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GOALS, VISION AND FRAMEWORK POLICIES
Redmond’s Comprehensive Plan is a reflection of the long-term values and preferences held by people in the community for how Redmond should look and feel over the next 20 years. This element expresses those values and preferences through:
A. Goals that summarize the intent of the Comprehensive Plan,
B. A vision that describes what our community would be like in 2022 if the goals were achieved, and
C. Framework policies that the City will follow to achieve the goals and vision.
The goals and framework policies express the core concepts on which the Comprehensive Plan is based and together set the direction for how various elements of the Plan address the trends, opportunities, and mandates facing the City.
The goals and framework policies are not listed in priority order, and need to be viewed as a whole that is balanced over time. One goal or value shall not be pursued to the exclusion of the others.
A. Goals for Redmond
♦ To conserve agricultural lands and rural areas, and to protect and enhance the quality of the natural environment.
♦ To retain and enhance Redmond’s distinctive character and high quality of life, including an abundance of parks, open space, good schools and recreational facilities.
♦ To emphasize choices in housing, transportation, stores and services.
♦ To support vibrant concentrations of retail, office, service, residential, and recreational activity in Downtown and Overlake.
♦ To maintain a strong and diverse economy, and to provide a business climate that retains and attracts locally owned companies as well as internationally recognized corporations.
♦ To promote a variety of community gathering places and diverse cultural opportunities.
♦ To provide convenient, safe and environmentally friendly transportation connections within Redmond, and between Redmond and other communities for people and goods.
♦ To remain a community of good neighbors, working together and with others in the region to implement a common vision for Redmond’s future.
B. Our Future Vision for Redmond in 2022
What would Redmond be like as a place to live, work, or visit if the community’s values and preferences were achieved? The vision statement describes Redmond in the year 2022 if the Comprehensive Plan were implemented.
In 2022, Redmond citizens describe their community as one that is complete, offering a wide range of services, opportunities, and amenities. It’s a community that has gracefully accommodated growth and change while ensuring that Redmond’s high quality of life, cherished natural features, distinct places, and character are not overwhelmed. It’s a place where people are friendly, diversity and innovation are embraced, and action is taken to achieve community objectives. It’s a place that is home to people from a variety of ethnic backgrounds, which contribute to the richness of the City’s culture.
Achieving a balance between accommodating growth and preserving Redmond’s unique features and livability was challenging, but over the past 20 years through the clear, shared direction contained in the Comprehensive Plan, the vision has taken shape, and throughout Redmond the results are apparent.
Downtown is an outstanding place to work, shop, live and recreate and is a destination for many in Redmond and in the region. Attractive offices, stores, services, and residential developments have contributed to a new level of vibrancy while retaining a small-town feel that appeals to residents and visitors alike. Many more people live Downtown, and housing choices include a significant share of moderately priced residences. Strategic public and private investments have created a true multi-dimensional urban center with several new and expanded public amenities, including a City Hall campus and central park that is a gathering place for the community, an arts and cultural center, a technology museum, a pedestrian connection to Marymoor Park, a Saturday market that is open all year, and a variety of quality arts and cultural programs and performances.
Various portions of Downtown have their own identity, design and appeal yet it is easy to walk, bicycle, use transit or drive between them as well as to the rest of Redmond. Many visitors park in one of the conveniently located garages and walk or take transit to get to their destinations. While pedestrian and bicycle access are emphasized, Downtown also provides for vehicular access and those who wish to drive through have other preferred routes to use. The congestion of 20 years ago has been tempered primarily by providing reasonable and practical transportation alternatives together with improved operations and then increased capacity in strategic locations, such as SR 520 and important connections in the street grid.
Old Town thrives as a focus for retail activity that attracts pedestrians, providing a distinctive selection of stores, restaurants, boutiques, and theater, as well as varied housing. New buildings blend with refurbished buildings, retaining the area’s historic character. Cleveland Street is a pleasant place to walk or sit and people fill the street during the day and evening. The former railroad right-of-way has been transformed to an urban green space that people of all ages enjoy, with places to stroll, gather and talk with others, celebrate, or stop and peek in store windows while walking to Old Town or Redmond Town Center.
Large open spaces, such as the Sammamish River, Anderson Park, and Bear Creek, as well as abundant landscaping and a system of parks and other gathering places, create a sense of Downtown as an urban place within a rich natural environment. A network of walkways, trails, vista points, and plazas enable people to enjoy the natural beauty of the river, views of surrounding hillsides and mountains and other points of interest. Recent developments along the Sammamish River are oriented to and embrace the river, while maintaining adequate natural buffers.
Overlake has become recognized as a regional urban center that is the location of internationally known companies, corporate headquarters, high technology research and development companies, and many other businesses. While intensively and efficiently developed, the employment areas retain their campus-like feel due to attractive landscaping and the protection of significant trees and other important natural features. During the past 20 years, redevelopment of the area in the southernmost part of Overlake has brought retail storefronts closer to the street and improvements to streetscapes to reflect the green character of Redmond, making the area more hospitable to transit, pedestrians and bicyclists. This portion of Overlake has also become much more diverse, featuring small neighborhoods with a mix of housing, small-scale shopping and services to serve employees and residents, and connections to a network of parks, sidewalks, and trails. In many ways Overlake has demonstrated that high technology uses can thrive in a balanced urban setting that offers opportunities to live, work, shop, and recreate to an increasingly diverse workforce.
Residential neighborhoods are treasured for their attractiveness, friendliness, diversity, safety, and quietness. Redmond includes a broad choice of housing types at a range of prices, including affordable homes. During the past 20 years, there has been a lot more variety in the types and prices of new homes constructed in neighborhoods, including more cottages, accessory units, attached homes, and other smaller single-family homes. New homes blend with existing homes and the natural environment, retaining valued characteristics of existing neighborhoods as they continue to evolve. Through careful planning and community involvement, changes and innovation in housing styles and development have been successfully embraced by the whole community.
Redmond has maintained a strong economy and a diverse job base. The City is the home to many small, medium-size and locally owned businesses and services, as well as nationally and internationally recognized corporations. Redmond is widely recognized as a community that is inviting for advanced technology, and businesses are proud to be partners in the community. The City provides a business climate that attracts sustainable development to the community and retains existing businesses. Likewise, the successful companies return benefits directly and indirectly to the community. A prime example of this is the support that both the residents and the business community have given to the school system to create an excellent educational system that serves the needs of citizens of all ages.
Neighborhood and community parks contribute to a high quality of life in Redmond by providing a full array of opportunities ranging from active recreation, such as sports and games, to more restful and reflective activities, such as walking and viewing wildlife. Residents enjoy larger natural areas, such as Watershed and Farrel‑McWhirter Parks, as well as smaller open spaces and gathering places located throughout the City close to residences and work places. Indoor and outdoor recreational facilities and programs meet the needs of residents of all ages. Known as the bicycle capital of the Northwest, Redmond has developed an excellent system of bike paths and trails that are used for recreation, commuting and riding to schools, parks, and other destinations.
Redmond has embraced energy efficient and environmentally sound transportation systems. The City has invested strategically and leveraged regional funds to improve transportation choices and mobility, and every year more people walk, bicycle, carpool, or use transit or alternative fuel vehicles to travel. Transit service links all of Redmond’s neighborhoods to the hubs of Downtown and Overlake, creating an attractive and practical transportation alternative. Overlake and Downtown are extensively served by high capacity transit that provides easy access to many destinations in the region. Transit stations along the route include shops, restaurants, offices, and residences.
People spend less time traveling and more time where they want to be. All Redmond homes, schools and businesses have high-speed access to information and communication. More neighborhoods and workplaces are served by nearby stores and services that are small in scale and well-designed. Significant investments in SR 520, I-405, and regional and local transit routes have improved mobility for people and goods. In Redmond, roadway projects have been built where needed to improve safety and operating efficiency, and the City has maintained a good system of access and circulation for delivery and freight. Most streetscapes are attractive and functional for various travel modes, with street trees and landscaped areas that separate pedestrians from traffic.
Infrastructure and services have been provided to meet the needs of a growing population as well as to correct existing deficiencies. The planning and placement of utilities in Redmond has supported the community’s vision for the location and amount of growth. Long-term planning for utilities has contributed to a high quality of life for Redmond residents and businesses by ensuring efficient utility delivery. Proper utility planning has also protected Redmond’s natural environment and resources. Upgrades to the sewer system have eliminated many septic systems, thereby controlling contaminants released into the environment. The City has protected the natural environment by developing systems to prevent excess storm runoff, by designing and upgrading systems and plans to prevent damage to the environment, and by fostering conservation.
Redmond has excellent police and fire protection and well-maintained and dependable public facilities. The community continues to enjoy a rapid fire and emergency response, professional police work, beautiful parks, pure water, and effective wastewater and stormwater management because the capital facilities needed to provide these services were, and still are, planned for the long-term. An efficient multi-modal transportation system has taken shape and is continually improved. This long-term planning for services and facilities carries out the Comprehensive Plan goals and policies, such that new development and new services and facilities arrive concurrently.
Redmond citizens embrace and support the high-quality educational, cultural, and recreational facilities in the community. The City works as a partner with schools, businesses, service providers, and other organizations and jurisdictions to help strengthen a human services network that provides vulnerable persons the food, shelter, job training, child care, and other services they need to become more independent.
Redmond in 2022 has maintained a very green character. The City is framed within a beautiful natural setting and open spaces and an abundance of trees continue to define Redmond’s physical appearance. A system of interconnected open spaces provides habitat for a variety of wildlife. The City prides itself for its environmental stewardship, including an emphasis on sustainable land use and development patterns, landscaping that requires little watering, and other techniques to protect and conserve the natural environment while flourishing as a successful urban community. Lake Sammamish and the Sammamish River, noted for their water quality, are used for boating, swimming, and other types of recreation. Through many cooperative efforts, the improved water quality is demonstrated annually in the increasing salmon runs. Public access to shorelines has been enhanced while protecting the natural environment and property owners’ rights. The open space and agricultural character of the north Sammamish Valley has been maintained and is highly valued by the community. Through the joint efforts of cities and the County, the Bear Creek and Evans Creek Valleys remain rural, as do the areas north and east of the City.
Redmond has reached its ultimate size, having annexed all remaining territory in its Potential Annexation Area so that residents may receive a full range of urban services. The new neighborhoods have been seamlessly interwoven with existing neighborhoods. The process of annexation was logical and orderly, allowing the City to provide these new areas with high-quality facilities and services.
Redmond is an integral member of the regional planning community. As was the case in 2004, Redmond continues to work cooperatively in regional planning with neighboring jurisdictions, King County, neighboring counties, State agencies, and other jurisdictions. Redmond is an active member of regional planning organizations where it simultaneously advances the interests of Redmond citizens and works toward regional goals.
Though the City has experienced growth and change during the past 20 years, Redmond has maintained its distinctive character. The quality design of new development is a reflection of the value Redmond citizens place on the community’s appearance. Care has also been taken to employ special treatments on identified streets and pathways, and to enhance the comfort, safety, and usability of public places. Public view corridors and entryways have been identified, preserved, and enhanced. The City’s historic roots are still apparent through preservation of special sites, structures, and buildings. Interpretive signage has been used in addition to enhance the City’s sense of its heritage.
Community gathering places are found throughout the City. Spaces for parks and plazas have been acquired and improved by the City or incorporated into new developments. Both public and private investment into place-making has created spaces where informal social gatherings occur. The City has continued to sponsor community events in public places.
Care has been given to preserve elements of the natural environment. Landscaping regulations have ensured preservation of special natural areas and significant trees that define the character of the City. New landscaping has, when appropriate, incorporated native plants. Areas of open space and forested groves near Town Center, along Redmond Way, and in other locations have been preserved. Through creative design, public and private projects have incorporated natural features and enhanced natural systems.
The cost of maintaining Redmond’s quality services and facilities is borne equitably. Redmond continues to draw from diverse revenue streams in order to finance capital facility projects. The public facility costs associated with new growth are recovered in part using impact fees that reflect up to date costs, including those related to land and construction. In addition, Redmond continues to seek grants and other outside funding in order to maintain its high quality of life.
Redmond is an effective, responsive local government that responds to and anticipates the changing needs of the community. Many citizens actively participate in Redmond’s planning process and system improvements, and their preferences are incorporated so that Redmond continues to be the community desired by its citizens.
In 2022, as in 2003, Redmond is a community of good neighbors.
C. Framework Policies
To be effective, the goals and vision must be translated into policies, plan designations and actions. The framework policies are the overarching policies that help to communicate how the community wants Redmond to look and feel over the next 20 years and that set the direction for the rest of the Comprehensive Plan. In contrast, policies in the various elements, such as Land Use or Housing, are more detailed and describe methods of accomplishing the vision. The framework policies are not listed in priority order, and need to be viewed as a whole that is balanced over time.
Encourage active participation by all members of the Redmond community in planning for Redmond’s future.
When preparing City policies and regulations, take into account the good of the community as a whole, while treating property owners fairly and allowing some reasonable economic use for all properties. Require predictability and timeliness in permit decisions.
Establish and support a culture of dialogue and partnership among City officials, residents, property owners, the business community, and agencies and organizations.
FW–4
Evaluate the effectiveness of policies, regulations and other implementation actions in achieving Redmond’s goals and vision for the future, and take action as needed.
Conservation and Natural Environment
Protect the ecological functions of area ecosystems and enhance the quality of the natural environment by protecting and restoring important critical areas, such as streams, wetlands, and Aquifer Recharge Areas, and by retaining and protecting significant trees and other natural resources.
Protect and restore the natural resources and ecological functions of shorelines, maintain and enhance physical and visual public access, and give preference to uses that are unique or dependent on shoreline locations.
Support Redmond as an urban community that values clean air and water, views of stars at night, and quiet neighborhoods.
Emphasize Redmond’s role as an environmental steward by conducting City business in a manner that:
♦ Increases community understanding of the natural environment and participation in protecting it through education and involvement programs;
♦ Promotes sustainable land use patterns and low-impact development practices; and
♦ Leads by example in the conservation of natural resources such as energy, water and trees, and avoidance of adverse environmental impacts.
Ensure that the land use pattern accommodates carefully planned levels of development, fits with existing uses, safeguards the environment, reduces sprawl, promotes efficient use of land and provision of services and facilities, encourages an appropriate mix of housing and jobs, and helps maintain Redmond’s sense of community and character.
Ensure that the land use pattern in Redmond meets the following objectives:
♦ Takes into account the land’s characteristics and directs development away from environmentally critical areas and important natural resources;
♦ Encourages redevelopment of properties that are underutilized or inconsistent with the Comprehensive Plan designation;
♦ Preserves land north and east of the City, outside of the Urban Growth Area, for long-term agricultural use, recreation, and uses consistent with rural character;
♦ Provides for attractive, affordable, high-quality, and stable residential neighborhoods that include a variety of housing choices;
♦ Focuses and promotes office, housing, and retail development in the Downtown and Overlake Urban Centers;
♦ Retains and encourages research and development, high technology, and manufacturing uses in portions of Overlake, Downtown, Willows, and SE Redmond;
♦ Provides for industrial uses in suitable areas, such as portions of the Bear Creek Neighborhood;
♦ Provides opportunities to meet daily shopping or service needs close to residences and work places; and
♦ Maintains and enhances an extensive system of parks, trails, and open space.
FW-11
Plan to accommodate a future population of 72,000 people and an employment base of 118,000 jobs in the City of Redmond by the year 2022.
Promote a development pattern and urban design that enable people to readily use alternative modes of transportation, including walking, bicycling, transit, and car pools.
Create opportunities for the market to provide a diversity of housing types, sizes, densities and prices in Redmond to serve all economic segments and household types, including those with special needs related to age, health, or disability.
Encourage a housing supply in Redmond and nearby communities that enables more people to live closer to work, reduce commuting needs, and participate more fully in the community.
Support sustainable and environmentally sound economic growth with appropriate land use regulations and infrastructure investments.
Maintain a strong and diverse economy and tax base that provide a variety of job opportunities, support the provision of excellent local services and public education, and keep pace with economic and demographic changes.
Maintain and enhance a broad variety of retail and service business choices that meets the needs of the greater Redmond community.
Strengthen ongoing communication between each neighborhood and City officials.
Make each neighborhood a better place to live or work by preserving and fostering each neighborhood’s unique character, while providing for compatible growth in residences and other land uses, such as businesses, services, or parks.
Promote an economically healthy Downtown that is unique, attractive, and offers a variety of retail, office, service, residential, cultural, and recreational opportunities.
Nurture a Downtown Redmond that reflects the City’s history and small-town look and feel, preserves its natural setting, integrates urban park-like qualities, and serves as the primary community gathering place and entertainment and cultural destination for the greater Redmond area.
Enhance the pedestrian ambiance of Downtown through public and private investments.
Foster Old Town’s identity as a destination that has retained its historic identity and traditional downtown character, is linked through attractive pedestrian connections to the rest of Downtown, and provides an inviting atmosphere in which to shop, stroll, or sit during the day and evening.
Support the Overlake Urban Center as a focus for high technology and other employment located within a vibrant urban setting that provides opportunities to live, shop and recreate close to workplaces. Make public and private investments that reinforce the desired character and increase the attractiveness of the Overlake Urban Center as a place in which to walk, bicycle and use transit.
Ensure that development and investments in the Overlake Urban Center address transportation issues of concern to both Redmond and Bellevue, help to retain the character of nearby residential neighborhoods, and enhance a green character within the area through addition of parks, street trees and landscaping as well as retention of significant trees and other natural features.
Maintain and promote a vibrant system of parks, trails, open space, art, and recreational facilities that provides infrastructure designed to meet community needs, enhances Redmond’s high quality of life, and protects its natural beauty.
Provide citizens of all ages, including seniors and teens, with diverse, attractive, safe, and accessible recreational and cultural opportunities. Accommodate a broad range of community interests including active programs, such as sports, as well as opportunities for passive enjoyment, such as gathering areas and art, within a variety of civic settings.
Plan, finance, build, rehabilitate, and maintain capital facilities and services consistent with the following principles:
♦ Provide facilities and services that support the City’s vision and Land Use Plan as articulated in the Redmond Comprehensive Plan;
♦ Ensure that capital facilities are well-designed, attractive, and safe;
♦ Provide facilities and services that protect public health and safety;
♦ Ensure adequate provision of needed infrastructure and services;
♦ Allocate infrastructure funding responsibilities fairly; and
♦ Establish priorities for improvements and provide reasonable certainty that needed facility and service improvements are completed within a reasonable time.
Ensure that the cost of capital facility improvements are borne in proportion to the benefit received. Allocate the cost of facilities that are generated by and that benefit growth to those generating that growth.
Ensure that Redmond’s character as a green city with a small-town feel is protected when planning, constructing, and maintaining the transportation system. Prioritize, plan, and invest in transportation to achieve Redmond’s land use and community character objectives, while accommodating the adopted population and employment growth targets.
Develop strong local transportation connections that are multi-modal, well-designed, and appropriately located for the movement of people, goods, and freight among Redmond’s Downtown, residences, shopping, employment, government, parks, and schools.
Promote mobility choices by developing a range of practical transportation alternatives. Increase transportation investments that enhance the attractiveness of walking, bicycling, local and regional transit routes, and ridesharing to promote the quality of life and health of Redmond’s citizens and the environment. Address travel demand through mobility choices, as well as through projects and programs that increase street safety and operating efficiency.
Develop strategies to influence regional decisions and leverage transportation investments to support and complement Redmond’s land use, community character, and transportation objectives and to increase mobility, choice, and access between the City and the region for people, goods, and information.
Maintain Redmond as a green city with an abundance of trees, forested areas, open space, parks, wildlife habitats, riparian corridors, access to shorelines, and other elements of its beautiful natural setting.
Retain Redmond’s small-town feel, while accommodating urban growth.
Ensure that building and site design maintain and enhance Redmond’s character, retain identities unique to neighborhoods and districts, and create places that are high-quality, attractive, and inviting to people.
Preserve Redmond’s heritage, including historic links to native cultures, logging, and farming, and its image as the Bicycle Capital of the Northwest, as an important element of the community’s character.
FW–38
Retain and attract small- to medium-sized and locally owned businesses in Redmond to offer distinctive goods and services.
FW–39
Provide a variety of gathering places in the community that supply citizens with opportunities to enjoy the arts or views, to recreate, or to meet with others.
Promote opportunities to enhance public enjoyment of river and lake vistas and provide public places to take advantage of the Sammamish River as a community green gathering place.
FW–41
Enhance Redmond as a community that is child-friendly and safe; supports neighborhoods, families and individuals; and is characterized by diversity, innovation, creativity, and energy.
Improve the welfare and independence of Redmond citizens by supporting the provision of human services to all in the community.
Ensure that human service programs reflect and are sensitive to the cultural, economic and social diversity of the City.
Regional Planning and Annexation
Develop and support regional policies, strategies, and investments that reflect the vision and policies of the Redmond Comprehensive Plan. Achieve local goals and values by participating fully in implementation of the Growth Management Act, VISION 2020, and the King County Countywide Planning Policies.
Work with other jurisdictions and agencies, educational and other organizations, and the business community to develop and carry out a coordinated, regional approach for meeting the various needs of Eastside communities, including housing, human services, economic vitality, parks and recreation, transportation, and environmental protection.
Work cooperatively with residents and property owners to annex all land within the designated Potential Annexation Area.
Ord. 2481; Ord. 2230
