City of Sedro-Woolley Design Standards and Guidelines

CONNECTIONS TO ADJACENT DEVELOPMENT
Intent
The mixed-commercial zone is located primarily
along the city’s two state highways for ease of
access. The intent of these standards are to create an
attractive physical environment to welcome
customers and visitors; a network of safe, convenient,
and attractive internal linkages for pedestrians,
vehicles and non-motorized transportation between
retail and mixed use developments; encourage the
creation of safer commercial neighborhoods and
live/work space by allowing multifamily
residences in association with commercial uses;
respect the existing small-town character of Sedro-Woolley with its street grid, buildings
lining the street, street trees, and pedestrian scale; and provide for safe pedestrian and nonmotorized
transportation circulation in areas typically dominated by vehicles.
Standards:
Required:
1. To help minimize the number of driveways on major thoroughfares and to enable ease of travel
between adjacent businesses, connectivity shall be required. Parking areas between adjacent
commercial developments shall be provided per Public Works Development Standards unless
otherwise approved by the City Engineer.
2. Chain link fence of any type or coating may not be used to separate pedestrians from vehicular
traffic or to define pedestrian walkways, unless as an element of an artistically designed
architectural screening wall.
Guidelines:
Encouraged:
1. Pedestrian and non-motorized connections should be clearly defined in a combination of 2 or
more of the following ways:
a 6 inch vertical curb in combination with a raised walkway.
a trellis, special railing, bollards, and/or other architectural features to accent the walkway at
key points.
a continuous landscape area minimum 3 feet wide on at least one side of the walkway,
except as walkways cross vehicular travel lanes (where walkways abut a public right-ofway
and/or driving aisles, the landscape area shall be provided between the walkway and
the public right-of-way or driving aisle).
2. Pedestrian connections should be reinforced with pedestrian scale lighting, bollard lighting,
accent lighting or a combination thereof to aid in pedestrians way-finding.
3. Pedestrian walkways should include clear sight lines to building entrances and should not be less
than 4 feet wide.
4. Where landscape areas are provided, plant material should consist of a mixture of evergreen and
deciduous trees and shrubs. A minimum 20% of plant varieties should provide year-round color,
texture and/or other special interest. Shrubs should be maintained at a maximum 3 foot height for
visibility. Ground covers should be evergreen varieties.
City of Sedro-Woolley Design Standards and Guidelines (Updated January 2012)
- 26 -