City considers letting River Run Apartment development exceed maximum building size regulation; would get more affordable housing, less total buildings

The City of North Bend will be holding a public hearing at the December 13th Planning Commission meeting to take comments on a proposed development agreement the city may enter into with the developer of the 129-unit River Run Apartment project located near I-90 exit 32 on 436th Ave SE and SE 136th Ave.

The developer agreement would grant the project relief from North Bend Municipal Code regulating the maximum size of multifamily buildings, allowing the River Run buildings to exceed the maximum of 10 units to 12 units. In exchange, the developer would remove three of the project’s five townhouse buildings to provide additional parking and approximately 22 more trees would be retained.

According to a city staff report, the developer – North Bend Associates, LLC – requested the developer agreement to reduce the project’s costs so that it would qualify for HUD financing. North Bend’s municipal code allows for developer agreements that may differ the city’s development regulations – as long as the agreement is approved by the city council.

The proposed developer agreement also increases the number of [80% AMI] affordable housing units from 25 to 28 and increases the length of time those units will remain affordable from 12 years to 24 years. It would also reduce the total number of apartment units to 129 from 128.

The city’s Public Notice about the hearing states: “The reduction in number of buildings reduces the visual impact and tree retention impact and doesn’t affect the rest of the environmental review which was previously completed.”

The Public Hearing happens on Thursday, December 13th at 7PM in the City Hall Conference Room, 211 Main Street.  Written comments are due by Monday, December 10th at 4:30PM. They can be submitted to: City of North Bend Community and Economic Development, PO Box 896, North Bend WA, 98045, Attn: Jamie Burrell, Senior Planner, jburrell@northbendwa.gov

The Planning Commission will also deliberate the proposed developer agreement at the December 13th meeting. The agreement would then likely go before the full city council in January for consideration.

You can read the full proposed River Run Apartments Developer Agreement in the Planning Commission Meeting Agenda packet.

 

 

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Comments

  • Do we have any historical experience to draw on, that would help us predict the effects of increased density on an affordable housing project?

  • if we are going to have new ppl move in better they be educated upper class home owners that pay taxes we dont need more riff raff in NB

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