23.34.110

Locations appropriate for Downtown Mixed Residential zone designation are consistent with the following: A. Function. Areas that provide a mixed use community where housing and associated services and amenities predominate. Office, retail and other commercial uses are compatibly integrated with the predominant residential character at low to moderate densities. B. Scale and Character of Development. Areas where there is an existing base of housing and the potential exists for establishing a residential community. Areas have the potential for supporting a wide range of residential building types, ranging from midrise structures closely related to the street to larger tower forms. Opportunities exist for major public amenities, such as parks and open space, an enhanced pedestrian network, or views of downtown, Elliott Bay or other surrounding features. C. Transportation and Infrastructure Capacity. Areas with transportation system and infrastructure system capacity that is sufficient or can be improved to accommodate a substantial residential population. Employment densities are related to the ability of the transportation system to accommodate peak hour traffic flow without adversely affecting the residential environment. D. Relationship to Surrounding Activity. Areas with surrounding mixed use districts providing transition between primarily residential districts (within or outside downtown) and higher intensity neighborhood core areas within downtown. E. Mix of Use. Two mix-of-use designations are applied to achieve subarea objectives. The DMR/R designation applies to areas predominantly residential in character or containing large amounts of underused land able to accommodate future residential development; non-residential uses may be present but should be of modest scale, likely to change in the future, or neighborhood serving in character. The DMR/C designation applies to those areas containing housing or having housing potential where larger scale, non-residential serving commercial development exists and is likely to remain. F. Heights. Downtown mixed residential building height designations may be applied to achieve subarea objectives. The lowest height designation generally encompasses the Belltown core, in areas characterized by existing modest scale development, buildings of historic character, or topographic features such as the bluff rising from Elliott Bay. The intermediate building height designation provides transition in height and density to the north and east of the Belltown core and along the bluff where waterfront development divides the area from Elliott Bay. In the Downtown Regional Center east of Interstate 5, the building height designation provides for low to moderate heights. The highest building height designation applies to areas characterized by larger residential and commercial buildings, generally along the eastern edge of Belltown, near the higher density mixed commercial areas of downtown. (Ord. 127375 , § 26, 2025; Ord. 123589, § 4, 2011; Ord. 117430 , § 32, 1994.)