Chapter 17.442 — ENTERTAINMENT AND SPORTS CENTER SPECIAL

17.442.010 Purpose and intent. ¶

A. The Entertainment and Sports Center special planning district (ESC SPD) provides specific development procedures in recognition of the unique position of the surrounding property to the city's Entertainment and Sports Center. This SPD intends to further the city's goals of urban infill through facilitating and encouraging the

development of the district and surrounding properties, by limiting certain uses, providing site specific development standards, and providing a streamlined approval process.

The ESC SPD will regulate uses, permit approval processes, and will regulate development standards for the physical development of the property, along with the Central City Urban Design Guidelines.

B. The goals of the ESC SPD are to:

Develop up to 1.5 million square feet of mixed-use development (office, hotel, retail, and residential);
Develop property in a manner to respond to, support, and further the unique site conditions and adjacency to the Entertainment and Sports Center;
Ensure on-site architectural design themes are able to be creative and forward-thinking while being compatible with surrounding developed properties;
Provide north-south and east-west connections from public streets into the plaza surrounding the entertainment and sports center to connect the downtown core and create view corridors and pedestrian access;
Provide safe, dynamic, and attractive mixed-use development to encourage 24-hour activities that support an active streetscape and strengthen connections between the waterfront, the Convention Center, the Capitol, and the Railyards and intermodal facilities;
Provide facilities that complement a variety of transportation modes including public transit, bicycling, walking, and driving;
Discourage uses that contribute to visual or economic blight;
Promote aesthetic improvements to the area by implementing development standards and the Central City Urban Design Guidelines. (Ord. 2014-0014 § 1)

17.442.020 ESC SPD boundaries. ¶

The ESC SPD is within the Central City, and generally bounded by 3rd Street to the west, J Street to the north, 7th Street to the east, and L Street to the south. Exhibit A provides a specific diagram of the ESC SPD boundaries. (Ord. 2014-0014 § 1)

17.442.030 Conflicting requirements. ¶

Development within the ESC SPD area shall be subject to the special rules and regulations set forth in this chapter, in addition to the other regulations of this title and code. The provisions of this chapter prevail over any conflicting provisions of this title or code. (Ord. 2014-0014 § 1)

17.442.040 Uses. ¶

A. Permitted uses. Except as provided below, the uses permitted within the ESC SPD are the same as the allowed uses within the C-3 zone.

Retail store. There is no conditional use permit requirement related to the size of a retail store.

B. Conditional uses. The following uses require approval of a conditional use permit by the planning director, subject to chapter 17.808 and the limitations specified:

Use	Limitations	Approval Required by Planning Director (PD)
1. Residential Uses
Dormitory	Subject to special use regulations in section 17.228.111	PD
Dwelling, single-unit		PD
Fraternity house; sorority house	Subject to special use regulations in section 17.228.111	PD
Residential care facility		PD
Residential hotel	Subject to special use regulations in section 17.228.112	PD
2. Commercial and Institutional Uses
Alcoholic beverage sales, off-premises consumption	Subject to special use regulations in section 17.228.108	PD
Amusement center, outdoor		PD
Assembly - cultural, religious, social		PD
Auto - sales, storage, rental	Repair work is permitted if confined to a building	PD
Bar; nightclub	Subject to special use regulations in section 17.228.108	PD
College campus		PD
Kennel		PD
Major medical facility		PD
Non-profit organization, meal service facility		PD
Non-residential care facility		PD
Outdoor market	In granting a conditional use permit, the zoning administrator may consider the traffic, safety of vehicular and non- vehicular access, adequacy of bicycle parking, noise, hours of operation, and any applicable development standards related to the proposed outdoor market	PD
School, K-12		PD
Stand-alone parking facility	The planning director may waive the development standards stated in sections 17.608.040 and 17.612.020	PD

Tobacco retailing	Permitted with a conditional use permit in a store that has 15,000 square feet or less of gross floor area or allocates more than 250 square feet of shelving to tobacco products and tobacco paraphernalia.	PD
Veterinary clinic; veterinary hospital	Permitted with a conditional use permit if animals are boarded outside, or entire business is not conducted within a building	PD
3. Industrial and Agricultural Uses
Antenna; telecommunications facility	Subject to special use regulations in section 17.228.300 et seq.	PD
Community garden (exceeding 21,780 gross square feet)	Subject to special use regulations in section 17.228.122	PD
Produce stand		PD

C. Prohibited uses. In addition to the uses prohibited within the C-3 zone, the following uses are prohibited in the ESC SPD:

Adult entertainment business.
Auto service and repair.
Boat dock; marina.
Check-cashing center.
Correctional facility.
Gas station.
High voltage transmission facility.
Mortuary; crematory.
Transit vehicle: service, repair, storage.
Well: gas, oil.

D. Ground-floor retail requirement. The following uses are added to Table 1: Retail, Pedestrian, and Personal Service Classifications (section 17.216.820), within the ESC SPD.

Sports complex.
Hotel, office, or residential entrance and/or lobby area.
Open space/public plaza. (Ord. 2025-0007 § 29; Ord. 2019-0027 § 25; Ord. 2014-0014 § 1)

17.442.050 Development and design standards. ¶

A. Development within the ESC SPD area is subject to the development standards and design requirements established in the ESC SPD and the Central City Urban Design Guidelines. To the extent there are conflicts between the Central City Urban Design Guidelines, and the development standards within the ESC SPD, the development standards in the ESC SPD shall control. The below development standards specifically apply to development within the ESC SPD:

Bicycle parking requirements. A project applicant within the ESC SPD shall be subject to the city's bicycle parking requirements. Subject to approval from the planning director, the applicant may request a deviation to the number of required spaces if the applicant can demonstrate that there is existing excess bicycle parking capacity within the SPD area or within the surrounding block. (Ord. 2014-0014 § 1)

17.442.060 Development permitting process. ¶

A. The purpose of the approval process set forth herein is to further streamline the development process for projects that are consistent with the applicable planning and development requirements. The appropriate hearing body shall exercise its discretion to find whether development is consistent with the goals, policies, objectives and other provisions of the ESC environmental impact report and mitigation monitoring plan or any required subsequent environmental review, any applicable development agreement, this title, and all other applicable plans, ordinances, and development regulations, and is compatible with surrounding development.

B. Site plan and design review. Site plan and design review within the ESC SPD shall be consistent with the process established in chapter 17.808. (Ord. 2014-0014 § 1)

17.442.070 Subdivision maps. ¶

Notwithstanding the provisions of Title 16 or any other provisions of this code to the contrary, the planning director shall hear and take action on all tentative subdivision maps, tentative parcel maps and tentative master parcel maps, including requests for subdivision modifications relating to the tentative map, for property within the ESC SPD. The planning director shall comply with the provisions of Title 16 relating to notice, hearing, findings, and all other relevant procedural matters. Appeal from a decision of the planning director on a tentative map or subdivision modification shall be processed and heard in the same manner as an appeal from a zoning administrator action on a tentative parcel map. (Ord. 2014-0014 § 1)