Exit133.com

Stadium Thriftway - Bigger Better and a Large Pile of Fish

Dave — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 18:19:23 GMT

Grocery store news in Tacoma has a history of discussing the lack of options and limited locations … but that is all about to change. According to the TNT, Mike Hargreaves, the owner of the Stadium Thriftway, is planning a 6000+ foot expansion. The move will take over some space currently used by Premier Collision (who will be moving to a nearby facility) and will allow for many additional services including a larger fresh seafood counter, expanded cheese selection, and an expanded deli among may other improvements. Once complete, the store will not only provide a greater selection of services, but will help the community with the addition of a 30 percent increase in Thriftway jobs.

Haven’t we talked about this before … ?

Link to The News Tribune

Smarter Cities Rankings Strong for Washington

Dave — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 17:46:09 GMT

The Smart Cities Rankings produced by the Natural Resources Defense Council are out and the Pacific Northwest fared rather well with Seattle taking first place and Portland in third for the large cities category and Spokane, Eugene, and Everett (!??!?) all posting in the top 15 for Medium Cities. Bellingham even hit the #1 spot for Small Cities.

But what of Tacoma? We landed in 54th out of a total of 176. Take a look. Tell us what you think.

Link to SmartCities.nrdc.org

(via @thricejamie)

A Grand Expansion

Dave — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 17:33:46 GMT

The Grand Cinema has announced that it will be expanding. Plans to add another screen and gain more space have begun and the expansion will include taking over the space currently in use by the Grand Impromptu Gallery. This does leave the gallery looking for a new home. The Gallery’s last show will be “Rear View Forward” and will run July 16th through August 15th after which they will hopefully have a new home.

Congratulations, Grand Cinema! We remember when …

Link to The News Tribune

Link to GrandCinema.com

Third Thursday is Tonight

Derek Young — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 20:46:56 GMT

We’ll keep this short and sweet. Art Walk and all the other Third Thursday festivities are this evening. The museums are open. Many of the galleries are open. Get outside and enjoy the city and this weather tonight.

What are your plans?

Tacoma City Council Meeting - July 14th, 2009

Derek Young — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 19:54:36 GMT

Last night’s Tacoma City Council meeting contained several really good moments. We heard about Eric Anderson’s performance review. Councilmember Lonergan went off on astroturfers that are trying to change our city. Plus, we had amendment after amendment to the mixed use center plan submitted by the planning commission. Dive in, take a look, and ask questions.

RESOLUTIONS

Resolution No. 37818 authorizes the execution of an amendment to the Interlocal Agreement with Pierce County for the creation and operation of the Law Enforcement Support Agency (LESA) related to its operating fund and provision of services, as recommended by the LESA Executive Board. This was held over from last week after some questions were raised about the future of employee benefits. The result is an agreement stating that benefits will not change.

Purchase Resolution No. 37825 awards contracts to:

1. Henderson Partners, LLC, on its bid of $326,756.15 for the Citywide 2008 Sidewalk Maintenance Program Phase 2, to reconstruct sidewalks at 150 sites within the City limits.

2. Clean Harbors Environmental Services, Inc., in the amount of $150,000.00,
sales tax not applicable, for a cumulative total of $390,000.00 to increase and extend the contract for household hazardous waste processing and disposal services, technical assistance, and hazardous waste supplies through June 30, 2010.

Resolution No. 37826 reconfirms the appointment of Eric Anderson as the City Manager; and authorizing the execution of an employment agreement for the period of July 16, 2009 through July 15, 2011. Every year the council has to complete a performance evaluation of the City Manager. There’s a salary increase in the agreement, but it won’t take effect until such time as the National Bureau of Economic Research determines that we’re out of a recession. At that time, it will move his salary to the “market salary” targeted for all employees. We’ll see how long that takes …

FIRST READING OF ORDINANCES

Ordinance No. 27818 amends Title 13 of the Municipal Code, relating to the Land Use Regulatory Code, by modifying the development regulations pertaining to mixed-use centers, including, but not limited to, increasing height limits and reducing parking requirements, modifying building design and development standards, adding new townhouse standards, establishing new mixed-use zoning classifications, and rezoning properties within 16 designated mixed-use centers to mixed-use zoning districts.

This is where things get interesting and the amendments started flowing:

COUNCILMEMBER TALBERT
Champions Center – 72nd and Portland Ave.
The Champions Center church was proposed to be changed into three zoning districts (CCX, RCX, and URX). The amendment would rezone the church into a single zoning classification of CCX. Everybody seems to agree that this is the right step and an oversight.

McKinley Height Limit
This amendment would modfiy the proposed height limit in the URX zone at the northern end of the McKinley Mixed Use Center from 45 feet to 35 feet.

COUNCILMEMBER FEY
Expansion of Height Bonus Area
This amendment would eliminate the concept of concentrating height increases to just the core areas of the mixed-use centers and would expand the areas where height can be increased. The problem for those already concerned about tall buildings next to residential homes is that instances of new taller buildings directly abutting single family homes will increase. Expect a fight on this one.

Parking Requirements
I’m sure you all knew that parking had to come up at some point. This amendment would change the method of defining the area where parking requirements would not apply. The current languages defines the parking exemption area as 200 feet measured from the centerline of the core pedestrian street in the NCX zoning district. The amendment would apply the parking exemption to buildings located within 10 feet of the core pedestrian street.

TDR Option
This amendment would enable developers to achieve bonus heights through the purchase of credits through a transfer of development rights program. TDR is often used to shift development from agricultural or open space land to designated growth zones. This would not become effective until the Council actually adopts the legislation needd to establish a TDR program.

COUNCILMEMBERS WALKER AND MANTHOU
Housing Trust Fund Contribution Bonus Palette Item
This amendment provides a third option for developers to achieve the maximum height of 85 feet by contributing dollars to the City’s Housing Trust Fund. This money would then be made available in loans or grants to developers for the creation of additional affordable housing. This only applies in three mixed use centers: MLK, Stadium, and 56th & South Tacoma Way.

These amendments will be held over for final action in two weeks on July 28th.

Now back to regular business …

Ordinance No. 27819 amending Chapter 8.27 of the Municipal Code, relating to the Park Code, to expand the definition of a “Park” to include parks that are owned and managed by the City, provide authority to exclude persons committing enumerated violations to 90 days or one year, and add an appeal. The one day exclusion did not work with chronic offenders. The current one day exclusion would be retained.

That’s it for today. Any opinions?

Little Holland To Close

Derek Young — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 17:14:57 GMT

A few times over the last couple of years we’ve noted the changes at the corner of Center and Orchard Streets – and wondered what would happen to Little Holland and its burgers. Well, the TNT is now reporting that the owners will close the iconic burger joint on Saturday, July 25th. The business is for sale at $145k … This could be your chance to become Tacoma’s next King or Queen of Frozen Custard.

Link to The News Tribune

Love Tacoma is Tomorrow!

Whitney Rhodes — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 21:01:38 GMT

The latest Love Tacoma is tomorrow at Woody’s on the Water.

What the heck is Love Tacoma? It’s an informal monthly gathering of individuals who love Tacoma and enjoy exploring new places in the city. It’s a great way to meet new friends and celebrate the places, people and activities that make Tacoma so wonderful.

Will we see you there?

Details
Love Tacoma @ Woody’s on the Water
Tomorrow (!) July 15, 5:30pm
1715 Dock Street (Thea’s landing building on water side).

For more information, check out our website

D-to-M Street Commuter Rail Bridge Design Workshop

Derek Young — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 19:48:28 GMT

The City of Tacoma will host a bridge design workshop for the D-to-M street commuter rail project on Thursday, July 16th from 5 until 6 p.m. This is the second of two public meetings regarding the proposed rail bridge that will cross Pacific Avenue in south downtown. At the meeting, the project team will present conceptual renderings of the ideas that were discussed during the first meeting.

The D-to-M street project will include a 1.4-mile section of rail corridor connecting the Tacoma Dome Station to the existing rail right-of-way. The new rail line will cross a lowered Pacific Avenue on a railroad bridge, which will give traffic unimpeded access north and south of the rail line. The City Council previously approved a low-profile bridge and the workshop on July 16 is to discuss options and architectural features to enhance the bridge design.

We know that a lot of you have opinions about this project. Well, time is running out so let yourself be heard.

If you are interested in learning more about the proposed bridge or have bridge ideas you would like to share, you are encouraged to attend the workshop. The meeting will be held at the Tacoma Municipal Building, 747 Market St., Room 708. For more information, contact Chris Larson at (253) 591-5538.