Langley Washington Form Based Assessment.pdf · 4 multifamily form based assessment mixed...

MULTIFAMILY

FORM BASED

ASSESSMENT

Langley

Washington

August 31, 2020

2 Multifamily Form Based Assessment

CONTENTS

* 3 SUMMARY

* 4 RM

* 8 RS5000

* 12 RS7200

* 16 NEXT STEPS

* 17 MULTIFAMILY REGIONAL EXAMPLES

Multifamily Form Based Assessment 3

SUMMARY

The charming village of Langley, in an attempt to provide more affordable housing options, implement the 2018 Comprehensive Plan, and assure compliance with the Growth Management Act, is determining the best way to permit context-sensitive gentle densification in existing zoning districts. This assessment considers the barriers to affordability that are in the existing residential districts and best strategies for overcoming those barriers with a form based code option.

This report will illustrate current restrictions within the RM, the RS5000, and the RS7200 zoning districts and so-lutions for including compatible building types within each area. The project goal is to permit at least one triplex on each parcel in a compatible manner that respects the scale of adjacent buildings, protects critical areas, and preserves specimen trees.


MIXED RESIDENTIAL

RM

LANGLEY’S MULTIFAMILY ZONE IS ONLY APPLIED TO ONE ACRE OF

UNDEVELOPED LAND WITHIN THE CITY AND IS SUBURBAN IN CHARACTER.

SUMMARY ASSESSMENTAll Langley zoning districts currently have duplicative regulations that unnecessarily complicate applications and administration. Form standards efficiently regulate lots primarily using:

� Setbacks

� Height

� Lot Coverage

However, in addition to these predictable standards, Langley’s code layers on density and floor area limits in some districts. These intensity restrictions are re-dundant and have the potential to be contradictory.

The Mixed Residential RM district does not include floor area limits, but the lot coverage of 50% for impervious surface and the setbacks, as illustrated on the facing page, combined with the minimum park-ing requirements produce a zoning district that has a limited utility and is very suburban in character. To reflect the historic character of Langley, these stan-

dards should be adjusted for a multifamily district with village character that can produce types of buildings suitable to the City of Langley.

RECOMMENDATION SUMMARY

� Maintain building height

� Decrease front setback to 10’

� Increase lot coverage to 70%

� Remove density limitations

� Add permitted building types

Recommended BUILDINGS TYPES include du-plex (side-by-side or stacked), triplex (side-by-side or stacked), fourplex, townhouses, cottage courts, and courtyard homes. PARKING REQUIREMENTS should be adjusted to one space per dwelling unit.

10'

20'

30'25'

5'


The diagram above illustrates the current RM regulations. The massing shown indicates the maximum setbacks and building heights. The greatest concern is the 20’ front setback which is very suburban in character.

MIXED RESIDENTIAL [RM]


RM RECOMMENDATIONS


Reduce setbacks

Front setbacks should be reduced from 20 feet to 10 feet and rear setbacks should be reduced from 25 feet to 12 feet. The 5 foot rear setback for accessory structures, and the 5 foot side setbacks do not require adjustment.

These adjustments will allow great-er flexibility in preserving existing trees, adjusting to topography, and locating parking in a manner that is not aesthetically detrimental to the neighborhood.

Eliminate density

Density is an artificial regulation that does not reflect character and frequently does not align with the other standards like building height and setbacks.

Instead of regulating a total num-ber of units per acre, a more predictable standard is to regu-late types of buildings that may be permitted in an area, as listed on the prior page. For example, the RM zone has a density cap of 15 dwellings per acre, and this site can comfortably and respect-fully accommodate 8 dwellings or 21 dwellings per acre and better reflect today’s market demands of smaller households. Most people can visualize types of buildings, while it’s very difficult to visualize a number of dwellings per acre.

Reduce parking

High parking requirements are a contributor to escalating housing costs. In addition, there is histori-cal evidence that parking regula-tions originated with mid-century segregation goals. Lower income families do not require additional parking spaces, but they are unduly burdened with the cost of the requirement.

It is recommended that only one space per dwelling is required in the form based multifamily overlay. Of course, an applicant is free to provide more parking should they choose.

Predictability is a primary benefit of form based codes. Because of the delicacy required to respectfully insert more housing into existing neighborhoods, this is the ideal tool to use for gentle densification. The illustration on the facing page, across from Fifth Street Commons, illus-trates two fourplex buildings with a common space in the rear. There is ample room on the site for shared garden space as well as resident park-ing. The scale reflects Fifth Street Commons opposite.

01 02 03


RESIDENTIAL 5,000 S.F.

RS5000

LANGLEY’S RS5000 IS ONE OF THE MOST VERSATILE ZONES IN THE CITY

BUT ONLY CONSISTS OF 4 ACRES OF UN- OR UNDER-DEVELOPED LAND.

SUMMARY ASSESSMENTAll of the available land zoned RS5000 is within walk-ing distance of downtown, which makes it the most desirable district for gentle densification. Additionally with the smaller lots, the character is already a higher intensity than other residential zones in the City.

The RS5000 district includes floor area limits as well as maximum lot coverage. This redundancy, and the suburban setbacks, as illustrated on the facing page, combined with the minimum parking requirements produce a zoning district that has limited utility and a suburban character, even though it has a reasonable lot size for a historic village context.

The following recommendations assure this district can reach its highest potential in providing housing diversity within a walkable context.




� Remove floor area limits




� Reduce parking minimums

Recommended BUILDINGS TYPES include single-family, duplex (side-by-side or stacked), triplex (side-by-side or stacked), townhouses, and cottage courts. PARKING REQUIREMENTS should be adjusted to one space per dwelling unit.

5'

20'

25'30' 5'


The diagram above illustrated the current RS5000 regulations. The massing shown indicates the maximum lot and floor area limits as well as the setbacks and building heights. This il-lustrates the minimum lot size of 50’ x 100’.

RESIDENTIAL 5,000 [RS5000]


RS5000 RECOMMENDATIONS


Reduce setbacks

Front setbacks should be reduced from 20 feet to 12 feet and rear setbacks should be reduced from 25 feet to 12 feet. The 5 foot rear setback for accessory structures, and the 5 foot side setbacks do not require adjustment.

These changes will allow greater flexibility in preserving existing trees, as illustrated in the 2nd St. example to the left, adjusting to topography, and locating parking in a manner that is not aesthetically detrimental to the neighborhood.

This illustration delivers three dwellings while preserving two specimen trees, and tucking the parking to the rear.

Eliminate density and

floor area limits

Density and floor area limits are artificial regulations that do not re-flect local character and frequently contradict other standards like building height and setbacks. They are also redundant and make the delivery of housing a challenge.

To assure harmony, the proposal is to replace these abstract regula-tions with predictable ones like height, setbacks, lot coverage, and building types. One goal of the multifamily form based code is to assure the community can reliably predict the outcomes.

Reduce parking

Along with all the other zones, it is recommended that only one space per dwelling is required in the form based multifamily overlay. This is particularly important in RS500 with its proximity to downtown.

Diversity is a goal of a sustainable housing strategy and assuring the character fits the context. Increasing diversity of building types is the ideal. This illustration on the corner of Park Avenue and 2nd Street shows a triplex in a house form that fits harmoniously into the environment. Be-cause the massing of the building replicates the neighborhood, the triplex is only visibly identifiable because of the parking. A form based code can assign appropriate building types to context to assure compatibility.

01 02 03


RESIDENTIAL 7,200 S.F.

RS7200

THERE ARE APPROXIMATELY 75 ACRES OF UNDEVELOPED RS7200 SERVICED

BY SEWER. MOST AVAILABLE PARCELS ARE FURTHER FROM DOWNTOWN.

SUMMARY ASSESSMENTThe available RS7200 is largely further from down-town than the RS5000. Although the parcels are larger, and could accommodate more dwellings, care must be taken to remain compatible with the context. Standards should be written to assure building width is restricted, scale is similar to other RS7200 buildings, and parking is located in a manner that is not detri-mental to the adjacent properties.

Like RS5000, the RS7200 district includes floor area limits as well as maximum lot coverage. This redun-dancy, and the suburban setbacks, as illustrated on the facing page, combined with the parking require-ments produce a zoning district that has limited utility and a suburban character. The following recommen-dations assure this district can maximize its housing potential since it has the most available area of the zones under consideration.




� Remove floor area limits




� Reduce parking minimums

Recommended BUILDINGS TYPES include single-family, duplex (side-by-side or stacked), triplex (side-by-side or stacked), and cottage courts. PARKING REQUIREMENTS should be adjusted to one space per dwelling unit.

20'

30'25'

5'


The diagram above illustrates the current RS7200 regulations. The massing shown indicates the maximum lot and floor area limits as well as the setbacks and building heights. This il-lustrates the minimum lot size of 72’ x 100’.

RESIDENTIAL 7,200 [RS7200]


RS7200 RECOMMENDATIONS


Compatibility comes into greatest focus in the RS7200 district. This illustration on the corner of DeBruyn Avenue and 1st Street shows a cottage court that fits into the environment. Because the massing of the buildings replicate the neighborhood, the court appears to be two small houses from the street view. While parking is visible from the street and the neighboring property to the north, it is located by the neighbor’s drive and would be shielded from view with landscaping.

01 02 03

Reduce setbacks

Like RS5000, front setbacks should be reduced from 20 feet to 12 feet and rear setbacks should be re-duced from 25 feet to 12 feet. The 5 foot rear setback for accessory structures, and the 5 foot side set-backs do not require adjustment.

The location of parking will be a primary focus in across all three districts. While it must be ad-equate and accessible, it is critical not to be aesthetically detrimental to the surrounding neighborhood.

This illustration shows the largest number of dwellings and parking of any example, but the ten dwellings are arranged within four buildings that are similar in mass and scale to the surrounding single-family houses.

Eliminate density and

floor area limits

As described earlier, density and floor are limits are artificial regula-tions that do not reflect character and frequently contradict other standards like building height and setbacks. They are also redundant and make the delivery of housing a challenge.

To assure harmony, the proposal is to replace these abstract regula-tions with predictable ones like height, setbacks, lot coverage, and building types. One goal of the multifamily form based code is to assure the community can reliably predict the outcomes.

Reduce parking

Along with all the other zones, it is recommended that only one space per dwelling is required in the form based multifamily overlay. This reduction should be discussed with the community as there is a trade-off between enough park-ing and too much. Parking is quite expensive to develop, and increas-es the cost of housing. However, the further the parcels are from downtown, the more important it becomes.


Community Input

This is the next critical step after the analysis is complete. A virtual workshop will be convened and announced to discuss the report and consider options for drafting the form based code.

Drafting

After receipt of community input, the drafting of the form based code will begin. Consultations will also be made with the Planning Advisory Board (PAB), City Coun-cil and professional staff.

Consideration

After the draft is complete, it will be presented to the community in another public workshop for critique. Final edits will then be made, and the code considered by PAB and Council for adoption.

COMMUNITY CONVERSATION

N E X T S T E P S


MULTIFAMILY

REGIONAL EXAMPLES

WHIDBEY ISLAND

Questions?

Brigid Reynolds Director of Community Planning

[email protected]

Langley Washington Form Based Assessment.pdf · 4 multifamily form based assessment mixed...

Documents

Transcript of Langley Washington Form Based Assessment.pdf · 4 multifamily form based assessment mixed...