2013 Comprehensive Plan Amendments

The City of Tacoma is once again considering amendments to its Comprehensive Plan. This year there are nine proposed amendments, which the City will take public comment on at a public hearing next Wednesday, March 20, or in writing through Friday, March 29.

Proposed amendments for 2013 include nine applications.

1: Drive-Through Regulations – Restricting drive-throughs in Downtown and Mixed-Use Centers (A private application by Jori Adkins, Dome District Development Group).

The original proposal was for an outright prohibition on drive-throughs in downtown Tacoma, and the more urban of the mixed-use centers. The modified proposal calls for limits on drive-throughs in those areas, without their outright elimination. Highlights include a requirement in X Districts that stacking lanes to be located behind the main building and requiring drive-throughs to be located entirely within the building in Downtown and UCX-TD Districts. These proposed amendments aim to reduce impacts on pedestrian and transportation streets, increase pedestrian safety, and minimize visual and noise impacts of drive-throughs on their surroundings.

2: Countywide Planning Policies – Review of the 2012 Updates to the Pierce County Countywide Planning Policies for consistency with the City’s Comprehensive Plan.

This amendment would begin the process of assessing Tacoma’s Comprehensive Plan for consistency with Countywide Planning Policies and the regional growth plan 2040. An initial review showed that the Comprehensive Plan is consistent with the CPPs, but there are opportunities to strengthen alignment around growth targets, affordable housing allocations, urban design, health, climate change, air quality, and sustainable transportation. These subjects will be addressed in the 2015 Comprehensive Plan Update.

3: Transportation Element – Updating and reprioritizing unfunded projects and incorporating “Environmental Justice” into relevant policies (per VISION 2040).

Environmental justice is the term
that recognizes the unfortunate U.S. history of large civic and public works projects located in lowincome and minority neighborhoods, thereby creating possible disproportionate adverse human health
and environmental impacts on such communities.
Environmental justice has its roots in the civil
rights movement and was codified as Title VI of the federal Civil Rights Act of 1964. When first
coined, the circumstance was often referred to as “environmental injustice”. The construction of interstates and freeways during the post war boom is commonly cited as an example of transportation
projects that did not account for the people and environment that they often displaced or impacted.
In 1994, Presidential Executive Order 12898 directed federal agencies to make environmental justice
part of its mission. In 1997, the USDOT issued Order 5610.2 with guidelines on how environmental
justice should be incorporated into the transportation decision-making process. (Source: PSRC,
Vision 2040 Plan)
The effect of this federal action is that all projects that receive federal funds directly or indirectly
through regional agencies must show that the project managers have considered whether the project
will have a possible adverse human health and environmental impact on low-income or minority
populations. As such, the City already evaluates transportation projects for environmental justice
when those projects are funded by grants with federal monies attached. By adding environmental
justice to the Transportation Element’s “Project Selection and Evaluation Criteria” section, it will also
be considered for those arterial streets, curb ramps, sidewalk connections, and bikeway facility
projects that will not be funded with federal monies.

The amendment would also make minor changes to update language within the Transportation Element.

4: Shoreline Related Elements – Rescinding the Thea Foss Waterway Design and Development Plan, the Ruston Way Plan, and the Shoreline Trails Plan, but carrying forward the vision and implementation strategies within the proposed Tacoma Waterfront Design Guidelines and an update of the Public Access Alternatives Plan.

1. Land Use Designations – Revising the Comprehensive Plan’s land use designation approach from the current Land Use Intensities to a more simplified and easily understood classification system.
2. Adoption and Amendment Procedures – Amending TMC 13.02 to streamline the Planning Commission’s processes for the Comprehensive Plan, area-wide rezones, moratoria, and interim zoning.
3. Platting and Subdivision Regulations – Amending TMC 13.04 to increase the maximum short plat size from four to nine lots (per RCW) and address associated regulatory requirements.
4. Sign Regulations – Amending the Sign Code to address on-site digital signage and various sign related issues (per request of the Planning Commission).
5. Regulatory Code Cleanup – Amending various sections of the Land Use Regulatory Code to correct minor errors, provide additional clarity, and improve administrative efficiency.

The City has issued a preliminary Determination of Environmental Non-Significance. A Planning Commission public hearing is scheduled for March 20. Following a review of testimony, the Commission will make its recommendations, and the amendments will go to the Economic Development Committee for review, before going to City Council for another public hearing in May. If all goes according to schedule, the amendments will be voted on in June, and adopted amendments will go into effect July 1.