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INTRODUCTION
Redmond is a suburban city in the Seattle metropolitan area with a 2004 population of 46,900. It has a picturesque natural setting with the Downtown located in the Sammamish Valley surrounded by forested hills and flanked by mountain views. Portions of the City border Lake Sammamish and the lake outlets to the Sammamish River which winds up the valley. It has maintained tangible reminders of the area’s history and cultural roots.
It is a major employment center, ranking fourth in the central Puget Sound region. It includes a variety of attractive places to live in single-family homes and multi-family apartments and condos in residential neighborhoods and manufactured homes both in private parks and integrated into neighborhoods. Overall, roughly 65 percent of Redmond residents own their homes. In the Downtown, Redmond Town Center, the Old Redmond Schoolhouse Community Center, and, increasingly, new residential developments are contributing to the area’s vibrancy and interest. Redmond’s recreational system includes a variety of neighborhood, community and resource parks totaling 1,300 acres.
This is what Redmond is like today and Redmond has thought carefully about what it desires as a future.
Shaping Our Future
Surveys and workshops have shown that people in the community hold a number of key values in common. The most highly rated values are:
◊ The natural setting and environment including the forested areas, clean air and water, wildlife, and parks/open space.
◊ Neighborhoods that are quiet and attractive with a variety of housing choices.
◊ Commercial areas that provide shopping, jobs, entertainment, and gathering places.
◊ A transportation system that includes choices for reaching destinations within Redmond and the region including a system designed to provide safe pathways for alternatives such as walking and biking.
Planning ensures that characteristics citizens value today as well as in the future are recognized and reflected in City decisions as the community matures.
In 1990, Washington’s Legislature passed the Growth Management Act (GMA) establishing planning goals and a system of planning for cities and counties that have experienced rapid growth. As a part of the GMA, King County adopted and the cities endorsed Countywide Planning Policies (CPPs) which provide a consistent framework to guide each city’s plan. The CPPs address issues that transcend city boundaries, such as setting Urban Growth Areas, accommodating housing and job demand, and addressing capital facilities that are regional in nature, as well as providing a framework to promote consistency between a multitude of city plans.
The Comprehensive Plan is a broad statement of the community’s vision for the future and contains policies primarily to guide the physical development of the City as well as certain aspects of its social and economic character. The Plan directs regulations, implementation actions, and services that support the vision. The Plan reflects the long-term values and aspirations of the community as a whole and shows how various aspects, such as land use, housing, transportation, capital facilities, and services work together to achieve the desired vision.
While a Comprehensive Plan is meant to provide a strong and constant vision for the future, it is also a living document that must be able to accommodate change such as a new technology, an unforeseen impact, or an innovative method of achieving a component of the vision. It is therefore regularly updated to account for changing issues or opportunities facing Redmond while still maintaining the core values of the community.
City of Redmond residents, business owners, employees of businesses located in Redmond, owners of property in Redmond, or just about anyone who is affected by the Plan is invited to help develop and update the Comprehensive Plan. Generally, planning begins with identification of the issues and of the stakeholders. Planning may be for the overall vision of the City, for subareas, for neighborhoods, or related to particular subjects such as transportation. Participants may vary depending upon the scope of the particular issue.
The City Council established a Planning Commission as a means of reviewing staff and citizen policy recommendations and related data in light of the community vision. It is their job to hold public hearings, discuss updates, and propose changes to the Comprehensive Plan in the form of final recommendations to the Council.
Over the years, the City has used a number of methods to encourage community participation in planning. These methods have included community meetings for Citywide visioning, neighborhood meetings for smaller planning areas, and stakeholder meetings for topical interests. Another method used to address topical issues were the community forums, small meetings hosted in houses throughout the neighborhoods. Open houses and design charettes were held both to present ideas and to discover new ones. Surveys and questionnaires are used periodically to reach those who may not be able to make meetings. Established boards or commissions meet regularly and address planning on an ongoing basis. Advisory councils or groups may be used to work through a process with a limited scope or time frame. More recently, Redmond’s website has provided not only a way to advertise meetings but also to seek ideas on planning questions. Ultimately, all major planning decisions fall to the City Council who is responsible for establishing regulations, programs, and planning policies, and also for adopting the City budget.
What Is in This Plan?
This Plan is designed to be a readable but functional document to guide Redmond’s future direction. It is the policy portion of the Community Development Guide.
Each element contains policies, text, charts, tables, and, in many cases, maps. The policies are the guiding principles; however, they are often preceded by explanatory text, which describes the context of the policy or reasoning behind the policy. The policies may be supplemented with charts or tables. Policies are numbered and highlighted in bold print. Notation in the elements preceding the policy helps to identify the subject under discussion. All policies beginning with FW are framework policies and guide underlying policies. Each element has a designation such as HO for housing or UT for utilities. Maps may serve either as being informative like the text or may be a supplement to the policy such as when it illustrates a service area or facility.
The Plan is organized with the following sections or elements.
Element or Section
Policy Abbreviation
Primary Function
Introduction
Provides overview of the purpose of the document and an explanation of how it was developed.
Goals, Vision, and Framework Policies
FW
Sets the overarching goals for the City of Redmond and describes the future vision of what the City will look like and how it will function. These policies guide all others.
Community Character and Historic Preservation
CC
Defines how Redmond views its character.
Natural Environment
NE
Addresses stewardship of the natural setting.
Land Use
LU
Guides physical placement of land uses.
Housing
HO
Addresses needs and strategies for providing a variety of types of housing.
Transportation
TR
Addresses the movement of people and goods.
Utilities
UT
Addresses utility infrastructure needs and design.
Capital Facilities
CF
Describes how the City plans for and finances capital infrastructure.
Parks, Recreation and Arts
PR
Addresses parks, recreational and cultural facilities, the arts, design of facilities, and program objectives.
Human Services
HS
Addresses the City’s social network function.
Economic Vitality
EV
Guides the economic plan.
Annexation and Intergovernmental Planning
A
Guides annexation and City interaction within the regional context.
Urban Centers, Neighborhoods
NP
Provides more specific policies for subareas of the City.
Shoreline Master Program
SL
Addresses program affecting certain shorelines designated by the State.
Transportation, Sewer, Water, and Stormwater Plans
Guides design, operation, and placement of these capital facilities in detail. Adopted by reference.
Participation, Implementation, and Evaluation
PI
Encourages and guides participation in the planning effort. Ensures implementation occurs and provides an evaluation system to see how the Plan is working.
A number of tools are used to implement the Comprehensive Plan. The Community Development Guide contains a set of regulations to direct land use and design as new development or redevelopment occurs. Growth is also directed in keeping with the City’s land use and community character goals through careful planning for the location and sizing of capital facilities. Programs related to the arts, recreation, or human services support policies related to cultural, recreational, or social needs. Capital facilities enhancements such as decorative street lighting carry out policies on community character. Neighborhood programs such as the neighborhood enhancement grants or block watch help implement policies on neighborhood character or safety. The implementation measures are numerous. Part of the Plan is to ensure that there is monitoring in place to keep track of progress. This is fully discussed in the Participation, Implementation, and Evaluation Element.
Redmond incorporated on December 31, 1912, and remained a small town for many years. With rapid growth that began in the 1970s, the City’s population as of 2004 ranked it as the sixteenth largest city in the State.
Redmond in Profile – 2004
Area in Square Miles:
Miles of Paved Road:
Acres of Park Land:
Number of Schools:
Rank in Employment: (central Puget Sound region)
Top 10 Major Employers:
* Includes 895 acres in Watershed and Farrel-McWhirter Parks which lie outside the contiguous City limit.
As Redmond grew, the community experienced changes in demographics which it will likely continue to see in the future. The City has evolved both in size and composition.
EMPLOYMENT
BY DECADERedmond’s population and household type are changing as reflected in average age, number of persons per household and greater ethnic diversity.
AGE GROUPS – CHANGE BY DECADE
HOUSEHOLD PROFILE – CHANGE BY DECADE
Persons per household
Married-couple family
Non-family household (live alone or married with no children)
Redmond’s rich bottomlands, created by ancient glaciers, provided a home to prehistoric cultures. Their descendants built longhouses and had many seasonal encampments along the Sammamish River and Bear Creek. Introductions of diseases from early hunters, trappers, and explorers reduced native populations by the time early settlers began to arrive in the 1870s to homestead. The 1880 Census showed 50 people, 13 of which were Native American. Two noted families that settled large areas of Redmond were the McRedmonds and the Perrigos.
Due to the abundance of dog salmon (chum salmon) the settlement was first named Salmonberg then for a short time Melrose. The name then changed to Redmond when Luke McRedmond petitioned to change the post office name from Melrose. Between the post office name and his donation of land to site the Redmond depot for the newly arriving Seattle Lake Shore and Eastern rail line the name Redmond stayed with the town.
The earliest industry was logging aided by the rail line. Loggers felled some trees with enormous girths of up to 10 feet or more. A host of sawmills producing both board lumber and shingles were built in and around the current City. Redmond’s downtown supported this industry with hotels, saloons, and trading posts. The desire to license saloons along with the desire for a proper water source led to incorporation in 1912.
In order to meet the requirements of the Homestead Act, much of the land was settled and farmed long enough to acquire ownership. As the timber industry began to fade in the 1920s agriculture became the mainstay of the community and remained so for many decades.
Small increments of growth took place due to development of the Lake Washington shipyards in the 1940s and then the installation of the military Nike bases in the 1950s; however, the town grew more in land size than in population. It still retained much of its agricultural roots with a feed mill located downtown. By the end of the 1950s, Redmond had a total of 3.73 square miles and yet by 1960 the population was only 1,453 persons. More annexations took place in the next decade adding the remainder of Education Hill, most of Overlake, and large sections of Willows/Sammamish Valley and Grass Lawn.
By the end of the 1970s, Redmond’s land area increased to 13.16 square miles. The real change in growth came when the Evergreen Point floating bridge opened in August 1963. SR 520 was then extended to 148th Avenue NE opening up the area to suburban residential development. In the late 1970s, an additional section of SR 520 that bridged the Sammamish River and extended to the intersection of Redmond Way was completed. These improvements had a significant effect on the size of the town as it grew in 1970 to 11,031 and doubled that in 1980. Beginning in the 1970s and into the 1980s Redmond began to see a strong growth in high-tech industries with such companies as Physiocontrol (electronic medical devices), Data IO, Integrated Circuits (computers), Nintendo, and then Microsoft which moved its headquarters to Redmond in 1986. In this period there were also other industries that affected growth such as H & N International (chicken hatchery), Genie (mechanical lifts), and several water ski manufacturers as well as a major facility built by an established company, Safeco Insurance. Also in the early 1980s, the missing link of SR 520 between 148th Avenue and the bridge over the Sammamish River was completed. By 1990, Redmond had a population of 35,800, was recognized as the headquarters for Microsoft, but had still managed to keep some of its small-town charm.
Redmond kept a remnant of its agricultural industry through the 1990s until the feed mill and the Keller Dairy finally ceased operations. Redmond is now a major suburb in the Seattle region with a 2004 population of 46,900. During the day the City increases to a population of 96,000 due to the combination of residents at home and employees. It has retained many of the high-tech industries as well as other diverse businesses from seafood processing to package delivery. The Downtown is gradually becoming more active and walkable with the inclusion of more residences, as well as shopping, entertainment, and cultural attractions. Redmond Town Center, a major location for shopping, employment, tourist activity, and public gatherings, anchors one portion of the Downtown. A new City Hall has been added to the municipal campus. However, in spite of many changes downtown, the City has retained its historic core and is working hard to protect its heritage.
Police, fire, parks, transportation, and utilities continue to provide quality service. Residential neighborhoods remain quiet, safe places to live. The Sammamish Valley remains an open vista of green flanked by hillsides that have retained much of the woodland character.
With growth and change come challenges. The community has stated it would like to see protection of the natural environment, protection of Redmond’s heritage and character, a greater number of transportation choices, a wide range of places for socializing and recreation, a healthy economy, and a more diverse set of housing choices.
The Comprehensive Plan sets out the policies to reflect these community values and guide decisions about growth and change. It begins by laying out the main principles in the Goals, Vision, and Framework Policies Element and follows with other elements that support that vision. It is a statement of Redmond’s goals for the future and how these goals will be achieved.
Ord. 2492; Ord. 2256
