COMMUNITY CHARACTER 5-0 Community Character Table of Contents A. INTRODUCTION 5-1 B. SNOQUALMIE’S CHARACTER 5-1 C. SCENIC & NATURAL RESOURCES 5-2 C.1 Mountains to Sound Greenway 5-3 C.2 City Gateways 5-3 D. HISTORIC & CULTURAL RESOURCES 5-3 D.1 Historic Districts 5-4 D.2 Snoqualmie Tribe 5-5 E. NEIGHBORHOOD PROFILES 5-5 E.1 Downtown 5-7 E.2 Railroad West 5-12 E.3 Northern-Cedar 5-14 E.4 Greek Streets 5-15 E.5 Meadowbrook 5-19 E.6 Maskrod’s Corner 5-22 E.7 Snoqualmie Falls 5-24 E.8 Kimball Creek Area 5-26 E.9 Mill Site 5-28 E.10 Snoqualmie Ridge 5-31 E.11 William’s Addition 5-33 E.12 202 Gateway (Reserved) 5-35 F. HISTORY OF SNOQUALMIE 5-35 APPENDIX 2-I. INVENTORY OF HISTORIC SITES 5-39 LIST OF FIGURES Figure 5.1 City Neighborhoods, Profile Boundaries & Gateways Map 5-6 Figure 5.2 Downtown Master Plan, Excerpt 1 5-9 Figure 5.3 Downtown Master Plan, Excerpt 2 5-10 Figure 5.4 Downtown Neighborhood Profile Map 5-11 Figure 5.5 Railroad West Neighborhood Profile Map 5-13 Figure 5.6 Cedar-Northern Neighborhood Profile Map 5-16 Figure 5.7 Greek Streets Neighborhood Profile Map 5-18 Figure 5.8 Meadowbrook Neighborhood Profile Map 5-21 Figure 5.9 Maskrod’s Corner Neighborhood Profile Map 5-23 Figure 5.10 Snoqualmie Falls Neighborhood Profile Map 5-25 Figure 5.11 Kimball Creek Area Neighborhood Profile Map 5-27 Figure 5.12 Mill Site Neighborhood Profile Map 5-31 Figure 5.13 Snoqualmie Ridge Neighborhoods Profile Map 5-32 Figure 5.14 Williams Addition Neighborhood Profile Map 5-34 Figure 5.15 Historic Sites Map 5-38 Snoqualmie 2032: Snoqualmie Comprehensive Plan. Updated 2014 COMMUNITY CHARACTER 5 - 1 A. INTRODUCTION Community character refers to the 'flavor' of a place, and includes diverse elements such as local architecture, landscape, community activities and the demographic mix of people. Community character resources include both natural and man-made features that contribute to the City's overall livability and positive sense of place. Local heritage, scenic beauty, a natural atmosphere and traditional design are important aspects of Snoqualmie's character. With the strong pressures of additional growth, Snoqualmie faces the potential to lose features and resources that have historically contributed to its character. In order to prevent the loss of this character to development that reflects “anywhere USA,” these policies propose the preservation, protection and enhancement of existing community character resources and the integration of new development that reflects and builds upon the city’s heritage, design and aesthetic. Goal 2: Preserve, protect and enhance Snoqualmie's community character and assure future growth is sensitively integrated into the City through design and the protection of character-defining resources. 2011 Plein Air Paint-Out Poster Winner B. SNOQUALMIE’S CHARACTER The City of Snoqualmie is set in an area with outstanding natural landscape and a unique history. Magnificent views, beautiful historic buildings and large areas of undeveloped forest and floodplain open space create a setting in Snoqualmie shared by few other Western Washington cities. The small town character of Snoqualmie is consistently cited as one of the most desirable aspects of living in the city, created by pedestrian sale and orientation, traditional design, identifiable neighborhoods and closeness to the natural environment. Social qualities are also important, such as the ‘friendly atmosphere’ and a strong sense of local self determination, with community cohesion fostered by social organizations such as neighborhood groups, churches, clubs, sports and recreation activities. Due to its remoteness from the greater Seattle area, Snoqualmie was historically a self-sufficient community that could accommodate most of its citizens’ and visitors’ daily needs. With the completion of Interstate 90, Snoqualmie became more connected to, and dependent on, the Seattle metropolitan area for jobs, goods and services. A greater majority of the City's residents now commute to work, sometimes shopping and recreating in other areas. Without a healthy local economy, Snoqualmie could become a bedroom community, losing the small town atmosphere valued by local residents. As such, a healthy economy, strong community character, aesthetics anchored in a unique sense of place, and enhanced natural beauty must all be addressed to maintain the vibrancy of the City which so many locals have come to love. Snoqualmie 2032: Snoqualmie Comprehensive Plan. Updated 2014 COMMUNITY CHARACTER 5 - 2 C. SCENIC & NATURAL RESOURCES Snoqualmie has a magnificent natural setting, with views of Mount Si, Rattlesnake Ridge, the Cascade Mountains and the Snoqualmie River corridor providing a striking community backdrop. In addition to these grand features, Snoqualmie Falls provides a spectacular 270 foot cascade that is iconic to the City. Snoqualmie Valley also has a rich agricultural history, featuring both remnant and active farm pastures, berry fields, woodlands and rural buildings alongside lush wetlands and stream corridors in the Snoqualmie River floodplain. One of the primary character- defining features of Snoqualmie is its relationship with the natural surroundings. Snoqualmie has close Mt. Si in Winter, from Mount Si Golf Course contact with natural processes as an urban island surrounded by forest, and in a floodplain at the edge of the Cascade Range. Wildlife is frequently seen in the City, utilizing the many sensitive and protected open space tracts for habitat corridors and foraging areas. Per the State Growth Management Act (GMA), Snoqualmie is within the region’s Urban Growth Area. While promoting rural land use patterns in the City is not compatible with GMA urban growth goals, preserving natural features that contribute to Snoqualmie’s unique character is wholly appropriate, such as public parks, significant mature trees, wetlands, rivers and natural viewsheds – all of which are key to the city’s natural character. The City’s interconnectedness with nature provides some burdens as well as blessings; rainwater and mountain snowmelt entering the Snoqualmie River frequently subjects the city to damaging flooding, flowing through the City with few flood control measures. One of the ways that the City can reduce flood hazards is to decrease the volume and rate of storm water runoff reaching the river. Reducing storm water runoff and its associated pollutants is also one of the primary means to reduce downstream impacts to the threatened Chinook salmon, as well as other fish and wildlife. Sensitive design of buildings and public infrastructure can help minimize storm water and other impacts of development on the natural environment. The upper Snoqualmie Valley’s scenic beauty is perhaps the most important contributor to Snoqualmie's character and sense of place. Features such as the Falls, the Snoqualmie River, Kimball Creek, Mount Si, Rattlesnake Ridge and the Cascade mountain foothills are important tourist attractions that bolster the city's economic vitality. Cooperating with other entities to identify, protect & enhance important viewsheds and corridors can help preserve scenic resources. Important city view corridors include: • Mount Si from 384 th Ave. SE north of Kimball Creek, & the wooded corridor along 384 th Ave. SE. • Mount Si from the Meadowbrook Way/SR 202 intersection & the wooded corridor on Meadowbrook Way SE. Viewsheds and corridors along the main-stem Snoqualmie River: • From the observation platform and public access areas at Snoqualmie Falls Park and Salish Lodge; • From the SR 202 bridge; • From the Meadowbrook bridge; • Upstream to Mt. Si from the corner of Park Street and River Street. • Borst Lake from access points along Mill P ond Road. Snoqualmie 2032: Snoqualmie Comprehensive Plan. Updated 2014 COMMUNITY CHARACTER 5 - 3 C.1 MOUNTAINS TO SOUND GREENWAY Begun in 1990, the Mountains to Sound The City has long worked with other agencies to protect the scenic Greenway Trust works to conserve land in value of the I-90 corridor, furthering the vision of a regional Western and Central Washington. The mountains to sound greenway. In the 1970s the city acquired 70 acres Greenway now connects approximately 1.4 along I-90 in the Rattlesnake Ridge Planning Area, entering into a million acres surrounding Interstate 90, long-term lease agreement with a commercial property developer to including 900,000 publicly owned acres, promote economic development at the time. Through participation and another 75,000 acres conserved in with the Mountains to Sound Greenway, it became apparent that such permanent private forest. uses could forever impact a significant forested promontory in the Greenway corridor. To preserve in perpetuity the unique viewpoint of the City-owned property in the Rattlesnake Ridge Planning Area, in 1999 the City of Snoqualmie teamed up with the Greenway and Trust for Public Land (TPL) to secure funds to permanently protect the land. Through generous funding from the Federal Forest Legacy Program, TPL purchased the leasehold interest to the 60-acre commercial property. The City then retained approximately 9 acres for a public park and water reservoir site and sold its fee interest in the remainder of the 70 city-owned acres to TPL for conveyance to the National Forest Service. This major acquisition protects a key site within the City and Greenway corridor as a spectacular open space resource for both Snoqualmie and the region. C.2 CITY GATEWAYS Gateway: an entrance corridor that heralds the approach of a new landscape so that it rewards the viewer with a sense of arrival and a positive image of the place. – Michael Barette Gateways are significant City locations that serve as entrances to the city, historic districts and Snoqualmie Falls. Protection and enhancement of gateways is important for preserving unique images for those traveling into and through the City, as they often present the first face and impression of a place.