Interpretation 2008-2 BD1 ground floor.pdfMEMORANDUM
Date: July 2, 2008
To: Interpretations Pile No. 2008-2
From: Mike Clugston, AICP
Subject: Interpretation regarding BDl ground floor requirements.
Date Issued/Posted: JULY2, 2008
Effective Date: JULY 17TH, 2008 (unless appealed in a timely manner)
The City has received a request .for a formal interpretation regarding the ground floor depth
requirements in the BD 1 zone. An applicant has proposed to construct a multi -story building on
a corner lot on Main Street (see sketch below, looking west). The structure has its primary
frontage on Main Street and 45' of ground floor commercial space extending northward from the
Main Street entry. During initial discussions, staff felt that this proposal did not meet the depth
requirement for ground floors in the BD 1 zone. The applicant believes the proposal does satisfy
the ground floor depth requirement and thus requested this interpretation.
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Applicable Sections of Edmonds Community Development Code (ECDC):
21,35.017 Ground floor.
The ground floor of a structure is that floor which is closest in elevation to the finished
City of Edmonds cza Planning Division
grade along the width of the side of the structure that is principally oriented to the street
which provides primary access to the subject property. A structure consisting of a
building with multiple entrances divided into individual offices and related uses shall
have only one ground floor. In the event that the use of the building shifts traffic from one
entrance to another or there is uncertainty in determining which entrance provides
"primary access, " the primary entrance as established by the historic use of the structure
shall control unless the transfer of the "primary access "from one street orientation to
another is brought about in conjunction with the building or its use being brought into
full compliance with all current code requirements.
16.43,030 Site development standards for BDI zone.
B. Ground Floor. This section describes requirements for development of the ground floor of
buildings in the BD zones.
B.1. When a commercial use is located on the ground floor, the elevation of the ground floor
and associated entry shall be within seven inches of the grade level of the adjoining
sidewalk "Grade " shall be as measured at the entry location.
B.2. When the street frontage of a building is on a slope which does not allow both the
elevation of the entry and ground floor to be entirely within seven inches of the grade
level of the sidewalk, the building may be designed so that either:
B.2. a. The entry for the commercial portion of the ground floor is located within seven
inches of the grade of the adjacent sidewalk, and the commercial portion of the
ground floor is within seven inches of the grade level of the entry; or
B.2.b. The building maybe broken up into multiple frontages, so that each
entry/ground floor combination is within seven inches of the grade of the
sidewalk.
B.2.c. For corner lots, a primary entry shall be established for the purposes of
determining where the ground floor entry rules detailed in this section shall
apply. The first choice for the primary entry shall be either 5th Avenue or Main
Street.
B.3. Within the BDI zone, development on the ground floor shall consist of only commercial
uses. Within the BD2 and BD3 zones, development on the ground floor shall consist of
only commercial uses to a minimum building depth of 60 feet, as measured from the
street front of the building.
B. 6. Exeptions and Clarifications.
B. 6. c. Parking is not considered to be a commercial use for the purposes of satisfying
the ground floor commercial use requirement (i. e., when the first 60 feet of the
building, as measured perpendicular to the street, is required to be in
commercial use, parking may not be located within that 60 feet). However, for
properties with less than 90 feet of depth measured from the street front,
parking may be located in the rearmost 30 feet of the property, even if a portion
of the parking extends into the first 60 feet of the building. In no case shall the
depth of commercial space as measured from the street front of the building be
less than 30 feet.
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B. b. d. Within the BD2, BD3 and BD4 zones, if the first 60 feet of the building as
measured perpendicular to the street consists only of commercial uses and
permitted secondary uses, then permitted multiple family residential units) may
be located behind the commercial uses.
Analysis:
Generally speaking, the ground floor of a structure "is that floor which is closest in elevation to
the finished grade along the width of the side of the structure that is principally oriented to the
street which provides primary access to the subjectproperty." (ECDC 21.35.017) The following
sketch of a daylight rambler (Figure 1) helps to illustrate the definition.
Determining which level is
considered the ground floor Upper level
depends on where the access
street is located. If the upper Lower level
level was graded near the
street, the upper level would Figure I
be considered the ground floor.
On the other hand, if the street was Iocated nearer the grade of the lower level, that would be
considered to be the ground floor. The other floor not identified as the `ground floor' is not
defined in any other specific way in the code.
Ground Floor Depth in the BD zones
In addition to the `ground floor' definition, there are a number of additional requirements
particular to `ground floors' in the recently adopted Downtown Business (BD) zones. These
include:
1) For corner lots on Main Street, the primary ground floor entry must be established from
Main Street (ECDC 16.43.030.B.2.c),
2) The minimum depth of commercial space as measured from the street front of the
building must be at least 30 feet (ECDC 16.43.030.B.6.c), and
3) Parking does not satisfy the ground floor commercial use requirement (ECDC
16.43.030.B.6.c).
An additional requirement is specific to the BD zone:
1) The ground floor shall consist only of commercial uses (ECDC 16.43.030.B.3).
Taken together, the above code sections require that all ground floor space in the BD 1 zone must
be devoted to commercial use, and under no circumstances can the ground floor be less than 30
feet deep from the street front. While the minimum depth of commercial space must be at least
30 feet in the BD zone, the code does not indicate a maximum required depth of commercial
space (i.e. ground floor in BDI) — only that the entire ground floor must be devoted to
commercial use. As a result, an applicant can choose to provide any amount of commercial
space/ground floor within a BD structure so long as it as at least 30' deep. Apart from the
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ground floor requirements, the remainder of the structure must be constructed to BD 1 zoning
requirements.
The example illustrated by the applicant's proposal (sketch on page 1) shows ground floor
commercial space extending the width of the structure from the Main Street property line to a
depth of 45 feet on a 110 foot deep lot. The sketch then shows a split level arrangement of floors
stacked behind the floor oriented to Main Street. Presumably the argument is that since these
floors are not on the same level as the Main Street -oriented floor, none of these are "ground
floors" that are required to be devoted to commercial use.
The problem is that the BD 1 zone clearly assumes that there is only one ground floor, established
at and oriented to the street front, and that the ground floor is devoted entirely to commercial use.
There is no provision for staggering the floors so that one could have parking — or any other use —
situated on a floor located behind the street -level commercial uses (which are the focus of the
BD zone). The code carefully provides exceptions for other BD zones, such as the 60 -foot depth
requirement found in the BD2 and 131)3 zones, but no such exception is expressed in the BD
zone. In fact, following the proponent's logic, there would be no use restrictions whatsoever for
floors stacked behind the first 30 -feet of depth along the street — one could even put residential
uses in the space instead of the proposed parking. This is clearly inconsistent with the intent and
meaning of the BD 1 zone when considered in the context of the other provisions providing
options for developing the other BD zones (see for example the 60 -foot depth requirement found
in ECDC 16.43.030.13.3 and the provision allowing for residential uses to be located behind
commercial uses found in ECDC 16.43.030.B.6.d)
THEREFORE, THE FOLLOWING INTERPRETATIONS ARE HEREBY ISSUED:
1. The ground floor of a building within the BD1 zone is limited to commercial uses. The ground
floor is considered to be all floor area covering the ground, oriented as described in ECDC
16.40.030.B. When the ground floor varies in level (i.e. it is not comprised as a single plane), the
ground floor is considered to be the combination of floor planes that are the closest in elevation
.to each other. The combination of floor planes so described is considered to comprise the
"ground floor" for the purposes of regulating use and applying the standards set forth in the
BD zones.
2. Because parking is specifically not considered to be a commercial use (see 16.43.030.B.6.c)
parking may be provided behind the ground floor only if it is not part of the ground floor. An
example would be parking provided under a cantilevered portion of the building — such as
when an upper floor extends over a ground -level parking area which is not enclosed on all
sides.
3. Within the BD1 zone, the minimum depth for ground floor commercial area measured
perpendicular from the primary street front of the building must be at least 30 feet as
identified in ECDC 16.43.030.B.6.c. An applicant could provide more `ground floor', but not
less.
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APPEAL PROCEDURES
Pursuant to Edmonds Community Development Code (ECDC) Sections 20.105.010 and 20.105.020, staff
interpretations of the text of the ECDC are appealable decisions.
.Should anyone wish to appeal this interpretation, a written appeal, accompanied by the required appeal
fee (see Planning Division fee handout) must be submitted within 14 calendar days of the date of
issuance of this interpretation (please see above).
The deadline for filing an appeal of this interpretation is: Jul 1� „ y _.6, 2008
A written appeal must contain the following:
1) A reference to the decision being appealed.
2) The name and address of the person appealing, and his or her interest in the matter.
3) The reasons why the person appealing believes the interpretation to be inappropriate.
Concurrence:
*4 ° Ta,e ,eo&I-4 Chi
Robert Chave, A1CP
Planning Manager
Conc nee:
I
Duane Bowman
Development Services Director
Posted: 1) Edmonds City Hall, 2" a Floor — Development Services Department
2) Edmonds Library
3) Edmonds Post Office
Posting Date: July 2, 2008
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