December 13 — City looks to update its development guidelines

Roxanne Cooke / of the Herald

The city of Sumner is contracting with MAKERS Architecture and Urban Design to update Sumner’s design and development guidelines.

Proposed changes were presented to the public last week at a joint meeting of the city council, planning commission and design commission. The guidelines are intended to encourage development consistent with the city’s comprehensive plan. Most changes apply to new construction, redevelopment and renovations within the city.

Because the current design and development guidelines are more than 10 years old, an update is needed, said Associate Planner Eric Mendenhall. The goal is to make the document more concise, up-to-date and to use more illustrations and photo examples.

In nearly all of the proposed changes, the theme was to promote pedestrian-friendly development and avoid monotony in buildings and landscaping.

Bob Bengford with MAKERS Architecture and Urban Design presented the firm’s suggested updates for the central business district, commercial zone, multifamily housing and single-family housing. The industrial zone had no changes.

For downtown Sumner, the new guidelines encourage lots of windows, entryways facing the street and storefronts kept directly behind the sidewalk. New parking lots on Main Street are prohibited, but for all other streets parking will be located behind or under structures and away from streets.

“It’s just trying to reinforce that pattern of storefronts,” Bengford said.

South of Maple there will be more flexibility – storefronts can be set back, for example, with landscaping features placed in front.

In general, buildings should be “broken up” at 30-foot intervals – for example, changing the type of awning, or getting rid of it completely, just to prevent downtown from looking all the same.

“It makes it more interesting,” Bengford said. “We needs things to look at — little details and creative things.”

Historic buildings should comply with the Secretary of Interior’s standards – property owners are encouraged to look at what was done originally with the building. Historic photographs in the guidelines help in this respect. As for colors, Bengford recommended property owners get in touch with the Sumner Downtown Association, which is creating a color palette.

During the comment period, Councilman Leroy Goff pointed out that with street trees and business signs, sidewalks quickly become cluttered.

“Pretty soon you have no sidewalk or almost no sidewalk,” Goff said.

He asked if there was any rule regarding that issue. Business signs placed on the street must be at least 24 inches away from the storefront, said Senior Planner Ryan Windish.

Other proposed changes included making pedestrian-oriented space in the commercial zone smaller but more valuable. For multifamily housing guidelines, property owners should avoid exposed foundations or exposed utility areas and keep townhomes spaced apart so that residents can have both sunlight and privacy from neighbors.

Suggested changes to single family housing focused mainly on diversity in subdivisions. Use a variety of architecture styles and don’t place two identical homes next to each other.

“You need to get a little creative when you have these small lots,” Bengford said.