Urban Design Studio staff strive to provide an excellent and expeditious UDPR process. Things that help staff achieve this goal include:

• Communicating early and coordinating with Urban Design Studio staff before to any major design work begins.
• Providing the required application materials with the initial submittal.
• Providing a strong narrative clearly describing how the proposed development meets each of the seven Design Objectives.

Step 1: Pre-Application Consultation

Potential UDPR applicants are required to hold a pre-application consultation with Urban Design Studio staff. This meeting has several purposes:

• It is expected that at this meeting the applicant introduces the project at the earliest possible juncture and discusses their approach to meeting the UDPR Design Objectives.
• It also provides the applicant an opportunity to learn from staff about the required review process and application requirements.
• Further, this is an important point in the design process for staff to provide early feedback regarding the applicable design guidelines, and to help identify any unique design considerations or local design issues of which the applicant should be aware.

Step 2: Conceptual Design Review

To initiate a formal UDPR review (either Administrative or Urban Design Board), the applicant submits a Concept Design application package. Minimum application requirements are outlined in the UDPR Application (available soon).

Following the review of the Concept Design materials, a report summarizing either the Administrative Review staff’s response and guidance, or the Urban Design Board’s review response and guidance for the project’s final design will be provided to the applicant.

Applications subject to Urban Design Board review track will include one public meeting at the Concept Design review step. Public notice will be provided ahead of the public meeting and will explain how comments can be submitted for the record before the public meeting date.

Step 3: Final Design Review

The applicant must submit a complete Final Design application package within one (1) year of receiving their Concept Design Guidance Report, or a new UDPR application will need to be submitted. The Final Design must be responsive to the guidance provided in the Guidance Report. Once the application is deemed complete, the Final Design application will be approved (with or without conditions) or denied.

Developments subject to Urban Design Board approval will be reviewed and a decision will be rendered at the next available Urban Design Board meeting.

Step 4: Approval

A UDPR application will be approved if the following are met:

• The proposed development complies with applicable development and design standards (except where departures are granted) in the Tacoma Municipal Code.
• The application is found to meet each of the seven Design Objectives. Determining this includes consideration of the application’s incorporation of relevant Design Guidelines and the Final Design’s responsiveness to the Concept Design Guidance Report.

There are several aspects of any proposed development—maximum building height, minimum parking, and elements of the new building’s design—that are determined by Code requirements and cannot be substantially restricted through Urban Design Project Review (UDPR). However, there is important discretion in how these standards are applied to serve the best design outcomes of new development.

The UDPR process provides an opportunity for the community to provide valuable perspective and input relevant to large new developments within Tacoma’s Mixed-Use Centers to ensure they align with Tacoma’s vision for a built environment that is well-designed, functional, and culturally expressive.

Public notice is provided at the Concept Design stage and the Final Design stage of the application process for both Administrative Review track and the Urban Design Board (UDB) Review track.

Additionally, applications on the UDB Review track are subject to one public meeting of the Urban Design Board at the Concept Design Review stage. Per State statute, a design review process such as UDPR is limited to one public meeting where public comment and input is expressly sought. To provide the best opportunity for meaningful, constructive input on the fundamental design concept of the proposed development, this meeting is held at the early Concept Design Review stage of the application process.

For more information about a specific UDPR application, including permit attachments, search Accela directly. If you know the permit application number, you may access the documents at
https://aca-prod.accela.com/TACOMA/Default.aspx, by putting the permit number in the search field. You do not need an account to use the search feature. Once the permit application record opens, the attachments are linked under the “record info” tab.

The Urban Design Board (UDB) is a civic commission established by the Tacoma City Council to support our community’s goals for a high-quality built environment. The UDB was established in May 2024 with the approval of Ordinance 28966 and is guided by Tacoma Municipal Code 13.19.030.

The Urban Design Board’s primary role is to review certain Urban Design Project Review (UDPR) permits. More information about the UDB, including its calendar and archive of meetings held, can be found at www.cityoftacoma.org/udb.

Go to www.cityoftacoma.org/udb for more information on:

• UDB meeting calendar
• Meeting minutes and archive
• UDB members and membership profiles
• UDB contact information

• Urban Design Project Review Manual

A: The Urban Design Project Review (UDPR) process is a new land use permit review process that will be applied to some types of proposed building developments located in any of the City’s 16 designated Mixed-Use Centers. UDPR will be required if the proposed development project is greater in size than the size threshold for that particular Mixed-Use Center.

Previously, if a proposed development conformed to established zoning requirements, a development of any size could have been built with only a construction permit review and an environmental (SEPA) review and if it was exempt from SEPA review, only a construction permit review was required.

The UDPR creates a new public land use permit review process in addition to SEPA review that takes into consideration the surrounding urban environment, the public realm, connectivity, climate responsiveness, and other urban design concerns.

A: The Urban Design Project Review (UDPR) will be required for developments located in a designated Mixed-Use Center if the proposed building size is greater than the size threshold for that Mixed-Use Center.

• The minimum size threshold for Neighborhood Centers is 10,000 square feet.

• The minimum size threshold for Mixed-Use Centers (Crossroads Centers, Tacoma Mall, and Downtown) is 20,000 square feet.

UDPR permits will not be required of projects that are smaller than these thresholds—those smaller projects will continue to be subject only to prescriptive development and design standards as part of the existing construction permit review process. However, developers of these smaller projects may opt in by requesting a departure from certain development requirements through the UDPR process. These smaller-project departure requests would follow the UDPR Administrative Review track.

A: The Urban Design Project Review (UDPR) permit program will only apply to areas within the 16 designated Mixed-Use Centers. These are the Neighborhood Centers, Crossroads Centers, Tacoma Mall Regional Growth Area, and the Downtown Regional Growth Area designated by the City’s Comprehensive Plan, all shown on the map above.

All other areas of the City, (including those affected by the Home in Tacoma package of code amendments and zoning changes currently under consideration) are not subject to UDPR provisions.

A: The 16 Mixed-Use Centers shown on the map above were established by the City’s Comprehensive Plan in 1993 and amended in 2007 as part of Tacoma’s required response to the State’s Growth Management Act. They are locations where the underlying zoning supports the most intensive residential, commercial, and mixed-use development to accommodate future growth.

A: No. The UDPR review has no effect on whether or not a building project must include a SEPA permit review. The UDPR permit process will be conducted separately from and parallel to the SEPA permit review, when applicable.

A: Yes. If a SEPA permit review is required for a particular project, staff expect it will occur after the UDPR Concept Design Review stage, but before the Final Design Review stage, and also prior to any construction permit reviews.

A: No. Urban Design Review does not have any impact, restriction, or change to the allowed industrial uses that are permitted by the established zoning, and the Bridge Industrial project is in an area zoned for commercial/industrial development. Urban Design Project Review will only be applicable to certain medium- to large-scale projects proposed within the 16 Mixed-Use Centers shown on the map above, and the Bridge Industrial project is not located in any of those 16 Mixed-Use Centers.