20D.40.130 River Bend District.

20D.40.130-010 Intent.

(1) Leary Way, between the Sammamish River and the BNSF right-of-way, should remain as a “green gateway” to the City of Redmond. Setbacks from Leary Way should be adequate to preserve significant stands of trees on the west side of the road to preserve the “green gateway” image.

(2) Signage on Leary Way for traffic control, directional information, and business identification should be kept at a minimum, in both size and number.

(3) Bear Creek Parkway, between Redmond Way and Leary Way, should also be treated as an urban gateway to the Downtown neighborhood, evolving with a more traditional ground floor storefront character as it redevelops over time.

(4) Ground floor building facades along the westerly Bear Creek Parkway extension, as it is envisioned to extend from Redmond Way on the west to Leary Way on the east, should be pedestrian friendly and pedestrian scaled, with narrow storefronts along the sidewalk edges, awnings for pedestrian comfort, and ample storefront windows.

(5) Developments on larger interior lots, with relatively little existing street frontage, should be designed as mixed-use villages with internal pedestrian-friendly streets and pathways serving mixed-use buildings. (Ord. 2302; Ord. 1993)

20D.40.130-020 Design Criteria.

(1) Building Orientation and Access.

(a) Vehicle access and parking should be designed to minimize curb cuts along Leary Way and to minimize the loss of existing trees within the district.

(b) Where significant trees exist between the street and building sites, driveways from the primary streets to on-site parking areas should be designed in a tree-lined parkway manner, complementing, preserving, and taking advantage of remaining stands of trees.

(2) Building and Site Design.

(a) The setback from the property line on this portion of Leary Way shall be at least 100 feet where there is an existing grove of significant trees (six trees within a quarter-acre area). No parking shall be allowed within the setback. No clearing, grading permit, or site plan approval shall be granted until the approval authority determines that the existing trees will be preserved to the maximum extent possible within the setback.

(b) Site layout for individual parcels within the district should be designed to provide reciprocal vehicular and pedestrian access to and from adjoining lots in order to achieve a unified circulation plan which minimizes curb cuts on Leary Way and Bear Creek Parkway, and provides pedestrian connections between uses in the district.

(c) New landscaping should be designed to complement and reinforce any remaining groves of trees within the district. Large trees and shrubs, both evergreen and deciduous, should be used to complement the natural character of this district.

(d) Buildings and site layout should be designed to complement the mixed-use retail character of the adjoining Old Town district which includes features, such as narrow ground floor storefronts on pedestrian-oriented streets, shops fronting on street sidewalks, and pedestrian-scale architecture. On larger lots with relatively little existing street frontage, building and site layout should be designed to extend the traditional Downtown street grid into the site, with storefronts fronting on internal streets and paths.

(e) Column and bay spacing along street fronts should be provided approximately 30 feet apart in order to maintain a pedestrian-oriented scale and rhythm of storefronts.

(f) Pedestrian connections from buildings within this district should be provided to the adjoining Old Town and Town Center Design Districts and to the north/south pedestrian path on the west side of the forest/grove. (Ord. 2302; Ord. 1993)