Council discusses mixed-use zone designs

The Fife City Council reviewed proposed design standards for development within the Community Mixed Use (CMU) Zone on June 9. The presentation given to the council was to spark discussion about the Administrative Design Review (ADR).

Carl Durham, Fife’s acting community development director, said this project has been ongoing, but will be wrapping up soon.

“This presentation was to discuss materials, set-backs, decorations and style,” said Durham. “It was received well, so we were directed to bring it back to council for adoption. We will be doing the same thing for the sign code in the near future.”

Durham also noted the design plans will follow the city’s low-impact development codes, which were adopted several months ago.

“The code means that we have to try using sustainable materials for all new buildings in Fife,” said Durham. “We were the first city to adopt such codes.”

He added that although buildings meet U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certifications, the city does not have the extra funds to participate in the official LEED application process.

In 2007, the council adopted a CMU zone, to accommodate pedestrian-orientated development, and on May 4, the city’s Planning Commission voted unanimously to recommend approval of the design standards for the CMU zone. Durham said the fiscal impact of these new building codes would be difficult to calculate right now. The design requirements would cost developers and business owners more initially, but the losses could be recouped with better, more attractive businesses, which can charge a higher premium for goods. The council was not required to make any formal decisions at the meeting.

Fife is required to achieve goals in their Comprehensive Plan by the state’s Growth Management Act (GMA), which was passed in 1990. According to GMA documents, lawmakers recognize that uncoordinated and unplanned growth, along with a lack of common goals, could impact the environment, economic development and the quality of life for residents. The goal of the GMA is to give cities throughout the state tools to create development goals, evaluate community assets and achieve future benchmarks.

Fife’s Comprehensive Plan was created to provide officials with guidelines regarding issues affecting the future of the city. The GMA encourages early and continual citizen participation as the basis for the community’s comprehensive planning process. Planning for growth means the Comprehensive Plan will need to be updated and changed accordingly. The plan will implement community goals regarding change over the next 20 years.

In 1970, an estimated 3,631 persons resided within the Fife forecast analysis zone (FAZ 2000), an area approximating the Fife Urban Growth Area plus all of Fife Heights.  Of those residents, 40 percent resided within the Fife city limits. In 1990, 5,595 persons lived in the FAZ and 69 percent resided within city limits. According to current projections, 9,880 persons will reside in FAZ 2000 by 2020, of which 91 percent may reside in the city limits. The Fife Planning and Community Development Department expects the current urban growth area will eventually support a population of 9,023 people in an estimated 20 to 30 years.

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