Olympia Planning Commission recommending Capital Mall Triangle plan, with amendments

On Monday, April 15, the Olympia Planning Commission voted to recommend approval of the Capital Mall Triangle subarea plan to the Land Use and Environment Committee, with some amendments around policies for mixed-income housing, parking requirements, and accessibility.

During the deliberations, the commission discussed the plan's recommendation to allow taller buildings of up to 12 floors if a development makes 100% of its units affordable to those making 80% or less of the area median income (AMI).

Commissioner Tracey Carlos raised concerns about avoiding the unintentional creation of a "redlined area" through the plan's incentives. She recommended "making sure that there is some mixed housing that is not all affordable housing, simply to avoid creating an impoverished area which can lead to inequitable community."

Carlos was echoing the Social Justice and Equity Commission's concerns. She said it was an insightful comment from the equity commission that she does not want the Planning Commission to miss.

Olympia's senior planner, David Ginther, shows a map of a proposed "affordable housing height incentive area" in red, where developers can receive …

Commissioner Greg Quetin agreed with Carlos, noting that the plan proposes a significant development intensity for the area. He acknowledged that this could potentially concentrate on affordable housing if developers opted to build taller to include those units rather than promoting a mixed-income approach.

Quetin suggested the commission should be cautious about this risk and to ensure policies don't inadvertently lead to unintentional segregation.

The commission amended the motion to state that the letter to the Olympia City Council should include language noting the intent of having mixed-income housing to avoid creating an impoverished area.

Reducing parking requirements for new commercial developments was another point of discussion. The commission amended a stated goal to further reduce commercial parking requirements to zero, where development includes a shared parking benefit district but provides a required minimum of accessible parking.

Quetin advocated transitioning to lower commercial parking needs over time. He suggested making zero-required parking an option to encourage more development.

However, Commissioner Tammy Adams expressed caution, noting, "We want to make sure we are not going to kill local businesses." She said many would not search for parking in the rain and would want convenient access.

Olympia's Community Planning and Development Director Leonard Bauer suggested allowing parking reductions below minimum requirements in some instances where a shared parking agreement or development agreement is crafted for a specific business and its needs. He said this could allow businesses to go below the minimum parking requirements recommended in the subarea plan.

Bauer's recommendation allowed parking arrangements to be considered case-by-case through agreements rather than having set minimums across the board.

In emphasizing the community's strong interest in having more and larger additional park space, the commission wanted to note that the city should provide opportunities for new and existing parks and open spaces that are easily accessible through walking, rolling, and biking.

These amendments will be included in the letter to accompany their recommendation on the Capital Mall Triangle subarea plan to the Land Use and Environment Committee.