Vancouver Evergreen & Grand Mixed Use District Code Update
Vancouver, WA · 2023
Client: City of Vancouver
Location: Vancouver, WA
Year: 2023
CP Role: Lead consultant
Practice Area: Zoning Code Reform
Team: Jamin Kimmell, Principal-in-Charge; Pauline Ruegg, Project Manager; Victor Tran, Project Manager; Lydia Ness, Analyst
The Challenge
Vancouver, Washington, a fast-urbanizing first-ring suburb of Portland, planned to bring denser, more varied uses to its commercial corridors. A 2021 community vision named Evergreen and Grand, just outside downtown, as the first walkable mixed-use district, and the City needed regulations to carry that vision out.
Our Approach
We led the code update from October 2022 to October 2023, building on the 2021 vision and offering refinements to it. We modeled development feasibility under the proposed standards with pro formas and used 3D visualizations to show the tradeoffs among height, parking, and use rules. We produced graphics explaining the changes, ran stakeholder focus groups and a virtual community meeting, and supported City Council through adoption, refining the code in response to concerns about neighborhood character.
Outcome
City Council adopted the Evergreen-Grand Overlay Zone in November 2023. It sets building height at a finer grain, takes a balanced approach to requiring mixed use, reduces parking requirements, and adds objective design standards for street frontages. The City intends to use the overlay as a model for other commercial corridors.
Related Projects
