Tacoma City Council
Study Session
Noon, Tuesday, February 12, 2002
Tacoma Municipal Building North
Room 16
728 St. Helens Ave.
Zoning code, Foss Superfund
The City Council will hear about planned zoning code revisions and Foss Waterway Superfund Cleanup progress.
The zoning code update is a three-phase project to help modernize and streamline major portions of Tacoma’s Zoning Code – making it easier to understand and making development easier and more compatible.
During the second phase of the project, the city plans to reduce the number of general commercial districts, revise some administrative permits and add building and site design standards for commercial developments.
Environmental Services staff will review several agreements with parties who will participate in the Foss Waterway cleanup project.
The principal agreement with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is known as a remedial action consent decree that the city along with 41 others will sign. The decree will obligate the city to perform cleanup work from the SR 509 Bridge to the mouth of the Foss Waterway.
Other parties will conduct the remainder of the cleanup from SR 509 to the head of Foss Waterway under a separate agreement with the EPA.
Tacoma City Council
Regular Meeting
Tacoma Municipal Building
747 Market St.
Tacoma Rail rate increase
The council will vote on Tacoma Rail’s $6 per car tariff switching rate increase for container-loaded rail cars.
Rates for general cargo and non-containerized railcars will remain the same.
The rate adjustment would replace nearly $140,000 in projected lost revenue and is lower than inflation.
The rail operator has lost money because of the mix of cars that use the rail system and an overall decline in volume of business.
The proposed rate increase would take effect on April 1. The council took public comment on Feb. 5.
Property tax exemption
The council will vote on granting a market-rate housing exemption to Natalie A. Popish, who plans to build five new housing units at the 4700 block of South Puget Sound Avenue.
If approved, the resolution would give Popish a 10-year property tax break totaling $35,080.
The tax incentive program is for developers of four or more units in any of Tacoma’s 14 mixed-use centers.
Only the housing units receive the property tax exemption.
The land and any future improvements other than housing would get taxed at the regular rate.
The council will take public comment before voting.
Public hearing on zoning code
Citizens can comment on proposed changes to Tacoma’s zoning code (see Study Session) at a public hearing. Planned revisions to the code would include:
325 land use categories to 50;
14 commercial districts to five;
39 setback schemes to three; and
10 landscaping codes to one.
The hearing will begin at approximately 5:30 p.m.