City of Tacoma Notice of Public Hearing November 20, 2013 On Tuesday, December 3, 2013, at approximately 5:30 p.m., the City Council will conduct a public hearing on the South Downtown Subarea Plan and minor amendments to Chapters 13.06, Zoning, and 13.06A, Downtown Tacoma, of the Tacoma Municipal Code. For additional details, please see the reverse side of this notice. This hearing will take place in the City Council Chambers on the first floor of the Tacoma Municipal Building, 747 Market Street, Tacoma, Washington. All persons will have an opportunity to present their oral comments at the meeting. Those wishing to submit written comments may do so at the public hearing, or may submit them to the City Clerk's Office at 747 Market Street, Room 220, Tacoma, WA 98402, by 4:00 p.m., on Tuesday, December 3, 2013. Resolution No. 38774, which set the public hearing date, can be viewed in its entirety on the City's website at www.cityoftacoma.org/recentlegis by clicking on the link for November 19, 2013, or by requesting a copy from the City Clerk's Office at (253) 5915505. For more information, please contact Mr. Ian Munce at (253) 5732478. Doris Sorum City Clerk City Council Public Hearing December 3, 2013 Summary The South Downtown Subarea Plan is an area-wide, long-range plan for South Downtown Tacoma. The overarching goal of the Plan is to promote economic development in South Downtown. The Project plans for significant growth in the South Downtown based upon allocations established by the Puget Sound Regional Council and Pierce County to conform to the State Growth Management Act, an Act which requires regions, counties, cities and towns to plan for forecasted growth. The Subarea Plan is intended to provide innovative planning and policy interventions to help South Downtown achieve its tremendous potential for economic development, an outcome that will deliver a broad range of equitable social and environmental benefits at both the local and regional scales. Associated with the Subarea Plan, the City of Tacoma and the University of Washington Tacoma, as co-lead agencies, prepared a non-project Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the Subarea which was issued on August 28, 2013. The EIS involves a cumulative environmental impact and mitigation analysis for the entire South Downtown Subarea, rather than piecemeal analysis on a project-by-project basis. For a non-project EIS completed under RCW 43.21C.420, the SEPAbased appeal opportunity occurs only in conjunction with the adoption of the Subarea Plan that accompanies the EIS. The Planning Commission has completed its review through a public process, including a public hearing on September 18, 2013, and forwarded its recommendation for adoption to the Council on November 6, 2013. If adopted, the South Downtown Subarea Plan would become a new element of the Comprehensive Plan and serve as a statement of the City's commitment and direction for the South Downtown Subarea and as a resource for potential investors, property owners, the community, and other public agencies. In addition, the Subarea Plan contains several changes to the Tacoma Municipal Code including the rezoning of the UCX-TD (Urban Commercial Mixed-Use Tacoma Dome) zoning district to the DMU (Downtown MixedUse) zoning district, expanding the Reduced Parking Area, feather sign regulations, and Downtown fencing standards. Additional Information The complete text of the Planning Commission's Findings and Recommendations Report, and other relevant information, are available at the Planning and Development Services Department, and on the Planning Services Division's website at www.cityoftacoma.org/planning (and click on "South Downtown Subarea Plan"). November 22