City Council Committee of the Whole · Monday, May 22, 2023 · City Council Digest

2. AGENDA ITEMS

Public Comment Public comment on individual agenda items will also be accepted following Council Q&A

packet pp.5–31

Open packet at p.5 ↗

Staff report:

To better understand City Council’s affordable housing priority goals and outcomes to create affordable housing capital investment recommendations.

Affordable Housing Goals for Future Capital Investment ID 1431

60 min · Jen Davis Hayes, Economic Development Manager · packet pp.33–65

Topics: Housing

Open packet at p.33 ↗

Staff report:

Administration recommends: • Including significant public safety facility investments for Issaquah Police (renovate 130 E. Sunset Way), Municipal Court (build a new facility near police), and one of the City Hall options in the Capital Improvement Plan (CIP). • Starting the surplus process for City Hall Northwest, with proceeds to go toward facility needs. • Assessing a public safety lid lift for future City

Police, Court and City Hall Planning: Future Options and Funding ID 1343

Director · 60 min · Autumn Monahan, Administrative Services

Topics: Public SafetyBudget

Good of the Order

2366 segments .txt ↗

0:03 ↗ okay welcome everyone I council

0:05 ↗ president Walsh called the May 22nd

0:07 ↗ special committee meeting of the whole

0:08 ↗ order or meeting of the Committee of the

0:12 ↗ whole meeting to order at 7 20 PM uh

0:17 ↗ there are multiple opportunities for

0:19 ↗ public comment at tonight's meeting the

0:22 ↗ first is a general public comment

0:23 ↗ opportunity at the beginning of the

0:25 ↗ meeting or you can make comments after

0:27 ↗ the presentation and counsel question

0:29 ↗ and answer period on the two agenda

0:32 ↗ items on the meeting tonight

0:34 ↗ on that item we have two items we're

0:38 ↗ going to address ID 1431 which is

0:41 ↗ affordable housing goals for future

0:42 ↗ capital investment and ID 1343

0:46 ↗ discussing Police Court and City Hall

0:49 ↗ planning future options and funding

0:51 ↗ so for our first order business public

0:53 ↗ comment members the public can address

0:55 ↗ council at this time in person or

0:58 ↗ virtually those who signed up in advance

0:59 ↗ to make comments will be called on first

1:02 ↗ if you're joining us virtually and would

1:04 ↗ like to make comments you can press star

1:06 ↗ three if you're on the phone or if you

1:09 ↗ join by computer or smartphone you're

1:12 ↗ going to look for your hand icon or send

1:15 ↗ the host a chat message and if you're in

1:18 ↗ the room and didn't sign up I'll ask for

1:20 ↗ other speakers before closing this

1:21 ↗ portion of the meeting

1:23 ↗ so we're going to wait a moment see if

1:25 ↗ anyone wishes to raise their hand clerk

1:30 ↗ did we have any bun sign up to speak

1:33 ↗ Mr President no one signed up on the

1:35 ↗ sign-in sheet but I know that we have

1:36 ↗ several members of the public in the

1:39 ↗ room and we also have a member of the

1:42 ↗ public online who would like to address

1:43 ↗ the committee

1:45 ↗ okay so if there's a member online

1:48 ↗ that's already raised their hand I will

1:50 ↗ let them go I will definitely ask for

1:52 ↗ options so let's

1:56 ↗ um I am going to read over our

2:00 ↗ um item so public comments are an

2:02 ↗ important part of the public process we

2:04 ↗ take them seriously and Factor them into

2:06 ↗ the decisions we make please direct

2:08 ↗ comments to the whole city council and

2:09 ↗ not individuals well this is not a

2:12 ↗ question and answer session we will

2:13 ↗ contact you to follow up if needed when

2:15 ↗ recognized please unmute your microphone

2:18 ↗ for virtual attendees or step up the

2:21 ↗ lectern up here and you're going to

2:22 ↗ press the button until it turns red

2:24 ↗ state your name address and relationship

2:27 ↗ to City speak clearly and pause

2:30 ↗ frequently and limit your comments to

2:32 ↗ five minutes

2:33 ↗ if you're attending virtually and do not

2:35 ↗ respond after your name or phone number

2:37 ↗ is called or if your connection is lost

2:39 ↗ unexpectedly the meeting will need to

2:42 ↗ proceed you're encouraged to rejoin the

2:44 ↗ meeting if able personal Tech subscene

2:46 ↗ language derogatory remarks and

2:48 ↗ disruptive behavior will not be

2:50 ↗ permitted so clerk can you identify the

2:52 ↗ first person who signed up to speak

2:54 ↗ council president Brian R is online

2:59 ↗ uh Brian I'm making you a panelist you

3:02 ↗ should see the option to unmute and turn

3:05 ↗ on your video

3:12 ↗ I believe you're still muted on your

3:14 ↗ side

3:15 ↗ okay can you hear me we can thanks

3:18 ↗ great

3:19 ↗ um thank you I apologize I'm not too

3:22 ↗ prepared I presented or

3:25 ↗ gave comment last month as well I'm part

3:28 ↗ of the ownership and Development Group

3:30 ↗ that owns the Red Robin in Pickering

3:33 ↗ place and in part of the central Squad

3:35 ↗ plan and we've been evaluating and

3:38 ↗ investigating for the past year of how

3:40 ↗ we can get moved forward on a potential

3:44 ↗ for mixed use

3:45 ↗ multi-family on that site within

3:47 ↗ Pickering place

3:49 ↗ per year development objectives and we

3:53 ↗ asked a question with the economic

3:56 ↗ development director as well as your

3:58 ↗ group as well as if we could get into

4:00 ↗ this Pioneer project designation or

4:04 ↗ status because we really need some

4:06 ↗ relief on various areas to to make the

4:09 ↗ project viable the question was

4:12 ↗ subsequently asked about I guess in

4:14 ↗ specificity about you know the

4:17 ↗ structured impact costs as well as the

4:19 ↗ IC zoning classification just to give

4:22 ↗ and reiterate more detail on it the the

4:25 ↗ impact of of structured parking is very

4:28 ↗ significant obviously

4:30 ↗ rents I guess I'll kind of go through

4:33 ↗ the whole the whole thing and it doesn't

4:34 ↗ make this viable at different time rents

4:37 ↗ and Issaquah are lower than other urban

4:40 ↗ communities

4:42 ↗ um like for example for Bellevue and

4:45 ↗ which is the way you see more Garden

4:48 ↗ style type Apartments without structured

4:50 ↗ parking rents are about a dollar a

4:53 ↗ square foot or more less than those

4:55 ↗ other areas where we're building Tod

4:57 ↗ projects at these various stations

5:00 ↗ and also when you layer in the

5:03 ↗ inclusionary housing

5:05 ↗ um without tax abatements meeting

5:06 ↗ without an mft program it it it moves it

5:10 ↗ into the completely unviable area

5:13 ↗ um and so the the parameters that I we

5:17 ↗ spoke about last month was

5:20 ↗ um in the other markets that we're in

5:22 ↗ and along the the Bell red Corridor out

5:25 ↗ to Redmond all those projects are being

5:30 ↗ being developed at 80 Ami some at 10

5:33 ↗ there's a few of them at 20 percent and

5:35 ↗ a majority of those have mft some of

5:38 ↗ those

5:39 ↗ um you can pay in lieu of as well to

5:42 ↗ make them more viable

5:44 ↗ um so in today's I guess in summary in

5:46 ↗ today's market that

5:48 ↗ um you know we need to be at least

5:50 ↗ competitive to where those are and again

5:52 ↗ I the backdrop aside from all the uh the

5:56 ↗ inclusionary zoning aspect which if we

5:58 ↗ drop below 80 makes it unviable but

6:01 ↗ we're also fighting against were a

6:04 ↗ dollar a square foot under so we're at a

6:06 ↗ point where we're looking to to say can

6:08 ↗ we move this forward we're trying to

6:10 ↗ track Capital as it and everybody does

6:13 ↗ their due diligence and they're seeing

6:14 ↗ these deficits that we're trying to make

6:16 ↗ up to make this work and so that in a

6:20 ↗ long story short is why we're asking for

6:21 ↗ you know what could be what aspects

6:24 ↗ could be put into this uh to make this

6:27 ↗ quote unquote pencil has been reported

6:30 ↗ and we're happy to share development

6:32 ↗ performance

6:33 ↗ um and again as a backdrop or recap from

6:36 ↗ from last month we have in the last

6:39 ↗ decade done 29

6:42 ↗ Tod sites in Seattle and Bellevue and

6:46 ↗ Redmond and have several under

6:48 ↗ construction currently have a few

6:50 ↗ stalled because of the current interest

6:53 ↗ rate

6:54 ↗ dilemma but that's even outside of this

6:56 ↗ discussion we hope that all gets worked

6:58 ↗ out in the next two three years but

7:00 ↗ um and and again I think we we really

7:04 ↗ want to ask for could we be in this

7:06 ↗ Pioneer project status and what does

7:10 ↗ that entail and we could share with you

7:11 ↗ and be transparent with you about the

7:13 ↗ numbers both comparatively what other

7:15 ↗ projects are that are able to move

7:17 ↗ forward and where this site and being in

7:21 ↗ Issaquah itself sits so I'm happy to

7:24 ↗ move that discussion forward and happy

7:25 ↗ to be transparent but I'm just very

7:28 ↗ curious about this this program thank

7:30 ↗ you

7:31 ↗ Brian

7:34 ↗ the in the audience anybody interested

7:37 ↗ in making comments at this time

7:45 ↗ so you can yeah if you would like to

7:47 ↗ come you can open up state your name and

7:51 ↗ all of that that would be great

7:53 ↗ great hello I'm Rachel Wright I'm

7:56 ↗ co-chair of the Issaquah Arts commission

7:58 ↗ and a member of the creative District

8:00 ↗ Advisory Board

8:02 ↗ tonight I'm joined by two colleagues

8:04 ↗ from The Advisory Board Juliet and

8:06 ↗ Leslie

8:07 ↗ we understand that the city is looking

8:08 ↗ at space requirements for our growing

8:10 ↗ community in Issaquah

8:12 ↗ we are not here tonight with a specific

8:14 ↗ ask

8:15 ↗ we are here to plan a few seeds to help

8:18 ↗ get people thinking about the reality of

8:20 ↗ our creative Community today

8:22 ↗ and we want to share an emerging vision

8:25 ↗ for a creative Hub in Issaquah

8:28 ↗ we envision a vibrant place where people

8:31 ↗ come together as a community to create

8:33 ↗ learn and share experiences

8:36 ↗ at the Arts commission and through the

8:38 ↗ creative District Advisory Board we are

8:40 ↗ listening to the needs of the community

8:43 ↗ I've spoken with the council before

8:45 ↗ regarding the art commission Grant

8:47 ↗ request and the need for space

8:49 ↗ in our last round of Grant making more

8:51 ↗ than half the applicants plan to use the

8:54 ↗ funds to pay for renting a space

8:57 ↗ in 2019 as Issaquah Was preparing to

9:00 ↗ become a creative District we asked the

9:03 ↗ community for input on the kinds of

9:04 ↗ amenities that they would like to see

9:07 ↗ over 500 ideas were submitted and themes

9:11 ↗ surrounding the need for Creative space

9:12 ↗ emerged in the form of ideas for artist

9:15 ↗ Studios Galleries and a community art

9:18 ↗ space

9:19 ↗ in 2022 we conducted three focus groups

9:22 ↗ structured to capture feedback from Arts

9:25 ↗ Educators emerging artists and

9:27 ↗ practicing artists across these groups

9:30 ↗ we heard the need for classes and

9:32 ↗ activities that support personal and

9:34 ↗ career development in the Arts and

9:36 ↗ promote creativity as a part of personal

9:38 ↗ well-being

9:41 ↗ there is a need to build and strengthen

9:43 ↗ our creative community

9:45 ↗ participants expressed the need for

9:46 ↗ cultivating and promoting creative

9:48 ↗ resources that can connect makers

9:51 ↗ Educators and Spectators in Issaquah

9:54 ↗ alongside all this there is the

9:56 ↗ underlying need for space an

9:58 ↗ approachable and affordable place to

10:00 ↗ create gather and network and quite

10:03 ↗ simply a place in our community to go

10:05 ↗ and be inspired

10:07 ↗ we are looking at these needs through

10:09 ↗ the lens of a creative hub

10:11 ↗ and when we look around Issaquah and its

10:13 ↗ creative District although we are

10:15 ↗ anchored by Village Theater and we have

10:17 ↗ a strong range of businesses that

10:19 ↗ provide music lessons we can see that

10:21 ↗ foundational pieces for the visual arts

10:24 ↗ and creative economy are missing

10:26 ↗ where are the art galleries and artist

10:28 ↗ Studios where is the community center

10:30 ↗ for exhibitions classes and events

10:34 ↗ we are planning and we are partnering

10:36 ↗ this means identifying short-term

10:38 ↗ opportunities while setting a foundation

10:40 ↗ for a long-term home for the Arts and

10:42 ↗ Issaquah

10:44 ↗ short term we are getting a better

10:45 ↗ understanding of of available city-owned

10:48 ↗ spaces if they can be used and how

10:52 ↗ as part of this research we'll be

10:54 ↗ running a few classes through the parks

10:56 ↗ department for real world feedback from

10:58 ↗ instructors and participants we are also

11:01 ↗ piloting the creation of gallery spaces

11:03 ↗ with and within existing businesses in

11:06 ↗ Issaquah

11:07 ↗ finally the Arts commission recently

11:10 ↗ formed a committee to identify and study

11:12 ↗ available spaces that can be rented and

11:15 ↗ revamped for art making artist Studios

11:17 ↗ and hosting creative events

11:20 ↗ our aim is to provide proposal on the

11:22 ↗ steps and resources needed to establish

11:24 ↗ and open a new creative Hub in Issaquah

11:26 ↗ we look forward to updating you on our

11:28 ↗ progress thank you

11:30 ↗ thank you thank you Rachel

11:32 ↗ does anybody else want to speak

11:34 ↗ go ahead

11:38 ↗ hi my name is Julia it's Ripley

11:40 ↗ dunkelberger and I'm a resident of the

11:43 ↗ City of Issaquah and Southco

11:45 ↗ I am also a practicing professional

11:47 ↗ artist

11:48 ↗ a teaching artist I instruct ceramics at

11:52 ↗ the Kirkland Art Center

11:53 ↗ I'm a member of the creative District

11:55 ↗ Advisory Board I'm the president of the

11:58 ↗ Columbia City Gallery in Seattle

12:00 ↗ I'm a creativity researcher

12:03 ↗ and I was an instructor at Art East

12:05 ↗ before they before they left and a

12:08 ↗ previous member of the Issaquah

12:10 ↗ Philharmonic so I've been involved in

12:12 ↗ the Visual Arts and Music in Issaquah

12:15 ↗ since we moved here and

12:18 ↗ 1995 or so

12:20 ↗ so I'd like to share some of my

12:22 ↗ experiences as an instructor and an

12:24 ↗ artist and a musician

12:25 ↗ as a Ceramics instructor at Kirkland

12:28 ↗ Arts Center I have students from

12:29 ↗ throughout the region a number of my

12:31 ↗ students come from would be island one

12:34 ↗ from La Conner Auburn Snohomish North

12:37 ↗ Bend so it's it's pretty broad spectrum

12:41 ↗ of people that they're drawing from

12:43 ↗ they all come for pretty much the same

12:46 ↗ reason we have robust programs with

12:49 ↗ really good instruction thank you

12:52 ↗ and

12:54 ↗ the inspiration and camaraderie that

12:57 ↗ they find within those communities is

12:59 ↗ really really rewarding

13:02 ↗ so the Kirkland Arts Center serves over

13:04 ↗ 400 or 540 students with about 45

13:07 ↗ courses and it kind of Ebbs and flows

13:09 ↗ but that's about the average for per

13:11 ↗ quarter

13:12 ↗ and also offers Open studio times

13:15 ↗ many of the courses since about 2016

13:18 ↗ have been filling within the first day

13:21 ↗ of registration and then have waiting

13:23 ↗ lists for each quarter

13:26 ↗ so there's plenty of space for more art

13:28 ↗ centers in the area

13:32 ↗ um

13:35 ↗ the experience that most students have

13:38 ↗ coming into a classroom and getting to

13:41 ↗ work with an instructor and simply get

13:42 ↗ better at their craft most of them I see

13:45 ↗ would no matter what kind of day they're

13:46 ↗ having when they walk in they feel

13:48 ↗ better when they leave

13:50 ↗ one of the things that they're learning

13:52 ↗ is creative efficacy meaning that they

13:54 ↗ are learning how to come up with options

13:57 ↗ for problems and search for ways to

14:01 ↗ develop Solutions and whether you're

14:03 ↗ working in the visual arts music or

14:07 ↗ you're an engineer or a doctor those are

14:10 ↗ super super important skills so the Arts

14:12 ↗ actually teach us a lot of things Way

14:14 ↗ Beyond learning how to paint properly or

14:18 ↗ throw throw on the Wheel

14:20 ↗ there was a recent cross-cultural study

14:23 ↗ that I found that came out in 2021

14:25 ↗ that looked at 1400 office workers

14:30 ↗ throughout the pandemic from the U.S

14:32 ↗ from Germany and from China and they

14:35 ↗ found that those that participated in

14:38 ↗ Creative Endeavors over the course of

14:41 ↗ the pandemic ended up developing greater

14:44 ↗ creative efficacy they felt better about

14:47 ↗ their ability to actually go out and

14:49 ↗ change their environment or solve

14:51 ↗ problems and they also felt more

14:53 ↗ connected socially and that's one of the

14:55 ↗ things that our communities are really

14:57 ↗ in desperate need of right now

15:00 ↗ so Kirkland Art Center has supported

15:02 ↗ that need by dedicated spaces to mediums

15:04 ↗ which require single use spaces there

15:08 ↗ are a lot of mediums meaning paint or

15:11 ↗ crayon or chalk or whatever that you can

15:15 ↗ use a flexible space for you could have

15:17 ↗ multiple different kinds of classes in

15:19 ↗ one space And Then There are mediums

15:21 ↗ where they don't play well with others

15:23 ↗ unfortunately as a Ceramics instructor I

15:26 ↗ practice one of those Ceramics it gets

15:28 ↗ dusty it kind of makes a mess so we

15:31 ↗ can't do glass fusing in the same space

15:33 ↗ where we would teach ceramics

15:36 ↗ having those dedicated spaces has

15:39 ↗ allowed the Kirkland Arts Center to

15:40 ↗ really develop a robust program in print

15:42 ↗ making and in ceramics

15:46 ↗ that requires space for equipment like

15:48 ↗ and big equipment Kilns Wheels large

15:52 ↗ printing presses

15:54 ↗ as well as spaces for specific messes

15:57 ↗ which are hard to clean

15:59 ↗ um

16:01 ↗ I think as an instructor at Art East and

16:05 ↗ as someone who in the last couple years

16:07 ↗ was on their education committee

16:09 ↗ one of the main reasons why we struggled

16:12 ↗ educationally is because we had a single

16:14 ↗ classroom it was fantastic multi-use oh

16:18 ↗ my gosh I got so many different things

16:19 ↗ going on in there it was really exciting

16:21 ↗ however every single time we taught you

16:24 ↗ had to take the classroom down and clean

16:26 ↗ it from floor to ceiling

16:28 ↗ and because of that students couldn't

16:31 ↗ have long-term projects going on they

16:34 ↗ couldn't come in in between classes and

16:37 ↗ work on projects it meant that we were

16:40 ↗ in a position of only teaching beginners

16:43 ↗ and people that wanted to Dabble we were

16:46 ↗ not able to actually teach people at Mid

16:48 ↗ or end of their practice so those people

16:51 ↗ went to the Kirkland Art Center so if

16:54 ↗ you could just uh summarize at this

16:56 ↗ point Thank you absolutely

16:58 ↗ so as someone who sells in Galleries and

17:00 ↗ shows space has also been an issue I now

17:03 ↗ have a gap you know work with a gallery

17:05 ↗ in Seattle

17:07 ↗ and as a musician and the Issaquah Phil

17:10 ↗ harmonic we have not been able to find

17:12 ↗ space for quite a long time to rehearse

17:14 ↗ or perform in the City of Issaquah

17:16 ↗ despite the name of the farm Mike

17:20 ↗ so as a professional who lives in the

17:23 ↗ City of Issaquah I can't practice my

17:25 ↗ profession in this city and it's really

17:28 ↗ frustrating

17:29 ↗ so I would love as we're working with

17:32 ↗ this committee to be able to continue to

17:34 ↗ find spaces for us to work

17:37 ↗ thank you Julie thank you

17:41 ↗ go ahead Leslie thanks okay

17:44 ↗ um

17:46 ↗ and I am Leslie Moore fluke I was on the

17:49 ↗ Issaquah Arts commission for five years

17:51 ↗ and I'm currently in my fifth year of

17:53 ↗ working with the creative District

17:55 ↗ I retired from Green River College as

17:57 ↗ the dean for branch campuses and had a

18:01 ↗ significant role in the development of

18:03 ↗ three branch campuses over my 25 years

18:05 ↗ there

18:07 ↗ the City of Issaquah has shown its

18:09 ↗ commitment to the Arts in a number of

18:11 ↗ ways from the development of a large

18:13 ↗ public art collection to the ongoing

18:15 ↗ financial support of Village Theater and

18:18 ↗ the decision to become a Washington

18:19 ↗ state creative District thereby

18:21 ↗ declaring a belief in the Arts as an

18:23 ↗ economic stimulus as you know the City's

18:26 ↗ population has grown from 17 to 45

18:29 ↗ 000 in the last 22 years

18:31 ↗ the needs and desires of the community

18:33 ↗ members to spend professional and

18:35 ↗ Leisure Time in artistic Pursuits near

18:37 ↗ home has also greatly increased

18:40 ↗ as Rachel described the surveys and

18:42 ↗ focus groups undertaken in the last

18:44 ↗ couple of years there have been a thirst

18:47 ↗ for art making space

18:50 ↗ the development of an Arts Center is not

18:52 ↗ a small Venture nor is it one that is

18:54 ↗ likely to be taken on by one entity

18:57 ↗ most successful art centers are

18:59 ↗ developed in collaboration often through

19:01 ↗ public and private Partnerships

19:03 ↗ many of these projects start with the

19:06 ↗ donation of a building

19:07 ↗ fundraising and Grant acquisition is

19:10 ↗ used to remodel and Equipment purchases

19:13 ↗ administrative costs are covered by

19:15 ↗ public entities or non-profits

19:18 ↗ program and Rental income need to be

19:21 ↗ sufficient to support direct costs the

19:24 ↗ number of people an art center can

19:26 ↗ attract is directly correlated to the

19:28 ↗ number of classes offered and the number

19:30 ↗ of students that can be included in any

19:32 ↗ given course

19:33 ↗ there needs to be enough diversity of

19:36 ↗ classes across a wide time frame to

19:39 ↗ serve the needs of our creative

19:40 ↗ population in Issaquah

19:43 ↗ let me give you a couple examples of a

19:45 ↗ financially viable art centers and their

19:48 ↗ sizes

19:49 ↗ the Moser community art center in Burien

19:51 ↗ is a good example this is an 8 000

19:54 ↗ square foot Arts Center with half of the

19:56 ↗ space dedicated to pottery and the rest

19:58 ↗ used for artist workspaces and

20:00 ↗ multi-purpose

20:01 ↗ classrooms such as painting and montage

20:05 ↗ a bit larger than Moser is Kirkland Arts

20:08 ↗ Center

20:09 ↗ like Moser they have space for pottery a

20:12 ↗ few artist workspaces and a large

20:14 ↗ multi-purpose space in addition they

20:17 ↗ have a nice size gallery

20:19 ↗ double e sizes is the Jansen Arts Center

20:22 ↗ located in the small community of Linden

20:24 ↗ Washington with a population of

20:26 ↗ seventeen thousand this is a good

20:28 ↗ example of a multi-arse multi-use art

20:31 ↗ center

20:32 ↗ that is the heart of community life it's

20:34 ↗ a 20 000 square foot space which is a

20:37 ↗ former city hall and fire station we

20:40 ↗ imagined as an art center on this scale

20:42 ↗ it means that in addition to Pottery

20:44 ↗ dedicated other art maker spaces Jansen

20:48 ↗ has a room for a gallery and a recital

20:50 ↗ theater

20:52 ↗ Moser is small to Mid Jansen is mid-size

20:57 ↗ what could a larger size offer okay this

21:00 ↗ is thinking really big here

21:02 ↗ the red brick Art Center in Colorado is

21:04 ↗ a good example red brick is a Vibrant

21:07 ↗ Community Art Center a former grade

21:09 ↗ school supported by the city it was

21:11 ↗ designed to create venues for classes

21:13 ↗ and artistic engagement while also

21:16 ↗ offering affordable rent to artists and

21:18 ↗ non-profits that support the Arts in

21:20 ↗ addition to classes Gallery space a

21:24 ↗ recital theater

21:25 ↗ it's long it is a long haul long-term

21:28 ↗ home to working artists and creative

21:31 ↗ non-profits this crossover creates a

21:34 ↗ creative Hub and supportive Network for

21:36 ↗ the Arts

21:38 ↗ Issaquah was the first creative District

21:40 ↗ in King County which is a statement

21:42 ↗ about the value of creativity in our

21:45 ↗ economy however residents travel to

21:47 ↗ Bellevue Kirkland Burien Seattle to

21:50 ↗ engage in the Arts a dedicated Arts

21:52 ↗ Center in Issaquah could be an inclusive

21:55 ↗ home for the visual arts on the east

21:57 ↗ side

21:58 ↗ a place to support this community's

22:00 ↗ growing needs and a destination that

22:03 ↗ contributes to our creative economy

22:06 ↗ so we want you to all keep an open mind

22:08 ↗ as you we know you're looking at spaces

22:10 ↗ right now we know there's probably not

22:12 ↗ anything in the immediate future but we

22:15 ↗ want you to keep your eyes and ears open

22:17 ↗ to anything that you think might

22:19 ↗ work and we're going to be doing our

22:22 ↗ work as a creative District to look for

22:24 ↗ things and we're hoping that we'll be on

22:26 ↗ a journey together for the next couple

22:28 ↗ years to find something that will work

22:30 ↗ for Issaquah thank you

22:32 ↗ thank you Leslie

22:35 ↗ um do we have anyone else in the

22:36 ↗ audience who would like to speak at this

22:37 ↗ time

22:39 ↗ not seeing anyone and do we have anyone

22:42 ↗ else online

22:44 ↗ I see no more virtual hands raised

22:45 ↗ council president okay fantastic well as

22:50 ↗ always written comments can always be

22:53 ↗ submitted at any time to by email to

22:56 ↗ city council

22:58 ↗ issaquah.gov so really appreciate the

23:01 ↗ comments we heard from a developer about

23:04 ↗ the

23:06 ↗ potential for Pioneer projects in the

23:08 ↗ urban core and Rachel Juliet and Leslie

23:11 ↗ came to speak about the need for

23:12 ↗ Creative District space and we always

23:15 ↗ appreciate hearing from the public thank

23:17 ↗ you

23:19 ↗ so the next item of business is id1431

23:23 ↗ affordable housing goals for future

23:25 ↗ capital investment this will be

23:27 ↗ presented by Jen Davis Hayes our

23:29 ↗ economic development manager

23:32 ↗ okay

23:52 ↗ you're going to create a new PowerPoint

23:54 ↗ for us here Jen

23:55 ↗ great idea

23:58 ↗ just loving yep

24:02 ↗ I was trying to share the the

24:05 ↗ program versus the screen yeah

24:07 ↗ this will work still

24:11 ↗ now yes

24:14 ↗ okay it is a Monday isn't it good

24:17 ↗ evening my name is Jen Davis Hayes I'm

24:20 ↗ the economic development manager and uh

24:23 ↗ here tonight to continue the

24:25 ↗ conversation about affordable housing

24:28 ↗ so we were

24:30 ↗ we were here in April's Committee of the

24:33 ↗ whole to talk about affordable housing

24:36 ↗ across the gamut talking about policy

24:39 ↗ Capital Investments and operation

24:42 ↗ Investments tonight we're returning from

24:44 ↗ that conversation to talk about the

24:48 ↗ prioritization of affordable housing

24:49 ↗ goals so we can take that input to

24:51 ↗ develop some proposals of how to invest

24:54 ↗ the remaining affordable housing

24:56 ↗ revenues that are available

24:58 ↗ the other purpose which I did not put on

25:01 ↗ here but is in the slideshow talks about

25:03 ↗ as our caller tonight mentioned in the

25:06 ↗ previous meeting as well is about the

25:08 ↗ Pioneer program and Council last month's

25:11 ↗ asked well let's learn a little bit more

25:14 ↗ about what a primary Pioneer program

25:16 ↗ could be so I have some some digital

25:18 ↗ information about that and again want

25:20 ↗ that

25:21 ↗ um

25:22 ↗ want to share that and better understand

25:23 ↗ if you want to move forward with that so

25:26 ↗ again the direct the direction we're

25:28 ↗ looking for tonight is a prior

25:31 ↗ prioritization of affordable housing

25:32 ↗ goals

25:34 ↗ um you know it's really easy to jump to

25:36 ↗ let's do this let's do that in detail

25:38 ↗ and believe me when I was trying to

25:40 ↗ create this presentation I was ready to

25:41 ↗ talk about this talk about that and so

25:43 ↗ we really are trying to raise it up a

25:45 ↗ level or two and thinking about

25:47 ↗ what are what are the areas that are

25:50 ↗ most important to prioritize we know

25:52 ↗ that affordable housing is challenging

25:53 ↗ and complex and affordable and expensive

25:56 ↗ for development so how can we really get

25:59 ↗ a better

26:01 ↗ prioritization and then have that

26:03 ↗ continued conversation at services

26:05 ↗ safety and parks and getting to the to

26:07 ↗ more the the details and again looking

26:10 ↗ if you're interested in continuing to

26:12 ↗ explore the Pioneer program and I can

26:13 ↗ come back with recommendations around

26:15 ↗ that and then anything else you want to

26:17 ↗ provide before we go off and do some

26:20 ↗ more developing of ideas so the next

26:24 ↗ three slides are a review of what we

26:27 ↗ looked at last time this is the housing

26:29 ↗ continue Continuum image that we started

26:31 ↗ to use and we'll continue to use and so

26:33 ↗ love it that and as we come in future

26:35 ↗ meetings you'll see blocked out where

26:37 ↗ we're talking about for any program so

26:40 ↗ policy or funding

26:44 ↗ and then this is the affordable housing

26:47 ↗ funding sources that again that we

26:48 ↗ talked about last time so there's three

26:51 ↗ sources of funding HB 1590 which is the

26:54 ↗ 0.1 percent sales tax and so our

26:56 ↗ revenues through 2024 again for this

26:59 ↗ biennium is about 9.3 million dollars

27:02 ↗ there are some restrictions for how you

27:05 ↗ use this funding of certain populations

27:07 ↗ UH 60 area median income or below and at

27:12 ↗ least 60 percent of the these revenues

27:15 ↗ have to be used for Capital now for our

27:18 ↗ current proposals we have suggested a 75

27:21 ↗ 25 split so 75 percent for Capital 25

27:26 ↗ for operations so that provides Human

27:30 ↗ Services the funding to build capacity

27:32 ↗ and operations allocations that they can

27:35 ↗ successfully Implement over the next

27:37 ↗ year and a half then for the following

27:40 ↗ years we'll look at that at that

27:42 ↗ percentage display it to what makes

27:45 ↗ sense during that time the HB 1406 again

27:48 ↗ is a state passed through a little less

27:50 ↗ restrictive but still is looking at

27:53 ↗ similar populations and 60 Ami or below

27:57 ↗ we have not allocated any of those

27:59 ↗ resources yet and then the density or

28:01 ↗ what was then renamed to development

28:03 ↗ bonus program we have about what we will

28:05 ↗ have about

28:07 ↗ 1.875 million in that from two projects

28:10 ↗ one of them was the Issaquah worklofts

28:12 ↗ that paid for bonus density and then the

28:15 ↗ next payment we should be receiving soon

28:18 ↗ this year is the 1.25 million dollars

28:20 ↗ that's in the Costco development

28:22 ↗ agreement as their complete their

28:25 ↗ certificate of occupancy for their

28:26 ↗ office space

28:28 ↗ so last meeting

28:30 ↗ these expenditures in this column here

28:33 ↗ were either they've been already been

28:34 ↗ included in the 2023-24 budget they were

28:38 ↗ discussed the last meeting and are

28:40 ↗ either in the budget now or will be in

28:42 ↗ the budget soon so again we talked about

28:45 ↗ allocations of the HB 1590 uh sale 1.1

28:50 ↗ percent sales tax only and so the Motel

28:53 ↗ 6 has both capital and operations

28:55 ↗ funding there rental assistance the

28:58 ↗ behavioral health additional staff and

29:01 ↗ the placeholder are five million dollars

29:03 ↗ for the transit Orient development

29:04 ↗ Opportunity Center Construction

29:06 ↗ so that leaves about 1.8 million dollars

29:09 ↗ left over for that funding

29:12 ↗ um we again we did not uh talk about

29:13 ↗ allocations of that 612 000 that will be

29:16 ↗ available for the state pass-through so

29:19 ↗ that is um available as well we're

29:21 ↗ looking tonight to talk about those two

29:23 ↗ funds so it's just over 2.4 million

29:26 ↗ dollars

29:27 ↗ um to give you an idea of how much we

29:29 ↗ have again we're not going to be talking

29:30 ↗ about we want 1 million to go here one

29:32 ↗ million to go there but

29:34 ↗ um we will come back

29:36 ↗ um our recommendations come back and

29:37 ↗ talk to you about the development bonus

29:39 ↗ program because that is eligible for

29:42 ↗ investments in open space or affordable

29:45 ↗ housing and the criteria in the program

29:47 ↗ doesn't say this is how you should make

29:50 ↗ those decisions so we want to work with

29:51 ↗ parks and we want to work with Community

29:53 ↗ Planning and Development to to look at

29:55 ↗ that and really Define it better and

29:57 ↗ it's a since it's a little different

29:58 ↗ animal we didn't want to throw them up

30:00 ↗ you know throw the money into this pot

30:02 ↗ yet so there may be some additional

30:05 ↗ um uh affordable housing money that's

30:07 ↗ available through this at at you know

30:09 ↗ we'll have that conversation in the

30:11 ↗ criteria that you will get a chance to

30:12 ↗ provide some input to

30:16 ↗ so the image again uh so as we look at

30:19 ↗ the policies that um the city council

30:22 ↗ and previous and past and and current

30:24 ↗ have passed

30:26 ↗ um we really have a really good

30:28 ↗ foundation our comprehensive plan which

30:30 ↗ as you know will be updated this year

30:32 ↗ really covers the entire gamut of the

30:35 ↗ housing Continuum which is great to see

30:37 ↗ and you can see that um follow through

30:39 ↗ with our city strategic plan the housing

30:42 ↗ strategy work plan and also the

30:46 ↗ workforce housing that's mentioned in in

30:49 ↗ the economic development plan which is

30:51 ↗ currently being updated

30:56 ↗ okay this is the wrong

30:59 ↗ I just realized this is the wrong

31:01 ↗ PowerPoint so this was sorry about that

31:05 ↗ um so the uh the city's strategic plan

31:11 ↗ um calls out affordable housing looking

31:13 ↗ at the affordability meets the needs

31:17 ↗ individual individuals across the income

31:18 ↗ Spectrum so again is looking at the

31:20 ↗ whole Continuum a couple of things they

31:23 ↗ mentioned here is to work with face

31:24 ↗ faith-based or other organizations in

31:27 ↗ Partnership to build affordable housing

31:29 ↗ look at city property assets and of

31:31 ↗ course implement the housing strategy

31:34 ↗ work plan I think I may want to get out

31:36 ↗ of this and get to the correct one I

31:38 ↗ apologize for that so if we can uh

31:43 ↗ again apologize I have too many versions

31:45 ↗ I suppose of this that just means we're

31:49 ↗ going to see the final and best version

31:51 ↗ I appreciate that yes yes

31:55 ↗ so let me see I can go to SharePoint

31:58 ↗ again I I pulled it up out there

32:00 ↗ thinking I had it already so my

32:02 ↗ apologies

32:03 ↗ apologies so

32:11 ↗ I think we had we definitely had a lot

32:13 ↗ of uh when we look at the policies of

32:15 ↗ the comp plan and such it was becoming a

32:17 ↗ little uh

32:18 ↗ long conversation so

32:22 ↗ Zach has a question while you're yes

32:24 ↗ please yeah just while you do that to

32:26 ↗ either you or the deputy City

32:28 ↗ administrator

32:29 ↗ um

32:30 ↗ um while you pull that up you know so

32:32 ↗ much of the conversation that we've had

32:34 ↗ on affordable housing and this graphic

32:36 ↗ of the housing Continuum that we're

32:37 ↗ supporting is really great and I think

32:40 ↗ would be new to a lot of members of our

32:42 ↗ community and I'm just wondering if kind

32:44 ↗ of once we have a clear strategy on

32:46 ↗ Capital in addition to kind of what

32:48 ↗ we're doing in the operating side and

32:49 ↗ the planning side would it be something

32:52 ↗ we could do to like put together some

32:53 ↗ informational flyer that we could take

32:55 ↗ with us to listening sessions

32:57 ↗ um because you know the

32:59 ↗ Community survey lists this as a a top

33:02 ↗ three priority that we should emphasize

33:04 ↗ over the next two years so it'd be great

33:06 ↗ to be able to have something that we

33:07 ↗ could hand out to the community and say

33:09 ↗ Here's what we're doing for affordable

33:10 ↗ housing yes that's a great idea and I

33:12 ↗ think that's the beauty of having that

33:14 ↗ image is that it's again we hope to use

33:16 ↗ it a lot so hopefully you won't get sick

33:18 ↗ of seeing it but it is something that

33:20 ↗ tells a story pretty quickly because I

33:22 ↗ think when you say affordable housing

33:23 ↗ people go all over the gamut and so you

33:26 ↗ can be really clear that there's a need

33:28 ↗ for all the Continuum but this is what

33:30 ↗ we're talking about at this moment so

33:31 ↗ thank you and I apologize for that snafu

33:34 ↗ there

33:35 ↗ um so we're back on track so looking at

33:37 ↗ uh so getting into a little bit more

33:38 ↗ detail around the housing strategy work

33:42 ↗ plan so

33:44 ↗ um five of the nine strategies deal with

33:46 ↗ affordable housing so from retention to

33:49 ↗ the new construction of the Tod from

33:51 ↗ accessing additional funding which the

33:53 ↗ city has done by passing the 0.1 percent

33:55 ↗ sales tax to increasing developer

33:58 ↗ provided affordable housing and then of

34:00 ↗ course ensuring that we have housing

34:02 ↗ options for seniors for the unhoused and

34:05 ↗ others that are could be forgotten in

34:07 ↗ this in this process so again we the

34:10 ↗ policies are really great about covering

34:12 ↗ um the whole gamut and then looking at

34:15 ↗ um again for affordable housing from the

34:17 ↗ Human Services component

34:19 ↗ um the importance of housing security so

34:21 ↗ making sure that people there aren't um

34:24 ↗ people can remain in their homes and and

34:27 ↗ also how to respond to homelessness so

34:30 ↗ the funding allocations that have

34:32 ↗ already been made by Council are soon to

34:34 ↗ be in front of council from the 1.1

34:37 ↗ percent sales tax include the rental

34:38 ↗ assistance the Motel 6 pilot program and

34:41 ↗ additional Behavioral Health Staffing so

34:43 ↗ again we've made some some great

34:45 ↗ Investments

34:47 ↗ and this is just a quick summary of the

34:50 ↗ capital Investments

34:51 ↗ um again so I mentioned that Motel 6 has

34:53 ↗ some operating and some Capital

34:55 ↗ Investments and then our five million

34:57 ↗ dollar placeholder for the Tod

35:00 ↗ Opportunity Center is

35:02 ↗ the big investment we have the arch

35:05 ↗ Housing Trust Fund here we do make an

35:07 ↗ investment in that with General funds

35:09 ↗ and so we just wanted to make sure that

35:10 ↗ we acknowledge that as far as capital

35:13 ↗ Investments

35:14 ↗ council member Mart yes

35:17 ↗ um I yeah I have a question about this

35:19 ↗ slide yeah so uh Tod

35:24 ↗ D in terms of the affordable

35:27 ↗ rental is uh 60 to 80 is that right we

35:33 ↗ had some lower I want to say you're

35:35 ↗ jogging my memory from a few years ago

35:37 ↗ like 30 with with um vouchers so that

35:41 ↗ goes down into transitional and

35:42 ↗ supportive then right I mean 30 is it

35:46 ↗ I believe but my question is really

35:48 ↗ around affordable is is generally

35:52 ↗ defined as 80 to 120 right

35:56 ↗ well

35:59 ↗ um

36:00 ↗ or or the uh the the Let's uh Workforce

36:04 ↗ housing let's say oh

36:06 ↗ sure right

36:09 ↗ that can be yes the reason the reason

36:11 ↗ that I ask is I look at this and I see

36:13 ↗ market rate right next to Affordable

36:15 ↗ right and I see a TOD going all the way

36:19 ↗ um and I still wonder if there's a gap

36:21 ↗ between if you say there's that 80 to

36:23 ↗ 120 what's Market

36:25 ↗ compared to uh you know that I suspect

36:30 ↗ Market is a lot more than 120. and so

36:33 ↗ the thing that I think is missing in

36:34 ↗ this picture you look at this and you go

36:36 ↗ oh well you know we have everything from

36:39 ↗ market rate down to subsidized but I'm

36:42 ↗ my question is really is there's still a

36:44 ↗ gap and it's the gap between

36:47 ↗ um the programs that we have in place

36:49 ↗ that we talk about that are Workforce

36:51 ↗ housing and where the Market's actually

36:53 ↗ at

36:54 ↗ that's my question okay

36:57 ↗ I don't know if Andrea if there's any

36:58 ↗ you look like you're ready to inter or

37:01 ↗ inter interject a little bit uh just no

37:05 ↗ I think

37:07 ↗ um I think we'll have to follow up with

37:08 ↗ information to that question thank you

37:10 ↗ and that's a great I think follow-up

37:12 ↗ when I talk to developers as well

37:13 ↗ talking about because they had mentioned

37:15 ↗ yeah we're not at 100 right for above

37:17 ↗ the Ami when we're talking about that so

37:19 ↗ we can we can ask that and kind of get a

37:21 ↗ better feel for that so

37:23 ↗ I have a concern that there's still that

37:26 ↗ missing middle there's still a missing

37:28 ↗ middle there between what we think of as

37:30 ↗ Workforce housing and what it actually

37:32 ↗ costs to live in this community thank

37:33 ↗ you

37:34 ↗ council member Ray all right I'm not

37:37 ↗ sure where I'm going with this so bear

37:38 ↗ with me but the Opportunity Center was

37:41 ↗ really about kind of um Healthcare and

37:45 ↗ I'm trying to figure out how do you

37:46 ↗ rationalize Health Care to affordable

37:49 ↗ housing or is it a fungibility issue

37:51 ↗ that the dollars are going to Tod and so

37:55 ↗ it does it's hard to to track the color

37:57 ↗ of the dollars but it doesn't seem to me

38:00 ↗ that even if a great program support all

38:02 ↗ the way sure but it doesn't seem to me

38:04 ↗ to be about affordable housing so the so

38:06 ↗ just to let you know the 0.1 percent

38:08 ↗ allows the construction for Behavioral

38:10 ↗ Health Services so we're not we're not

38:12 ↗ moving money around or changing the

38:14 ↗ color of money to do this but but Cod

38:16 ↗ was I mean the Opportunity Center was

38:18 ↗ about physical health not just

38:19 ↗ Behavioral Health right right it's both

38:22 ↗ and dental and all that good stuff yes

38:24 ↗ so um so this really will help to

38:27 ↗ provide support for those affordable

38:29 ↗ housing units above but you're right

38:31 ↗ it's it's and it's an important

38:33 ↗ component of the whole project you know

38:36 ↗ um you probably remember many

38:37 ↗ discussions about the Tod and the many

38:39 ↗ pieces around that and so this was an

38:42 ↗ important component that made the whole

38:44 ↗ development work

38:48 ↗ I I think we just want to confirm that

38:51 ↗ before we get too far down that path of

38:53 ↗ spending these dollars on that and if

38:54 ↗ you've already done it super but it

38:55 ↗ seems yes a little bit on the edge to me

38:58 ↗ okay and we can we can show you yeah

39:00 ↗ because I have I have that um

39:02 ↗ the RCW and everything uh there so I

39:05 ↗ definitely can do that

39:07 ↗ okay any other questions before

39:11 ↗ um so I just wanted to mention that this

39:12 ↗ is a little bit of getting into the

39:13 ↗ weeds which we don't want to do tonight

39:15 ↗ but I did in the last meeting I

39:17 ↗ mentioned the Strategic opportunity fund

39:19 ↗ and so this was an idea that we proposed

39:22 ↗ um we haven't I have not worked on any

39:24 ↗ details yet because again we wanted to

39:26 ↗ come back to hear about the goals and

39:27 ↗ prioritization but but the idea is that

39:30 ↗ if we had a opportunity fund that we

39:32 ↗ could provide some direct Financial

39:34 ↗ investment or incentives you could be

39:36 ↗ used to reduce City fees whatever that

39:38 ↗ may be but again we're not here to talk

39:40 ↗ about this tonight but I didn't want to

39:42 ↗ forget about it because it was mentioned

39:43 ↗ in the April meeting

39:48 ↗ so Switching gears for a minute so

39:50 ↗ providing some more information about

39:52 ↗ the Pioneer program so Pioneer programs

39:55 ↗ are intended to provide assistance to

39:57 ↗ the first development in an area that

39:59 ↗ doesn't have that type of development so

40:01 ↗ first office building in first

40:03 ↗ Residential Inn

40:05 ↗ um and as you know there are zero

40:06 ↗ housing units currently in the urban

40:08 ↗ core of central Issaquah plants so many

40:11 ↗ of our policies and Central Squad plan

40:13 ↗ states that housing and affordable

40:15 ↗ housing in this area would be beneficial

40:18 ↗ because the proximate proximity to

40:20 ↗ Transit amenities and jobs and so

40:24 ↗ um

40:24 ↗ on the slide here the top portion is

40:27 ↗ actually

40:28 ↗ um what is currently in the central

40:29 ↗ Issaquah plan again adopted 10 years ago

40:32 ↗ it talks about a recommended

40:35 ↗ implementation strategy now again that

40:36 ↗ did not move forward but they mentioned

40:40 ↗ about uh the relaxed definitions of

40:42 ↗ affordability doing an incentive program

40:45 ↗ to help for initial number residential

40:47 ↗ developments and it even suggested a 200

40:50 ↗ first units in the urban core and 100 in

40:52 ↗ the in the outside the urban core not

40:55 ↗ suggesting this is what we're going to

40:56 ↗ go with I just wanted to show you what

40:58 ↗ was in the plan and then we I worked

41:00 ↗ with Arch to find out about other

41:01 ↗ Pioneer programs in the area and so

41:04 ↗ Kenmore Kirkland and Redmond all had Pi

41:07 ↗ have Pioneer programs or ha or have had

41:10 ↗ because once you do those number of

41:13 ↗ programs the program's over you'll

41:15 ↗ notice in Kenmore it the reduction was

41:17 ↗ about parking minimums and they didn't

41:19 ↗ get any any development so it really

41:22 ↗ that really Rings true for what I've

41:24 ↗ heard from developer as far as what is

41:27 ↗ most important for between the levers

41:29 ↗ especially because of our new Adoption

41:31 ↗ of Title 18 which looks at some pretty

41:35 ↗ appropriate parking levels but both

41:38 ↗ Kirkland and Redmond so all of these

41:40 ↗ areas focus on an area and the and the

41:42 ↗ number of units right and so again once

41:45 ↗ those are are developed the program is

41:47 ↗ no longer available everybody else has

41:49 ↗ to develop at the current level and so

41:52 ↗ again Kirkland and Redmond are no longer

41:54 ↗ available for Developers

41:58 ↗ question on that do you have any

42:01 ↗ information about whether those Pioneer

42:04 ↗ projects then spurred other development

42:07 ↗ or are we just seeing that yes somebody

42:10 ↗ took advantage of the incentive and that

42:14 ↗ was what was built so Arch did say so um

42:17 ↗ so in Kirkland it was the rosehiller

42:20 ↗ Totem Lake and they were really trying

42:21 ↗ to get some development in Totem Lake

42:23 ↗ that's been uh very successful I don't

42:26 ↗ know that you can say that this Pioneer

42:28 ↗ program allowed those other things to

42:30 ↗ happen but there has been definitely

42:32 ↗ been additional development in that area

42:34 ↗ and the Overlake Village again new zones

42:37 ↗ that that the city's looking at trying

42:39 ↗ to get some more develop and and that

42:41 ↗ has started to Spur some additional

42:43 ↗ development so I don't have quantity but

42:46 ↗ they had did they did say it it uh

42:49 ↗ the actual first there was more than 100

42:52 ↗ units that kind of came through so

42:54 ↗ people were trying to get in that

42:56 ↗ development line

42:58 ↗ council member D Michelle

43:02 ↗ sorry turned myself off

43:05 ↗ um when you're talking about relaxed

43:07 ↗ definitions of affordability what does

43:09 ↗ that look like and

43:11 ↗ um how would it be applied

43:13 ↗ yeah that's a great question because

43:15 ↗ sometimes the way I see it I'm like wait

43:16 ↗ lower affordably

43:19 ↗ um so that would actually mean so

43:20 ↗ instead of maybe 60 you allow 80

43:23 ↗ Ami or you require a less percentage of

43:27 ↗ it so there's lots of ways to kind of do

43:30 ↗ it what what Kirkland did was to have

43:32 ↗ lower

43:34 ↗ um lower percentage Ami for the for the

43:37 ↗ first 100 and then the next 50 150 so

43:41 ↗ they kind of tiered it and then Redmond

43:44 ↗ I believe uh just waived affordable

43:47 ↗ ability for the first hundred units so

43:51 ↗ so to follow up so the percentage like

43:53 ↗ we we asked for 10 right now inclusive

43:56 ↗ zoning right a little higher yeah yeah

44:00 ↗ so if we relax that it would be five

44:03 ↗ percent or we could do that we could

44:05 ↗ also ask for a 12.5 at a higher Ami so

44:09 ↗ instead of at 60 we could ask for it at

44:12 ↗ 80 okay thank you or whatever percent

44:14 ↗ yeah

44:20 ↗ um and so I think I believe you you uh

44:23 ↗ know that my role in this this year has

44:25 ↗ been uh pivoted a bit to do some

44:28 ↗ research on Central issue as a whole to

44:30 ↗ find out why development Redevelopment

44:32 ↗ hasn't happened and what those barriers

44:34 ↗ are and so I already had started to talk

44:36 ↗ to developers so it was really timely to

44:38 ↗ add in this question about Pioneer

44:39 ↗ programs so have these had conversations

44:42 ↗ with developers

44:44 ↗ and basically you know focus them on uh

44:48 ↗ things that we can change I was very

44:50 ↗ clear to them up front we just passed

44:51 ↗ our title 18. we are not going to change

44:53 ↗ standards we are not going to look at

44:56 ↗ that right now and as Brian on the

45:00 ↗ public comment mentioned yes there is

45:01 ↗ inflation there is you know High

45:04 ↗ interest rates we're looking at in a

45:06 ↗ general time what has stopped you from

45:08 ↗ looking at Central Issaquah and

45:10 ↗ specifically now a Pioneer affordable

45:13 ↗ housing and a Pioneer program what would

45:14 ↗ help to to move the needle there because

45:17 ↗ again the central Squad plan has been in

45:20 ↗ in existence for 10 years so

45:23 ↗ um so and also to mention every

45:25 ↗ developer is different right so they

45:27 ↗ have a different approach they have

45:28 ↗ different risk tolerance uh they even

45:30 ↗ within a residential they have different

45:32 ↗ housing types of what they consider

45:34 ↗ their their folks and so but there was

45:36 ↗ consist this is what the consistency of

45:38 ↗ what I've heard from folks so

45:40 ↗ um

45:41 ↗ again the risk for being first in the

45:44 ↗ area was a concern the high water table

45:46 ↗ which we hear about a lot so because

45:49 ↗ they especially in the urban core can't

45:52 ↗ build structured parking completely

45:54 ↗ underground and you know maybe can do uh

45:57 ↗ one level if they can make that happen

45:59 ↗ they have to build the structured

46:01 ↗ parking above ground so then they hit

46:02 ↗ their height limit pretty quickly and

46:05 ↗ then they need to build more housing in

46:06 ↗ order to make the project pencil so

46:09 ↗ they're they have the inclusionary

46:10 ↗ zoning affordable

46:12 ↗ requirements and then now they're adding

46:15 ↗ on the density bonus requirements

46:20 ↗ and as as was mentioned before mfte is

46:23 ↗ at many of the other cities and that's

46:25 ↗ how they kind of make that work so

46:28 ↗ um that's just something again we we

46:29 ↗ hear about this but we maybe don't see

46:32 ↗ those next steps of why then how the

46:34 ↗ high water table can impact a

46:37 ↗ development because you're losing

46:39 ↗ rentable space when you're building up

46:41 ↗ right

46:42 ↗ um

46:43 ↗ uh people have talked about that many of

46:46 ↗ the Cities use 80 as their kind of

46:49 ↗ developer provided uh Financial I know

46:51 ↗ that there are some programs that are

46:52 ↗ looking at lower

46:54 ↗ um but a developer mentioned it's hard

46:56 ↗ to get financing for that and again

46:58 ↗ everybody has different financing you

47:00 ↗ know Equity versus Banks but

47:02 ↗ um below at 50 and 60 percent there's

47:05 ↗ different programming and different

47:07 ↗ support services that are important to

47:09 ↗ provide and they're not equipped to do

47:11 ↗ that

47:13 ↗ um talking about the cost of affordable

47:14 ↗ housing so obviously you reduce your

47:16 ↗ rent

47:17 ↗ um you have reduced rent for those units

47:19 ↗ and as council member Martz mentioned

47:21 ↗ we're already at 120 130 140 percent so

47:24 ↗ those costs are now being added on to

47:27 ↗ that percentage and so now you're you're

47:29 ↗ even making it more challenging for that

47:31 ↗ middle uh to afford the market rate uh

47:35 ↗ units

47:36 ↗ um

47:37 ↗ and then you heard again in the comments

47:39 ↗ but this was again from all the

47:41 ↗ developers is that development costs are

47:43 ↗ similar throughout the region but rents

47:46 ↗ are lower here in Issaquah so I know

47:48 ↗ that we've seen articles that say where

47:50 ↗ the most expensive

47:51 ↗ um and looked at a little bit at that

47:53 ↗ last uh article it was a median so I'm

47:56 ↗ not sure if if a couple things if you

47:59 ↗ know we have a higher percentage of new

48:02 ↗ units compared to other cities where you

48:04 ↗ maybe are you know newer units get

48:06 ↗ higher than uh older units or

48:10 ↗ um it could be the size of the bedrooms

48:11 ↗ Etc

48:13 ↗ and and Jen thank you just in the

48:15 ↗ interest of time I'm wondering if you

48:17 ↗ can try to wrap things up and summarize

48:19 ↗ your high level points great thank you

48:22 ↗ sorry about that so uh impact fees they

48:25 ↗ say they're the highest I don't know

48:26 ↗ that we're the highest exactly but uh

48:28 ↗ high impact fees and then predictability

48:30 ↗ and answers early in the project

48:31 ↗ discussions are friends at CPD will be

48:34 ↗ working on that so I know that we'll

48:35 ↗ have that under control with what they

48:36 ↗ just uh improved which they just passed

48:40 ↗ um so for discussion points again

48:42 ↗ wanting to understand better the high

48:45 ↗ level priorities will be coming back to

48:47 ↗ committee to get into the weeds and

48:50 ↗ talking about details before we then

48:51 ↗ return for a full conversation but is it

48:55 ↗ preservation of already affordable

48:57 ↗ housing is it new construction home home

48:59 ↗ ownership rentals certain areas certain

49:02 ↗ Ami level those are just ideas looking

49:04 ↗ for your additions

49:06 ↗ and then for the Pioneer program is it

49:09 ↗ something you want me to continue to

49:10 ↗ pursue come back with a recommended

49:12 ↗ recommended ideas of how to potentially

49:15 ↗ do that are there any other things you

49:17 ↗ want me to consider or information that

49:19 ↗ you'd like when we move when we have

49:21 ↗ that future discussion

49:23 ↗ so we recommend to move forward with

49:25 ↗ these things after we get the priority

49:28 ↗ prioritization to go back and develop

49:30 ↗ funding of recommendations the draft

49:31 ↗ program and return to Safety Services

49:34 ↗ safety and Parks

49:36 ↗ um it mentioned in the in the

49:39 ↗ in the memo that it's it'll be the

49:42 ↗ September meeting I understand we

49:43 ↗ actually have an early August meeting

49:45 ↗ that we will come back to if that makes

49:46 ↗ sense for uh the council and again then

49:50 ↗ we'll have as many conversations that we

49:52 ↗ need to have about this to get to a

49:55 ↗ great place so we can start to um

49:57 ↗ hopefully impact affordable housing in

49:59 ↗ Issaquah and all of that information

50:01 ↗ will be then used as we develop our

50:04 ↗ recommendations for the next biennium

50:06 ↗ budget as well

50:12 ↗ so we have a question I think we're

50:14 ↗ actually going to go into questions just

50:16 ↗ after

50:17 ↗ do we need to summarize any of those

50:19 ↗ slides no okay they're the same slides

50:21 ↗ fantastic so we're going to take

50:23 ↗ questions and then we'll see if there's

50:25 ↗ any public comment and then go into uh

50:28 ↗ feedback council member marks

50:30 ↗ thank you

50:32 ↗ um can you sorry can you go back to the

50:34 ↗ list of you had a

50:36 ↗ bunch of there we go oh nope nope is

50:39 ↗ that the one no I can't even it's it's

50:42 ↗ the one that had like home ownership oh

50:44 ↗ yeah

50:45 ↗ yeah there we go all right so for many

50:47 ↗ many years uh we said that one of the

50:51 ↗ questions or one of the challenges we

50:53 ↗ had about getting people into ownership

50:55 ↗ was condo liability right and um just

50:59 ↗ before uh the world stopped uh the state

51:02 ↗ legislature did in fact enact uh condo

51:06 ↗ liability reform and so one of the

51:08 ↗ questions that I have is

51:11 ↗ um are we looking at how has the you

51:14 ↗ know the the long-sought hope that that

51:16 ↗ would provide an opportunity into

51:18 ↗ ownership for folks

51:20 ↗ um are we starting to see that out in

51:22 ↗ the marketplace and uh you know what

51:24 ↗ does it mean for Issaquah in terms of

51:26 ↗ our options that are different than the

51:29 ↗ options that we had before condo

51:31 ↗ liability yeah that's a great question

51:33 ↗ so as part of the housing strategy work

51:35 ↗ program implementation grant that the

51:38 ↗ city received and Kristen Leeson's

51:40 ↗ working on that was one of the questions

51:42 ↗ and I don't think it's there yet right

51:44 ↗ so she be looking at that it hasn't

51:48 ↗ moved it hasn't been enough of a change

51:49 ↗ to move the market so we will continue

51:52 ↗ as a city to advocate for that with our

51:54 ↗ legislatures but it hasn't um I'm sorry

51:58 ↗ was the the liability not sufficiently

52:01 ↗ addressed by the reform that occurred

52:03 ↗ you said we might still continue to

52:05 ↗ Advocate I thought but we will I I mean

52:07 ↗ I thought we I thought we should have

52:09 ↗ addressed the the condo liability issue

52:11 ↗ but I see one of my fellow council

52:12 ↗ members shaking his head now so perhaps

52:14 ↗ I don't understand the issue well enough

52:15 ↗ thank you

52:17 ↗ yeah and I don't know that I know the

52:19 ↗ issues well enough but we can um that is

52:21 ↗ definitely something as part of What's

52:22 ↗ called the housing action planning

52:25 ↗ implementation plan implementation that

52:27 ↗ uh we'll be in front of council uh soon

52:29 ↗ but that I can get you some more

52:30 ↗ information about that

52:34 ↗ okay uh councilmember D Michelle

52:37 ↗ right um Jen for the preservation of

52:40 ↗ already affordable housing the the three

52:42 ↗ Revenue sources that we've identified

52:44 ↗ and that were the two that we're talking

52:46 ↗ about tonight is that money available

52:48 ↗ for private

52:50 ↗ owners of housing that is Affordable and

52:54 ↗ I'm thinking one example would be I

52:57 ↗ understand the rally Corporation for

52:59 ↗ example has several older apartment

53:01 ↗ buildings where they that they are

53:04 ↗ continue to maintain and that where the

53:07 ↗ rents are fairly affordable uh would

53:11 ↗ would and that's just one example I'm

53:14 ↗ just giving that as an example but would

53:16 ↗ any of that funding be available for

53:17 ↗ private Enterprises who are able to

53:21 ↗ maintain housing that is Affordable not

53:25 ↗ you know right affordable housing and I

53:27 ↗ believe so I need to to do some more

53:29 ↗ research because I need to make sure it

53:31 ↗ doesn't say government non-profit only

53:33 ↗ yeah um but I think the way we would

53:35 ↗ also need to make sure there's some

53:37 ↗ Covenant on the property so it can't you

53:39 ↗ know change when it gets sold Etc so I

53:42 ↗ will definitely look into that but

53:43 ↗ that's I mean that is one of the ideas

53:45 ↗ of how do we we have a list that was

53:47 ↗ done as part of the housing work

53:48 ↗ strategy

53:50 ↗ housing strategy work plan sorry and um

53:53 ↗ and so you know we would go through that

53:56 ↗ list and try to find what might be some

53:58 ↗ ideal candidates so yeah

54:02 ↗ council member Joe

54:05 ↗ thank you very much

54:09 ↗ um Jen Davis was interested in learning

54:12 ↗ more about the mft

54:14 ↗ mfte program yeah how would the city go

54:18 ↗ about uh looking to analyze that and

54:22 ↗ create one uh and and given what we've

54:25 ↗ heard from the developer who spoke

54:27 ↗ tonight

54:29 ↗ um how do we make that uh at a level

54:32 ↗ that's actually going to be used that's

54:34 ↗ actually going to be something that

54:35 ↗ would help us get out of this housing

54:37 ↗ conundra if you could talk a little

54:39 ↗ about the timing and how far out we

54:42 ↗ would expect it before we'd be able to

54:45 ↗ use it a little bit more would be

54:47 ↗ helpful and if you don't know the

54:48 ↗ answers tonight we can certainly get a

54:50 ↗ memoir what have you yeah so um the good

54:52 ↗ thing is we actually have mfte but it's

54:54 ↗ very specific to the Tod project and

54:57 ↗ that site so we could legislatively

55:01 ↗ expand it to where we wanted to

55:03 ↗ um but we would have to look at do some

55:06 ↗ research about

55:07 ↗ um what makes sense as far as levels

55:09 ↗ that you want to look at and if you want

55:11 ↗ to do eight 12 year plus so there's some

55:13 ↗ some components that we would work with

55:15 ↗ Arch and because they actually manage

55:17 ↗ that program for the East Side to do the

55:19 ↗ reporting for that so it would be it

55:23 ↗ would go when I when I looked at it for

55:24 ↗ the Tod we did research about what other

55:26 ↗ cities did what'd that mean for we

55:29 ↗ showed what that meant for that specific

55:30 ↗ property as far as property tax that you

55:33 ↗ would get you don't you still continue

55:35 ↗ to get property tax on the land and

55:38 ↗ Commercial spaces so we did an analysis

55:40 ↗ to show how that would impact and

55:43 ↗ um and and so on so timing wise not sure

55:46 ↗ but if that's something that Council

55:47 ↗ wanted some more research we could put

55:50 ↗ that on the list

55:51 ↗ okay and as you look at the other cities

55:54 ↗ I would ask that you take a look and see

55:58 ↗ the levels that were set and then

56:00 ↗ whether or not the programs were

56:01 ↗ actually used I don't think we want to

56:03 ↗ venture down the path of creating a

56:05 ↗ program like Kenmore did for parking and

56:08 ↗ then not having it be utilized by any

56:10 ↗ and the the developers out there and I

56:14 ↗ guess the other

56:15 ↗ um

56:15 ↗ thought would be you know how how far

56:19 ↗ out can we put that exemption and can we

56:24 ↗ extend the time out so that it is more

56:26 ↗ palatable for developers to do that is

56:29 ↗ that allowed and how far is the limit

56:32 ↗ would be another question I would put

56:34 ↗ forward for you to research okay thank

56:37 ↗ you yeah

56:40 ↗ council member or Deputy council

56:42 ↗ president Hall

56:43 ↗ so as as we look at um I'm interested

56:47 ↗ you mentioned Kristen Leeson's project

56:49 ↗ that she's working on are we looking at

56:52 ↗ you know when the legislature decided to

56:54 ↗ strip us of our ability to have

56:56 ↗ single-family housing in the city

56:59 ↗ um are we looking at

57:00 ↗ do we have any idea yet or have we

57:02 ↗ started trying to figure out what that

57:04 ↗ impact will be because it seems like

57:05 ↗ that's the single biggest change to the

57:09 ↗ marketplace in my 14 years on Council

57:12 ↗ and it seems like there's going to be a

57:14 ↗ sort of before and after and

57:17 ↗ have we started putting our finger on

57:19 ↗ what we think that will do

57:22 ↗ councilmember writes this is Andrea

57:24 ↗ Snyder uh yes we have started the

57:27 ↗ legislature

57:28 ↗ of course just just made that action

57:31 ↗ they have not provided a lot of guidance

57:33 ↗ about how to interpret certain things so

57:37 ↗ we are looking into it we hope to come

57:39 ↗ back to City Council in the community

57:41 ↗ with more information about those

57:43 ↗ impacts to Issaquah and um

57:46 ↗ right now the timing escapes me but in

57:48 ↗ the next couple of months we want to

57:50 ↗ come back to the the city council and

57:52 ↗ begin to discuss what those impacts are

57:55 ↗ thank you

57:58 ↗ Deputy council president Hall

58:00 ↗ oh thank you I forgot one of my

58:02 ↗ questions but I'm sure it'll come to me

58:04 ↗ after I ask the first one so have we

58:06 ↗ also thought about like um

58:08 ↗ so Pioneer program exciting about like

58:11 ↗ incentivizing kind of a place where we

58:13 ↗ currently don't have what we want have

58:15 ↗ we thought about like what are the other

58:17 ↗ kind of creative ways that the city can

58:18 ↗ do the same thing like is there like a

58:21 ↗ specific utility that is kind of cost

58:24 ↗ prohibitive in the area that the city

58:25 ↗ can can be thinking about creative ways

58:28 ↗ to support or anything like that I'm

58:30 ↗ just I'm just curious kind of like how

58:32 ↗ many different angles have we thought

58:33 ↗ about this problem

58:35 ↗ yeah so actually as part of again the

58:37 ↗ why central or Redevelopment hasn't

58:40 ↗ happened in central Issaquah that is one

58:41 ↗ of the things I'll be looking at so I've

58:43 ↗ started those conversations with our

58:44 ↗ Public Works to say capacity and what

58:46 ↗ you know what is that

58:48 ↗ um so I don't know that that's

58:50 ↗ um

58:51 ↗ I don't know the impact of that so can't

58:53 ↗ say that that would make a difference

58:54 ↗ and that's fine yeah as long as that's

58:55 ↗ on our rate like that's great if you're

58:57 ↗ yeah and that's a little bit of why

58:59 ↗ talking so the developers I didn't

59:01 ↗ mention were people that have developed

59:03 ↗ in Issaquah in the past currently

59:05 ↗ looking at it and you know um kind of

59:08 ↗ looked at it but didn't proceed so so

59:11 ↗ we're getting people who have been there

59:12 ↗ done that

59:14 ↗ um and so they you know they if they

59:16 ↗ didn't bring up concern about utilities

59:17 ↗ and I'm like okay they haven't either

59:19 ↗ gotten that far or that wasn't an issue

59:21 ↗ right but again every place every site

59:23 ↗ can be different without

59:28 ↗ um I did remember my other

59:30 ↗ question it comes to Capital

59:32 ↗ priorities with some of these funds too

59:34 ↗ is another option to just um

59:39 ↗ or I guess the question more is what is

59:41 ↗ our current are we currently giving

59:45 ↗ Arch all the contributions that it's

59:48 ↗ expecting from Issaquah or from a city

59:50 ↗ of our size from Issaquah or is that

59:52 ↗ something that we should consider in

59:53 ↗ this all

59:55 ↗ um

59:56 ↗ in the mix too and also sorry there's

59:59 ↗ like three parts of this question now is

1:00:01 ↗ it possible to say you know here's

1:00:04 ↗ here's our contribution like we always

1:00:05 ↗ do but we also have this strategic

1:00:08 ↗ opportunity fund or whatever that would

1:00:10 ↗ fund it if it was within an X mile

1:00:12 ↗ radius of Issaquah or something like

1:00:15 ↗ that is that even something that's

1:00:16 ↗ possible or does arch kind of say no if

1:00:19 ↗ you contribute to the pot it has to go

1:00:21 ↗ to the the whole Arch region

1:00:24 ↗ so it doesn't need to be answered now

1:00:25 ↗ yeah yeah no I can I can definitely ask

1:00:27 ↗ that and so one of the things I expect

1:00:29 ↗ to do after tonight is to work with them

1:00:30 ↗ about developing the next steps and so

1:00:32 ↗ we can definitely talk about that so

1:00:37 ↗ okay not seeing any other questions so

1:00:41 ↗ at this point we have an opportunity for

1:00:43 ↗ public comment but do you have a

1:00:46 ↗ question

1:00:47 ↗ okay go ahead councilmember D Michelle

1:00:49 ↗ you have always been very slow sorry

1:00:52 ↗ about that so uh following up on

1:00:55 ↗ Deputy council president Hall's question

1:01:00 ↗ the Strategic opportunity investment

1:01:02 ↗ fund and I know we're not really focused

1:01:05 ↗ on that tonight but

1:01:06 ↗ is that a way to capture a little bit

1:01:10 ↗ more of the funding that we give to Arch

1:01:12 ↗ for specific Issaquah

1:01:15 ↗ projects is that like our own little

1:01:18 ↗ trust fund or is that the purpose of it

1:01:22 ↗ basically

1:01:24 ↗ um yeah so so the reason we also thought

1:01:26 ↗ of this so there was an opportunity to

1:01:29 ↗ purchase with a non-pro a non-profit

1:01:32 ↗ organization anxiety existing apartment

1:01:35 ↗ community that was affordable and Arch

1:01:38 ↗ said well what money do you have to put

1:01:40 ↗ in it we're like well we have this money

1:01:41 ↗ here but without criteria without

1:01:43 ↗ whatever we're not going to come to

1:01:45 ↗ council and go we think this is a great

1:01:46 ↗ idea because we really again want to

1:01:48 ↗ think about what your goals are and

1:01:49 ↗ where should that be focus on is if you

1:01:51 ↗ want again if you want me to go focus on

1:01:53 ↗ preserving a current uh units that are

1:01:56 ↗ affordable I will go and hit the road

1:01:58 ↗ and start talking to owners and start

1:02:00 ↗ talking to anybody that we have on our

1:02:03 ↗ in our radar so I think having that

1:02:06 ↗ extra amount of money allows us to then

1:02:10 ↗ you know Focus where those goals are so

1:02:15 ↗ yeah thank you very much yeah and um so

1:02:19 ↗ I think throwing that into the mix of

1:02:21 ↗ options that we might have is a really

1:02:24 ↗ good idea thanks

1:02:28 ↗ okay so I'm going to look at the clerk

1:02:30 ↗ to see if we have anyone online

1:02:33 ↗ interested in that might be interested

1:02:36 ↗ in public comment

1:02:40 ↗ council president if anyone I'll tell

1:02:42 ↗ them to raise their hand and someone did

1:02:45 ↗ just raise them oh fantastic they're

1:02:47 ↗ reading my mind love it much appreciated

1:02:51 ↗ sad Brian I have again made you a

1:02:53 ↗ panelist you should be able to unmute

1:02:55 ↗ and turn on your video

1:02:59 ↗ can you hear me we can thank you oh

1:03:02 ↗ great I just I'm listening to the

1:03:04 ↗ conversation and

1:03:06 ↗ um I want to clarify a few a few things

1:03:09 ↗ on uh the various programs and what

1:03:12 ↗ we're seeing in different jurisdictions

1:03:14 ↗ and again I I I'll paint myself as

1:03:17 ↗ somewhat of a quasi expert we we design

1:03:20 ↗ numerous amounts of these have done it

1:03:22 ↗ for 25 years throughout the region and

1:03:25 ↗ involved in

1:03:26 ↗ um

1:03:27 ↗ specifically in these Tod projects so I

1:03:30 ↗ I do know all the competitors I do all

1:03:32 ↗ know exactly what's going on uh for

1:03:35 ↗ clarity about the Pioneer program we

1:03:37 ↗ don't have anyone in Totem Lake but I do

1:03:40 ↗ know uh one group in there that had

1:03:42 ↗ bought the property 15 years ago which

1:03:44 ↗ changes to the Dynamics and the calculus

1:03:48 ↗ on that I can't speak to

1:03:50 ↗ uh the overlay because we do have a few

1:03:53 ↗ projects in there and just completed one

1:03:55 ↗ so while there was some earlier ones

1:03:57 ↗ going in

1:03:58 ↗ um as a Pioneer project we just recently

1:04:01 ↗ completed a 635 unit project the uh

1:04:05 ↗ inclusionary zoning criteria was at 10

1:04:09 ↗ of the units at 80 Ami which included

1:04:13 ↗ mfte which that you know the developer

1:04:16 ↗ worked and it's again a block away from

1:04:17 ↗ the Tod which works really well

1:04:20 ↗ um and again I want to point out

1:04:23 ↗ the dynamic there this is it's outside

1:04:25 ↗ of a it's it's not even a a

1:04:29 ↗ Pioneer project at this state this is

1:04:31 ↗ just a to make the project work at the

1:04:34 ↗ Overlake station

1:04:37 ↗ um right next to the Microsoft campus

1:04:39 ↗ was was at at 10 of the units at 80 Ami

1:04:43 ↗ and with the mft so correlate that to

1:04:47 ↗ Issaquah or you don't have the same job

1:04:49 ↗ basis you have light rail that's 15

1:04:52 ↗ years out if you really want to attract

1:04:54 ↗ people you you at least got to start

1:04:56 ↗ where these other stations are are

1:04:59 ↗ operating at and getting

1:05:02 ↗ um

1:05:03 ↗ inclusionary zoning and we're not seeing

1:05:05 ↗ any of them under the 80 because the

1:05:08 ↗ capital markets won't go to that the

1:05:10 ↗ idea to put in or or incentivize older

1:05:14 ↗ housing product is is a great Tool uh

1:05:17 ↗ again we're building projects they're

1:05:19 ↗ over three hundred dollars a square foot

1:05:21 ↗ just in hard cost to produce these

1:05:23 ↗ nowadays so to expect to produce housing

1:05:27 ↗ at over 300 a square foot with limited

1:05:30 ↗ parking and all the rest

1:05:32 ↗ um and then you discount say if you're

1:05:35 ↗ at 70 Ami so you're taking about 30

1:05:38 ↗ percent or more of the rent income and

1:05:41 ↗ right now your program speaks to about

1:05:43 ↗ 12 and a half percent so you take

1:05:45 ↗ 12 and a half percent of your revenue

1:05:47 ↗ and drop it by thirty percent it does

1:05:49 ↗ devastating things

1:05:51 ↗ um to the value and the the the

1:05:54 ↗ possibility to get anything financed for

1:05:57 ↗ this so the the Dynamics are what and

1:05:59 ↗ we're not talking like a few percentages

1:06:01 ↗ off you're way off the mark of what

1:06:04 ↗ would make this the these projects work

1:06:07 ↗ so

1:06:09 ↗ um I just go back to what Eco Northwest

1:06:11 ↗ had proposed to to your group uh a while

1:06:15 ↗ back of where you can't you really

1:06:17 ↗ shouldn't go under 80 Ami and there

1:06:19 ↗ should be other incentives and again the

1:06:21 ↗ mft program is a good one because it's

1:06:23 ↗ offset with the tax bait whether it's 8

1:06:26 ↗ 10 12 years I don't think that's a big

1:06:28 ↗ issue it's once you get established and

1:06:30 ↗ you get moving what you want to do is

1:06:32 ↗ get some of this housing in place uh

1:06:35 ↗ before the the light rail comes in and

1:06:37 ↗ gets opened so

1:06:40 ↗ um we'd love to participate it I can if

1:06:43 ↗ we I wasn't prepared because we just got

1:06:45 ↗ notice of this on Friday afternoon but

1:06:46 ↗ we can come in with the requisite

1:06:48 ↗ experts we've analyzed this on virtually

1:06:51 ↗ every light rail line both the Seattle

1:06:54 ↗ line and the East Lake line and can go

1:06:57 ↗ through it project by project but I just

1:06:58 ↗ wanted to clarify

1:07:00 ↗ um those those key things thanks

1:07:06 ↗ great thank you Brian

1:07:08 ↗ um do we have anyone else online

1:07:13 ↗ council president I see no more virtual

1:07:16 ↗ hands raised at this time okay fantastic

1:07:19 ↗ well again you can always email US city

1:07:21 ↗ council at issaquah.gov so at this point

1:07:24 ↗ we've got kind of two areas of feedback

1:07:27 ↗ one is this concept of priorities and

1:07:31 ↗ outcomes with a potential Financial

1:07:33 ↗ investment and then the other one is on

1:07:37 ↗ the Pioneer project so so anybody want

1:07:41 ↗ to start on one versus the other

1:07:46 ↗ councilmember hunt

1:07:49 ↗ I will start on the slide that is up

1:07:52 ↗ which is the priorities and outcomes I

1:07:55 ↗ think we should prioritize

1:07:58 ↗ um I think a strong arguments be made

1:07:59 ↗ for prioritizing preservation of already

1:08:01 ↗ affordable housing something that's in

1:08:04 ↗ our strategic our housing work action

1:08:07 ↗ plan it's something we know we do have

1:08:11 ↗ this relatively rare and very important

1:08:14 ↗ asset in our community and you know

1:08:16 ↗ Now's the Time to act to make sure we

1:08:18 ↗ don't lose that also those are people

1:08:20 ↗ that are already living in that housing

1:08:23 ↗ and so it's very important I think that

1:08:25 ↗ we don't um lose that housing stock for

1:08:29 ↗ community members who are already living

1:08:32 ↗ here in Issaquah and already are our

1:08:33 ↗ neighbors so I think

1:08:36 ↗ 2.4 million dollars I mean it sounds

1:08:38 ↗ like a lot but it's not that much if we

1:08:40 ↗ were to try to go out for construction

1:08:42 ↗ of new housing it's pretty expensive so

1:08:45 ↗ I think this could go a long way towards

1:08:47 ↗ preserving some of our already

1:08:48 ↗ affordable and that would make a big

1:08:50 ↗ difference for the for the folks that

1:08:52 ↗ are there

1:08:55 ↗ Deputy council president Hull then

1:08:57 ↗ councilmember D Michelle

1:09:00 ↗ um yeah I was actually feeling very

1:09:02 ↗ similarly thinking along the same lines

1:09:04 ↗ but I have one more level which was that

1:09:07 ↗ if it was near Transit so I was thinking

1:09:10 ↗ you know ways that we can encourage more

1:09:13 ↗ kind of naturally Transit oriented

1:09:15 ↗ development essentially this is aligned

1:09:18 ↗ with some of our goals too the first

1:09:19 ↗ thing I did to prepare for this meeting

1:09:21 ↗ was look to I used to be a member of the

1:09:23 ↗ King County affordable housing committee

1:09:24 ↗ and now councilmember Walsh is taking my

1:09:26 ↗ seat on that but there's this task force

1:09:28 ↗ report that put out and one of the goals

1:09:30 ↗ was

1:09:31 ↗ prioritizing either new construction or

1:09:34 ↗ preservation of existing affordable

1:09:35 ↗ housing near transit or near your

1:09:37 ↗ ability to get around more quickly so I

1:09:40 ↗ think

1:09:42 ↗ you're right 2.4 million dollars isn't

1:09:44 ↗ isn't very that isn't that much and I

1:09:46 ↗ wonder if we can't say maybe we

1:09:48 ↗ prioritize in this first leg the

1:09:51 ↗ preservation of housing

1:09:53 ↗ um near Transit would be

1:09:56 ↗ what my preference would be although I

1:09:58 ↗ just thought of another

1:10:00 ↗ priority that I think actually would

1:10:01 ↗ live above this one in my head and that

1:10:03 ↗ is if the Tod is struggling again it

1:10:05 ↗ needs more than five million dollars I

1:10:07 ↗ want to know about that and this is this

1:10:09 ↗ would be the money that I would think

1:10:10 ↗ we'd want to go to first so that's

1:10:13 ↗ assuming that's not happening then this

1:10:15 ↗ would be the strategy that I'd want to

1:10:16 ↗ go with

1:10:20 ↗ councilmember D Michelle

1:10:24 ↗ yes I think I think you could probably

1:10:25 ↗ tell by the questions I was asking that

1:10:27 ↗ I uh preservation of already affordable

1:10:30 ↗ housing would be my top priority I think

1:10:32 ↗ psrc uh and council president Walsh

1:10:36 ↗ probably knows this better than I do but

1:10:37 ↗ put out uh you know a study showing how

1:10:42 ↗ much affordable housing we're losing so

1:10:44 ↗ we're not only

1:10:46 ↗ behind in the number of new units that

1:10:49 ↗ we need but we're losing we're falling

1:10:51 ↗ behind on the housing that's already

1:10:54 ↗ there so uh and I think that uh I'll

1:10:58 ↗ call it a trust fund the trust fund idea

1:11:02 ↗ where we'd be able to

1:11:03 ↗ utilize that for local expenditures is a

1:11:07 ↗ great tool for accomplishing this

1:11:09 ↗ preservation and then the question I ask

1:11:12 ↗ about would that be available to uh for

1:11:15 ↗ us to

1:11:16 ↗ uh expand that on uh housing that is

1:11:20 ↗ currently owned by private organizations

1:11:22 ↗ I think is something we need to explore

1:11:24 ↗ because there is certainly in our

1:11:26 ↗ community those types of affordable of

1:11:30 ↗ housing that is Affordable that we would

1:11:32 ↗ want to preserve as well and uh those

1:11:35 ↗ are getting more and more difficult to

1:11:37 ↗ maintain with the inflation that we've

1:11:40 ↗ got going on so I think we want to look

1:11:42 ↗ at those and make sure that if there's

1:11:44 ↗ any opportunities to preserve those and

1:11:46 ↗ if the money is could be legally spent

1:11:49 ↗ on that that we would at least look at

1:11:52 ↗ those opportunities as well

1:11:54 ↗ so preservation would definitely be my

1:11:57 ↗ top priority I do think that Council

1:12:00 ↗ Deputy president Hall I will get that be

1:12:05 ↗ able to say that easier one of these

1:12:07 ↗ days has a very good point that if we do

1:12:10 ↗ need more money for the Tod I think of

1:12:12 ↗ course that is our top priority but

1:12:14 ↗ given that we've covered that cost

1:12:16 ↗ preservation would be for sure my top

1:12:19 ↗ priority

1:12:22 ↗ councilman Murray

1:12:24 ↗ thank you I agree that kind of we are

1:12:27 ↗ very blessed in the school to have a lot

1:12:29 ↗ of naturally occurring affordable

1:12:30 ↗ housing and preserving that is

1:12:32 ↗ absolutely essential so I think that's

1:12:35 ↗ um that's for sure I think that's my top

1:12:37 ↗ even over the Tod is we you know we

1:12:39 ↗ can't say we're going to build all this

1:12:41 ↗ buy all this and and at the same time

1:12:43 ↗ we're destroying

1:12:45 ↗ um affordable housing but I think if I'm

1:12:48 ↗ looking at a figure of 2.4 million

1:12:49 ↗ dollars which is a lot of money to me

1:12:51 ↗ but not a lot of money when it comes to

1:12:52 ↗ building

1:12:53 ↗ um housing

1:12:55 ↗ um I kind of would like to see us pursue

1:12:56 ↗ something with Arch and get a multiplier

1:12:58 ↗ effect and that

1:13:00 ↗ um you know maybe they won't build in

1:13:01 ↗ Issaquah but that's okay because we're

1:13:03 ↗ this is a regional problem not an Issa

1:13:05 ↗ problems per se so um that's kind of

1:13:08 ↗ where my head goes don't don't lose

1:13:10 ↗ anything that we've got today but if if

1:13:12 ↗ that's the number we're working with

1:13:14 ↗ let's um let's take advantage of arch

1:13:16 ↗ and and push in that direction

1:13:20 ↗ councilman Mertz uh thank you

1:13:24 ↗ I I feel like I don't have enough

1:13:28 ↗ information

1:13:29 ↗ to have a strong opinion right now I I

1:13:33 ↗ miss Arthur Sullivan from Arch because

1:13:36 ↗ Arthur used to give us more information

1:13:38 ↗ than we even knew what to do with and I

1:13:41 ↗ would come out of meetings with Arthur

1:13:42 ↗ having a much better idea of you know

1:13:46 ↗ heavily you know very very low income to

1:13:49 ↗ low income to Affordable to Workforce to

1:13:53 ↗ Market and I would understand

1:13:56 ↗ uh you know what Ami is currently and

1:14:00 ↗ what it is to be at 80 percent of Ami

1:14:02 ↗ and would have an idea of how our

1:14:05 ↗ existing housing stock compared to what

1:14:07 ↗ the market was looking for because there

1:14:10 ↗ would be you know the number of rental

1:14:13 ↗ units that would come up at any uh you

1:14:15 ↗ know in any given year and I I don't

1:14:17 ↗ feel like I have that right now I mean I

1:14:19 ↗ see from our report card we now consider

1:14:22 ↗ Ami 134 thousand dollars a year year

1:14:24 ↗ which is quite a bit of money so if we

1:14:27 ↗ say that well if you're above 100 and

1:14:28 ↗ 100 of Ami only nine percent of people

1:14:32 ↗ are cost burdened well if if you're

1:14:33 ↗ making over a hundred and thirty five

1:14:35 ↗ thousand dollars a year okay nine

1:14:37 ↗ percent cost burden sounds like that

1:14:39 ↗ that might be doable but

1:14:41 ↗ um you know 2.4 million is not to to

1:14:44 ↗ Echo council member Ray is not a large

1:14:47 ↗ lever in this in this conversation I

1:14:50 ↗ wish I could say that we should partner

1:14:52 ↗ with Arch I haven't seen arch in a long

1:14:54 ↗ time the only thing I've heard from Arch

1:14:56 ↗ is trying to get us involved in state

1:14:57 ↗ level political issues about how

1:14:59 ↗ landlords should work things other than

1:15:01 ↗ that we haven't heard a lot from arch in

1:15:03 ↗ a while and boy I wish that was

1:15:04 ↗ different right now I'm not excited

1:15:06 ↗ necessarily about about giving them more

1:15:09 ↗ money I would like to see as something

1:15:11 ↗ do us I'd like to see us do something

1:15:13 ↗ clever with that 2.4 million but I don't

1:15:16 ↗ know what it is and again my long-winded

1:15:18 ↗ answer is I still feel like I'm not sure

1:15:21 ↗ historically I have always said it's

1:15:22 ↗ about the workforce housing it's about

1:15:24 ↗ that middle 80 to 120. our report card

1:15:27 ↗ really says the 80 to 120s doing kind of

1:15:31 ↗ okay but I don't know if I believe that

1:15:33 ↗ so um I'm just I'm I'm

1:15:37 ↗ not sure what to do with that 2.4 but we

1:15:40 ↗ should do something smart and Innovative

1:15:42 ↗ with it and try something that we

1:15:44 ↗ haven't tried before because if you keep

1:15:46 ↗ doing what you've been doing you keep

1:15:47 ↗ get getting what you get thank you

1:15:54 ↗ councilmember Joe you have anything on

1:15:55 ↗ this otherwise yeah thank you

1:15:58 ↗ appreciate you uh Valen told me there uh

1:16:02 ↗ that's excellent

1:16:04 ↗ um

1:16:04 ↗ thank you for the conversation tonight

1:16:07 ↗ it's been it's been great I think that

1:16:10 ↗ um

1:16:11 ↗ what I would throw out is is we look at

1:16:15 ↗ our Tod project that's

1:16:17 ↗ potentially coming in a couple more

1:16:19 ↗ years and when we started that project

1:16:22 ↗ Tola had a lot more hair and I didn't

1:16:24 ↗ have wrinkles and things like that it

1:16:26 ↗ took a long time to get there right so

1:16:29 ↗ I'll just route that that maybe we

1:16:32 ↗ should use a 2.4 million dollars if we

1:16:35 ↗ can is is a capital investment of

1:16:37 ↗ property investment

1:16:40 ↗ and if it is

1:16:42 ↗ maybe we should be looking at acquiring

1:16:44 ↗ property and putting that 2.4 million

1:16:47 ↗ down now in an area around the future

1:16:50 ↗ site for the Terminus for Sound Transit

1:16:53 ↗ now we talk about you know we want to

1:16:57 ↗ have that sound transit

1:16:59 ↗ Terminus be a location where people can

1:17:02 ↗ get right off the train right off the

1:17:04 ↗ sound transit line and go to their house

1:17:07 ↗ or you know go to a restaurant there and

1:17:09 ↗ not have to get into another car and

1:17:11 ↗ create another traffic trip right if we

1:17:14 ↗ take the 2.4 now start looking around

1:17:17 ↗ like we're doing with some of the other

1:17:19 ↗ space conditions of space and office

1:17:23 ↗ challenges we're having maybe we find

1:17:26 ↗ that piece of property that's big enough

1:17:28 ↗ for us to put a four or five story

1:17:30 ↗ affordable housing unit in the future

1:17:33 ↗ there I know the housing crisis is

1:17:37 ↗ right in our faces right now and I hope

1:17:40 ↗ that the rules that Commerce is working

1:17:43 ↗ for missing middle housing will help

1:17:45 ↗ clarify the things that are going to be

1:17:47 ↗ going forward we're going to see some

1:17:51 ↗ new development that might not have been

1:17:55 ↗ occurring before because of the Adu law

1:17:57 ↗ the C for reform the missing middle

1:18:00 ↗ housing and the permit reform law that

1:18:03 ↗ all came down through this last

1:18:04 ↗ legislative session so

1:18:08 ↗ I know that we have a gap right now I

1:18:10 ↗ hope the the current legislation will

1:18:12 ↗ help fill that Gap in the short term our

1:18:14 ↗ Tod will fill affordable housing in the

1:18:17 ↗ short term and then we look to 2.4 to

1:18:19 ↗ invest in the future uh for a place

1:18:24 ↗ around the Terminus as a longer term

1:18:26 ↗ plan so I'll throw that out for

1:18:27 ↗ consideration thank you

1:18:33 ↗ thoughts on this

1:18:35 ↗ um I think from my perspective the

1:18:41 ↗ um HB 1590 sales tax my mind on that

1:18:45 ↗ says that really should be more of that

1:18:48 ↗ transitional housing because if we

1:18:52 ↗ didn't take that sales tax that would

1:18:53 ↗ have gone to the county and that was

1:18:56 ↗ really the intention so my big priority

1:18:59 ↗ with that is to make sure that we hold

1:19:02 ↗ to the intent of that legislation which

1:19:07 ↗ was really to provide something that

1:19:11 ↗ developers wouldn't

1:19:13 ↗ and so I have a strong preference for

1:19:15 ↗ that 30 to 50 30 to 60 percent Ami

1:19:18 ↗ whether that happened through buying

1:19:21 ↗ existing already existing housing or

1:19:24 ↗ building new or working with Arch I

1:19:26 ↗ don't really have a strong preference on

1:19:28 ↗ that I just really

1:19:30 ↗ think we need to stay committed to that

1:19:33 ↗ concept of 30 to 50 percent because

1:19:35 ↗ nobody else is going to build it it's

1:19:38 ↗ not going to come through developers

1:19:39 ↗ it's not going to come through

1:19:40 ↗ incentives it requires not only

1:19:44 ↗ substantial investments in that building

1:19:48 ↗ or creating that type of housing but

1:19:50 ↗ also supporting it throughout so

1:19:54 ↗ when I'm looking at this 2.4 million

1:19:56 ↗ some of which comes from that sales tax

1:20:00 ↗ I'm really thinking about that I'm also

1:20:02 ↗ thinking about long term that's not just

1:20:04 ↗ going to be 2.4 million over the years

1:20:07 ↗ it's going to grow and I know we have a

1:20:10 ↗ future conversation but I'm I'm already

1:20:12 ↗ thinking about well does it make sense

1:20:15 ↗ to utilize that money now or does it

1:20:17 ↗ make sense to let it potentially grow

1:20:20 ↗ toward a bigger idea much like we've

1:20:24 ↗ been able to do with the Tod project and

1:20:27 ↗ then regarding the preservation of

1:20:28 ↗ naturally affordable affordable housing

1:20:30 ↗ I would really need more information

1:20:33 ↗ particularly as I said considering that

1:20:36 ↗ 0.1 sales tax it requires a focus on 60

1:20:39 ↗ or lower Ami and I just don't quite

1:20:43 ↗ understand how to connect the dots

1:20:45 ↗ between that because I don't think that

1:20:47 ↗ anything that is naturally affordable is

1:20:50 ↗ that affordable in Issaquah and I would

1:20:55 ↗ also have a strong interest in covenants

1:20:58 ↗ something that makes sure that it is

1:21:00 ↗ truly affordable at lower than that 60

1:21:02 ↗ long term I am slightly concerned that

1:21:06 ↗ then if we bought up

1:21:08 ↗ existable existing naturally affordable

1:21:11 ↗ housing

1:21:13 ↗ using some sort of funds or using that

1:21:17 ↗ fund that we would actually have to kick

1:21:20 ↗ people out in order to make it 60 which

1:21:24 ↗ I don't think is something that we're

1:21:26 ↗ interested in so

1:21:27 ↗ again strong preference toward the 30 to

1:21:31 ↗ 60 percent because that's the uh the

1:21:34 ↗ intent of the legislation so Andrea do

1:21:37 ↗ you and Jen do you guys have what you

1:21:39 ↗ need on that portion

1:21:42 ↗ uh yes we do thank you

1:21:45 ↗ so next uh you want to do on this

1:21:49 ↗ okay go ahead

1:21:50 ↗ um so

1:21:51 ↗ there were a couple different priorities

1:21:54 ↗ that different council members had it's

1:21:56 ↗ it I think it would be helpful to get a

1:21:58 ↗ sense when this next comes to us comes

1:22:01 ↗ back to us of how much how far this 2.4

1:22:06 ↗ million dollars would go in those

1:22:08 ↗ different areas for example with the

1:22:10 ↗ preservation of already affordable

1:22:11 ↗ housing how many units we would be

1:22:13 ↗ expected to be able to preserve and

1:22:15 ↗ what's the timeline versus how many you

1:22:18 ↗ know versus what a property along the

1:22:21 ↗ Zone in The Sound Transit area how how

1:22:24 ↗ far 2.4 million would go towards that or

1:22:27 ↗ versus new transitional housing because

1:22:30 ↗ I think that would be very helpful when

1:22:33 ↗ we consider next steps and right now

1:22:35 ↗ they're kind of all considered as

1:22:36 ↗ options but we don't know how far the

1:22:37 ↗ money goes for those different ones

1:22:40 ↗ and I'll also throw in just when it

1:22:42 ↗ comes back it would be great to get a

1:22:44 ↗ summary of what you've heard because I

1:22:46 ↗ think there are a lot of different

1:22:47 ↗ opinions and so it's always interesting

1:22:50 ↗ to get into staff's mind on and what did

1:22:53 ↗ you take from this meeting and do we

1:22:55 ↗ agree that that was what we heard said

1:22:58 ↗ as well so that would be great

1:23:01 ↗ okay next thing they need from us is uh

1:23:04 ↗ council member D Michelle

1:23:06 ↗ okay so question comment so uh one thing

1:23:11 ↗ that

1:23:12 ↗ um you get when you have 30 to 60 Ami is

1:23:17 ↗ many times you need to bring in managers

1:23:20 ↗ and you need uh Human Services

1:23:22 ↗ provisions and all of that needs to be

1:23:25 ↗ organized by you know social service

1:23:28 ↗ agencies and I think uh and I apologize

1:23:32 ↗ to Brian because I don't know his last

1:23:34 ↗ name so Brian sorry but uh I think

1:23:38 ↗ that's what he was talking about when he

1:23:39 ↗ said it's so difficult to pencil out

1:23:41 ↗ that 30 to 60 percent because it's not

1:23:45 ↗ just construction it is the ongoing

1:23:48 ↗ programs that go with that and that's

1:23:51 ↗ what makes it so difficult for a

1:23:53 ↗ developer to pencil that out so I just

1:23:55 ↗ want to bring that up and especially

1:23:57 ↗ when we're going into the discussion of

1:23:58 ↗ the pioneer program

1:24:00 ↗ that

1:24:01 ↗ um

1:24:03 ↗ that if we're looking at

1:24:05 ↗ uh creating more affordable housing we

1:24:08 ↗ have to understand that and there are

1:24:11 ↗ federal supports for 30 to 60 that are

1:24:14 ↗ also there that people can apply for but

1:24:16 ↗ that also is a lot of requires a lot of

1:24:19 ↗ investment as well that there are

1:24:21 ↗ reasons why developers are saying that

1:24:23 ↗ under 80 is a difficult

1:24:26 ↗ thing to take on so just want to bring

1:24:29 ↗ that up and and Jen correct me if I'm

1:24:31 ↗ not correct on on that no you are

1:24:34 ↗ correct oh yeah and I will clarify that

1:24:37 ↗ I definitely am not thinking 30 to 50 on

1:24:40 ↗ the Pioneer program what I'm looking at

1:24:42 ↗ is related to the priorities and

1:24:45 ↗ outcomes for the funding that we have

1:24:49 ↗ um

1:24:50 ↗ if we're the only ones that have money

1:24:52 ↗ that can invest in that I think that's

1:24:55 ↗ important so next thing we need from

1:24:57 ↗ everybody is Pioneer project I'm going

1:24:59 ↗ to try and be quick we are currently 30

1:25:01 ↗ minutes over our timeline so

1:25:04 ↗ um

1:25:05 ↗ anybody want to start

1:25:09 ↗ I'm going to start just so that we don't

1:25:11 ↗ lose time

1:25:12 ↗ um I really appreciate the idea of a

1:25:15 ↗ Pioneer project at this point I'm not

1:25:18 ↗ sure I support it I think I would prefer

1:25:20 ↗ to take the developer feedback seriously

1:25:24 ↗ and use that to make code changes rather

1:25:27 ↗ than necessarily incentivize an initial

1:25:29 ↗ project I think we need to make sure we

1:25:31 ↗ have our ducks in a row on all of the

1:25:34 ↗ areas

1:25:35 ↗ and not just assume that we can decrease

1:25:39 ↗ the number of affordable housing and get

1:25:41 ↗ something I'd like to really make sure

1:25:43 ↗ that we are there for everything I also

1:25:47 ↗ quite honestly think that the value of

1:25:50 ↗ housing in an area near a light rail

1:25:52 ↗ station will increase as we come closer

1:25:56 ↗ to that period of time and that will

1:25:58 ↗ help it pencil out which would enable

1:26:01 ↗ more potential affordable housing in

1:26:03 ↗ that area so I'm not necessarily feeling

1:26:06 ↗ the urgency to get something started in

1:26:09 ↗ that particular

1:26:11 ↗ area I would rather focus on the whole

1:26:14 ↗ area in general and really take that

1:26:18 ↗ developer feedback and the stuff that we

1:26:19 ↗ got from Eco Northwest and make code

1:26:22 ↗ changes

1:26:24 ↗ anybody else

1:26:28 ↗ councilman Ray I didn't want you to be

1:26:30 ↗ the only one I'd like to see more data

1:26:32 ↗ on the effectiveness of the programs

1:26:34 ↗ before making a determination of where

1:26:35 ↗ we go with these my my initial reaction

1:26:38 ↗ is similar to the council presidents

1:26:40 ↗ that you know don't see a need for it

1:26:42 ↗ but I'd like to see more data on where

1:26:44 ↗ it's been where it's been successful and

1:26:46 ↗ what the situation was and then we can

1:26:47 ↗ kind of evaluate and see if it moves the

1:26:49 ↗ needle on the things we want to move the

1:26:51 ↗ needle on

1:26:54 ↗ Deputy council president Hall I'll just

1:26:56 ↗ be quick I I feel the exact opposite

1:26:58 ↗ though and I would like us to explore

1:27:01 ↗ the program and I think the

1:27:02 ↗ recommendation was that for the service

1:27:04 ↗ of safety and parks to do that work so I

1:27:06 ↗ would support them kind of digging into

1:27:08 ↗ this a little deeper

1:27:11 ↗ uh council member hunt then Martz then

1:27:15 ↗ dear Michelle then Joe

1:27:18 ↗ um like Council Deputy president Hall I

1:27:21 ↗ think that this I would like to see us

1:27:23 ↗ continue to pursue the Pioneer project

1:27:26 ↗ program it's in our CIP that we um that

1:27:31 ↗ this would be one of the strategies and

1:27:32 ↗ you know as we realize the as we try to

1:27:36 ↗ get the kind of development that we set

1:27:38 ↗ forth with the CIP which got a ton of

1:27:40 ↗ community input and a ton of Engagement

1:27:42 ↗ I think we should

1:27:43 ↗ um we should use this opportunity to try

1:27:46 ↗ to get um what would be I think the

1:27:49 ↗ first of these sorts of projects I think

1:27:52 ↗ we don't quite know what the specific

1:27:56 ↗ code changes would be to uh to get this

1:28:00 ↗ especially first over this first kind of

1:28:04 ↗ initial inertia and get these first

1:28:06 ↗ project or projects and so this would be

1:28:09 ↗ an opportunity to actually work with the

1:28:12 ↗ developer and get that the specific code

1:28:16 ↗ changes for that specific project and

1:28:18 ↗ then we could learn from that and make

1:28:21 ↗ subsequent code changes so I think the

1:28:24 ↗ first project is probably

1:28:26 ↗ you know might require additional

1:28:30 ↗ conversations I think this would allow

1:28:32 ↗ us to do that and I think it would allow

1:28:34 ↗ us to explore and also you know this

1:28:36 ↗ city has in the past been open to pilots

1:28:39 ↗ and I think this as a sort of pilot or

1:28:43 ↗ Pioneer project would really

1:28:45 ↗ potentially be beneficial setting us

1:28:47 ↗ down the path to realizing our CIP and

1:28:49 ↗ and having this sort of development in

1:28:51 ↗ the central area so I am supportive of

1:28:54 ↗ continuing with this pioneer

1:28:56 ↗ program project

1:28:59 ↗ council members

1:29:01 ↗ as the chair of the services and Safety

1:29:03 ↗ Committee uh I enthusiastically support

1:29:05 ↗ Council Deputy president Hall's

1:29:07 ↗ suggestion to send it to services and

1:29:09 ↗ safety Bring it on I always like more

1:29:11 ↗ work in front of services and safety and

1:29:13 ↗ I know my fellow services and safety

1:29:15 ↗ members do as well I think that you know

1:29:19 ↗ I

1:29:20 ↗ if we do if we if we look at doing

1:29:22 ↗ something Innovative let's look at doing

1:29:24 ↗ something really Innovative like I don't

1:29:26 ↗ want to look at something Innovative and

1:29:28 ↗ have it be like it's a one bedroom with

1:29:31 ↗ you know uh MF you know multi-family tax

1:29:34 ↗ exemption like I I get it we've seen

1:29:37 ↗ that a million times over the last 20

1:29:39 ↗ years

1:29:40 ↗ um you know I think there's some really

1:29:41 ↗ Innovative stuff out there around you

1:29:43 ↗ know very small apartments uh

1:29:46 ↗ I I would be really interested in seeing

1:29:49 ↗ us we as a city have been truly

1:29:52 ↗ Innovative in a number of areas in in

1:29:55 ↗ recent years

1:29:56 ↗ um quite quite beyond our size in the in

1:30:00 ↗ the community and I I would really love

1:30:02 ↗ to see us think outside the box and do

1:30:04 ↗ something really clever if in fact we're

1:30:06 ↗ going to try to do something different

1:30:08 ↗ because all the same old Solutions

1:30:11 ↗ um you know haven't been working for a

1:30:12 ↗ long time thanks

1:30:15 ↗ councilmember D Michelle

1:30:16 ↗ yes I do think that the Pioneer program

1:30:19 ↗ has a lot of potential value

1:30:22 ↗ as I said earlier it it's a difficult

1:30:25 ↗ time for developers to pencil out their

1:30:28 ↗ projects right now it's a very volatile

1:30:31 ↗ time for them and uh

1:30:34 ↗ this will be the first project in the

1:30:36 ↗ central area and so I think we need to

1:30:39 ↗ recognize that they are taking a risk

1:30:42 ↗ and so I look forward to the

1:30:44 ↗ conversations you know

1:30:46 ↗ we don't want to prove something that we

1:30:48 ↗ don't know what the details say but on

1:30:51 ↗ the other hand I'd like to see what the

1:30:53 ↗ proposal might be what they would come

1:30:55 ↗ back with and what we can work out and

1:30:58 ↗ as council member Mart said maybe it'll

1:31:01 ↗ be something surprising and Innovative

1:31:02 ↗ and that would be really exciting so I

1:31:06 ↗ support the idea of going ahead with the

1:31:08 ↗ Pioneer program

1:31:11 ↗ just Echo the support for the Pioneer

1:31:14 ↗ program I think we need to really see

1:31:17 ↗ what's out there and try uh all the

1:31:20 ↗ different levels and see what might work

1:31:22 ↗ and what doesn't work we'll learn from

1:31:26 ↗ that experience and be able to do the

1:31:28 ↗ next project and the next project a

1:31:30 ↗ little bit better as council member hunt

1:31:32 ↗ has pointed out if we just wait for the

1:31:34 ↗ perfect pitch of the perfect opportunity

1:31:36 ↗ to come and it never comes along we're

1:31:38 ↗ not going to get anywhere at all so

1:31:40 ↗ let's try some projects let's see what's

1:31:42 ↗ out there let's see what works and what

1:31:45 ↗ doesn't and why and then we can go from

1:31:47 ↗ there so look forward to hearing more in

1:31:50 ↗ the committee meeting and I'll pencil

1:31:53 ↗ out two and a half hours for that thank

1:31:54 ↗ you

1:31:58 ↗ everything we need on both of these

1:32:00 ↗ items oh

1:32:02 ↗ okay fantastic

1:32:04 ↗ yes we do thank you Council for a great

1:32:08 ↗ discussion we have everything we need

1:32:09 ↗ before we move on to the next item if I

1:32:12 ↗ may a council president

1:32:14 ↗ um note the time it's almost nine

1:32:16 ↗ o'clock this next item we had

1:32:19 ↗ anticipated to be 60 minutes if Council

1:32:22 ↗ wants to continue with this item then

1:32:24 ↗ great certainly staff and the

1:32:26 ↗ administration are prepared if you'd

1:32:27 ↗ like to push this off to another meeting

1:32:29 ↗ at another time we can also do that

1:32:33 ↗ foreign

1:32:35 ↗ just going to take a look at the

1:32:37 ↗ planning calendar coming up trying to do

1:32:41 ↗ you have a proposed one possibility

1:32:44 ↗ though slightly unorthodox would be at

1:32:46 ↗ the next regular city council meeting

1:32:47 ↗ such discussions don't usually happen at

1:32:50 ↗ Council meetings but we do have this

1:32:52 ↗ slated on the planning calendar if we

1:32:54 ↗ needed additional time to discuss this

1:32:56 ↗ item so we could

1:32:58 ↗ um we could take some time to discuss

1:33:00 ↗ this item at the regular council meeting

1:33:01 ↗ knowing that there would be no action

1:33:03 ↗ requested from Council other than good

1:33:05 ↗ old-fashioned discussion

1:33:08 ↗ we do love some good old-fashioned

1:33:10 ↗ discussion and not having it at 9 pm at

1:33:13 ↗ night

1:33:14 ↗ okay I'm hearing some nods any

1:33:17 ↗ objections to the idea I'm in favor of

1:33:20 ↗ keeping going because our staff has been

1:33:23 ↗ here and dedicated their evening but I

1:33:25 ↗ will accede I will do whatever the rest

1:33:27 ↗ of the council would like to do

1:33:31 ↗ yeah good is there anything time

1:33:33 ↗ critical about the decision or the the

1:33:35 ↗ input we're going to provide I mean are

1:33:37 ↗ you going to go out and do something

1:33:38 ↗ today versus in a week or two not over

1:33:42 ↗ the course of the next two weeks no

1:33:47 ↗ okay so I'm feeling like we're kind of

1:33:51 ↗ okay to discuss this at the June 5th

1:33:56 ↗ regular meeting

1:33:59 ↗ okay thank you very much yeah thank you

1:34:01 ↗ for bringing that up otherwise I was

1:34:03 ↗ going to charge right ahead

1:34:06 ↗ um at this point then we're going to

1:34:09 ↗ push off the conversation for id1343 the

1:34:12 ↗ police court and City Hall planning

1:34:13 ↗ future options and funding until the

1:34:15 ↗ June 5th meeting so that leaves us with

1:34:18 ↗ good of the order does anybody have

1:34:21 ↗ anything for good of the order Deputy

1:34:23 ↗ Hans person Hall I do

1:34:25 ↗ um uh I think it was last week sent out

1:34:28 ↗ a quick note to everyone about thanking

1:34:30 ↗ boards and commissions thanks to those

1:34:31 ↗ of you have heard back from I did want

1:34:34 ↗ to just go over quickly the next couple

1:34:36 ↗ weeks and see and if you have any

1:34:38 ↗ thoughts on if you'd like to to join let

1:34:41 ↗ me know and I can send a calendar invite

1:34:43 ↗ your way but um planning policy

1:34:46 ↗ commission is tomorrow night we already

1:34:47 ↗ have councilmember hunt who's going to

1:34:48 ↗ be attending on council's behalf so

1:34:50 ↗ thank you for that I have the calendar

1:34:51 ↗ invite ready to go councilman

1:34:53 ↗ Transportation Advisory Board is this

1:34:55 ↗ Wednesday at 6 pm at Tibbetts Creek the

1:34:59 ↗ Civil Service commissions on this

1:35:00 ↗ Thursday if you have an interest in that

1:35:03 ↗ and then next

1:35:06 ↗ next Thursday is the cemetery board

1:35:12 ↗ and those are the next two weeks of

1:35:14 ↗ boring Commission meeting so if you have

1:35:15 ↗ any interest in doing planning policy

1:35:18 ↗ Transportation Advisory Board civil

1:35:20 ↗ service or Cemetery board just let me

1:35:21 ↗ know thanks

1:35:25 ↗ let's take a moment I was looking over

1:35:27 ↗ kind of future calendar ideas I want to

1:35:31 ↗ make sure that everybody on Council

1:35:33 ↗ knows about the summer employee

1:35:36 ↗ recognition event or Seer which is on

1:35:39 ↗ July 20th from 11 A.M to 3 P.M really

1:35:44 ↗ fun event we'd love to see everybody

1:35:45 ↗ there come out and enjoy hot dogs and

1:35:50 ↗ Beach and all of that

1:35:53 ↗ fun idea so I think we are probably at

1:35:58 ↗ this point good so very much appreciate

1:36:01 ↗ everyone I will call the meeting

1:36:03 ↗ adjourned at 8 56 pm thank you

Approved minutes

Extracted from the next meeting's packet, where this meeting's minutes were approved as a consent-calendar attachment.

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Attendance

Council / Members (7)

Barbara de Michele

Zach Hall

Victoria Hunt

Russell Joe

Tola Marts

Chris Reh

Lindsey Walsh