YMCA Design Review Scheduled for May 5th

Here's some good news. After a few weeks of quiet, the City's published some new Hearing Notices. The gap in Notices has been a clear sign of the C19 Plague's economic shutdown, so some new ones are especially welcome.

The latest corner view (April 2020)

Online Hearing, written comments only

The most interesting and significant of the three Notices is the Design and Site Plan Review for the new YMCA. Above all, it will be great to have a corner entry, kitty corner from the World War II Memorial and across from a small future housing project.

The old YMCA, sometime in the 1920s when it was new
(via The Mill - I've lost the citation and will update later)

They are also requesting some adjustments, and several of the requirements, from which the Y reasonably wants exceptions, look like vestigial suburban flavor inappropriate to a downtown form.

a) Allow portions of the proposed building adjacent to Court Street NE, and Cottage Street NE to be setback less than 5 ft. as required under SRC 522.010(b);
b ) Reduce the minimum six to ten-foot vehicle use area setback required to zero feet, pursuant to SRC 806.035(c)(2) to the property line abutting Cottage Street NE;
c) Reduce the minimum six to ten-foot vehicle use area setback required to two feet, pursuant to SRC 806.035(c)(2) to the property line abutting Chemeketa Street NE;
d) Reduce 15 percent landscaping for the development to 5 percent.
e) Reduce required parking spaces from 153 spaces to 78 spaces, with 40 spaces across Cottage Street NE; and
f) Eliminate the required four-foot wall required for Vehicle Use Areas abutting a street setback less than 10-feet.

Maybe the Staff Report or other comment will turn up real reasons these should not be granted, but on the surface they all look reasonable for the urban context.

The Hearing will be May 5th at 5:30pm. It is online only and the City will accept written comments only.

See previous notes, including some on the IKE Box, here.