North Downtown Subarea Plan Adopted
The City Council adopted the North Downtown Subarea Plan on October 14, 2014, as a new element of the Comprehensive Plan. A companion ordinance was adopted to amend the Tacoma Municipal Code to adjust the boundary of the "Reduced Parking Area."
Planning Commission Recommendation
The Planning Commission forwarded its recommendation to approve the North Downtown Subarea plan to the City Council on August 20, 2014. To encourage public engagement in its review of the Commission's recommendation, the City Council held two public hearings on September 9 and 30, 2014, before considering the first and final readings of the adopting ordinance on October 7 and 14, 2014.
Recent Activities
The City’s Environmental Services department is partnering with Metro Parks Tacoma to create a long-range natural resource management plan for the Schuster Slope and want to hear from you. An Open House is scheduled for July 16, 2014, at the Landmark Convention Center’s Rooftop Garden Room beginning at 6 PM at 47 St. Helens Avenue. For more information please view the flier below or contact Joe Brady, Metro Parks Tacoma, at (253) 305-1014 or
joeb@tacomaparks.com.
The Revised Draft North Downtown Subarea Plan was released for public comment and the Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) was issued on July 2, 2014. A Planning Commission public hearing will be held at 5 PM on July 16 in the Council Chambers of the Tacoma Municipal Building (First Floor, 747 Market Street). The intent of the public hearing is for community members provide input on the Revised Draft Plan. Written comments on the Revised Draft Plan will be accepted through July 18, 2014.
The Draft North Downtown Subarea Plan and Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) were released on May 15, 2014, for public review and comment. A public hearing was held on May 29, 2014 at Bates Technical College in the Main Building Auditorium at 5:30 PM. The Main Building Auditorium is located at 1101 South Yakima Avenue. The intent of the public hearing was for community members to learn about the project and to provide input. Written comments on the proposal were accepted through June 16, 2014.
The City Council was presented the current status and scope of the North Downtown Subarea Plan and Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) on October 1, 2013. This presentation is available as well as the North Downtown Subarea Vision Statement.
The project kicked off on May 29, 2013 and a scoping meeting held on June 26, 2013. The scoping process continued from June 14 to July 19, 2013. Please continue to send us of your comments, concerns, and ideas about the project as we appreciate all of your feedback.
Project Background
The City received $50,000 of grant funding from the State Community Economic Revitalization Board (CERB) to complete a Subarea Plan and Environmental Impact Statement for North Downtown. For the purpose of the project, the North Downtown Subarea encompasses major districts in the northern portion of Downtown Tacoma as the Commercial Core, Thea Foss Waterway, St. Helens, and Stadium.
The proposed project time line is 2012-13. The intent of the project is to develop an innovative area-wide long-range plan for the north end of downtown Tacoma and to complete the pre-development environmental review that will identify how to address environmental and community issues, ultimately reducing development uncertainties and risks for future projects and defining implementation time lines.
The project team will work closely with property owners, businesses, residents and community members to ensure that the priorities of these key stakeholders are represented in the outcomes of this project.
Bates Technical College is partnering with the City of Tacoma as the State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA) co-lead agency for the North Downtown Subarea Plan and EIS; this arrangement mirrors the similar South Downtown Subarea Plan where the City partnered with the University of Washington Tacoma.
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