Chapter 17B.25
DESIGN STANDARDS
Sections:
17B.25.030 Overall district design.
17B.25.040 Transit-supportive design.
17B.25.050 Overall architectural design.
17B.25.055 Residential dwelling units.
17B.25.060 Overall building form.
17B.25.090 Off-street parking—Parking facilities—Lots—Structures.
17B.25.110 Pedestrian walkway.
17B.25.010 Purpose.
A. A mixed-use district (waterfront mixed-use (WMU) district) is intended to accommodate and foster pedestrian usage by combining commercial/retail uses and residential uses in the same buildings or in close vicinity of each other. The interaction of these different uses during day and evening hours provides a dynamic that cannot usually be created with typical single use zones. This concept harkens back to a village where people lived and worked in close proximity. This concept also tries to reduce dependency upon the automobile, makes pedestrians a focal point, and encourages human interaction, smaller scale buildings, and a vibrant sidewalk environment.
B. For projects in those zoning districts where mixed-use developments are allowed, the following design review standards shall apply, with examples depicted in Section 17B.25.120, Design guidelines. Where specifically called out, those additional design details that address the waterfront or multi-modal project shall apply only to waterfront redevelopment projects. (Ord. 1427 § 3 (Exh. C) (part), 2019: Ord. 1295 § 10 (Exh. 1B) (part), 2011)
17B.25.020 Design review.
Administrative design review will be used by the city to approve development (site plans and architectural designs) in mixed-use districts. The planning director will make urban design decisions based on the following guidelines to promote visual quality in these areas of the city. (Ord. 1427 § 3 (Exh. C) (part), 2019: Ord. 1295 § 10 (Exh. 1B) (part), 2011)
17B.25.030 Overall district design.
A. Mixed-use development should create a new diverse and pedestrian-friendly neighborhood, with a mix of housing, shopping, workplace and entertainment uses and nodes for transportation access, all within a short walk of each other. A range of types, sizes, amenities, and uses will enhance a series of inviting functional public spaces, including shopping streets and pedestrian-friendly streetscapes, open spaces, courtyards, trails, residential, office, and retail in mixed-use buildings. The design principles for buildings and streets are taken from traditional small towns that provided a close-in community life.
B. To foster pedestrian usage in the mixed-use district, sidewalks must be a minimum of eight feet in width, except when the public works director determines this width is not feasible.
C. Properties or development projects abutting major streets in the district should have zero- to ten-foot setbacks from the right-of-way, pedestrian-friendly store fronts with display windows along fifty percent of their facade and the facades should not be plain or sterile but incorporate architectural features, such as windows, entrances, variations in setback, so that no wall plane is wider or longer than two and one-half times the height of the wall plane.
D. Front Street is intended to accommodate and foster pedestrian usage in the waterfront mixed-use district. Properties or development projects abutting Front Street shall:
1. Have a zero setback from the right-of-way and the building shall maintain a continuous frontage along Front Street.
2. Highway 525 from the railroad bridge north to the water is meant to provide arterial access to Front Street, but should also be pedestrian- and transit-oriented by having either courtyard or building fronting along it.
3. Breaks in the building are permitted to meet shoreline standards and to encourage pedestrian access into and through projects to the water.
E. Off-street parking in commercial areas should either be behind or to the side of development.
1. A minimum of curb cuts should be allowed along streets for parking access.
2. Vehicular access to parking lots and garages should only be permitted along Front Street when there is no other side street or alley access. (Ord. 1427 § 3 (Exh. C) (part), 2019: Ord. 1295 § 10 (Exh. 1B) (part), 2011)
17B.25.040 Transit-supportive design.
The downtown waterfront master plan was adopted in 2016 and it describes a revitalized waterfront that includes an urban street front with local businesses, looped pedestrian promenade, bike lanes, and playful waterfront uses. This allows community members to experience the waterfront from an urban environment to a natural shoreline while focusing on connecting people both physically and thematically to the intrinsic natural, cultural, and urban qualities that compose the past, present, and future of the Mukilteo waterfront. The downtown waterfront master plan addresses the different types of transit and surrounding area uses in the waterfront area. The plan also addresses land use, access, infrastructure and various modes including pedestrian, bicycle and transit. With the relocation of the ferry terminal, the new multi-modal (intermodal) station is located in an area that should minimize walking distances between transportation modes and transfers between modes and distances to commercial waterfront development. The following transit supportive uses are encouraged in this transit-oriented district (TOD): small grocery store(s), bakery, convenience-retail, ATMs, coffee shop or stand(s), newsstand, drug store, carry-out food outlets, stationery/gift store, video rental store, dry cleaning outlet, flower shop/florist, beauty shop, barber, and photo-finishing shop. (Ord. 1427 § 3 (Exh. C) (part), 2019: Ord. 1295 § 10 (Exh. 1B) (part), 2011)
17B.25.050 Overall architectural design.
A. Building design concepts should respond to the site plan by forming street edges and by encouraging active, safe street life offering a variety of activities. Buildings should recognize site patterns and help define entries to interior courtyards, building entrances, and public spaces to encourage family and community activities.
B. Use architectural styles that are associated with traditional neighborhood design and newer multifamily designs that delineate separation of the units. Commercial architectural styles should mimic the old Main Street concept with architectural context taken from waterfront, northwest timber or historic building designs.
C. The architectural designs should utilize a variety of roof forms to create diverse elevations. Residential units, office and commercial/retail spaces should overlook the streets and courtyards as part of a unified and defined sense of space.
D. Parapets, cornices, shed roofs, dormers and other secondary roof forms create variety in the units and break up the massing of the overall buildings. Varied roof heights and roof elements also serve to reinforce the diverse experience of the streetscape. Vertical elements such as bays and decks which sometimes carry to the ground and to upper levels help to create variation in the facade that modulate the building facade.
E. The materials used in design of the buildings should also reinforce the diverse experience of the elevations. Roof colors should be coordinated to complement the color schemes.
F. Plaza or courtyard materials can be used to create a community space, through the use of color and scoring as patterns in the hardscape. Landscape creates diversity, provides color and softens the building and hardscape environment, while benches or seating areas, play areas and public art help residents and visitors enjoy the space and environment, making it a place where people want to visit, shop, live and recreate. (Ord. 1427 § 3 (Exh. C) (part), 2019: Ord. 1295 § 10 (Exh. 1B) (part), 2011)
17B.25.055 Residential dwelling units.
Mixed-use residential dwelling units are allowed as follows:
A. Multifamily residences in the waterfront mixed-use zoning district shall follow the density standards listed in Section 17B.16.040(B)(2), Residential Units. (Ord. 1427 § 3 (Exh. C) (part), 2019: Ord. 1295 § 10 (Exh. 1B) (part), 2011)
17B.25.060 Overall building form.
Buildings should provide and enhance the pedestrian scale and orientation of the district. The following concepts help to achieve that goal:
A. When part of a project, buildings should be built to the street property line or right-of-way easement to enclose a pedestrian-oriented landscape. Pedestrian-oriented amenities are important such as outdoor dining associated with an eating establishment, recessed plaza or specific district design standards or landscape needs adjacent to the promenade. See Section 17B.25.120, Guideline 1: Overall Form, Guideline 6: Street Walls, and Guideline 7: Ground Floor Transparency.
B. Buildings should utilize elements such as massing, materials, windows, canopies and articulated roof forms to create a visually distinct “base” as well as a “cap.”
C. Within larger projects, variations in facades, floor levels, architectural features and exterior finishes are encouraged to create the appearance of several smaller buildings. Upper stories should be articulated with features such as bays and balconies. See Section 17B.25.120, Guideline 8: Encouraging Visual Detail, and Guideline 9: Small-Scale Building Increments.
D. Special attention should be given to designing a primary building entrance, one that is clearly visible from the street and incorporates changes in mass, surface, or finish to give emphasis.
E. Corner and public buildings because of location, purpose or size should be given special attention in the form of building features, such as towers, cupolas, and pediments.
F. The development of ground level view points and corridors as well as public balconies and roof spaces which take advantage of solar access and views are encouraged.
G. Minor pedestrian passages should be provided between buildings where access is needed to allow pedestrians to move through the district to another. See Section 17B.25.120, Guideline 4: Minor Pedestrian Passages. (Ord. 1427 § 3 (Exh. C) (part), 2019: Ord. 1295 § 10 (Exh. 1B) (part), 2011)
17B.25.065 Building designs for the waterfront, port, mixed-use, and transportation related buildings.
Development on the waterfront shall be designed in the following context:
A. Sites or buildings abutting or facing the multi-modal station should maintain continuity in design elements of the station such as roof lines and materials, and connect existing or proposed pedestrian spaces and amenities and landscape treatments.
B. The multi-modal station, transportation and port related facility designs should be compatible with local plans and regulations, and must be approved by the city. Station design should address all transportation modes (ferry, rail, bus, bicycle and vehicles), transfer needs and pedestrians.
C. Architectural Details. The following architectural elements are required to provide visual interest and create a sense of human scale:
1. Building facades along Front Street should be pedestrian-oriented with the majority of the street wall being made up of windows and other interesting design features, and businesses that are interactive retail should be promoted (i.e., artist studio and gallery, hands-on displays or merchandise, etc.).
2. Awnings, Sunshades and Canopies. Weather protection is encouraged for pedestrian street frontages with ground floor commercial. The minimum width of such elements shall be four feet. Minimum height is eight feet, maximum height is twelve feet. Awnings with painted signs are permitted, however, must be externally lit. Internally illuminated awnings are not permitted. See Section 17B.25.120, Guideline 10: Weather Protection.
3. Front Porches. Front porches, stoops, bay windows and dormers are encouraged on buildings which contain residential dwellings.
4. Trees, Plants and Flowers. The use of potted plants and flowers as well as street trees are encouraged, but should not impede pedestrian traffic.
5. Street Furniture. Public seating, trash receptacles and informational directional kiosks should be of uniform design and be provided throughout district where needed. Sidewalk widths, street trees, landscaping, weather protection, public art, street furniture and other amenities for pedestrians in public right-of-way and public plazas are required to be abutted by private development and must provide an additional three feet to six feet for a total sidewalk width of no less than eight feet. See Section 17B.25.120, Guideline 5: Pedestrian-Oriented Streetscapes.
6. Exterior Lighting. Pedestrian areas need to be well marked and well-lit. Exterior lighting should be an integral part of the architecture and landscape design. Street lighting should relate in scale to the pedestrian character of the area. Pedestrian lighting should be provided at a pedestrian scale of three to twelve feet, with the source light being shielded to reduce glare, thereby encouraging safe access to these areas twenty-four hours per day. Overall, lighting and pedestrian zone lighting is needed but should not create glare or light spillage off site or beyond parking lots and streets. See Section 17B.25.120, Guideline 3: Lighting Pedestrian Zones.
7. Portals. Portals at the entrances to buildings may be allowed at a minimum width of twelve feet. This width may be reduced at the discretion of the director, if the sides of the portal have windows or openings.
D. Building Fenestration.
1. Facades. Any facade visible from a public right-of-way, pedestrian corridor or public open space should incorporate fenestration. Fenestration patterns for street level uses should have generous amounts of clear glass and be designed to incorporate displays. Glass curtain walls, reflective glass, and painted or dark tinted glass are not permitted. See Section 17B.25.120, Guideline 7: Ground Floor Transparency.
2. Blank Walls. Where windowless walls are necessitated by the uses housed within the building, they should have an interesting exterior treatment such as artwork, decorative tile, or masonry, or trellises with plant material. Blank walls visible from a public way, larger than ten feet in any dimension, which exceed two hundred square feet, must be screened by one of the above methods. See Section 17B.25.120, Guideline 6: Street Walls.
3. Street Visibility. Upper and lower story windows are encouraged to overlook streets and open spaces, thereby helping to provide “community eyes” to make these spaces more comfortable and safe. See Section 17B.25.120, Guideline 11: Designs for Pedestrian Safety.
E. Proportions. The scale of all structures in relationship to other structures and spaces is important. Buildings and the spaces between should relate easily and openly to the external public areas. To balance horizontal features on longer facades, vertical building elements, such as building entries, should be emphasized.
F. Modulation. Building facades visible from public rights-of-way, pedestrian corridors or public open space, except for ground floor commercial, shall be modulated approximately every forty feet. The modulation shall have a minimum depth of four feet.
G. Articulation. Facades should be varied and articulated to provide visual interest to pedestrians. The roof line of buildings should be modulated and should include interesting architectural features, such as decorative eave, trim, or cornice. Window articulation through use of a decorative trim, such as window hoods and the use of smaller regularly spaced windows in upper stories with smaller divided lights. Store front designs and materials should be allowed to be unique while maintaining the character of the building facade of which they are a part. The base of buildings should be articulated through use of plinths, pilasters or other elements.
H. Materials and Colors. Exterior building materials and finishes should convey an impression of permanence and durability. Materials such as masonry, stone, stucco, wood, terra cotta, and tile are encouraged. Where masonry is used for exterior finish, decorative patterns should be considered. These patterns could include a change in color or material. Exterior colors should be given careful consideration in the context of the surrounding buildings and environment.
I. Screening.
1. All wall-mounted mechanical, electrical, communication, and service equipment, including satellite dishes and vent pipes, should be screened from public view by parapets, walls, fences, landscaping or other approved means.
2. All rooftop and sidewall mechanical equipment and other extensions allowed above the building height shall be concealed by or integrated within the roof form or screened from view. The following appurtenances or necessary extensions above the roofline that require screening include: stairwells, elevator shafts, air conditioning units, large vents, heat pumps and mechanical equipment.
3. Service and loading areas must be screened from street and pedestrian ways. See Section 17B.25.120, Guideline 12: Screening Utility Equipment and Services.
J. Parks and Open Space. The Port of Everett (POE)/Washington State Ferries (WSF) binding site plan set aside twenty percent of the tank farm property as open space, which included the promenade, city parks and open space tracts. Plazas, play areas, landscape buffers and open spaces (sensitive areas) can be included in the parks and open space area. Ten percent of the area will be in useable parks, plazas and play areas. Pedestrian and bicycle paths and connections are required within the development and shall be provided to the closest activity areas (i.e., schools, business area, park, major arterial, etc.). See Section 17B.25.120, Guideline 19: Parks and Open Space. (Ord. 1427 § 3 (Exh. C) (part), 2019: Ord. 1295 § 10 (Exh. 1B) (part), 2011)
17B.25.090 Off-street parking—Parking facilities—Lots—Structures.
A. Off-street parking in commercial areas shall either be behind or to the side of development with ground-floor retail along the street frontage.
B. Structured parking is encouraged to maximize development potential in this relatively small, narrow waterfront mixed-use district.
C. Shared or joint parking is encouraged south of Front Street so that parking needs generated by development north of Front Street can be accommodated outside the two-hundred-foot shoreline zone.
D. A minimum of curb cuts should be allowed along Front Street for parking access.
E. Adjacent street frontage to commercial properties can be counted on a one-to-one basis towards the parking requirement on streets that are improved and have designated parking.
F. Residential units in the downtown business and waterfront mixed-use districts shall provide one and one-half parking space per unit. Parking for the commercial/retail/office space shall be determined using the parking matrix contained in Chapter 17B.56, Off-Street Parking.
G. Employee parking shall be provided on site, or as part of a shared parking agreement or at a parking structure.
H. Joint or shared access, and off-street parking, internal circulation or parking is encouraged with adjacent uses.
I. A development can reduce the required off-street parking spaces up to fifty percent when it can be demonstrated, in a parking-traffic study, prepared by a traffic engineer, that use of transit or demand management programs, special characteristics or customer, client, employee or resident population will reduce expected vehicle use and parking space demand for their development, as compared to standard Institute of Transportation Engineers vehicle trip generation rates and city parking requirements.
J. Parking lots shall have internal landscaping as well as be screened from streets and pedestrian ways. (See Section 17B.25.120, Guidelines 21: Parking Lots—Landscape Design and 22: Screening Parking Lots—Pedestrian Environment.)
K. Parking garages shall be screened to improve the pedestrian environment in mixed-use zones. (See Section 17B.25.120, Guideline 23: Screening Parking Garages—Pedestrian Environment.)
L. Parking Facilities—Lots—Structures for Transit. Shall adhere to the requirements outlined in Section 17B.56.040. (Ord. 1427 § 3 (Exh. C) (part), 2019: Ord. 1295 § 10 (Exh. 1B) (part), 2011)
17B.25.100 Landscape design.
Development in a mixed-use district should have extensive landscaping of large parking areas along streetscapes and for pedestrian-oriented open spaces which can be seen from the street and pedestrian-oriented areas. Landscaping can also help to define areas and separate areas thereby bringing a human scale to these intense uses.
A. The waterfront area has the potential of suffering from large paved areas causing temperatures to rise during warmer months, from having declining air quality due to increased transportation uses, and from appearing to be a vast wasteland of parking lots. Vegetation and trees can help mitigate these conditions, by providing shade that will lower temperatures, and by helping to clean the air.
1. Parking areas should have one tree per every four parking stalls or trees between every two to four ferry loading lanes. (See Section 17B.25.120, Guideline 21: Parking Lots—Landscape Design.)
B. Parking areas must be screened from all pedestrian-oriented areas through the use of trees, shrubs, walls and/or trellis structures with plants. See Section 17B.25.120, Guideline 21: Parking Lots—Landscape Design.
C. Parking lots should provide landscaping next to buildings and along walkways. Parking lots should provide enough trees so that fifty percent of the lot is shaded within a five-year period and landscape beds have a ninety percent ground coverage in five years.
D. Arbors or trellises supporting living landscape materials should be considered for ornamentation on exterior walls. Any such feature should cover an area of at least one hundred square feet and include sufficient plantings to achieve at least thirty percent coverage by plant materials within three years.
E. Where pedestrian activity is encouraged onto the site, the screening doesn’t have to be site obscuring.
F. Utilities are required to be under ground, and aboveground equipment should be located away from major pedestrian streets and corners. Equipment boxes and vaults must be placed in back of the sidewalk and where landscaping can minimize or screen their impact. See Section 17B.25.120, Guideline 12: Screening Utility Equipment and Services. (Ord. 1427 § 3 (Exh. C) (part), 2019: Ord. 1295 § 10 (Exh. 1B) (part), 2011)
17B.25.110 Pedestrian walkway.
Waterfront promenade shall provide for maximum pedestrian accessibility along the waterfront. The intent of the waterfront promenade is to have a walkway/boardwalk or beach access from the Coast Guard Lighthouse to the east side of the tank farm/Everett city limits. (See Section 17B.25.120, Guideline 24: Waterfront Promenade, and Guideline 25: Mixed-Use Development.)
A. All new development will have a minimum setback of twenty feet from riprap. A fifteen-foot promenade with a five-foot building setback shall be built within the twenty-foot setback that conforms to the waterfront promenade standards or to provide access to the beach.
B. The shoreline program requires breaks between buildings to facilitate access to the water and to maintain view corridors.
1. The breaks between buildings must be at least every two hundred feet.
2. The first floor must be open for pedestrian passageway and views, but the second floor may be constructed above, if the roof is modulated.
3. The minimum width of such breaks shall be twenty-five feet.
C. Park Street should also be developed to link 2nd Street to the water, with emphasis on a pedestrian overpass and walkway improvements. The design of the overpass shall be approved by the city.
D. Sidewalks along Front Street should be a minimum of ten feet. Sidewalks in the WMU area should be no less than five feet. All sidewalks shall be constructed of concrete.
E. Decorative light standards and bollards are required on the waterfront promenade. (Ord. 1427 § 3 (Exh. C) (part), 2019: Ord. 1295 § 10 (Exh. 1B) (part), 2011)
17B.25.120 Design guidelines.
All developments, inside and outside of the shoreline jurisdiction, shall comply with the following design guidelines:
A. Guideline 1: Overall Form. Buildings should utilize elements such as massing, materials, windows, canopies, and pitched or terraced roof forms to create both a visually distinct “base” as well as a “cap.”
Multi-level buildings with commercial, office, or residential uses are strongly encouraged to create more clearly defined street edges (with zero setbacks from the sidewalk) and to provide upper-story activities which overlook the street and plazas. Easy access to the second story is strongly encouraged to allow economic viability for commercial uses and/or separate entrances for residential uses.
1. Articulation and Modulation. Buildings shall be articulated to reduce the apparent scale of buildings. Strong vertical and horizontal reveals, offsets, and three-dimensional detail can be incorporated into building design to create shadow lines and break up flat surfaces. The following are examples of how building articulation can be achieved.
2. Building Form. The use of wood siding and traditional roof forms make it possible to relate this development to the rest of the neighborhood.
Axial symmetry is a formal design organization in which the building elements on one side of the centerline axis are the same as on the other side.
Asymmetry is an informal composition in which larger design elements are often visually balanced by a number of smaller elements within the composition.
B. Guideline 2: Site Design. Off-street parking areas are to be located at the rear or side of buildings and should be well lit, without creating light spillage onto other properties.
C. Guideline 3: Lighting Pedestrian Zones. Pedestrian corridors outside of buildings need to be clearly marked and well lit. Lighting should be sufficient for security and identification without allowing light to trespass onto adjacent sites.
D. Guideline 4: Minor Pedestrian Passages. Pedestrian corridors outside of buildings need to be clearly marked and well lit. Lighting should be sufficient for security and identification without allowing light to trespass onto adjacent sites.
E. Guideline 5: Pedestrian-Oriented Streetscapes. Buildings in the mixed-use zones should provide cover for pedestrians such as awnings along the length of any facade abutting a sidewalk. Other streetscape amenities should include street trees, broad sidewalks, building and pedestrian lighting, overhanging signs for pedestrians, necessary street furniture and on-street parking where feasible.
F. Guideline 6: Street Walls. The street wall or zero setback of buildings from the sidewalk is intended to have buildings visually and functionally interact with the pedestrians on the sidewalk.
1. The Two Criteria for Designating a “Blank Wall.” Blank feature walls work against the neighborhood’s objectives for increased pedestrian activity and residential qualities. However, in areas with a diversity of land uses, blank walls can occur frequently because of fire wall requirements and narrow setbacks. Therefore, the following provisions are recommended to mitigate their effects.
A “blank wall” subject to the “blank wall treatment” requirements is a wall that meets any of the following criteria:
a. Any wall or portion of a wall that has a surface area of four hundred square feet without a window, door or other architectural feature.
b. Any wall surface or section of a wall over four feet in height located within fifteen feet of a street right-of-way at ground level that is longer than fifteen feet as measured horizontally without having a ground level window or door lying wholly or in part within that fifteen-foot section.
2. Blank Wall Treatment. All blank walls within twenty feet of the street right-of-way or within fifty feet of a residentially zoned lot should be treated in one or more of the following ways:
a. Installing a trellis in front of the wall with climbing vines or plant materials.
b. Providing a landscaped planting bed at least five feet wide in front of the wall and planting with plant materials that obscure or screen at least fifty percent of the wall’s surface within five years.
c. Incorporating decorative mosaic or colored masonry into the design of the wall.
d. Providing artwork (mural, sculpture, relief, etc.) over at least fifty percent of the blank wall surface.
e. Other similar method approved by the city.
G. Guideline 7: Ground Floor Transparency. The ground floor of buildings in mixed-use developments is required to have windows that allow for visual connections between activities inside and outside the building. The ground floors of buildings should face sidewalks and pedestrian pathways and should have generous amounts of clear glass so people can see into the building.
H. Guideline 8: Encouraging Visual Detail.
1. Residential and commercial buildings in mixed-use developments should include details that create a sense of human scale, and that break down the bulk of larger buildings. The following are ways to incorporate details and articulate a building:
a. Base articulation (using solid materials or raising the first floor).
b. Visible trim around windows and building corners.
c. Using columns or vertical relief.
d. Bay windows and dormers.
e. Front porches, stoops, or balconies.
f. Varied heights of buildings.
g. Parapet and roof details.
2. Building Materials. Vary building materials by using things such as patterned masonry, shingles, bricks or stone. Other examples include individualized patterns or continuous wood details such as shingles in a geometric pattern, decorative moldings, brackets, wave trim or lattice work, ceramic tile, stone, glass block, carrera glass or similar materials.
The architectural detail and varied materials demonstrate quality design and reduce the scale of this four-story residential building by clearly articulating the bottom, middle and top.
3. Tripartite Articulation. Detailing can unify a design and lend scale and character by incorporating fascia, columns, or other distinctive detailing.
Buildings can be articulated in several ways. The following development uses a variety of techniques to present a human scale and attractive appearance.
This contemporary mid-rise building is breaking away from its former rectangular box image with the use of more articulated building forms such as terracing and varied rooflines.
I. Guideline 9: Small-Scale Building Increments. Breaking buildings into small increments helps to add visual interest and scales the building to human proportions. The facades of buildings are to be divided into small units, such as narrow storefronts, bays, separated roof forms. Long or large uninterrupted walls or windowless walls are not allowed.
J. Guideline 10: Weather Protection. Weather protection is required in mixed-use developments to give pedestrians some protection from the rain in these areas. The weather protections such as awning, canopy or marquee should be located eight to ten feet above the sidewalk with a minimum width of four feet.
K. Guideline 11: Designs for Pedestrian Safety. Building designs should consider “informal” surveillance of public and semi-public outside areas. Visibility should be provided from store fronts, upper story bay windows, balconies, roof decks, porches or outdoor cafes.
Well-marked pedestrian access shall be provided within parking lots and from the interior of parking lots to exterior sidewalks.
L. Guideline 12: Screening Utility Equipment and Services. Mechanical equipment on roofs or walls should be screened by extending parapets, using roof wells, clerestory, or integrating it into the roofline.
The use of landscaping and site design is required to screen utility vaults and equipment.
Loading, trash dumpsters, recycling bins and storage areas should be located so they are not visible from the street and are concealed with solid fencing and gates/doors. Landscaping should be used to soften the appearance of the enclosure.
Utilities shall be undergrounded in mixed-use districts.
M. Repealed by Ord. 1488.
N. Repealed by Ord. 1488.
O. Repealed by Ord. 1488.
P. Repealed by Ord. 1488.
Q. Repealed by Ord. 1488.
R. Repealed by Ord. 1488.
S. Guideline 19: Parks and Open Space. The Port of Everett (POE)/Washington State Ferries (WSF) binding site plan set aside twenty percent of the tank farm property as open space, which included the promenade and city parks and open space tracts. Plazas, play areas, landscape buffers and open space (sensitive areas) can be included in the open space requirement. Ten percent of the area will be in useable parks, plazas and play areas. Pedestrian and bicycle paths and connections are required within the development, and shall be provided to the closest activity area (i.e., schools, business area, park, major arterial, etc.).
T. Guideline 20: View Corridor. View corridors shall be considered and protected in the waterfront areas. The view corridors created by Park Street and SR 525 running north and south in Mukilteo provide important view corridors. Front Street also provides another view corridor to the water. To help protect view corridors and allow for buildings and public areas to share and retain access to these views, buildings shall configure their ridge lines to be perpendicular north and south, or to the shore, or to the significant view. The basic structure and pitched roof shall be located to provide maximum view corridors between structures.
U. Guideline 21: Parking Lots—Landscape Design. Parking lots shall be landscaped to improve the views of parking areas for pedestrians and from views uphill above the parking lots, and to help reduce the apparent size and amount of impervious surface. Landscaping and screening of the perimeter is required using deciduous trees and planting beds. To protect view corridors within and over the WMU zone, tree species should be used that grow to less than thirty feet in the waterfront area and less than forty feet otherwise. Trees should be a minimum of two and one-half inches caliper in planting beds, and planting beds shall be a minimum of five feet wide. Drip irrigation is required. Landscaping should be drought resistant, and/or be of indigenous species. Where parking is allowed to overhang the landscaping beds, an additional two feet shall be added to the width of stalls. The location of trees and light poles (luminaires) should be coordinated to ensure minimum light levels.
Deciduous trees will be two and one-half inches in caliper, and there will be one tree for every four parking stalls with fifty percent of the parking lot being shaded within a five-year period. Groundcover in landscape beds should achieve ninety percent coverage in five years.
V. Guideline 22: Screening Parking Lots—Pedestrian Environment. Parking lots shall be screened to reduce the negative visual impact of parking lots and parked vehicles. Screening also improves the edge of the streetscape and helps to define the street. All parking lots, storage, loading, or maintenance areas should be screened using one of two methods:
1. Provide a screen wall at least two and one-half feet high of durable or attractive materials.
2. Provide a landscape perimeter bed or hedge that is maintained at two and one-half feet high.
W. Guideline 23: Screening Parking Garages—Pedestrian Environment. Parking garages shall be placed in back of first floor retail. Garage entrances shall not be off arterial streets such as Front Street. At-grade parking structures or garages adjacent to local or secondary streets such as Park Street should be set back ten feet from the sidewalk to allow for dense landscaping. Providing either commercial activity or dense landscaping along pedestrian ways will improve the pedestrian environment and reduce the impact of at-grade parking structures.
X. Guideline 24: Waterfront Promenade. The waterfront promenade shall provide for maximum pedestrian accessibility and enjoyment of the waterfront. The intent of the waterfront promenade is to have a walkway/boardwalk that provides either outlook areas or access to the beach.
Y. Guideline 25: Mixed-Use Development. A mixed-use development is intended to accommodate and foster pedestrian usage by combining commercial/retail uses and residential uses in the same buildings or in close vicinity of each other. Residential uses shall be above the commercial/retail space which harkens back to the early 1900s when people lived and worked in close proximity. This concept makes pedestrians a focal point and encourages human interaction, smaller scale buildings and a vibrant sidewalk environment.
Z. Guideline 26: Historic Context. Examples of Historic Buildings.
(Ord. 1488 § 7, 2024; Ord. 1427 § 3 (Exh. C) (part), 2019: Ord. 1295 § 10 (Exh. 1B) (part), 2011)