In charting a course for the community’s future over the next 20 years, the Imagine Lynnwood Comprehensive Plan sets a strong vision for achievable realities including a vibrant, walkable downtown, access to high capacity and local transit services, housing for all income levels, and beautiful parks in safe neighborhoods. Working collaboratively with city staff in the comprehensive planning process, Otak led a robust community engagement process that set the stage for how policy updates and implementation will guide achieving these values.
Imagining a Strong Future for Lynnwood
With an overarching theme of “Imagine Lynnwood,” this comprehensive plan was shaped through inclusive community engagement—gathering ideas from the community and bringing them to life through policy. Extensive public participation included a community wide visioning poll and more than a dozen public events and meetings. More than 600 responses to the poll and other input gathered from the public, along with in-depth data that examined current and future conditions, were referenced to help identify future opportunities. The plan includes specific goals and policies supporting the community’s core values and priorities, including an emphasis on livability, expanded housing choices, orientation to transit and walkability, and creating a strong future for Lynnwood’s regional center. The regional center encompasses districts surrounding Alderwood, the City Center, Convention Center, and two high capacity light rail stations. Altogether the plan supports the sustainable and equitable future growth of Lynnwood as the community transitions from an auto-oriented suburb to a regional urban destination.
With the goal of making modern residential housing more beautiful, sustainable, and attainable, Quantum Assembly aimed to pair the efficiency of their prefab process with designs to match.
An Attractive, Efficient, and Permittable Design Approach to Modular Home Construction
In offering modular home construction to a wide range of clients, established design standards would be needed to deliver projects at scale. Alignment between the prefabricated manufacturing of units and flexible design configurations emphasizes efficiency in both building materials and installation. The architectural, structural, and visual design for Quantum’s modular homes also account for state-level permitting, leaving only site permits needed for projects.
To improve traffic safety and stream functionality, a replacement bridge on NW Stringtown Road was added at the crossing of Prickett Creek in Washington County, Oregon. In leading the design and delivery of the new structure, a multidisciplinary Otak approach paid special attention to the impacts on adjacent properties, where transportation elements required more space than the existing, outdated treatments.
A Replacement Structure to Improve Transportation Elements and Stream Design
An existing timber bridge on NW Stringtown Road was found to be structurally deficient, prompting Washington County to make plans for its replacement. The new structure includes a wider box culvert with a natural bottom, improving the stream channel of Pricket Creek. With a superelevated roadway, design elements for the bridge also include road widening, guardrail design, and the reconstruction of existing driveways. Close coordination with property owners made space for these updated roadway features while a joint permit application process led to approval for the widened culvert.
In developing a comprehensive solution to the water quality impacts of the Tualatin Moving Forward bond program, the Sandalwood Swale – along with two smaller sites – provides water quality mitigation for all 36 projects associated with the program. Stormwater facility analysis and design for this regional water quality facility was provided by Otak, including conceptual stormwater facility layout and construction cost estimates.
A Bond Program’s Regional Approach to Water Quality Mitigation
As part of the city’s stormwater master plan, the Sandalwood Swale takes a regional approach to water quality mitigation for a number of transportation and pedestrian-focused improvements involving impervious surfaces. With 11.6 acres required by Clean Water Services design to be covered, the swale exceeds that requirement, providing water quality treatment for 19.49 acres of impervious area. The facility itself is a vegetated swale with native plants selected specifically for the area’s environmental conditions that cover its 12-foot-wide bottom and 189-foot length. With multiple parcels coming into the facility, the regional approach is more cost-effective and requires less maintenance than several smaller facilities would offer, while a water quality manhole added upstream is designed to further reduce maintenance. In a location where the community often reported the impacts of flooding, the improved grated inlet is also designed to better collect debris from storm runoff and eliminate flooding issues in the area.
In a major transformation across their facilities, Multnomah County Library is expanding spaces and upgrading technology to benefit the community through a comprehensive capital bond program. The Otak owner’s representative team provided leadership and overall program management for the entire $450 million program.
Expanding for the Community
The library is renovating and expanding five buildings while building four more, one of which is an Operations Center for sorting materials and housing library outreach teams. The new and expanded libraries offer a wide range of features focused on representing diverse cultures through art as well as space for youth to play, study, and express themselves creatively. Altogether, the projects add more than approximately 34,000 square feet of new community space; approximately 6,500 square feet of youth space; and approximately 50,000 square feet of outdoor space. An estimated 395,000 new books and media will be going on shelves as well. Among the technology upgrades is gigabit speed internet for all libraries as well as automated materials handling designed to get patrons materials faster.
Influencing physical and economic development across all its geographic areas, the Mill Creek Comprehensive Plan provides a proactive strategy to carefully guide growth and change in a community addressing future challenges and opportunities. In leading the comprehensive planning process, Otak facilitated a citywide visioning poll to inform future planning decisions focused on enhancing quality of life, economic vitality, and a safe and clean environment for Mill Creek’s growing community.
A Strong Vision and Proactive Plan for Growth, Informed by Community Engagement
The comprehensive plan is centered around a vision to make the City of Mill Creek a highly desirable place to live and work. It highlights distinctive neighborhoods, including a dynamic Town Center and South Town Center subarea, as well as scenic surroundings accentuated by parks, greenbelts, and natural areas. The Plan’s goals and policies will chart a course for change across eight different plan elements. Among a variety of initiatives within those elements are encouraging mixed-use neighborhoods near commercial areas in land development, adding a wide variety of residences for all income levels as part of housing, accelerating the recovery of salmon as part of environmental considerations, and enhancing multimodal accessibility to public spaces within parks and recreation. The Plan continues to support better access to Community Transit’s Swift Bus Rapid Transit lines and an extensive trail system (including the North Creek Trail) as part of its transportation element. Altogether, these goals and policies reflect the most important values of the community for shaping Mill Creek’s future.
A master planning process with the City of Snohomish led to the creation of a community park at Averill Field. After engaging the community and leading the master planning process, Otak moved the project directly into 30 percent schematic design and slowly broke the project into phases to meet available funding.
Engaging the Public for a Community Park Master Plan
Situated next to Centennial Trail as well as the local Boys and Girls Club, the design of Averill Field was guided by feedback from the community. It’s named after Snohomish native and Major League Baseball Hall of Famer Earl Averill. Three virtual town hall meetings with presentation graphics were conducted to gather community input on amenities, materials, theme, and overall layout of the park master plan. A fly-through video of the preferred alternative was created to get final comments and buy in from the city and community members. Phase 1 included design of circulation paths, underlying drainage field, timber signage, lighting, plantings, and dedication plaques all in association with a new play structure. Small improvements to the accessible parking were included as well as a raised speed table in the parking lot to create a safe, direct pedestrian connection to the Centennial Trail. The first phase also featured two additives for potential inclusion in the form of two pickle ball courts and a basketball half-court.
To maintain and enhance quality of life in the City of Shoreline, updates to its comprehensive planning set a vision that helps define two decades of direction for the community. In close coordination with City staff and the broader community, Otak developed the plan to create a cohesive and interconnected approach emphasizing middle housing opportunities and expanding housing choices, achieving climate resiliency and environmental sustainability, and supporting equity in future development.
Emphasizing Middle Housing, Climate, and Equity in Future Development
Central to the Shoreline Comprehensive Plan is a vision for the community as a welcoming, safe, and inclusive home to people from diverse cultures and economic backgrounds. A community survey combined with a variety of public engagement events provided the basis for this vision. The plan was developed to highlight the three key themes of climate, housing, and equity. These key themes are interwoven throughout the plan and goals and policies across the ten plan elements. Specific policies are included in the plan around sea level rise planning, expanding public art in placemaking, adding multi-modal level of service (LOS) standards, expanding affordable housing, and supporting access to living-wage jobs. Ultimately, the plan aims to foster stronger community connection while making the city even better for future generations.
Including five boardwalks, a bridge, and 20 retaining walls, North Creek Trail extends 2.5 miles outside Bothell, Washington to traverse sensitive wetlands and a canyon that holds North Creek itself. In leading the project, Otak provided trail and roadway, stormwater, and structural design as well as construction support services for the first phase of construction as the design of phases two and three were completed. That effort included review and responses to RFIs and close coordination with the County project manager and construction inspection staff.
An Urban Trail and Structural Design to Minimize Impact to Sensitive Wetlands
This urban trail segment connects an existing segment near SR 524 with North Creek Park. To minimize environmental impacts and simplify permitting, micropiles support the boardwalks that carry the regional trail over sensitive areas. A 1,383-foot, 14-span prestressed concrete girder bridge crosses the canyon where North Creek runs, including 800 feet of surrounding wetlands. In accommodating ADA grades along the crossing, several portions of the bridge are 30 to 40 feet in the air. Because of the difficulty and sensitivity of constructing a long bridge through the wetlands, a detailed alternative analysis was performed evaluating varying span lengths, foundation types, construction methodologies, access, along with pier and superstructure types. The pedestrian bridge over North Creek would be constructed as part of phase three.
A visioning and strategy process was initiated to develop an area action plan for lands and communities along Highway 99 impacted by the Almeda Fire. In leading this effort, Otak aimed to create zoning and development code language – informed by GIS analysis of impacted areas – that catalyzes redevelopment with a focus on smart growth principles, multimodal transportation, and multi-use hubs throughout the corridor.
A Cohesive Area Action Plan for Multiple Communities Along a Corridor Impacted by Wildfires
Communities along Highway 99 and Bear Creek Greenway, including the cities of Talent and Phoenix in Jackson County, were engaged in a visioning and planning process to redevelop lands impacted by the 2020 Almeda Fire. This provided the basis for comprehensive planning that ultimately improves destination accessibility, by increasing residential and commercial development, while reducing the need more motor vehicle traffic. Planning heavily utilized GIS for analyzing impacted land and infrastructure, identifying key zones for redevelopment while highlighting opportunities to improve accessibility and functional use of neighborhoods. This effort involved interactive web mapping applications, bilingual online surveys and online partnered collaboration with data editing to streamline planning efforts and connect the community with the planning process. The vision would be implemented by updating local plans and zoning ordinances while supporting multimodal transportation options like walking, biking, and transit. These goals support the Transportation and Growth Management Program’s mission of integrated land use and transportation planning. Phase One of this project included an existing conditions analysis of the study area, community engagement, placemaking workshops, and a development code audit and action plan to guide the code updates needed to implement the vision. Phase Two of the project includes drafting zoning and land use code updates, additional community engagement, and assisting the jurisdictions through the adoption process.
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