Three-story multifamily housing proposed at Olympia Royal Street SE

Posted

Olympia's Site Plan Review Committee held a presubmission hearing on a three-story multifamily housing project proposal at 3714 Royal Street SE on November 2. 

Brandon Johnson of JSA Civil gave an overview of the Royal Street Apartments, which would have 58 units comprising a mixture of studios, one-bedroom and two-bedroom units, a common area, and a leasing office.

 According to Johnson, two parcels make up the site. The first parcel is 1.38 acres. The second is 0.26 acres, including the right-of-way for a portion of Weir Street.

"We are proposing to vacate that right-of-way. Our understanding is that the city is amenable to that proposal, but we will have to go through that process," Johnson told the committee.

Engineering review

Olympia's engineering plan examiner Zulaika Kim presented different scenarios of whether the city supported vacating or if no or partial vacating was approved.

Kim said they would be looking at a private access lane if the city supports and approves vacating, as demonstrated on the site plan. "Within that private access lane, we would also require pedestrian scale street lighting as needed."

In addition, Kim said they would require a shared-use path with a public access easement connecting to the I-5 trail north of the property.

Kim informed the applicant that the streets are considered local access if vacating is not supported or only partial vacating is approved. "Frontage improvements would have to be done at the local access standard."

Planning review

Associate planner Paula Smith noted that the property is located in a commercial zone called HDC-4 (High-Density Corridor), making the project proposal a board-level review.

"It is located in the freeway corridor Design Review district, which would make your proposal a board-level review based on the size of the project," Smit said.

She added that the project would also be subjected to State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA) review.

Smith asked the applicant to provide a safe walking analysis along with the application for land use review. She said the multifamily housing project with ten or more units triggers safe walking route conditions that must be met.

Smith also noted that it appears there were no schools in the area, and it may need some off-site improvements to provide safe walking routes for children who walk to and from school.

"I would encourage you to contact North Thurston School District. They can probably give you some ideas about where there's a bus stop in this area or if a new bus stop must be provided for your development," Smith said.

Comments

No comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here