The Olympia Planning Commission has had two public hearings regarding code amendments aimed at relaxing commercial development requirements and increasing housing density in an area that already has more than 800 housing units and only a handful of nearby amenities.
When the plan for Briggs Village, located off Henderson Boulevard and north of Yelm Highway, was adopted more than 20 years ago, residents were promised a grocery store would be built in the “urban village” neighborhood. Now, at the property developer’s request, the city is considering relaxing requirements around the size of a grocery store, and some worry the changes will mean no store will ever fill that space.
Specifically, the amendments would result in increased multifamily housing allowances in urban villages, removal of maximum density limits, and removal of required commercial square footage per residential unit in urban villages…