The Seattle Department of Planning and Development last night presented to the public a plan they said could improve the quality of townhouses without adding substantial costs, while also streamlining the design process and addressing common problems.

Currently, most townhouses do not undergo design review, unless the applicant volunteers for administrative review in order to seek departures from city land use code development standards. The city says this has created townhome developments that are poorly designed and or do not fit in with the character of the neighborhoods.

Following a directive last summer from Mayor Greg Nickels, who proposed new regulations for building townhouses, the department said the more streamlined version of the current Administrative Design Review could reduce permit process time and costs associated with it while still addressing design issues, said Geoff Wentlandt, senior planning and development specialist for the planning department.

Nickels' proposal for new regulations for building townhouses aims to ease concerns to those who oppose so-called cookie cutter town homes.

A design review process, similar to what is already in place for large-scale mixed-use development, is one tool the city can use to create a more livable city, the planning department previously told the Ballard News-Tribune.

It provides a forum for citizens, developers, and the city to review and guide the design for most new multi-family and commercial buildings. The department’s purpose for the review is to make sure new developments fit sensitively into the neighborhood, provide flexibility in the application of development standards and improve communication between parties.

Until now, most townhouses have not gone through design review because it has not been required, Wentlandt said.

In January, the department presented to the public three design review schemes.

1. Use the existing administrative review.

2. Use a streamlined version of the design review that would reduce the number of review steps

3. Or, use the administrative review pre-approved plans where the department would engage the public and then consider and pre-approve concept site plans for high quality townhouse designs.

“The main changes we’re really focusing on is a streamlined version of the Administrative Design Review,” Wentlandt said. “We’ve done a lot more analysis at looking at reducing the processing time and costs from 40 to 60 percent to what Administrative Design Review costs today.”

The department’s goal with this type of design review is to scale it to smaller townhouse projects.

“This type of Administrative Design Review kind of mirrors the old design review, which is targeted to bigger and more complex projects,” Wentlandt said.

The public’s response to the department’s decision brought good discussion for a lot of architects present, Wentlandt said.

The department’s next steps are now to finalize the draft recommendation into a final recommendation, which they will then incorporate with input from the public meetings.

The proposal will then go to the mayor’s office where he will make recommendations to the city council, where it will become a legislative package that will be considered in tandem later this year with the multi-family zoning code updates, Wentlandt said.