Towards a Future
Informed by Our Past

While too many towns risk losing their identity in an era of sprawl and redevelopment, Bellevue has a distinct advantage. We have an architectural heritage, a time-tested pattern of human settlement, to build upon.

“We need to ensure where there is redevelopment it is sensitive to our community,” says Mayor Jack Meyer. “We already have the model in our livable city for shaping the kind of future we all want.”

The event that will host a lot of that future shaping is a “charrette,” a multiday workshop, scheduled for March 22-25, 2010. During the course of those four days, City officials, staff, citizens, and an expert consulting team will apply the best lessons of the past to the task of creating a regulatory framework to guide future growth. Coming out of that public workshop, we’ll have the key elements of a new zoning code and a strategy for how best to introduce it into our planning.

The need for a new kind of zoning has become increasingly obvious in many American communities. Conventional zoning was conceived in a time when the principal concern was separating noxious industry from residential living. The trouble is, that sort of zoning kept right on separating, even when polluting industries left populous areas. It’s contributed to an unsustainable land use pattern that isolates people from where they live, work, play, and engage with others. And it devours land and demands infrastructure out of proportion to community needs. It’s also ugly, especially compared to the look and feel of historic neighborhoods where people have always been able to walk to a wide variety of shops, services, and entertainment – even after they had access to cars.

      

While we know we’ve been wise in preserving the historic examples that are the antidotes for insensitive development, we also know we have to be proactive in affirming Bellevue’s character and protecting it in the future. That’s why we’re interested in the core principles of Smart Growth, which build on the best lessons of the past. And that’s why we’re investing the City’s time and resources in exploring the benefits of a SmartCode that encourages the time-tested patterns of walkable, mixed-use neighborhoods as opposed to the unsustainable patterns of sprawl.

“If we want to grow in smarter ways,” says Mayor Meyer, “it just makes sense to use a smarter code.

“We’re not talking about forcing any radical changes in the way people live in Bellevue right now,” the mayor continues. “Nor are we out to restrict opportunities. In fact, we are ‘preserving the past, while preparing for the future.’“

What’s more, whatever approach we take, we’ll decide together in public discussions before, during, and after the charrette. “That’s the beauty of this process,” says the mayor. “Everybody is welcome to participate. And everyone is able to see what’s going on all the time.”

Before the charrette, we’ll stage at least two public events that will tap into the community’s visions for growth and the ways in which we might adjust our regulatory framework to better enable those visions. More detailed explanations of those events, the SmartCode, the charrette, and the process in general will appear on these web pages. So please return here often.