Published July 2004

Developers learn about new PRD possibilities

By John Wolcott
SCBJ Editor

Snohomish County’s updated Planned Residential Development (PRD) ordinance, approved recently by the County Council, is expected to attract a lot of attention from developers who now have an opportunity to build higher-density residential developments similar to those springing up around King County.

At a June workshop in Everett, sponsored by the Master Builders Association of King and Snohomish Counties, more than 35 developers and builders listened to presentations on the new regulations.

Matthew Gardner of Gardner-Johnson presented statistics on housing trends in Snohomish County; Linda Kuller of the county’s planning and development services division discussed the new PRD code and review process; George Newman of Triad Associates, discussed design possibilities under the new PRD; and Jeff Cox of Triad talked about landscaping and open spaces permitted in the new ordinance for creative residential in-fill development.

Subdivision development and home building trends in Snohomish County are changing as limits set by the Growth Management Act not only reduce the number of properties that can be developed but also dictate how the development proceeds.

Gardner noted that today’s Snohomish County population of 628,000 is expected to grow to 950,000 by 2025, just over two decades from now.

“We’ll see more jobs created, more in-migration, more housing demand,” Gardner said. “By providing more options to developing small parcels of land with high-density dwellings, the new PRD ordinance will assist the county in filling much of the gap between supply and demand.”

Being able to develop more homes on less space can produce impressive results, the speakers agreed, with homes, yards, landscaping, common areas and wetlands blended together in a pleasing arrangement that creates attractive lifestyle options for residents.

Newman, Triad’s director of planning, said, “People tell us they don’t like ugly storm-water detention facilities with fences around them and monotonous rows of crowded, lookalike homes.”

The new PRD allows for detached single-family condos with auto-courts and site arrangements where streets aren’t dominated by garages and driveways.

Newman said the market is ripe for high-density PRD development that uses open space and doesn’t have the appearance of being high density. The result is a winning situation for homebuyers, developers and the county.

The new reality of housing in Snohomish County, after living with the Growth Management Act for 13 years, is that large tracts of land on the edges of the county and its cities are dwindling, while demand for traditional single-family communities remains strong, according to Triad representatives.

The whole idea behind designing high-density living on limited sites is creatively adjusting the traditional approach for developing larger sites to the development of small sites without losing its appeal, raising costs or being so limited that the projects don’t pencil out for investors.

Some of the newer approaches for high-density PRDs include such elements as:

• Minimizing right-of-way and pavement widths to reduce the amount of impervious surfaces that create water runoff problems.
• Changing building setback restrictions so different size housing works on smaller sites.
• Allowing required open spaces and wetlands to be counted as percentages of the whole site, not as part of the “net” site area, which severely limits development options and site feasibility.
• Rain-garden drainage from rooftops to capture water instead of having it run off-site, which also reduces the need for large detention ponds.
• Creating alleys and auto-courts to move vehicles away from the main streetscape.
• Building smaller units with 1,000 square feet of space and single-car garages, part of the growing market that is developing for quality, high-end homes in sizes that fit the lifestyles of many Puget Sound residents who don’t want or need large split-level residences and large lawns.

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