urban Villages, parcels within pedestrian designated zones, and parcels adjacent to arterials.
• Project thresholds would be reduced to zero in the high priority areas listed above; and projects proposing three (3) or more dwelling units in all other areas. Thresholds for commercial space would be eliminated, thereby requiring sidewalks of all commercial developments regardless of size.
• Nearly all of the current exceptions for street improvements would no longer apply to sidewalks, and would instead be replaced with two new exceptions for additions and remodels of a specific size. Current Environmentally Critical Areas regulations would remain applicable where warranted by proposed project location.