23.34.089

A. Establishing a Station Area Overlay District. In reviewing a proposal to establish a Station Area Overlay District, the following criteria shall be considered: 1. Function. To preserve or encourage a diverse, mixed-use community with a pedestrian orientation around proposed light rail stations or access to other high capacity transit, where incompatible automobile-oriented uses are discouraged and transit-oriented use and development is encouraged. 2. Desired Characteristics. The Station Area Overlay District designation is most appropriate in areas generally characterized by one or more of the following: a. High levels of pedestrian activity at street level in commercial and mixed-use zones; or b. Presence of a wide variety of retail/service activities in commercial and mixed-use zones; or c. Minimal pedestrian-auto conflicts; or d. Medium to high residential density in close proximity to light rail stations or access to other high capacity transit. 3. Physical Conditions Favoring Designation as Station Area Overlay District. The Station Area Overlay District shall be located around a proposed light rail station or access to other high capacity transit and include land within approximately one thousand three hundred and twenty feet (1,320') of the station or stop. Other factors to consider in including properties within the overlay district include, but are not limited to the following: a. Presence of medium to high density residential zoning in proximity to the proposed light rail station or access to other high capacity transit; b. Presence of a commercial or mixed-use area where goods and services are available to the public and where opportunities for enhancement of the pedestrian environment exist; c. Opportunities for new development to access transit, bicycle and pedestrian modes of transportation; d. Opportunities for construction of new development that will support transit; e. Properties zoned neighborhood residential may only be included within the overlay district when it can be demonstrated that the criteria for neighborhood residential designation cannot be satisfied. B. Revising the Boundaries of a Station Area Overlay District. 1. When a proposal is made to include land within an existing Station Area Overlay District, the land proposed to be added must be contiguous to the Station Area Overlay District, be consistent with the criteria prescribed in subsection A, above, and satisfy the function of and locational criteria for a commercial or multifamily zone designation. 2. When a proposal is made to remove land from an existing Station Overlay District, the land proposed to be removed must be contiguous to land lying outside the boundary and not meet the criteria in subsection A of this section. (Ord. 126509 , § 23, 2022 [zone name change]; Ord. 120452 , § 1, 2001.)