What's next

•Thursday: A public forum on whether to raise height limits on the downtown Olympia isthmus will start at 6:30 p.m. at First United Methodist Church, 1224 Legion Way S.E., Olympia. Speakers include Barbara Gooding, former director of Washington State Department of Community Development; Rich Hoey, Olympia water-resources director; Steve Cooper, downtown property owner; Bob Jacobs of Friends of the Waterfront; and Daniel Furrer, president of the Olympia Downtown Association. It is sponsored by South Puget Sound Environmental Education Clearinghouse.

•June 24: The Olympia Planning Commission will have a public hearing on a proposal to raise building-height limits on about 5 acres downtown from 35 feet to between 65 and 90 feet. The meeting will start at 6:30 p.m. at The Olympia Center, 222 Columbia St. N.W., Olympia.


Links

To view city of Olympia staff reports about the proposal to raise building-height limits, go to ci.olympia.wa.us. Under the heading "Public Hearings," click on "Information."

•Triway Enterprises, the developer proposing raising building height limits: www.triwayenterprises.com

•Friends of the Waterfront, a citizens group against raising building height limits: www.friendsofthewaterfront.org

•Olympia 2012, a citizens group favoring raising building height limits in a limited area: www.oly2012.org
Possible scenarios

Here are three scenarios for raising building heights on the narrow strip of land between Capitol Lake and Budd Inlet and one for maintaining present height limits or turning the location into a park.

•Triway proposal: Raise building-height limits on about 5 acres from 35 feet to between 65 and 90 feet. Proposed by Triway Enterprises, the change would allow the local developer to build one five-story and one seven-story mixed-use building, containing a total of 141 high-end condominiums and parking, office and retail spaces. Triway's project covers 2.3 acres; the remainder is held by other private owners who haven't said what they want to build. This was the proposal that prompted the debate.

•Olympia staff proposal: The latest proposal, it would raise building-height limits on 3.92 acres, allowing Triway's project but dropping two lots north of Fourth Avenue and two lots next to the Heritage Park fountain, which the city envisions as park space. Olympia planning staff members recommended this option.

•Olympia 2012 proposal: Raise building heights just on Triway's 2.3 acres, allowing the condo project to proceed but leaving building heights as they are on the rest of the area. Favored by the downtown activist group Olympia 2012. This proposal includes having the city acquire and demolish the Capitol Center building and put an outdoor plaza in its place. Although it's not a formal proposal before the planning commission, many members of Olympia 2012 are expected to pitch the idea at the public hearing.

•Keep building heights at 35 feet. Favored by the citizens group Friends of the Waterfront and some lawmakers and architects, this would maintain the status quo. Some opponents would like to turn most of the isthmus into green space.