9. Urban Design Policies
Lakeview’s unique urban design assets are identified on Figure L-7 and described below.
Lakeview’s north-south orientation and west facing Houghton slope allow for a majority of residents to take advantage of the views of Lake Washington, Seattle and the Olympic Mountains. Lake Washington and the Yarrow Bay Wetlands are two visual landmarks that provide a sense of openness and natural beauty. Preserving public views of Lake Washington and beyond from Lake Washington Boulevard is a high priority. Other landmarks in this neighborhood include the waterfront parks and the historic places. The Lakeview Neighborhood serves as the southwestern gateway to the City at SR 520 and Lake Washington Boulevard and 108th intersections.
Goal L-13: Preserve public view corridors and natural features that contribute to Lakeview’s visual identity.
Policy L-13.1: Preserve public scenic views and view corridors of Lake Washington, Seattle and the Olympic Mountains from public rights-of-way and waterfront parks.
Public and private view corridors along Lake Washington’s shoreline are important assets and should continue to be enhanced as new development occurs. Wide, expansive views of Lake Washington looking west from public rights-of-way and waterfront parks should be maintained. Street trees along rights-of-way and trees in public parks that offer local and territorial views should be of a variety that will not block views as trees mature.
Policy L-13.2: Preserve natural landforms, vegetation and scenic areas such as the Houghton and Yarrow Bay Slopes and Yarrow Bay Wetlands.
Lakeview’s natural landforms, such as steep slopes and ravines, contain significant woodlands, streams, open space and wildlife that help define neighborhood character. These natural landforms should be preserved, restored and incorporated into the design of new development.
Goal L-14: Enhance neighborhood gateways to strengthen neighborhood identity.
Policy L-14.1: Establish gateway features at the locations identified in Figure L-7 through public and private efforts.
Gateways welcome residents, employees and visitors into the City and help define neighborhood identity. Gateways can be in the form of natural features, such as landscaping, or structures, such as signs or buildings. The northern gateway to the neighborhood is at NE 68th Street where views of Lake Washington are prominent. At the “Y” intersection at Lake Washington Boulevard and Lakeview Drive, the triangular median with the sculpture serves as a gateway to the Carillon Point development, neighborhood businesses and shoreline parks.
The intersections at SR 520 and Lake Washington Boulevard and at 108th Avenue NE provide two southern gateways to the City. These intersections provide opportunities to enhance the gateways with future private development or through community efforts. For example, the existing gateway sign located on the east side of Lake Washington Boulevard at NE 38th Place by Cochran Springs Creek could be enhanced by relocating the sign to a more prominent location, removing the clutter of street signs and utility poles, screening the adjacent utility box or highlighting the stream crossing and coordinating with a similar gateway treatment on the west side of the boulevard.
The City should pursue opportunities to work with private property owners to install gateway features as part of future development. Improvements such as signs, public art, structures, lighting, and landscaping could be included.
Goal L-15: Provide public improvements that contribute to a sense of neighborhood identity and enhanced visual quality.
Policy L-15.1: Identify design standards for Lake Washington Boulevard, NE 38th Place, and Northup Way rights-of-way that include:
• Adequate sidewalk widths (preferably 10 feet in width) on both sides of the street to encourage greater pedestrian circulation.
• Street trees that are of a variety that will not obstruct views of Lake Washington from public rights-of-way, properties to the east or businesses.
• Public amenities such as benches, pedestrian lighting, view platforms, public art and directional signs pointing to public facilities and points of interest.
Figure L-7: Lakeview Urban Design Features
Lake Washington Boulevard is a major pedestrian shoreline promenade connecting Downtown points south and north. Within the Yarrow Bay Business District, design standards for NE 38th Place, Lake Washington Boulevard and Northup Way should be developed to ensure a consistent design including wider sidewalks, landscape strips, decorative street lighting and street furniture. As redevelopment occurs, sections of the sidewalk on both sides of the street should be improved to meet these standards. Opportunities to install public art and street furniture along arterials throughout the neighborhood should also be pursued.
Yarrow Bay Business District
The urban design vision for the Yarrow Bay Business District is to transform the suburban style office park development into a more integrated, mixed use commercial and residential district. Implementing the following strategies will help achieve this vision such as allowing a broader range of commercial uses with residential above the ground floor, improving pedestrian connections between properties, businesses, the South Kirkland Park and Ride transit facility and SR 520 freeway. Providing public plazas, green spaces and pedestrian amenities in new development will help create a sense of place for employees and residents. New design standards and design review for new development will ensure quality architecture, site design and identity for the commercial district.
Illustration by Makers Architects shows the future urban design concept for the Yarrow Bay Business District.
Goal L-16: Promote high quality design in the Yarrow Bay Business District.
Policy L-16.1: Establish design guidelines and regulations that apply to all new, expanded or remodeled commercial, multifamily or mixed use buildings in the Yarrow Bay Business District. Ensure that guidelines should address the following design principles:
• Promote pedestrian-oriented design techniques such as minimizing blank walls, providing generous window treatments, awnings, superior building materials, open space plazas, and pedestrian amenities especially around retail uses.
• Encourage pedestrian links between uses on site, to adjacent properties and to the transit facility at the South Kirkland Park and Ride property.
• Enhance streetscapes along Lake Washington Boulevard, NE 38th Place and Northup Way improved with wide sidewalks, street trees, pedestrian lighting, benches, and street furniture distinctive to the District.
• Orient buildings to sidewalks or other pedestrian routes.
• Moderate the scale of large buildings through vertical and horizontal modulation. Incorporate upper story stepbacks along all street frontages and perimeter of district.
• Incorporate gateway features at locations shown in Figure L-7 incorporating signs, sculpture, lighting, and landscaping.
Policy L-16.2: Encourage buildings and public infrastructure to include high quality materials, art, and bicycle and pedestrian amenities.
Policy L-16.3: Utilize design review to administer building and site design standards in the Yarrow Bay Business District.
Site and architectural design standards should address the principles above and be used in the design review process to evaluate new public and private development. These will help create an attractive image for the Yarrow Bay Business District and create a desirable place to work and live.