Pedestrians may have an easier time getting around Ballard by early next year.

The Neighborhood Main Street Mapping Project recently unveiled its preliminary staff draft proposals for the Northwest Area. Downtown Ballard, Loyal Heights and Phinney Ridge are all designated as recommended recipients of Pedestrian Zone designations.

The Department of Planning and Development recommends a Pedestrian Zone along Northwest Market from 20th Avenue to 15th Avenue Northwest. Currently, parts of Market Street already bear the Pedestrian Zone designation.

"The idea is that we will create a node of community activity or protect an existing node," said Vanessa Murdock, senior urban planner for the Department of Planning and Development.

Murdock said that areas that are easily accessible by public transportation or foot and which are located near residential uses are most suitable for the designation. Arterials that are zoned Neighborhood Commercial on both sides or that face a park or major institution are also good candidates.

Pedestrian zones are arterials within neighborhood commercial districts intended to attract pedestrian activity for retail centers. These zones restrict facilities allowed at street level to businesses that attract pedestrian traffic, and prohibit businesses such as gas stations that attract automobile activity.

The pedestrian zone designation is a zone overlay that cumulatively adds restrictions to areas' existing designations. Only areas that have been designated Neighborhood Commercial 2 or 3 are eligible to be overlaid with a Pedestrian Zone.

The designation also decreases the minimum amount of parking required by retailers and restaurants. All retail stores within a Pedestrian Zone are not required to offer parking for the first 5,000 square feet, and must provide one parking spot for every subsequent 500 square feet.

Restaurants must offer more parking under the code. Parking can be waived for the first 2,500 to 5,000 square feet of a restaurant, after which owners must provide one parking space for every 250 square feet. The Director of the Department of Planning and Development considers factors such as parking demand, possible spillover effect and accessible shared parking when deciding how much store space to initially waive for parking.

"Many successful business districts always look at a reduction in parking requirements as a concern, but we're only reducing requirements, not parking," said Scott Dvorak, Land Use Planner for the Department of Planning and Development.

Murdock said that lowered parking requirements will not have any effect on existing businesses within zones that receive the pedestrian designation. According to Mary Snyder, Senior Transportation Plan for the Seattle Department of Transportation, one of the main purposes of the parking requirement is to encourage development of unused land by small businesses.

Snyder said that the cost of providing parking can be prohibitive to business owners. Underground parking structures, for example, cost $30,000-$40,000 per stall. Street-level parking can take up a large portion of a retailer's lot.

"The requirements allow developers to look at their land and decide how much parking to provide," Snyder said. "When we have a one-size-fits-all for parking across the city, some people need less. At the end of the day, you only have so much room."

The designation only affects the uses of buildings at ground level. One of the purposes of this assignment is to keep building within existing neighborhood business districts from being used as single-purpose residential housing.

"If you add housing to these areas, you lose the potential for a corner store or a barber right down the street," Murdock said. "The idea is to protect neighborhood business districts from being replaced."

The Department of Planning and Development presented their plans for the northwest and east parts of the city at two open houses over the past week. Representatives have also spoken with a number of community groups, including the Ballard District Council.

"Many people feel that it's counter-productive to do anything that would diminish the development of off-street parking," said Rob Mattson, City of Seattle Ballard District Coordinator. "The other question that came up is: Is it necessary? Many people feel that where business develops does not so much depend on whether they are or not in a Pedestrian Zone, but on other forces."

Preliminary drafts of the recommended pedestrian zones in the northwest of the city will be on display on the Neighborhood Main Street Mapping Project website until September. The plans are now undergoing a six-week public comment period, after which they will be revised based on community feedback. After this, revised proposals will be sent to City Council.

If a Pedestrian Zone Overlay is recommended for an area, it will be treated as a rezoning and given a public hearing. Murdock said that the process will be completed "likely early next year."

Kat Lewin may be reached at 783.1244 or katl@robinsonnews.com