City Council Committee of the Whole · Monday, September 8, 2025 · City Council Digest

3. AGENDA ITEMS

Prioritization of Future Long Range Planning Work COM 0169

60 min · Minnie Dhaliwal, Community Planning & Development Director · packet pp.5–127

▶ Watch from 0:43 Open packet at p.5 ↗

Staff report:

Over the last few years Council has taken action on a number of large land use and planning related efforts. A few of these items include: 1) Title 18 overhaul to meet the thirteen goals and outcomes identified by council was competed in 2023. A future updates list was created of items that came up during this effort (

2666 segments .txt ↗

0:10 ↗ Okay, welcome everyone. I, Council

0:12 ↗ President Walsh, call the

0:15 ↗ September 8th Committee of the Whole

0:18 ↗ meeting to order at 6:31 p.m. As a

0:22 ↗ reminder, we continue to have a remote

0:23 ↗ aspect to our meetings and both staff

0:25 ↗ and members of the public may be

0:27 ↗ participating in tonight's meeting

0:29 ↗ remotely via WebEx.

0:32 ↗ Um, there are multiple public comment

0:34 ↗ opportunities at tonight's meeting.

0:36 ↗ There's a general public comment

0:37 ↗ opportunity at the beginning of the

0:39 ↗ meeting or you can make comments after

0:41 ↗ the presentation council question and

0:43 ↗ answer period on tonight's agenda item.

0:46 ↗ Um, so I am wondering if there is

0:48 ↗ anybody, we've got lots of folks here,

0:50 ↗ but I think many of them are staff and

0:52 ↗ consultants. So, we have anybody wanting

0:54 ↗ to make public comment?

0:57 ↗ Okay, we are going to have public

0:58 ↗ comment. Let me uh read through a few

1:00 ↗ things. Uh, members of the public may

1:02 ↗ address council at this time in person

1:04 ↗ or virtually. those who signed up in

1:06 ↗ advance to make comments will be called

1:08 ↗ on first. Um, if you're joining us

1:10 ↗ virtually,

1:13 ↗ >> yeah, it's not that we're having a

1:14 ↗ little bit of an echo issue and so maybe

1:18 ↗ Tim will uh help us troubleshoot.

1:22 ↗ Um, but in the meantime, if you're

1:24 ↗ joining us virtually and would like to

1:25 ↗ make comments, please raise your virtual

1:28 ↗ hand. If you're on the phone, you're

1:29 ↗ going to press star three. If you've

1:32 ↗ joined by computer or smartphone, look

1:34 ↗ for the hand icon or you can send the

1:36 ↗ host a chat message. Um, if you're in

1:39 ↗ the room and did not sign up, I'll ask

1:40 ↗ for other speakers. Um,

1:43 ↗ so in general, you are invited to

1:46 ↗ address council regarding matters that

1:48 ↗ are directly related to Isquat's

1:50 ↗ programs projects uh services or

1:53 ↗ events. Comments related to political

1:55 ↗ campaigns are not permitted. Please

1:57 ↗ direct comments to the whole council,

1:59 ↗ not to individuals. And while we can't

2:01 ↗ answer questions on the dis at this

2:03 ↗ point, um if you want to give your

2:05 ↗ information, we can contact you to

2:06 ↗ follow up if needed. When recognized,

2:09 ↗ you will come up to um the left turn.

2:12 ↗ You're going to press the button on

2:14 ↗ there and it will turn red. Or if you're

2:16 ↗ virtual, you'll unmute your microphone.

2:18 ↗ State your name, address, and

2:21 ↗ relationship to the city. Speak clearly

2:24 ↗ and pause frequently and limit your

2:26 ↗ comments to five minutes. Um, if you're

2:28 ↗ attending virtually and do not respond

2:30 ↗ when your name or phone number is called

2:32 ↗ or if your connection is lost

2:33 ↗ unexpectedly, we will have to move on,

2:36 ↗ but you're encouraged to rejoin the

2:37 ↗ meeting if available. Um, personal

2:39 ↗ attacks, obscene language, derogatory

2:41 ↗ remarks, and disruptive behavior will

2:43 ↗ not be permitted. And so now I saw a

2:46 ↗ hand if you'd like to

2:49 ↗ love to hear from you.

2:55 ↗ >> Good evening. Uh,

2:58 ↗ this one. Uh, I can I approach the day

3:02 ↗ with some flyers from the library?

3:11 ↗ I don't know if there's a way to

3:14 ↗ I allowed to hand them to the

3:25 ↗ Thank you, Wally. Good evening. Um, my

3:27 ↗ name is Brian Kendallori. I'm joined

3:29 ↗ with one of my colleagues, Dan Hilton.

3:32 ↗ Um, I am the regional manager uh over

3:35 ↗ this library and a few others in the

3:37 ↗ area. So, thank you for allowing us to

3:39 ↗ come, council president and um the board

3:42 ↗ uh city council. Um, it was really nice

3:45 ↗ to see Wall-E last week at uh the Reton

3:47 ↗ branch, which is the southernmost branch

3:49 ↗ in my region. uh along with Mark uh from

3:52 ↗ Parks and Recck. We are looking to uh I

3:55 ↗ need to get Mark's email. Uh we Jeff,

3:59 ↗ that's probably why it didn't go

4:00 ↗ through. Um I will work on that. Uh but

4:03 ↗ I'm coming to you with good news. So, uh

4:06 ↗ our library down the street, uh we see

4:08 ↗ an explosion in our interest to summer

4:10 ↗ reading this year. So, hopefully some of

4:12 ↗ you with little ones have come by and

4:14 ↗ gotten our summer reading kits. Uh they

4:17 ↗ come with a a coupon to Red Robin. Uh

4:21 ↗ but more importantly, they come with

4:22 ↗ band-aids if they're for kids. They have

4:24 ↗ the I always call them Chewbacca, but

4:27 ↗ the um

4:30 ↗ Oh, god. Assist Sasquatch. Thank you,

4:32 ↗ Wally. And please don't tell our

4:34 ↗ director.

4:36 ↗ >> Yeah.

4:37 ↗ Sorry about that. Um so, uh the

4:41 ↗ Sasquatch Chewbacca, he comes. We also

4:44 ↗ have a free books for the kids that come

4:46 ↗ in. Um, and just last year, in fact, uh,

4:50 ↗ one of the there was a little girl that

4:52 ↗ came in. And there we go. I think um,

4:56 ↗ uh, and they I never ceases to amaze me

4:58 ↗ as a librarian how excited little kids

5:00 ↗ get just to write their name on a piece

5:03 ↗ of paper. And then I think they think

5:06 ↗ I'm slapping it against the glass, but

5:08 ↗ this little girl just she hopped up and

5:09 ↗ then just kind of tapped it on. Uh, so

5:12 ↗ thank you. Um, we have a number of

5:15 ↗ programs that are starting soon uh at

5:17 ↗ the Isqua branch. We're excited to

5:19 ↗ announce that we have a full-time adult

5:22 ↗ and teen librarian there now, which took

5:25 ↗ us a good year to get going. Uh, Dan

5:27 ↗ joins us from Seattle Public uh with a

5:30 ↗ number of uh a great deal of experience

5:32 ↗ over there. So, Dan will be coming uh

5:34 ↗ next year. Uh, and we are looking

5:36 ↗ forward to uh once I get Jeff's email

5:40 ↗ down. Thank you, Wall-E. Uh we we are

5:43 ↗ looking for other ways to partner with

5:44 ↗ your uh with our city. Um we also have a

5:47 ↗ librarian day coming up in a week or so

5:50 ↗ uh down the street. So I'm here to

5:52 ↗ answer any questions you might have uh

5:54 ↗ and really just to thank you and your

5:56 ↗ community for its strong support. I also

5:59 ↗ came as Wally mentioned in fact Dan and

6:01 ↗ I both worked uh small world at Brooklyn

6:04 ↗ Public Library uh while not at the same

6:06 ↗ time. Um, but King County Library and

6:10 ↗ its communities really support the work

6:12 ↗ it does here, which is what attracted me

6:13 ↗ to it. Um, so yeah, I'm happy to answer

6:16 ↗ any questions and thank you for the

6:18 ↗ support of the community.

6:20 ↗ >> Excellent. Well, we appreciate you being

6:22 ↗ here and dealing with uh this.

6:27 ↗ I would love to spend some time thanking

6:29 ↗ you for everything, but I think I'm

6:31 ↗ going to pause for a second and see if

6:33 ↗ we can fix this echo um if you don't

6:36 ↗ mind. But thank you for coming and

6:38 ↗ making public comments.

6:42 ↗ >> Fantastic. Okay. So, I will see if we've

6:46 ↗ got any other public comments now that

6:48 ↗ we've fixed our echo issue. Um, but I'm

6:52 ↗ not seeing any. So, I'll just make a

6:54 ↗ note. At the July 21st city council

6:57 ↗ meeting, the city council referred the

6:58 ↗ motion to approve AB9026,

7:02 ↗ the washd transfer of development rights

7:04 ↗ development agreement extension for

7:06 ↗ Belleview College to tonight's committee

7:08 ↗ of the whole meeting. However,

7:11 ↗ additional time is required to gather

7:12 ↗ the information requested by the city

7:14 ↗ council. So, the item has been delayed

7:16 ↗ to the October 20th city council

7:19 ↗ meeting. So, if anybody was looking for

7:20 ↗ that on tonight's meeting and didn't see

7:22 ↗ it, that is why. Um, Wally, I know you

7:26 ↗ had one item that you wanted to just

7:28 ↗ jump in before our agenda item. So, go

7:32 ↗ ahead.

7:32 ↗ >> Yes. Thank you, Council President,

7:34 ↗ members of the council. Good evening. Uh

7:36 ↗ we are fortunate uh for the third year

7:38 ↗ in a row uh to be participating with the

7:41 ↗ International City County Management

7:43 ↗ Association and the Department of the

7:44 ↗ Army uh on a fellow program where the

7:48 ↗ Army matches cities uh with senior army

7:52 ↗ civilian executives who manage uh bases

7:55 ↗ around the world. And uh I'm happy to

7:57 ↗ introduce Ken Esbrook uh who's with us

8:00 ↗ this evening. Why don't you come up to

8:01 ↗ the podium? We can say a few words. Uh K

8:04 ↗ K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K

8:04 ↗ K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K

8:04 ↗ Ken K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K

8:05 ↗ K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K K

8:05 ↗ K K Ken um has been uh involved in

8:08 ↗ installation management uh uh for much

8:11 ↗ of his career um as well as a stent with

8:14 ↗ the General Services Administration. Um

8:16 ↗ and will be with us through the week to

8:18 ↗ uh shadow a little bit about what we're

8:21 ↗ doing. The similarities between an Army

8:24 ↗ post and a city's management are are

8:27 ↗ strikingly similar. uh and Ken as he

8:30 ↗ approaches the the end of his army

8:33 ↗ service uh is very interested in

8:35 ↗ continuing his public service and so was

8:37 ↗ keen to uh come here to Isqua and and

8:40 ↗ see how cities operate. So Ken happy to

8:42 ↗ have you say just a couple words if

8:44 ↗ you'd like but we're just really pleased

8:46 ↗ to have you and hope it's a good

8:47 ↗ learning experience for you during the

8:49 ↗ course of the week.

8:49 ↗ >> Thank you. I appreciate it and uh this

8:51 ↗ has been a blessing opportunity for me.

8:54 ↗ Uh I've uh served 33 years in the US

8:56 ↗ government and uh now I'm getting an

8:59 ↗ opportunity to retire from one aspect of

9:01 ↗ the US government and transition into

9:03 ↗ another and I and I so desire and dream

9:05 ↗ to continue my public service and uh

9:08 ↗ it's been an opportunity but this is a

9:10 ↗ wonderful opportunity because the US

9:12 ↗ military carries o over 114 US army only

9:16 ↗ carries over 114

9:18 ↗ cities around the world. Uh, and uh,

9:21 ↗ I've I've uh, worked my career through

9:24 ↗ public works and kind of city management

9:26 ↗ programs and I've made up set my my

9:29 ↗ career up into a senior civilian

9:31 ↗ position which is like, you know, very

9:34 ↗ similar to what Wall-E does as as city

9:36 ↗ administrator. And so I'm taking the

9:38 ↗ opportunity and this has been a very

9:40 ↗ blessed opportunity to work with ICMA

9:42 ↗ and Wall-E as a shadow and see how

9:45 ↗ Isiqua runs the city over here and learn

9:48 ↗ some new things and and just kind of

9:51 ↗ compare what I do to what you guys do

9:53 ↗ here to run this beautiful city and and

9:56 ↗ so far it it is not uh disappointed.

10:00 ↗ This is a very beautiful city. I've

10:02 ↗ heard a lot about it over the years

10:03 ↗ because my oldest son lives in in the

10:05 ↗ area and decided to retire to this area

10:08 ↗ in Washington and uh so this is this is

10:11 ↗ very a beautiful city and and I'm

10:14 ↗ looking forward to shadowing more with

10:15 ↗ Wall-E and learning more about the city.

10:17 ↗ >> And Ken, before you step down, could you

10:19 ↗ share with the council your where your

10:21 ↗ last post was? Oh, so Wall-Ally met me

10:23 ↗ through uh virtual through the ICMA uh

10:26 ↗ fellows program and I was well currently

10:29 ↗ technically I'm still currently assigned

10:31 ↗ to Marshall Islands in Quadrilene

10:34 ↗ Marshall Islands and uh I'm kind of used

10:37 ↗ to doing remote and isolated locations.

10:39 ↗ So I decided to challenge me and my

10:41 ↗ family and go as remote as we possibly

10:43 ↗ could and the Marshall Islands did not

10:45 ↗ disappoint. So it it is literally if you

10:48 ↗ think of a uh an aircraft carrier uh the

10:51 ↗ Quadrilene atl. And if you look it up,

10:53 ↗ you'll see it. It is literally an

10:55 ↗ airirst strip with a little bit of

10:57 ↗ support services and have approximately

10:59 ↗ 1,500 uh US uh expats uh serving there

11:04 ↗ on the island and then probably another

11:05 ↗ 3,000 local marshales. uh with our

11:08 ↗ agreements and our and our collaboration

11:11 ↗ with the marshales. We do a lot of uh uh

11:13 ↗ technical and scientific stuff in

11:16 ↗ Quadrilene and uh it it is a very unique

11:19 ↗ and unusual assignment and I learned a

11:22 ↗ lot from it but uh I did my time there

11:24 ↗ and now it's time to come back to the

11:25 ↗ real world.

11:26 ↗ >> Great. It's been a great opportunity.

11:29 ↗ >> Thank you sir.

11:31 ↗ Thank you, Ken, and thank you, Director

11:33 ↗ Buck Bob Quitz, for uh including us and

11:36 ↗ telling us all about this program and

11:38 ↗ what we're getting out of it. Um, we

11:40 ↗ have one agenda item for tonight's

11:43 ↗ meeting, which is COM 0169, the

11:45 ↗ prioritization of future long range

11:48 ↗ planning work. Some may know this as our

11:51 ↗ title 18 future updates list. And so um

11:56 ↗ we are going to get a presentation from

11:58 ↗ director Dollywal from community

12:00 ↗ planning and development. Thank you.

12:02 ↗ >> Good evening members of the council and

12:05 ↗ any community members that may be online

12:08 ↗ before we jump into the presentation

12:10 ↗ piece. I want to take a minute uh to

12:12 ↗ invite Kristen Leon, our planning

12:14 ↗ manager to introduce our new planning

12:16 ↗ team. Uh some of our new planners are

12:19 ↗ here who will be touching the various

12:21 ↗ forms of work plans. So,

12:28 ↗ >> good evening, Kristen Leon. And as you

12:30 ↗ uh probably know um we've been downsized

12:33 ↗ a little bit, not um so we are we're

12:36 ↗ sort of in a rebuilding year. So, I

12:38 ↗ wanted to introduce um who we have here

12:41 ↗ tonight. Uh we have two brand new

12:43 ↗ planners to us. Um we have Yi Chen who

12:46 ↗ comes to us most recently from Kent. You

12:48 ↗ want to stand up? And um from Kent and

12:50 ↗ Lynwood and has lots of um uh work with

12:55 ↗ other cities. And then we have Andrew

12:57 ↗ Love, another associate planner who most

13:00 ↗ recently comes to us from AHBL

13:01 ↗ consulting. And then as you know, we you

13:04 ↗ know Emily Medina, I believe, I'm not

13:06 ↗ sure, but Emily has just recently been

13:08 ↗ promoted from associate planner to

13:10 ↗ senior planner.

13:12 ↗ And then uh last but definitely not

13:14 ↗ least, we have Thomas Valdres who is our

13:17 ↗ senior transportation planner. I know

13:19 ↗ you're familiar with him. We are also in

13:21 ↗ the process of hiring an assistant

13:23 ↗ planner and then another principal

13:27 ↗ planner to fill my role. So those

13:30 ↗ resumeumés are in the applications are

13:32 ↗ closed and we will start those soon and

13:33 ↗ then we'll be back up to full speed.

13:35 ↗ Thank you.

13:41 ↗ Thank you Kristen. So let me quickly

13:44 ↗ share my screen.

13:59 ↗ Um so we're here tonight u to share with

14:02 ↗ you um some of the multiple lists that

14:05 ↗ we've been maintaining of uh different

14:06 ↗ long range planning work items um and

14:10 ↗ and solicit your input on prioritization

14:13 ↗ of various items with the goal of

14:20 ↗ um

14:21 ↗ So, we ch we chose a time frame of 2026

14:24 ↗ to 2028 primarily because one year is

14:27 ↗ left for this budget cycle and then

14:29 ↗ there'll be a two-year additional budget

14:31 ↗ cycle. Uh but

14:37 ↗ uh larger projects may straddle um uh

14:41 ↗ years here and there. Um so before we

14:44 ↗ get into what's on in the hopper

14:47 ↗ currently uh we wanted to kind of remind

14:49 ↗ of where we are in you know what we've

14:51 ↗ accomplished in the last few five years

14:54 ↗ uh four years uh since I've been here.

14:56 ↗ Um, so we we were kneedeep in title 18

15:00 ↗ land use code overhaul as you all read

15:03 ↗ every week. All our our boards and

15:05 ↗ commissions read all those detailed uh

15:08 ↗ memos and and uh that work was completed

15:11 ↗ in 2023 um based on 13 goals and

15:15 ↗ outcomes that council had uh identified

15:18 ↗ at the time. During those conversations,

15:21 ↗ uh we um started hearing about things

15:24 ↗ that were not within the scope of those

15:26 ↗ uh goals and outcomes, but were good

15:28 ↗ ideas that we didn't want to lose. And

15:31 ↗ so through council's advice at the time,

15:33 ↗ uh we started what was initially called

15:35 ↗ a whiteboard list. Uh but then we've

15:37 ↗ termed it as a future updates list. So

15:40 ↗ that was maintained throughout those

15:41 ↗ couple of years uh of the title 18

15:43 ↗ update. The other thing we we committed

15:46 ↗ to during that update was to do an

15:49 ↗ annual code update that we won't repeat

15:51 ↗ the mistake of the past of letting go of

15:53 ↗ things that need to get cleaned up. So

15:56 ↗ the idea here was that they would be you

15:58 ↗ know small housekeeping type of uh

16:00 ↗ amendments. But what happened in the

16:02 ↗ last two years was stuff came from the

16:04 ↗ state that we had to deal with also um

16:07 ↗ and in terms of code updates. So we

16:09 ↗ bundled them into housekeeping, some

16:11 ↗ policy discussions and some legislative

16:13 ↗ updates that we were required to. So

16:15 ↗ those were all done. Uh multiple touches

16:18 ↗ with different boards and commissions

16:19 ↗ and council uh ordinances were adopted

16:22 ↗ um in 2024 and 2025.

16:26 ↗ We finished that work. We didn't really

16:28 ↗ get a break and we moved into the

16:29 ↗ comprehensive plan periodic update. So

16:33 ↗ that was uh thank you to council for

16:34 ↗ funding that work. We had a consultant

16:36 ↗ working on that. Um because Esiqua had

16:40 ↗ developed in different master plan

16:42 ↗ communities and an EIS was done for

16:44 ↗ central Esiqua, we felt it was time to

16:47 ↗ kind of do a full environmental impact

16:49 ↗ statement for the entire city. So that

16:52 ↗ work was uh funded through budget asks

16:54 ↗ and uh that was also concluded. Uh a lot

16:57 ↗ of technical work um but it sets us up

17:00 ↗ for uh better foundation for the future

17:02 ↗ comprehensive planning work. Um the

17:05 ↗ other projects um you know this is not a

17:08 ↗ comprehensive list but I we picked a few

17:10 ↗ that we wanted to highlight. We got a

17:12 ↗ $100,000 grant from Department of

17:14 ↗ Commerce uh to because council had

17:16 ↗ adopted the housing strategies action

17:18 ↗ plan through a lot of community

17:21 ↗ conversations in 2018 171 18 and um so

17:27 ↗ this was to implement what we had in our

17:29 ↗ comp plan uh in our uh action plan and

17:33 ↗ we identified three strategies out of

17:35 ↗ the total nine uh that we took a deeper

17:37 ↗ dive uh and so this was this work was

17:39 ↗ funded by the grant and econ Northwest

17:42 ↗ produced a report. We summarized some of

17:44 ↗ the key takeaways for us and those are

17:46 ↗ included in your packet. Um middle

17:49 ↗ housing code update. So for community

17:51 ↗ members that may be listening, these

17:52 ↗ are, you know, allowing duplexes and

17:54 ↗ edus on all lots that have single family

17:58 ↗ zones, but we also had to tackle cottage

18:01 ↗ housing and co-living and things of that

18:03 ↗ nature. So robust community

18:05 ↗ participation. Uh council adopted those

18:08 ↗ code amendments earlier this year. Um

18:11 ↗ some of the other um items that came on

18:14 ↗ the housing realm from the state uh co-l

18:16 ↗ livingiving housing. So this is your uh

18:19 ↗ you know where you share a kitchen but

18:21 ↗ you have your separate units. Uh there

18:23 ↗ were some code flexibility required. So

18:25 ↗ we have we brought that code for council

18:28 ↗ adoption. Uh reuse of commercial

18:30 ↗ buildings to how to from a land use lens

18:33 ↗ uh to allow ease of uh conversion of

18:36 ↗ these existing commercial buildings. Um

18:38 ↗ was a state bill. uh those are those are

18:41 ↗ incorporated into our code. Now uh

18:43 ↗ impact fees to be based on residential

18:45 ↗ units. We had we recently did that work

18:48 ↗ and brought that uh for council

18:50 ↗ adoption. Uh the idea that from a policy

18:53 ↗ objective fewer fees for smaller units

18:57 ↗ in terms of incentivizing that um uh the

19:01 ↗ building community would build smaller

19:02 ↗ units and hence more affordable units is

19:05 ↗ sort sort of the process. The other

19:08 ↗ really unique thing to Esiqua that I

19:10 ↗ think some of that credit goes to Wall-E

19:13 ↗ for callulling code you know cross

19:15 ↗ departmental team to to do this work

19:18 ↗ which was housing continuum work was

19:21 ↗ sort of what was called what we gave it

19:23 ↗ a title there's a cool graphic so it's

19:26 ↗ human services community planning and

19:28 ↗ development and economic uh development

19:31 ↗ came together and and talked about

19:33 ↗ housing from a holistic approach um for

19:36 ↗ different segments of

19:37 ↗ uh the Isiqua community the needs and

19:40 ↗ how to make it happen on the ground. Um

19:42 ↗ so through that uh initiative um was

19:46 ↗ formed this housing um investment pool

19:49 ↗ um um program. So the city had already

19:52 ↗ adopted onetenth of um 1% sales tax uh

19:57 ↗ house bill 1590 that allowed cities to

19:59 ↗ do it. Um otherwise if they didn't then

20:01 ↗ King County could do that. was one of

20:03 ↗ the few cities that in initiative

20:07 ↗ and so we have a funding source uh to

20:10 ↗ help housing uh within our city limits.

20:12 ↗ Um also some of the other things that

20:15 ↗ had come up from u the previous work

20:18 ↗ from Eco Northwest was looking at

20:20 ↗ Pioneer program and and seeing um using

20:23 ↗ that as a basis to to remove some of the

20:26 ↗ barriers for first in the market sort of

20:28 ↗ a conversation. um you know we've drum

20:32 ↗ rolled the housing dashboard uh so

20:34 ↗ that's all done and that sort of gives

20:36 ↗ the higher picture of tracking where the

20:39 ↗ housing is going and what's happening in

20:41 ↗ that um fashion as we all have heard

20:44 ↗ we're data driven

20:47 ↗ you know uh um decision- making here um

20:51 ↗ so moving on from all of all of the work

20:54 ↗ that has been done what's in our hopper

20:57 ↗ currently so again this is not a

20:59 ↗ comprehensive list, but we wanted to

21:02 ↗ tease out a few of the larger things

21:04 ↗ that we know we either have to do it or

21:06 ↗ they're high priority for council, but

21:08 ↗ we're soliciting input uh from this. So,

21:11 ↗ comprehensive plan update, you know, we

21:13 ↗ get requests for plan updates. Uh we

21:16 ↗ maintain a docket, we add to it, we have

21:19 ↗ the conversation uh what which ones to

21:21 ↗ do. uh sometimes uh these um are coming

21:25 ↗ away from legislative bills uh that we

21:28 ↗ need to change some of our policies

21:29 ↗ related to one item or the other. So

21:32 ↗ that's number one. Um, we had

21:35 ↗ conversations with council around

21:37 ↗ wildland urban interface code update and

21:40 ↗ at the time department of natural

21:42 ↗ resources at the state was producing

21:44 ↗ these wildfire risk assessment maps and

21:48 ↗ that work needs to then inform how we

21:50 ↗ want to regulate u other standards. But

21:54 ↗ council picked one of the items which

21:56 ↗ was you know long turnaround. If you're

21:57 ↗ over 300 feet you need to have a

21:59 ↗ turnaround. So that was adopted as part

22:02 ↗ of the building code. Um so now we're

22:05 ↗ waiting for these co the new maps to get

22:08 ↗ come out which we understand are going

22:10 ↗ to happen next summer uh that will then

22:12 ↗ inform um how best to um to come up with

22:17 ↗ regulations uh whether it's structure

22:19 ↗ hardening because there's there's stuff

22:21 ↗ that's in the building code uh that

22:24 ↗ relates to what type of roofs you can

22:25 ↗ have you know how to have your openings

22:27 ↗ and protect your structure to vegetation

22:30 ↗ management and they call it a defensible

22:32 ↗ space That's could be a significant

22:34 ↗ amount of work. Um impact fee study. So

22:38 ↗ we heard from the development community

22:40 ↗ while we were soliciting input on title

22:42 ↗ 18. Uh as well as the work that was done

22:45 ↗ um that establishes our feases was done

22:48 ↗ in 2020 which is quite recent than some

22:51 ↗ of the other cities. Uh but a

22:53 ↗ comprehensive look at that after the

22:55 ↗ concurrency update on the transportation

22:57 ↗ is done the new models are updated we

23:00 ↗ should look at that's our

23:01 ↗ recommendation. Um but it could be um

23:05 ↗ you know a budget ask if if council

23:07 ↗ decides to um invest into that. Um

23:11 ↗ Belleview College development agreement

23:13 ↗ uh you know as it was mentioned that's

23:15 ↗ coming up for some discussion um because

23:18 ↗ a portion of that expires at the end of

23:20 ↗ this year. Uh so depending on council's

23:23 ↗ direction uh there may be work involved

23:25 ↗ with that shoreline master plan periodic

23:28 ↗ update. So we have the lake and we have

23:30 ↗ two streams um Isiqua Creek and the and

23:34 ↗ the north fork of Isqua Creek that are

23:36 ↗ shorelines of the state. Uh and there's

23:39 ↗ a state law that we have to update these

23:41 ↗ regulations every 10 years. The last

23:43 ↗ periodic update we did was 2019. Um so

23:47 ↗ we have to do you know get our stuff

23:49 ↗ done by 2029 but that a lot of that work

23:53 ↗ in public outreach starts a couple of

23:55 ↗ years prior to the actual uh update that

23:58 ↗ we have to adopt. So that's in our

24:00 ↗ hopper. Um number six and seven are

24:04 ↗ >> director before you go on can you go

24:06 ↗ back to the other slide um the shoreline

24:11 ↗ master plan

24:13 ↗ I I believe we updated that in 2025 if

24:17 ↗ I'm looking at the document correctly.

24:19 ↗ >> Yeah but except for the periodic update.

24:22 ↗ Um so the department of ecology doesn't

24:24 ↗ consider you know that was we did the

24:26 ↗ periodic update in 2019 and then we said

24:29 ↗ we we need to go further on outdoor

24:31 ↗ lighting dock lighting and then the

24:34 ↗ critical area code update that we were

24:36 ↗ doing those got embedded in in the

24:38 ↗ shoreline master program because they're

24:40 ↗ not separate. So ecology wants those you

24:43 ↗ know embedded in as a package but they

24:46 ↗ have a ecology has a whole protocol of

24:49 ↗ like what the periodic update includes

24:51 ↗ >> looking at best available science for

24:53 ↗ this that and the other and so that work

24:55 ↗ was done in 2019. So they don't consider

24:57 ↗ the the the update the last update to

25:00 ↗ meet that periodic update requirement.

25:03 ↗ >> Okay. Thank you. And there's a lot of

25:05 ↗ debate in the community because Fish and

25:07 ↗ Wildlife has come up with a guidance

25:08 ↗ about stream buffers which is much more

25:12 ↗ larger.

25:12 ↗ >> I'm sorry. We Can we turn the volume up?

25:15 ↗ >> We can see if we can turn the volume up

25:18 ↗ or if you can speak more closely into

25:20 ↗ the microphone.

25:21 ↗ >> I will try.

25:22 ↗ >> Thanks.

25:24 ↗ >> Okay. I apologize for that. Um, yeah, we

25:27 ↗ were having an echo problem before and I

25:29 ↗ was trying to stay away from the mic a

25:32 ↗ little bit, but I'll I'll talk into it.

25:34 ↗ Um, so moving on. So number six and

25:38 ↗ seven are housing strategy um or housing

25:41 ↗ action work plan um that the city

25:44 ↗ finished in 2018.

25:46 ↗ Um and then the Eco Northwest was the

25:49 ↗ the report that was done. So we probably

25:52 ↗ need to have some conversation with

25:54 ↗ council about updating the strategy work

25:57 ↗ plan. Um and also anything else from

26:00 ↗ those two documents that we need to

26:02 ↗ prioritize uh in the coming years. Um

26:05 ↗ number eight is um you know as you know

26:08 ↗ the city we'll get into the

26:10 ↗ transportation slide and Thomas can u

26:12 ↗ talk more eloquently about

26:13 ↗ transportation related items there. Um

26:16 ↗ but this is an item that once we once

26:18 ↗ the city selects its preferred uh

26:21 ↗ station location then we need to start

26:24 ↗ thinking about transitori um oriented

26:26 ↗ zone or overlay around it. Uh what does

26:29 ↗ that look like? What what are some

26:31 ↗ policies and some regulations um that we

26:34 ↗ want to have have uh adopted.

26:37 ↗ Number nine is neighborhood plans. So,

26:40 ↗ as part of the comprehensive plan

26:41 ↗ update, um there was discussion about

26:44 ↗ neighborhood plans uh and talking to

26:47 ↗ communities in in members in each of

26:49 ↗ these neighborhoods and and coming and

26:51 ↗ the template for the neighborhood plans

26:53 ↗ was finalized during those conversations

26:56 ↗ with planning policy commission and

26:57 ↗ council as part of that comp plan

26:59 ↗ update. But now we need to start doing

27:02 ↗ them um for each of the neighborhoods.

27:04 ↗ So it won't all happen at the same time

27:06 ↗ but coming up with a game plan of uh how

27:09 ↗ the which ones to tackle first and how

27:11 ↗ and and all of that. Uh the other

27:14 ↗ housing related work um that uh you know

27:16 ↗ as I mentioned the dashboard um PJ

27:20 ↗ regional council has lot of reporting

27:23 ↗ things that come our way office of

27:25 ↗ financial management has reporting doc

27:29 ↗ information that we have to produce

27:30 ↗ based on buildable lands analysis and

27:32 ↗ all of that kind of stuff. So it's

27:34 ↗ tedious work. It takes time but it's

27:36 ↗ required for us to kind of do all of

27:38 ↗ those. Um Pioneer program you know we

27:41 ↗ want to kind of revisiting that. Is it

27:43 ↗ working? Is it not working? What do we

27:45 ↗ want? How do we want to tweak it? Um

27:48 ↗ and then um some so we've got the title

27:53 ↗ 18 updates. We've got the future updates

27:56 ↗ list.

27:57 ↗ We have our legislative updates. That's

28:00 ↗ an attachment of all the bills that were

28:02 ↗ passed in the last uh session. Um and we

28:05 ↗ teased out a few things here um to

28:07 ↗ highlight for you all. When we did the

28:10 ↗ title 18 update, we had this uh job

28:13 ↗ preservation requirement on a parcel by

28:15 ↗ parcel basis. So if you took out

28:17 ↗ commercial, you had to preserve that

28:19 ↗ many number of jobs for that parcel. It

28:22 ↗ was impractical for us to implement. uh

28:24 ↗ it had unintended consequences of

28:27 ↗ getting more traffic trips because it

28:29 ↗ was based on number of transportation

28:31 ↗ trips. So we don't necessarily want to

28:34 ↗ have all our you know people clogging

28:36 ↗ our streets because transportation is an

28:38 ↗ issue here. Um but we do want to figure

28:40 ↗ out mixed use. Currently, it's only

28:42 ↗ allowed in one mall street. Um, with the

28:45 ↗ tod work, uh, that will h transit

28:48 ↗ oriented development overlay work with

28:50 ↗ the light rail station. Potentially,

28:52 ↗ this could happen with that work. Uh,

28:55 ↗ but we do need to have some conversation

28:57 ↗ about how to create it a complete

29:00 ↗ community and as we look at

29:02 ↗ transitioning from um single-use to a

29:06 ↗ mixeduse district. Um, we also heard

29:10 ↗ from council to keep an eye out for

29:11 ↗ middle housing implementation. How is it

29:13 ↗ going? Um, do we want to continue the

29:16 ↗ impact fee exemptions? What should we do

29:18 ↗ about frontage improvements? Um, so

29:21 ↗ we'll keep tracking that and and uh, you

29:23 ↗ know, stack it up for your conversation.

29:26 ↗ State legislative updates uh, that may

29:28 ↗ come our way that are already uh, you

29:31 ↗ know, included. So we want to make sure

29:33 ↗ we stay ahead of them and not surprised

29:35 ↗ if we've missed something in state law

29:37 ↗ that we should be aligned with. Uh we

29:40 ↗ also heard stepback requirements were

29:42 ↗ more ownorous. Uh these conversations

29:44 ↗ happened with the to project and also

29:47 ↗ with a private developer who was looking

29:49 ↗ at developing but um in central Isiqua.

29:52 ↗ So we put that on this list. Um and then

29:57 ↗ um this is a new one. Um but you know,

30:00 ↗ council did um reszone um a church

30:03 ↗ property. Um so we've been engaged with

30:06 ↗ them sending them to Arch uh for some

30:09 ↗ options and things that they can uh look

30:12 ↗ at doing on their property. But they,

30:14 ↗ you know, this is a this is a Bellev's

30:16 ↗ done some work in this area and there

30:19 ↗ are lot of land um under religious

30:23 ↗ institutions that potentially could be a

30:26 ↗ good partnership to get some housing at

30:28 ↗ a at a different scale than perhaps you

30:30 ↗ would get in a central Isiqua. So we

30:32 ↗ want to explore that um see if that uh

30:35 ↗ is something that council's interested

30:37 ↗ in in adding to the work plan. And then

30:39 ↗ of course our cleanup updates. Um

30:43 ↗ that sort of is more housing kind of uh

30:46 ↗ other long range planning updates. Uh

30:48 ↗ I'll invite uh Thomas Valdres, senior

30:51 ↗ transportation planner to talk about

30:53 ↗ this slide because he can talk better

30:55 ↗ than I can.

30:56 ↗ >> Great. And again I'm Thomas Vald, senior

30:58 ↗ transportation planner. Thanks for

31:00 ↗ having me tonight. So I do have six

31:02 ↗ items related to transportation. Uh the

31:05 ↗ first one is finishing the central Isqua

31:07 ↗ station and alignment study. So council

31:10 ↗ did uh provide 100k this year. Uh that

31:14 ↗ project has kicked off. Um we do need to

31:16 ↗ finish it and hoping to finish it by the

31:18 ↗ end of 2026 with another um 100k. Um so

31:22 ↗ this project ultimately will uh lead to

31:26 ↗ us developing a locally preferred

31:27 ↗ alternative uh for the station and track

31:30 ↗ alignment. providing those

31:32 ↗ recommendations to Sound Transit will be

31:34 ↗ in 2027.

31:37 ↗ Many mentioned previously that we are

31:39 ↗ looking to uh you know look at a transit

31:42 ↗ overlay zone. So this project will also

31:44 ↗ um sort of tease out some of those ideas

31:47 ↗ um for a transit overlay zone things

31:48 ↗ that we should be thinking about but

31:50 ↗ then implementation wouldn't happen um

31:51 ↗ after.

31:53 ↗ So again, Sound Transit as early as 2027

31:57 ↗ uh will be looking at their planning

31:58 ↗ phase. So assuming a 2041 delivery goal,

32:03 ↗ we've then worked backwards and we're

32:05 ↗ hoping to have the study given to Sound

32:08 ↗ Transit as early as 2027.

32:11 ↗ Uh for East Link Connections, um I guess

32:14 ↗ I'll say uh this is underway. So we are

32:17 ↗ uh kind of looking at phase two now. Um

32:19 ↗ phase one finished up August 30th. So we

32:23 ↗ have we now have a a new bus line which

32:26 ↗ is very exciting. Um, so it's the 203.

32:29 ↗ It runs from uh South Belleview station

32:32 ↗ down Newport. Um, connects to the

32:34 ↗ transit center and then it'll connect uh

32:37 ↗ Costco employees uh and folks, you know,

32:39 ↗ trying to go uh pick up their Costco run

32:42 ↗ um ultimately terminating at uh the at

32:45 ↗ the Highlands. So, uh this is underway.

32:48 ↗ Um

32:49 ↗ CPD staff, public works staff, we worked

32:52 ↗ directly with uh with Metro. Um we're

32:55 ↗ also working with uh Sound Transit. Um

32:58 ↗ there's they have a couple buses here.

32:59 ↗ So looking to um incrementally improve

33:02 ↗ our bus system and so this is uh we're

33:05 ↗ kind of entering phase two on this. Uh

33:08 ↗ for the tip, uh CPD supports public

33:12 ↗ works who's kind of the the lead on

33:14 ↗ this. Um we we do this obviously every

33:16 ↗ year. um for the six-year tip. Um we

33:19 ↗ help with project development and sort

33:22 ↗ of thinking about uh ways to improve our

33:24 ↗ transportation network. So this is just

33:27 ↗ sort of aligned with our our mobility

33:29 ↗ action plan and our transportation

33:31 ↗ elements. So just trying to make sure

33:33 ↗ that our highle goals are then fed into

33:36 ↗ um project level sort of uh priorities.

33:39 ↗ The active transportation study um so

33:42 ↗ this would be a new ask. Um this uh you

33:45 ↗ know is basically meant because we have

33:47 ↗ not had a major update in our active

33:50 ↗ transportation uh planning um since

33:52 ↗ 2014. Uh so it is long overdue. Um this

33:56 ↗ would uh this project would evaluate our

33:59 ↗ existing and future bike and pedestrian

34:01 ↗ network. Um identifying projects,

34:04 ↗ policies, programs and importantly um

34:07 ↗ updating our uh engineering design

34:09 ↗ standards which have not been updated

34:10 ↗ significantly since 2010. So um this uh

34:14 ↗ kind of study would accomplish many

34:17 ↗ goals um but sort of over uh

34:20 ↗ encapsulating lots of the the priorities

34:21 ↗ that we need to um address. Uh lastly

34:25 ↗ I'll just say um we are interested in uh

34:29 ↗ developing an annual traffic collision

34:30 ↗ monitoring report. Um this is something

34:33 ↗ that we kind of do informally but it

34:34 ↗ would be good to publish um and just

34:37 ↗ sort of show how we're doing in terms of

34:39 ↗ collisions. Um so washdoc collects data.

34:43 ↗ Um we can then sort of uh take that data

34:46 ↗ and see how that aligns with our safety

34:48 ↗ priorities and provide just an ongoing

34:52 ↗ uh pulse on how we're doing over the

34:53 ↗ years.

34:55 ↗ Thank you.

35:01 ↗ >> Thank you Thomas. Um

35:04 ↗ so those were sort of the long range

35:06 ↗ planning pieces. So we just wanted to

35:08 ↗ quickly remind the other things this

35:10 ↗ team um this is part of the other um

35:13 ↗ community planning and development team

35:16 ↗ is working on permit process

35:17 ↗ improvements. So that was a priority uh

35:19 ↗ for this year. We have an update coming

35:21 ↗ to you on September 15th where we'll get

35:23 ↗ into the details of that. Uh we also

35:26 ↗ have some large um projects in the

35:28 ↗ hopper. So the school district project

35:30 ↗ uh is a major modification going to

35:32 ↗ development commission. um you know that

35:34 ↗ generally garners a lot of community um

35:37 ↗ comments and feedback and tracking and

35:40 ↗ reporting and all of that that goes with

35:41 ↗ it. Um we also have the trail head to

35:44 ↗ project. So that's the large uh

35:47 ↗ development uh that will involve not

35:49 ↗ only land use but building construction

35:51 ↗ and all that. Uh high street um we this

35:55 ↗ is the shelter development agreement

35:57 ↗ that council had adopted. So, we have a

35:59 ↗ I've sent you construction updates on a

36:01 ↗ quarterly basis, but in that uh you

36:04 ↗ know, they they're building 72 town

36:06 ↗ homes 220

36:08 ↗ um assisted living facility, and uh we

36:11 ↗ are currently have a land use

36:12 ↗ application for another 200 uh

36:14 ↗ apartments, which leaves still room for

36:17 ↗ other projects that will come between

36:18 ↗ those two bookends. Uh on 9th um we have

36:23 ↗ Parkplace uh which development

36:25 ↗ commission just approved uh to demolish

36:27 ↗ an existing office building and build 72

36:29 ↗ town homes. Uh we have another informal

36:32 ↗ inquiries about uh another uh reuse of a

36:36 ↗ commercial building going on. Um um and

36:39 ↗ then um some other projects like that.

36:42 ↗ So this is not a comprehensive list uh

36:44 ↗ but just wanted to tease out some larger

36:46 ↗ scale projects that that we are

36:48 ↗ currently looking at.

36:50 ↗ So that's sort of a overall uh picture

36:53 ↗ of what we think is in our hopper. Um

36:57 ↗ and uh what I think we also wanted to

37:00 ↗ put this slide up uh just so that as

37:02 ↗ council you know has this discussion and

37:05 ↗ the timing of this work and you see how

37:07 ↗ this fits in with the overall city

37:09 ↗ initiatives um and if you pick one as a

37:13 ↗ priority what implications it might have

37:15 ↗ for some infrastructure investments for

37:18 ↗ instance or other upgrades that might be

37:20 ↗ needed. So there they're sort of

37:21 ↗ interconnected with other pieces that

37:23 ↗ that councils uh may care about more uh

37:27 ↗ or may need to do in order for this to

37:29 ↗ work. Um so we we didn't get into that.

37:32 ↗ Uh but as as you think about

37:33 ↗ prioritization, you may want to keep

37:35 ↗ that in mind. Um so in terms of next

37:38 ↗ steps, uh we are looking for council

37:41 ↗ feedback. Um and we can return to

37:43 ↗ council with a 2026 funding request uh

37:46 ↗ resulting from prioritization if you

37:48 ↗ want us to cap do other things you know

37:51 ↗ prioritize that uh in the next year uh

37:53 ↗ that we didn't anticipate during the the

37:55 ↗ budget cycle.

37:57 ↗ So I think that concludes our

38:01 ↗ presentation. So again we're looking for

38:02 ↗ council input.

38:07 ↗ Okay I will start with questions.

38:09 ↗ Obviously, this is a big old meaty

38:12 ↗ topic. Um, and brought together a lot of

38:14 ↗ stuff that we've been talking about for

38:15 ↗ several years. Um, so any questions

38:20 ↗ starting out? Council member Ray.

38:23 ↗ >> All right. Um, love the stuff around um,

38:26 ↗ transportation of course, but um, so a

38:29 ↗ collision report, if we were to build

38:31 ↗ that, what kind of collisions would that

38:34 ↗ Thomas uh, would that would that

38:36 ↗ include? I'm uh I'm I'm I'm I'm kind of

38:40 ↗ riffing on the active transportation

38:42 ↗ part of this too. And does it include

38:45 ↗ pedestrian? Does it include bike? Does

38:46 ↗ it include car and bus? And just what

38:50 ↗ what's include?

38:52 ↗ >> Yeah. Um so collision report uh has not

38:55 ↗ uh you know it's kind of intangible at

38:58 ↗ this point. We're sort of thinking about

38:59 ↗ what could be in it. Um the thing we're

39:02 ↗ mainly concerned based off of the you

39:04 ↗ know council's priorities in the

39:05 ↗ mobility action plan are uh fatalities

39:08 ↗ and serious injuries. Um so there's also

39:12 ↗ like more minor injuries. Um I think

39:14 ↗ wash has like many classifications.

39:16 ↗ Those are the two main things. Um so we

39:18 ↗ really want to track to make sure that

39:19 ↗ we're meeting our safety goals.

39:22 ↗ um when washd has their data, it also

39:26 ↗ includes factors that uh contributed to

39:29 ↗ the the collision. So maybe it's um you

39:32 ↗ know the vehicle ran off the road or

39:34 ↗ maybe um it was there was an object that

39:37 ↗ somebody um hit. So these are all

39:39 ↗ contributing factors. We'd want to sort

39:41 ↗ of know if there's trends so that we can

39:43 ↗ proactively address many concerns.

39:46 ↗ >> Great. I I just think it sounds uh

39:48 ↗ really very valuable and interesting,

39:50 ↗ but that's for later in the discussion.

39:53 ↗ Um and then second question for you. Um

39:56 ↗ so what's the impact of Sound Transit's

39:58 ↗ current financial wos um on our timeline

40:01 ↗ because last I heard we were uh maybe

40:04 ↗ slipping a bit.

40:06 ↗ >> Yeah. And very very timely. This is kind

40:08 ↗ of I would say a week and a half ago

40:09 ↗ that was hot off the press. Um so just

40:12 ↗ for everybody's knowledge uh Sound

40:14 ↗ Transit board met uh a week and a half

40:17 ↗ ago and it was announced that um they're

40:20 ↗ basically 20 to 25%

40:23 ↗ uh behind budget where they where they

40:25 ↗ said they were going to be. Um the

40:27 ↗ contributing factors to that is

40:29 ↗ basically uh their their assumptions on

40:32 ↗ um you know their finances. uh they use

40:34 ↗ some kind of crude budgeting uh

40:38 ↗ principles and they're they're now using

40:40 ↗ more uh recent data based off of their

40:43 ↗ uh West Seattle Ballard uh project. So

40:45 ↗ um all that to say uh in September, like

40:50 ↗ midepptember, they're meeting again.

40:51 ↗ We're going to have a better picture on

40:53 ↗ a project by project basis of like what

40:56 ↗ each of their several projects in ST3

41:00 ↗ uh will cost um in today's dollars. Um

41:03 ↗ and then they're going to go through a

41:04 ↗ lengthy conversation through the end of

41:06 ↗ the year to sort of talk about what

41:09 ↗ needs to happen. They have four levers

41:10 ↗ that they've mentioned um that they can

41:12 ↗ use. Uh one of those would be pushing

41:15 ↗ the project back. Um so that's that's

41:17 ↗ the one you're referring to. Um we don't

41:19 ↗ know yet and uh we're going to kind of

41:21 ↗ keep tabs on that, but it's a really

41:23 ↗ great point. Yeah.

41:24 ↗ >> Great. Thank you very much,

41:27 ↗ >> Council Member Hall.

41:28 ↗ >> Um thank you. And Thomas, one of my

41:30 ↗ questions is for you, so you might as

41:32 ↗ well stay up. So, um, the active

41:34 ↗ transportation plan I or um study, I

41:36 ↗ remember we talked about this a little

41:37 ↗ bit during budget, but can you walk us

41:39 ↗ through the difference between um the

41:42 ↗ outcomes of that document and whatever

41:44 ↗ we might have in the mobility action

41:46 ↗ plan that kind of describes the current

41:48 ↗ state of active transportation?

41:51 ↗ >> Yeah, they're they're very similar, I

41:52 ↗ would say. Um, one of the key

41:55 ↗ deliverables that would be great to get

41:57 ↗ is new projects. So our our our

42:00 ↗ transportation improvement program

42:01 ↗ project list uh comes like all all the

42:04 ↗ active transportation related biking,

42:06 ↗ walking like sidewalk kind of stuff that

42:09 ↗ all comes from 2014. So we haven't

42:11 ↗ really updated any of our projects since

42:13 ↗ then. So we're we are chipping away at a

42:15 ↗ lot of those projects. Um but we just

42:17 ↗ haven't developed any new projects since

42:19 ↗ then.

42:22 ↗ >> Okay. Thank you very much. Um, okay.

42:24 ↗ Director Dollywal help us develop new

42:27 ↗ projects. Um, so two questions for

42:29 ↗ MFTTE. Is that okay? Can I ask one? Um,

42:32 ↗ MFTTE. Can you refresh my my brain? So,

42:36 ↗ this council um created MFTTE um pathway

42:41 ↗ for High Point or whatever it's called

42:44 ↗ up in the Highlands for the Pioneer

42:45 ↗ Project. we had tabled kind of a broader

42:48 ↗ discussion of like a central ISOqua wide

42:51 ↗ MFT until being able to say does this

42:54 ↗ work as a a lever that's available to us

42:57 ↗ right and letting kind of the data bear

42:59 ↗ out there first how much time do you

43:01 ↗ think we really need to be able to say

43:03 ↗ does this MFT thing work as a tool for

43:05 ↗ us here before we can have that

43:07 ↗ conversation

43:08 ↗ >> sure uh good question um so you're

43:10 ↗ you're right uh the the currently the

43:12 ↗ city's multif family tax exemption is

43:15 ↗ available for the TOD trail head project

43:19 ↗ um and High Street shelter development

43:22 ↗ agreement uh and um any two new projects

43:27 ↗ under the Pioneer program um the you

43:29 ↗ know that that could apply. So it's not

43:32 ↗ like it's not available to anyone and so

43:34 ↗ any two new projects could qualify for

43:37 ↗ that under the Pioneer program in

43:39 ↗ central Isiqua. So it's uh outside of

43:42 ↗ central Isiqua, you know, it's it's not,

43:44 ↗ but that's city's policy to to get some

43:47 ↗ of this um growth where future transit

43:50 ↗ is going to be. So um but in terms of

43:54 ↗ the timing the other thing that happened

43:56 ↗ with the legislative bill was the to

43:59 ↗ bill that got passed which uh said uh at

44:04 ↗ 80% AMI um is you know 20% of the units

44:08 ↗ within the transit um diameter of

44:11 ↗ quarter mile or whatever the you know

44:13 ↗ the around the transit center has to be

44:16 ↗ affordable at 80% AMI 20% units and the

44:21 ↗ cities have to get no impact fees and uh

44:25 ↗ give 20-year um um MFTTE. So, it's not

44:30 ↗ 12 years, it's a 20-year multif family

44:32 ↗ tax exemption. So, where the future

44:34 ↗ growth around transit is going to be,

44:36 ↗ there are already these incentives that

44:38 ↗ the city would we have, you know, some

44:41 ↗ time to do this work for to areas, but

44:44 ↗ that would be the program we would

44:46 ↗ establish in that that overlay. Um, so

44:50 ↗ that's that's available. Uh, some of it

44:53 ↗ is available and some of it when we

44:54 ↗ align our codes with the to overlay will

44:57 ↗ will come into play. But beyond that,

44:59 ↗ it's council's um, you know, priority.

45:02 ↗ If you want us to look at the, you know,

45:05 ↗ multif family citywide, then we would

45:08 ↗ add it to the work plan. One of the

45:10 ↗ things I think the um, the Eco Northwest

45:13 ↗ report was saying that these are stacked

45:15 ↗ on top of the others. So, you know,

45:17 ↗ parking is With the new bills, the

45:20 ↗ parking numbers are going down anyways.

45:23 ↗ So that's not an incentive the city can

45:25 ↗ offer that you do less parking and

45:27 ↗ therefore you get that. So that

45:28 ↗ incentive is no longer available. But

45:30 ↗ but there's an option or flexibility

45:32 ↗ built into the regulations that you you

45:35 ↗ know and then and then we've already

45:37 ↗ taken out the structured parking

45:38 ↗ requirement. So then it leaves what else

45:41 ↗ do you trade for multif family tax

45:44 ↗ exemption in terms of an incentive or is

45:46 ↗ it just an entitlement that council can

45:48 ↗ do? So it's it's an in-depth policy

45:50 ↗ discussion to expand it citywide and

45:53 ↗ then the other part of it is the

45:55 ↗ economics. You know how much does the

45:57 ↗ city not get in additional tax revenue

45:59 ↗ shortterm long-term? How does that all

46:01 ↗ work out?

46:04 ↗ >> All right. I'm sure we'll talk about it.

46:06 ↗ And then just more broadly, can you help

46:08 ↗ me? I mentioned this to you right before

46:10 ↗ the meeting too, but um the what's

46:13 ↗ required of us and what's come through

46:15 ↗ the state is overwhelming. There's a lot

46:16 ↗ there and we have limited staff capacity

46:19 ↗ just like cities everywhere. Um

46:23 ↗ and building back up. Um,

46:26 ↗ can you help me in the council

46:28 ↗ understand given that and given what's

46:31 ↗ required of us, how much room do we

46:32 ↗ really have to play in in terms of

46:36 ↗ trading off some policy conversations

46:39 ↗ that we'd like to have in the upcoming

46:41 ↗ bienium. Um, like

46:43 ↗ >> yeah, the reason

46:44 ↗ >> I know it might be kind of hard to say,

46:45 ↗ Zach, you can have two we've got all

46:47 ↗ these required things and we can have

46:49 ↗ two more conversations about things. But

46:51 ↗ that's kind of what I'm looking for in

46:52 ↗ my head is how much flexibility do we

46:54 ↗ really have?

46:55 ↗ >> Yeah. You know, we're excited about our

46:56 ↗ team. You know, they come with a very

46:59 ↗ happy, excited attitude of rolling up

47:01 ↗ their sleeves and getting into it, but

47:03 ↗ they're also humans that have lives

47:06 ↗ outside of work. And so, we don't want

47:07 ↗ to burn anyone out. And yet, we want to

47:10 ↗ give them the ability to to enjoy

47:12 ↗ planning work and and be a fulfilling

47:15 ↗ work. So, we are trying to balance that

47:17 ↗ out with um all of them. Obviously,

47:20 ↗ there's a learning curve. There's what's

47:22 ↗ in the, you know, there's also the

47:24 ↗ priority of people asking for permits.

47:26 ↗ Obviously, that will prioritize than

47:29 ↗ some of the the long range piece. The

47:31 ↗ one of the the things with merging the

47:34 ↗ two long range and current planning

47:35 ↗ teams, which I'm a firm believer, is

47:37 ↗ that you're a better planner if you

47:39 ↗ understand what it means on the ground.

47:41 ↗ Uh, and you can do your code writing and

47:43 ↗ long range planning. So, it's the two

47:44 ↗ sides of the coin. And so not ha not

47:47 ↗ having two separate teams with two

47:48 ↗ separate managers, we're building the

47:51 ↗ capacity to do both current planning and

47:53 ↗ long range, the benefit for the city is

47:55 ↗ it's an agile team. So if if

47:58 ↗ construction slows down, we can pivot

48:00 ↗ them more towards long range and if if

48:02 ↗ long range um you know, if we've

48:05 ↗ accomplished other things, we can have

48:06 ↗ them work on the current planning piece.

48:09 ↗ Um so but it, you know, it it it's a

48:12 ↗ learning curve part. uh we're excited

48:15 ↗ where they are today. We we'll build two

48:17 ↗ more planners to the team, but the

48:19 ↗ capacity isn't unlimited. So, I think as

48:21 ↗ we talk about council's priorities, then

48:25 ↗ we can better evaluate, you know, where

48:28 ↗ if if it is a one big project, maybe

48:30 ↗ it's a one-time cost for a consultant to

48:32 ↗ to help us out with that. Um if it is a

48:36 ↗ lot of other things, you know, what does

48:38 ↗ that look like? So we can we can figure

48:40 ↗ out what can be done in-house, what we

48:42 ↗ can have consultant help for and put

48:45 ↗ some dollars and cents to it. Um but I I

48:48 ↗ think we've done large projects in the

48:51 ↗ past um with thank you to council with

48:54 ↗ some consultant help. Um but we also

48:56 ↗ want to now sort of do things really

48:59 ↗ deep and well. So as you think about

49:02 ↗ prioritization, my recommendation would

49:04 ↗ be instead of doing 20, can we pick five

49:08 ↗ that we can do really well on or

49:10 ↗ something? You know, I don't know what

49:11 ↗ the num right number is at this point,

49:13 ↗ but um and and council's uh desires to

49:17 ↗ do what you need to do. And so that will

49:19 ↗ then inform us and do we need more FTE?

49:22 ↗ Do we have the capacity with existing

49:24 ↗ staff? Do we can we offload some of this

49:27 ↗ stuff for consultant help? Um, if it's a

49:31 ↗ very high priority for council getting

49:33 ↗ it done in the next year, what does that

49:35 ↗ look like?

49:38 ↗ >> Sorry, concrete

49:40 ↗ >> or excuse me,

49:42 ↗ city administrator Bob Quiz. I'm looking

49:44 ↗ at one. Yeah, thanks.

49:47 ↗ >> Uh, thank you, Council President.

49:48 ↗ Members of the council, let me put a

49:50 ↗ finer point on this. Um, the

49:52 ↗ administration has heard the council's

49:53 ↗ frustration that we are not moving as

49:55 ↗ fast as you would like on some of these

49:57 ↗ projects. We feel even with uh the

50:00 ↗ exceptional staff that uh we have uh

50:03 ↗ that we are at the limits of our

50:04 ↗ staffing capability. Your exercise

50:07 ↗ tonight is very important for us because

50:09 ↗ if you come and say thank you, we really

50:12 ↗ appreciate all the good work that you're

50:13 ↗ doing. However, here are the things we

50:15 ↗ still would like to see the city

50:17 ↗ accomplish. We need to go back to the

50:19 ↗ drawing board to see what other

50:21 ↗ resources we can allocate. And then uh

50:24 ↗ the timing of this is very important

50:25 ↗ because we are preparing for you the uh

50:28 ↗ uh for your consideration any

50:30 ↗ adjustments to the uh bannual budget

50:33 ↗ over the course of October and November.

50:35 ↗ And so if you come up tonight and say

50:37 ↗ these are really important projects and

50:38 ↗ you have said to us previously that our

50:41 ↗ work some of these initiatives are very

50:43 ↗ important to have to look at other parts

50:45 ↗ of the city government to fund this uh

50:48 ↗ either through additional staffing

50:49 ↗ either through consultant dollars. but

50:51 ↗ we will then come to you with potential

50:53 ↗ reductions and other things that we do

50:55 ↗ that perhaps are less important. Um, and

50:58 ↗ so these are always difficult

50:59 ↗ conversations to have. We certainly

51:00 ↗ don't anticipate layoffs. And I want to

51:03 ↗ be very clear that we're not uh

51:05 ↗ suggesting that, but there may be other

51:07 ↗ projects, other infrastructure, other

51:10 ↗ initiatives that the administration may

51:12 ↗ come back and say, "Okay, in order to do

51:14 ↗ what you'd like, here's what you have to

51:16 ↗ give up." And so that's we're trying to

51:18 ↗ get a ring around tonight so that when

51:20 ↗ you do have these budget discussions,

51:21 ↗ it's not general. It can be as specific

51:23 ↗ as possible.

51:26 ↗ >> Okay. I think I saw Council Member Jen

51:28 ↗ then Deputy Council President D.

51:30 ↗ Michelle.

51:31 ↗ >> Um I have a few questions. So number I

51:34 ↗ guess my first question was are we you

51:37 ↗ know is there any point at which we

51:38 ↗ would revisit the MFTTE and

51:40 ↗ affordability levels that we've put into

51:41 ↗ the Pioneer program given that we

51:43 ↗ haven't had uptake to date? It sounds

51:45 ↗ like when we do the TOD overlay, we'll

51:47 ↗ just do basically, you know, what this

51:49 ↗ what's in the state law. So, that

51:51 ↗ supersede the uh Pioneer program or kind

51:54 ↗ of how do we see those two things

51:56 ↗ fitting together?

51:58 ↗ >> Yeah, we haven't figured that out. Um,

52:00 ↗ you know, the the the Pioneer program is

52:03 ↗ for the first two projects. So if those

52:05 ↗ come into play before that and then

52:07 ↗ council can then decide to to extend it

52:10 ↗ to more if you uh choose to do but um

52:13 ↗ the to stuff um you know there's a bare

52:16 ↗ minimum that the state wants us to do

52:19 ↗ which is at 80% AMI 20% of the units but

52:23 ↗ if council desires uh deeper

52:25 ↗ affordability say at 60% or whatever you

52:28 ↗ can lower that number or percentage. So

52:31 ↗ there's there could be you can go above

52:33 ↗ and beyond what the state law requires,

52:35 ↗ but you at least have to meet the

52:36 ↗ minimum. So there'll be some policy

52:38 ↗ discussions around what does this want

52:40 ↗ around transit.

52:42 ↗ >> Yeah, that makes sense. Um I guess my

52:46 ↗ other questions are around, you know,

52:47 ↗ we've been discussing, you know, as

52:49 ↗ various things come up with different

52:51 ↗ development projects, you know, what are

52:53 ↗ some of the ways that we could change

52:54 ↗ our code to address some of the things

52:55 ↗ that we've been learning? Um, so I'm

52:57 ↗ wondering if there's anywhere that we're

52:59 ↗ keeping a running list of those because

53:00 ↗ there's a couple of them that we talked

53:03 ↗ about that weren't on this list. For

53:04 ↗ example, like providing more optionality

53:06 ↗ with the green building certifications

53:08 ↗ or um, you know, one thing we talked

53:11 ↗ about a lot and that was like one of our

53:12 ↗ top priorities from our council retreat

53:14 ↗ was the neighborhood businesses um,

53:16 ↗ which I didn't see on that list either.

53:18 ↗ So, I'm curious like is there somewhere

53:20 ↗ that's like a parking lot for all of the

53:21 ↗ ideas which even if they're not, you

53:23 ↗ know, we're not able to prioritize them

53:24 ↗ given staff time, I would like to have

53:26 ↗ like a running list that we just, you

53:29 ↗ know, add things to.

53:30 ↗ >> Sure. A couple ways we could do that.

53:32 ↗ We, you know, we have hardwired that

53:34 ↗ future updates list because we wanted to

53:36 ↗ capture that snapshot of what those

53:38 ↗ conversations were. We can start adding

53:40 ↗ to the bottom of that. those two items

53:42 ↗ that you mentioned, council member Jang,

53:44 ↗ are somewhat in that future updates list

53:46 ↗ because there's a sustainability IAP uh

53:49 ↗ goal piece um that wasn't done in, you

53:51 ↗ know, so so we did make some

53:53 ↗ sustainability options there, but we

53:54 ↗ were waiting for energy code and all

53:56 ↗ that kind of stuff. So that would be my

53:58 ↗ recommendation that we we start adding

54:00 ↗ to that future updates list. You know,

54:02 ↗ we we say here's what was decided in

54:04 ↗ 2023, but then here's some other things.

54:07 ↗ In addition, we have our annual code

54:09 ↗ update which you know we maintain

54:11 ↗ internally of of things that come up. So

54:14 ↗ that would be the other place we could

54:15 ↗ um add these to

54:18 ↗ that we can tackle that year. But if

54:19 ↗ they're long-term, they could be tackled

54:21 ↗ under the future updates list or added

54:23 ↗ to that. Yeah.

54:24 ↗ >> Thank you. Um okay, last question. Um,

54:27 ↗ so you all know I'm personally quite

54:29 ↗ skeptical of, you know, large language

54:31 ↗ models and AI, but I'm very curious if

54:33 ↗ we've considered the potential,

54:34 ↗ especially with like updating code

54:36 ↗ language where large language models are

54:38 ↗ b it's basically like the task that is

54:40 ↗ best suited to them because it's

54:41 ↗ language related. if that's something

54:43 ↗ that we could do to potentially help

54:45 ↗ increase staff capacity in terms of, you

54:47 ↗ know, we could have the large language

54:49 ↗ models do a first pass and then have the

54:51 ↗ staff, you know, more like review it.

54:53 ↗ Um, as a way to potentially, you know,

54:55 ↗ increase staff capacity given like

54:59 ↗ options we have a

55:00 ↗ >> and council member Jang, members of the

55:02 ↗ council, that's the kind of feedback

55:04 ↗ we're looking for because that's a

55:05 ↗ different kind of resource. That's an IT

55:08 ↗ resource. That is third party consultant

55:10 ↗ resource. And so if that's something

55:12 ↗ you're interested in, we need to know

55:14 ↗ because that's something we need to

55:15 ↗ budget. I mean, we, you know, certainly

55:18 ↗ there are communities that are looking

55:20 ↗ at this. Um there are several firms

55:22 ↗ around the country that are assisting uh

55:24 ↗ communities doing this. Um but again,

55:28 ↗ it's time, it's money uh that we

55:30 ↗ currently don't have budgeted. So if

55:32 ↗ it's something you'd like us to

55:33 ↗ consider, we'd like you to hear about it

55:35 ↗ tonight.

55:36 ↗ >> Yeah. And I definitely don't mean to

55:38 ↗ suggest that we should AI everything

55:39 ↗ that we're doing. I'm just saying, you

55:41 ↗ know, for the specific task of updating

55:45 ↗ language where it, you know, could be it

55:48 ↗ could be a tool that could be useful.

55:50 ↗ >> And our challenge is we have no AI staff

55:52 ↗ members. We have no staff members

55:54 ↗ currently budgeted to work on any of

55:56 ↗ these projects. Um, and so if this is

55:58 ↗ something that the council feels is

55:59 ↗ important in the second year of the

56:01 ↗ bienium, we need to hear from you so

56:03 ↗ that we can come back to you uh in

56:05 ↗ October uh with some budget proposals.

56:12 ↗ I think that's it. I mean, I I guess for

56:15 ↗ that, you know, I'd be interested to see

56:17 ↗ what the level of cost would be in terms

56:20 ↗ of staffing.

56:21 ↗ >> And that's what we're asking for this

56:23 ↗ evening. So if that's something then we

56:24 ↗ would work on you know some budget

56:27 ↗ projections of you know the technology

56:30 ↗ piece plus just the staffing piece and

56:32 ↗ we would come up and if it's something

56:33 ↗ that the council's interested then we

56:35 ↗ would say these are things that you may

56:36 ↗ consider reducing in 2026 in order to do

56:39 ↗ it.

56:40 ↗ >> Okay. Thank you.

56:43 ↗ >> Quick followup there. Council member, a

56:45 ↗ >> super quick followup to and I imagine

56:47 ↗ like municipal vendors that produce this

56:49 ↗ kind of IT software are still kind of

56:52 ↗ like in this space. I imagine this is

56:53 ↗ still emerging within municipal like

56:56 ↗ vendors.

56:57 ↗ >> There are vendors that have partnered

56:59 ↗ with cities all over America. I don't

57:01 ↗ have a count. I mean, I would bet it's

57:03 ↗ anywhere from half a dozen to a dozen

57:05 ↗ vendors that are offering things similar

57:07 ↗ to what Council Member Jen has

57:09 ↗ described. um you know we would have to

57:12 ↗ evaluate uh what those vendors are, see

57:16 ↗ what the technology is, see what the

57:17 ↗ costs associated are. Again, we're happy

57:20 ↗ to do all this. That's the reason we we

57:21 ↗ asked you to have the session tonight.

57:23 ↗ It really just comes down to making that

57:25 ↗ list, adding up the dollars, and then

57:27 ↗ coming back to you and saying, "Here are

57:29 ↗ things that you may not be able to then

57:30 ↗ do perhaps somewhere else in the city

57:33 ↗ government in order to accomplish those

57:34 ↗ goals."

57:37 ↗ >> Yeah. If I may add uh just today in

57:39 ↗ government tech magazine uh there's

57:42 ↗ Belleview's show showcased in that of

57:45 ↗ how they're using in the development

57:47 ↗ services department of um answering

57:50 ↗ public inquiries and questions but it's

57:52 ↗ like um um Wally said it's very vendor

57:55 ↗ driven you know it's a startup that's

57:58 ↗ providing that service so we can look

57:59 ↗ into what that is costing them you know

58:01 ↗ but it's also a much larger city um that

58:04 ↗ probably is resourcing it uh to take a

58:08 ↗ take the first initiative around that.

58:10 ↗ Uh but we also heard from economic

58:12 ↗ vitality commission when I went and

58:14 ↗ talked to them about permit process

58:15 ↗ improvements. That's one thing they said

58:17 ↗ well what's the city doing about you

58:19 ↗ know using AI kind of thing.

58:22 ↗ >> Thank you uh deputy council president D.

58:25 ↗ Michelle.

58:27 ↗ >> Thank you. So um I was really interested

58:29 ↗ in the housing strategy work plan update

58:32 ↗ um when I was running for council. That

58:35 ↗ was one of the documents that I just

58:36 ↗ read front to back and back again. Uh it

58:39 ↗ really wasn't a really welldone um plan

58:43 ↗ and it's hard to believe that we are at

58:46 ↗ a point and going back to it um how much

58:50 ↗ things have changed and and really it

58:52 ↗ does need to be updated. So, and then

58:55 ↗ I'm looking at um I'm also very

58:58 ↗ interested in the in the MFT that we've

59:01 ↗ already talked about, but also the

59:03 ↗ exploring expanding housing incentives

59:05 ↗ for faith-based owned organizations. And

59:08 ↗ so I'm kind of if you could walk me

59:10 ↗ through um

59:13 ↗ would it be possible to roll uh like the

59:16 ↗ MFTTE study or the uh faith-based owned

59:19 ↗ organization study into into this

59:22 ↗ overall update to the strate uh housing

59:26 ↗ strategy or is there a good reason to

59:29 ↗ keep these as standalone projects? Yeah,

59:34 ↗ you know, from a from a thoughtful way,

59:37 ↗ if you want to approach this, you would

59:38 ↗ do the the strategy work plan first and

59:42 ↗ then that will have a prioritization

59:44 ↗ within it of what what you want to do

59:47 ↗ for each strategy. Uh and in that you

59:50 ↗ could prioritize these other two which

59:51 ↗ are more implementation than perhaps the

59:55 ↗ the work plan piece. um if that would be

59:58 ↗ a better way to kind of talk about the

1:00:00 ↗ big picture and then do these two things

1:00:02 ↗ that are more implementation level.

1:00:05 ↗ >> So are we um sorry but are we looking at

1:00:10 ↗ if we were to put them all under the

1:00:12 ↗ plan update it would actually perhaps

1:00:14 ↗ delay implementation of

1:00:17 ↗ >> in other words how fast do we want to

1:00:19 ↗ get this done?

1:00:20 ↗ >> Yeah.

1:00:21 ↗ >> Yeah. But if they identified as action

1:00:23 ↗ items in the plan, then you could delay

1:00:26 ↗ the updating the plan and just focus on

1:00:29 ↗ the implementation pieces.

1:00:31 ↗ >> Yeah, those would be the tradeoffs.

1:00:33 ↗ >> Okay, thanks.

1:00:37 ↗ >> Any other questions

1:00:39 ↗ at this time? Okay, um then I think I

1:00:42 ↗ will take an opportunity for public

1:00:45 ↗ comment. We have a few people in the

1:00:47 ↗ audience. Anybody interested in making

1:00:49 ↗ public comment?

1:00:53 ↗ Seeing you lean forward. Yes. No. Yeah.

1:00:56 ↗ Fantastic. If you'll come up to the

1:00:58 ↗ microphone and then um if you press the

1:01:01 ↗ button, it turns red. That will give you

1:01:03 ↗ an opportunity. Uh they're all staff. So

1:01:12 ↗ Okay. So, hello. My name is Linda

1:01:14 ↗ Bailey. I live three blocks down in

1:01:17 ↗ Oldtown on the other side. And uh old

1:01:21 ↗ school, I was coming back from dinner at

1:01:23 ↗ sunset and I thought there's a meeting

1:01:25 ↗ tonight. I'm going to stop in there and

1:01:27 ↗ let them know what's on my mind. So,

1:01:28 ↗ it's interesting that this was a topic

1:01:31 ↗ tonight. And Wally, I agree with

1:01:33 ↗ everything that you have to say or city

1:01:35 ↗ administrator, not sure what I should

1:01:37 ↗ call you, but um I live downtown. I've

1:01:39 ↗ been downtown for years. And what's

1:01:42 ↗ changed for us besides the new daycare

1:01:44 ↗ moving in and messing with our alley

1:01:46 ↗ that we park in is the sound. We've got

1:01:50 ↗ 18 when 18 closes or the 90 construction

1:01:54 ↗ the the city changes for us. The sound

1:01:58 ↗ coming down second the sound going up

1:01:59 ↗ sunset to 90 and the other way is

1:02:03 ↗ insane. And so when I hear your nice

1:02:06 ↗ presentation about transportation and

1:02:08 ↗ planning, where is the sound control for

1:02:11 ↗ old for Oldtown? There was a thing at

1:02:14 ↗ one point about sound control and

1:02:16 ↗ calming traffic or whatever for Oldtown.

1:02:18 ↗ it. Believe me, we need that initiative

1:02:21 ↗ back. Oldtown is taking traffic. If you

1:02:24 ↗ don't like the traffic on Sunset, then

1:02:25 ↗ zip over and grab Andrews or Bush. How

1:02:28 ↗ many accidents? I can count

1:02:31 ↗ just in this year. I think there's been

1:02:33 ↗ five accidents at Bush and Second. And

1:02:37 ↗ these are a lot of times folks cutting

1:02:39 ↗ through, coming down from 90 or the

1:02:42 ↗ Highlands or wherever, cutting through,

1:02:44 ↗ come over to Bush and cut in. People get

1:02:46 ↗ confused about the crosswalks or

1:02:48 ↗ whatever, so they think they're going to

1:02:49 ↗ turn. I think it was just a few days

1:02:51 ↗ ago. It was a motorcycle and a car. We

1:02:55 ↗ the transportation around Oldtown. We're

1:02:59 ↗ taking the brunt of I90 and 18

1:03:03 ↗ traffic and what's happening there. We

1:03:05 ↗ want to be good neighbors. We want to

1:03:06 ↗ help, but we are taking the brunt of it

1:03:08 ↗ between Second and Sunset East. And I'm

1:03:11 ↗ just hoping that someone could bubble

1:03:14 ↗ this to the top. I have all the respect

1:03:16 ↗ for government process. I've heard a lot

1:03:18 ↗ of that tonight. But we really need

1:03:21 ↗ oldtown traffic calming or whatever it

1:03:24 ↗ used to be called to come back and take

1:03:26 ↗ notice of what's happening between

1:03:28 ↗ second and sunset. 18 and 90 isn't done

1:03:30 ↗ yet. And a whole lot of people knew now

1:03:33 ↗ know the trail of coming down Hobart

1:03:35 ↗ Road and up second or up sunset. It's

1:03:38 ↗ insane. Yeah, there's signs. No trucks.

1:03:41 ↗ No truck. We might as well put a please

1:03:42 ↗ no trucks on that because the trucks are

1:03:44 ↗ still coming through. There's there's no

1:03:46 ↗ penalty for trucks coming through. I

1:03:48 ↗ work I'm a home office person. I work in

1:03:51 ↗ the window of Sun East Sunset Way. Just

1:03:55 ↗ the amount of traffic and trucks that

1:03:57 ↗ come through there every day, especially

1:03:58 ↗ when 18 or 90 is construction problems.

1:04:02 ↗ We we can't be we can't turn a blind eye

1:04:05 ↗ to that, right? It's changing our

1:04:08 ↗ community. is changing the neighborhoods

1:04:10 ↗ around in this area. Our Oldtown, the

1:04:13 ↗ history of Oldtown is fantastic and

1:04:16 ↗ we're not capitalizing on that

1:04:19 ↗ interesting fact. When we look at our

1:04:21 ↗ neighboring cities like North Bend and

1:04:24 ↗ Snowqualamy and even up in the wine

1:04:27 ↗ district, we're missing an opportunity.

1:04:29 ↗ And instead of growing in interest and

1:04:32 ↗ other reasons to grab our local

1:04:34 ↗ neighbors to come through, we're getting

1:04:36 ↗ the traffic. That's it. We're going to

1:04:38 ↗ be the traffic headquarters. We're not

1:04:39 ↗ even biking headquarters anymore because

1:04:41 ↗ bikers are afraid of sunset. So,

1:04:44 ↗ just as speaking up today to please

1:04:47 ↗ bring attention back to the traffic

1:04:49 ↗ that's coming in and out of I90 and in

1:04:51 ↗ and up Iscoart. They need to go

1:04:53 ↗ somewhere. I know 20 years ago the

1:04:56 ↗ bypass was was a perfect opportunity and

1:04:59 ↗ it was a missed opportunity, but maybe

1:05:01 ↗ we could send business traffic through

1:05:03 ↗ another way rather than Sunset and

1:05:06 ↗ Second Avenue East. Thanks.

1:05:11 ↗ >> Thank you, Linda.

1:05:14 ↗ >> Okay, any other public comments?

1:05:17 ↗ Only one other public folks. Nobody

1:05:21 ↗ coming in. No. Okay, fantastic. Well, we

1:05:24 ↗ appreciate hearing from residents. Um,

1:05:28 ↗ we have an opportunity here to provide

1:05:32 ↗ feedback. Um, so in general, you know,

1:05:35 ↗ was there any direction here?

1:05:40 ↗ Was there any big question or is it just

1:05:43 ↗ what do we want to see? Okay, who wants

1:05:46 ↗ to start us out?

1:05:50 ↗ Wow.

1:05:57 ↗ Okay, Council Member Hull.

1:05:59 ↗ >> Yeah, I can just share some preliminary

1:06:01 ↗ um thoughts. Thank you again. Number

1:06:02 ↗ one, thank you staff for being here with

1:06:04 ↗ us tonight. Um thank you for allowing us

1:06:07 ↗ to have this kind of prioritization

1:06:08 ↗ conversation and thank you council for

1:06:10 ↗ agreeing to do it. Um a couple just

1:06:12 ↗ thoughts off the top of my head. There's

1:06:14 ↗ a lot I'm done.

1:06:19 ↗ My five minutes are up. um uh there's a

1:06:22 ↗ lot that's required of us almost

1:06:25 ↗ overwhelmingly um is kind of one of my

1:06:28 ↗ initial impressions from the packet. So

1:06:29 ↗ I would want to of course when we ask

1:06:33 ↗ input on prioritization

1:06:35 ↗ prioritizing prioritizing what's

1:06:37 ↗ required of us of course um I also would

1:06:40 ↗ want to since this is related to the

1:06:42 ↗ question I asked earlier personally I

1:06:44 ↗ would want to avoid any major changes to

1:06:47 ↗ budget or reallocation of resources

1:06:49 ↗ during the midby. um seems like that

1:06:53 ↗ would be a much more pertinent

1:06:54 ↗ conversation to have as we head into the

1:06:56 ↗ next bianial budget and from the outset

1:06:58 ↗ of moving to bianial budget making. We

1:07:00 ↗ were all very um we were warned um just

1:07:05 ↗ to ensure that we don't end up doing

1:07:08 ↗ supplemental budgets every midby. And so

1:07:10 ↗ that's just one concern I've always had.

1:07:12 ↗ Um though, and I think former council

1:07:15 ↗ member Hunt would appreciate this, there

1:07:17 ↗ is still a lot within the Eco Northwest

1:07:21 ↗ report that we can prioritize and that's

1:07:23 ↗ where I would like to see the focus on

1:07:25 ↗ outside of what's required of us. Um we

1:07:28 ↗ have we have done quite a bit in that

1:07:31 ↗ work already. Um but there are some

1:07:33 ↗ things related to does our inclusionary

1:07:36 ↗ zoning um um makeup really actually make

1:07:39 ↗ economic sense to developers? There's

1:07:41 ↗ the development

1:07:44 ↗ density bonus program or bonus density

1:07:46 ↗ program, one of the one of the two that

1:07:49 ↗ needs kind of a hard look at it. Um, and

1:07:52 ↗ then yeah, there was parking, although I

1:07:54 ↗ guess the state legislature has made

1:07:55 ↗ changes to that, too. So, we'll we'll

1:07:57 ↗ have to be looking at that anyway. So,

1:08:00 ↗ that is kind of where my head sits right

1:08:02 ↗ now is do what's required of us. try not

1:08:05 ↗ to make too many major changes to um

1:08:10 ↗ budget going into the midby, but

1:08:12 ↗ prioritizing what was told of us by the

1:08:15 ↗ consultants that we paid to or was it

1:08:18 ↗ two years ago? Was it 2023? The Eco

1:08:20 ↗ Northwest report. Um really trying to

1:08:22 ↗ check that whole report off with a box

1:08:24 ↗ would be where I'd like to see our

1:08:26 ↗ resources. Thanks.

1:08:28 ↗ Oh, and um if you don't mind, one other

1:08:31 ↗ thing. I completely agree with Council

1:08:32 ↗ Member Jen around kind of adding on to

1:08:35 ↗ our future updates list. Um I have kind

1:08:39 ↗ of a little list just from conversations

1:08:41 ↗ that we've had in committee that would

1:08:43 ↗ make sense to add to that. We've had

1:08:44 ↗ conversations around setbacks. Um

1:08:47 ↗ although we've created kind of this new

1:08:50 ↗ flexibility or sorry, that's for outdoor

1:08:51 ↗ amenity space. Um setbacks. Then there's

1:08:54 ↗ outdoor amenity space. um we've created

1:08:56 ↗ this new flexibility option, but then

1:08:58 ↗ there's also is that really the right

1:08:59 ↗ policy? Um the commercial space height

1:09:04 ↗ um 15 feet and 17 feet I I think

1:09:06 ↗ something we were talking about same

1:09:08 ↗ with the window facade transparency. Um

1:09:11 ↗ and then as was said kind of the menu of

1:09:14 ↗ certification options instead of just

1:09:15 ↗ lead um and then also the corner storms.

1:09:18 ↗ Oh, by the way, should I ask? You're

1:09:20 ↗ right. In the title 18 um future update

1:09:24 ↗ list, it has like neighborhood cafes in

1:09:26 ↗ that. Is that the same thing as kind of

1:09:28 ↗ this corner store conversation that we

1:09:30 ↗ want to have? Is that what you meant by

1:09:31 ↗ it's reflected in?

1:09:32 ↗ >> Yeah. And I think some of that

1:09:33 ↗ conversation happened with a comp plan

1:09:35 ↗ update. Okay.

1:09:35 ↗ >> Uh with planning and policy commission

1:09:37 ↗ and I believe council um where the idea

1:09:40 ↗ was that this should happen at a

1:09:42 ↗ neighborhood level. Um, so as we do the

1:09:45 ↗ neighborhood planning, that could be one

1:09:46 ↗ of the things that could be asked.

1:09:49 ↗ >> Um, all right. Well, anyways, that was

1:09:51 ↗ the list of things that I had seen come

1:09:53 ↗ up at PTE. If anyone else has anything

1:09:55 ↗ else that they'd like to add, make sure

1:09:56 ↗ to incorporate that into your comments.

1:09:58 ↗ Thanks,

1:10:02 ↗ >> Deputy Council President D. Michelle.

1:10:05 ↗ >> So, I think Council Member Hall said

1:10:07 ↗ that we could get choose two or three.

1:10:10 ↗ So um I think uh mine would be six and

1:10:14 ↗ seven. Uh again the housing strategy

1:10:16 ↗ work plan to me is a just a foundational

1:10:19 ↗ document and uh I think the last

1:10:22 ↗ strategy housing strategy work plan

1:10:25 ↗ informed a lot of the work that we did

1:10:28 ↗ over the past six years or so. And I

1:10:31 ↗ would expect that that update would help

1:10:33 ↗ help us give direction um especially we

1:10:37 ↗ have a new director coming in or do new

1:10:40 ↗ manager coming in for economic vitality.

1:10:42 ↗ I just think it would be a great time to

1:10:45 ↗ to do that. Um and I do think that the

1:10:49 ↗ faith-based uh own land and MFTTE are

1:10:55 ↗ part of that strategy that we would be

1:10:57 ↗ thinking about. So, at least think about

1:11:00 ↗ um covering those through the strategic

1:11:05 ↗ work plan update. Um and then I agree

1:11:07 ↗ with council member Hall that the

1:11:09 ↗ housing analysis that was done by Eco

1:11:11 ↗ Northwest that we need to follow up on

1:11:13 ↗ that. And then I think I've spoken

1:11:17 ↗ many times in the transportation area

1:11:20 ↗ about my support for um the study for um

1:11:24 ↗ the central isqua station and alignment

1:11:27 ↗ study and uh so I will just reiterate

1:11:30 ↗ that very briefly that that would be uh

1:11:33 ↗ certainly a top priority for me as well.

1:11:35 ↗ Thanks

1:11:40 ↗ >> council member Jen. Um yeah, generally

1:11:42 ↗ agree with everything that uh we've

1:11:44 ↗ heard so far. Um you know to council

1:11:47 ↗ Hall's point about you know we don't

1:11:49 ↗ necessarily need to make like massive

1:11:50 ↗ changes in the mid benium in terms of

1:11:52 ↗ budgeting staff and all those things. I

1:11:54 ↗ think on the list that was provided the

1:11:57 ↗ three high priority items seem right to

1:12:00 ↗ me in terms of the things that are you

1:12:02 ↗ know the most imminent high priorities

1:12:04 ↗ which is implementing the eco northwest

1:12:06 ↗ reports um transit orange development

1:12:09 ↗ and updating the housing strategy. I

1:12:11 ↗ think probably doing the housing

1:12:13 ↗ strategy will then help us figure out,

1:12:15 ↗ you know, for the next cycle of the work

1:12:18 ↗ plan would or the code updates that we

1:12:20 ↗ might need to actually implement that

1:12:21 ↗ housing strategy. So, you know,

1:12:23 ↗ generally aligned with that. Um, I I do

1:12:27 ↗ think, you know, if there's some really

1:12:29 ↗ small updates like this uh green

1:12:32 ↗ building certification thing should not

1:12:34 ↗ take very long. we should just take what

1:12:37 ↗ a city like Bellev does and just uh I

1:12:41 ↗ mean in terms of oh you know these

1:12:43 ↗ certifications are in the same category

1:12:45 ↗ of stringency and then put it in into

1:12:47 ↗ our code in terms of you know these are

1:12:49 ↗ like the different requirements because

1:12:51 ↗ there's anyway um and I as someone who

1:12:54 ↗ works in the green building industry

1:12:56 ↗ offer my expertise for free for that

1:12:58 ↗ one. So, um, but yeah, I think in terms

1:13:00 ↗ of, you know, which ones we want to

1:13:02 ↗ spend significant staff time on, I think

1:13:03 ↗ the three that were identified as high

1:13:04 ↗ priority in the report seem to be

1:13:06 ↗ corrected to me.

1:13:09 ↗ >> Thank you. Next,

1:13:13 ↗ >> Council Member Ch.

1:13:14 ↗ >> Thank you.

1:13:17 ↗ Uh, first, thanks for the presentation

1:13:19 ↗ tonight, keeping it quite clear and

1:13:21 ↗ simple for for us. I appreciate that.

1:13:24 ↗ Um, I do agree that 6, seven, eight are

1:13:26 ↗ the high priority ones. We should keep a

1:13:28 ↗ focus on those three. Out of those

1:13:30 ↗ three, I agree with uh Deputy Council

1:13:33 ↗ President D. Michelle that the central

1:13:34 ↗ Esqua plan update to incorporate

1:13:36 ↗ transitory development overlay as a high

1:13:39 ↗ priority. I'd put that at the highest

1:13:41 ↗ for me of the of the three. Um, to me

1:13:44 ↗ it's a long-term planning piece that uh

1:13:48 ↗ is going to take a significant area in

1:13:51 ↗ our valley floor when we get done with

1:13:54 ↗ the zoning around it and then the

1:13:55 ↗ overlay that we may put on top of it. Um

1:13:58 ↗ it's going to take careful planning to

1:14:00 ↗ figure out what um we would like to see

1:14:04 ↗ there and then feedback from the

1:14:05 ↗ community to find out what they would

1:14:07 ↗ like to see there and um trying to work

1:14:10 ↗ and and continue that process and

1:14:12 ↗ continue to move it forward um I think

1:14:15 ↗ is very important for us. 2043

1:14:18 ↗ um might not be the new day. uh it might

1:14:20 ↗ be out a little bit farther to 2044 or

1:14:24 ↗ 48, but um those uh dates roll quickly

1:14:27 ↗ to us and we need to make sure that we

1:14:29 ↗ are keeping the momentum on that

1:14:31 ↗ project. Thank you,

1:14:36 ↗ >> Council Member Marks.

1:14:37 ↗ >> Uh thank you.

1:14:40 ↗ I would say items six and seven uh the

1:14:44 ↗ housing related pieces uh those two of

1:14:46 ↗ the high priority uh are the highest

1:14:49 ↗ priority for me personally. You know, I

1:14:51 ↗ have been um following um the election

1:14:55 ↗ cycle uh this year. I'm I guess I'm

1:14:58 ↗ technically a candidate. Uh so it's

1:15:00 ↗ probably a good idea. Um, but you know,

1:15:02 ↗ my understanding is what the public is

1:15:04 ↗ saying they care about the most is, you

1:15:07 ↗ know, traffic and affordability of

1:15:09 ↗ housing. And so what they're not saying

1:15:12 ↗ is, you know, do you guys have a plan

1:15:15 ↗ for when uh, you know, light rail gets

1:15:17 ↗ here? So I think that's I I'm I mean, I

1:15:23 ↗ supported um that everybody knows I have

1:15:25 ↗ concerns about how that gets executed.

1:15:28 ↗ that's important to do, but the housing

1:15:29 ↗ pieces are really dire direly urgent.

1:15:33 ↗ And so, um, six and seven are are the

1:15:36 ↗ highest priority for me. Eight should

1:15:38 ↗ get done. We've we're funding it. Uh, it

1:15:40 ↗ will get done, but um, I'm desperate to

1:15:43 ↗ hear more about housing strategies and

1:15:46 ↗ how we can get affordability. I I note

1:15:48 ↗ some development that's occurring right

1:15:50 ↗ now um in the valley um in multif family

1:15:54 ↗ housing that I'm excited about that I

1:15:55 ↗ hadn't hadn't known about right on

1:15:57 ↗ Newport. Um and so, you know, maybe that

1:16:00 ↗ means the economy is starting to pick up

1:16:02 ↗ a little bit. I don't know. I'm not a

1:16:04 ↗ expert in uh uh real estate, but I'm I'm

1:16:08 ↗ excited about that. And I just we have

1:16:11 ↗ to be able to look our residents in the

1:16:13 ↗ eye and say, "Yes, we're doing

1:16:14 ↗ everything we can to make Isiqua more

1:16:16 ↗ affordable." So, six and seven are the

1:16:18 ↗ highest priority for me. Thank you.

1:16:23 ↗ >> Nothing to add, Council Member Beret.

1:16:26 ↗ Okay. Well, then I will take a moment

1:16:29 ↗ just to kind of step back on this. Um, I

1:16:33 ↗ think the report that we got from Eco

1:16:36 ↗ Northwest was phenomenal and that we

1:16:40 ↗ should be full steam ahead on making

1:16:43 ↗ those changes. And I would note that

1:16:45 ↗ they really

1:16:47 ↗ recognized that

1:16:50 ↗ parking

1:16:52 ↗ and whatever adjustments we need to make

1:16:55 ↗ to MFTts or things like that all has to

1:16:58 ↗ come together. So my preference would be

1:17:02 ↗ then we have the state requirement to do

1:17:04 ↗ parking rather than wait until the end

1:17:07 ↗ when that is required. take that on and

1:17:09 ↗ really be able to do the proforma

1:17:12 ↗ analysis that says look if we change the

1:17:15 ↗ requirements on parking and the whatever

1:17:18 ↗ structured require structured parking

1:17:20 ↗ requirements does that enable our

1:17:24 ↗ pioneer project does that enable

1:17:27 ↗ opportunities in the light rail area

1:17:30 ↗ does that enable MFTTE feasibility so I

1:17:34 ↗ think that is from my perspective a

1:17:36 ↗ really important way to address what Eco

1:17:40 ↗ Northwest told us in that report was

1:17:43 ↗ here's all the things that all the

1:17:46 ↗ reasons that you're not getting more

1:17:48 ↗ affordable housing. Um, so that's really

1:17:51 ↗ important. I will also mention just

1:17:54 ↗ permit streamlining from my perspective.

1:17:57 ↗ I know that wasn't, you know, like

1:17:59 ↗ necessarily one of the new work plan

1:18:02 ↗ items, but I want to make sure that the

1:18:04 ↗ process improvements and the customer

1:18:06 ↗ service focus and utilizing technology

1:18:09 ↗ for things like an AI first draft review

1:18:13 ↗ so that our staff members get the

1:18:15 ↗ opportunity to do things that they love

1:18:18 ↗ rather than having to do the manual, all

1:18:20 ↗ of those pieces. I think that's a

1:18:22 ↗ phenomenal way for us to be responsive

1:18:26 ↗ to the community, get more um

1:18:30 ↗ affordability, and have our staff not be

1:18:32 ↗ burnt out um from those types of

1:18:35 ↗ reviews. So, that's something I want to

1:18:38 ↗ emphasize. Um I also want to emphasize

1:18:41 ↗ what council member Jen said. I think we

1:18:43 ↗ have a few things here that are probably

1:18:46 ↗ small enough or that we could borrow

1:18:50 ↗ from another city easily enough that we

1:18:53 ↗ don't have to make it into a big

1:18:54 ↗ project.

1:18:56 ↗ And toward that idea, I would

1:19:00 ↗ respectfully

1:19:02 ↗ ask council members and staff to just

1:19:05 ↗ really I feel like the Eco Northwest

1:19:08 ↗ report

1:19:10 ↗ gives us something that we need to act

1:19:13 ↗ on now and that if we spend our time on

1:19:16 ↗ a housing strategy work plan,

1:19:19 ↗ we're going to delay implementation of

1:19:22 ↗ things. And I don't like the idea of

1:19:24 ↗ spending time planning on something when

1:19:27 ↗ we already have a plan that we haven't

1:19:29 ↗ acted on completely.

1:19:31 ↗ So I'm really concerned if we're going

1:19:34 ↗ to say, "Oh, it's been a while since we

1:19:37 ↗ did this, so we need to step back."

1:19:38 ↗ Well, it's also been a while since we

1:19:39 ↗ got the Echo Northwest report, and I

1:19:43 ↗ really want to make sure that we are

1:19:44 ↗ getting everything out of that that we

1:19:46 ↗ can before we go on another planning

1:19:49 ↗ journey. And from my perspective, that

1:19:51 ↗ also includes the neighborhood. um plans

1:19:54 ↗ because I feel like we we have a good

1:19:58 ↗ set of neighborhoods, but we have things

1:20:00 ↗ like traffic calming that people are

1:20:03 ↗ asking for or things like Thank you. Um

1:20:08 ↗ things like the

1:20:11 ↗ um just things that we can take care of

1:20:16 ↗ without

1:20:18 ↗ putting the time in a big planning

1:20:20 ↗ project that sometimes we've done these

1:20:24 ↗ things and then haven't been able to act

1:20:25 ↗ on all of them.

1:20:28 ↗ Um and then let's see there were a few

1:20:30 ↗ other things. Um, I am,

1:20:34 ↗ I'll be frank, concerned about putting

1:20:36 ↗ too much time into light rail station

1:20:39 ↗ planning given Sound Transit's budget

1:20:41 ↗ wos. I would love to have a

1:20:44 ↗ conversation, with council, with the

1:20:46 ↗ community about, you know, I I know when

1:20:50 ↗ Kirkland was looking at Sound Transit 3

1:20:52 ↗ originally, they were like, "Hey, you

1:20:54 ↗ could get us bus rapid transit now and

1:20:57 ↗ it would cost a third of the cost." And

1:21:01 ↗ I'm willing to have that conversation. I

1:21:04 ↗ I think we still need the central plan.

1:21:07 ↗ We still need um an overlay there, but I

1:21:13 ↗ think that if we are the last stop on

1:21:16 ↗ this, that there is a possibility that

1:21:18 ↗ we are going to spend lots and lots of

1:21:20 ↗ money on planning for something that is

1:21:23 ↗ going to be ultimately out of our

1:21:25 ↗ control and that we won't end up

1:21:27 ↗ receiving. Um, so I have a little bit of

1:21:29 ↗ concerns about putting

1:21:32 ↗ um those funding there. And then I also

1:21:34 ↗ have a little bit of concerns about an

1:21:37 ↗ MFT program that focuses on that 80% um

1:21:41 ↗ area immediate income as um the income

1:21:45 ↗ requirement given the Seattle Times

1:21:47 ↗ article about um the market actually

1:21:51 ↗ providing that 80 to 100% AMI housing um

1:21:56 ↗ at a more affordable rate in some cases.

1:21:59 ↗ And so before we go into a deeper dive

1:22:03 ↗ on MFTTE and ways that we can provide

1:22:07 ↗ tax exemptions to get this level of

1:22:09 ↗ housing, I think we should be really

1:22:12 ↗ clear about what is our role as

1:22:14 ↗ government. Is our role providing the

1:22:16 ↗ housing that the market cannot or is our

1:22:19 ↗ role creating an incentive that u will

1:22:23 ↗ create some of that through a developer

1:22:26 ↗ and what is the cost to that being a

1:22:30 ↗ barrier for um housing that could serve

1:22:34 ↗ that at a market rate um rate and anyway

1:22:37 ↗ so

1:22:39 ↗ okay

1:22:41 ↗ I'm gonna take a step back here because

1:22:43 ↗ I've written a a lot of stuff down. I

1:22:46 ↗ saw a lot of um uh mentions of Eco

1:22:51 ↗ Northwest report. Um a lot of housing

1:22:55 ↗ strategy work plan. Um some different

1:23:01 ↗ ideas on light rail station study and um

1:23:06 ↗ where we fall as a council there.

1:23:08 ↗ Anybody want to take a second stab at

1:23:11 ↗ any ideas or should I ask staff? Council

1:23:15 ↗ member Hall.

1:23:16 ↗ >> Well, I just wanted to completely agree

1:23:19 ↗ with you on the sequencing of we have

1:23:23 ↗ the eco eco I don't know why I can't say

1:23:25 ↗ this word eco northwest report ahead of

1:23:28 ↗ us with action items that we have been

1:23:31 ↗ slowly ticking off over the years too. I

1:23:33 ↗ would really like to see our focus on um

1:23:36 ↗ finalizing implementation of that plan

1:23:38 ↗ before well and maybe I can phrase this

1:23:41 ↗ as a question director Dolly Wall. My

1:23:43 ↗ instinct would be I' I'd like to phase

1:23:46 ↗ that where that is phase one and then

1:23:49 ↗ potentially now what are the next steps

1:23:50 ↗ in a new housing strategy work plan

1:23:52 ↗ comes after that. But is that do we need

1:23:55 ↗ to be thinking about it that way or

1:23:56 ↗ would those things be happening kind of

1:23:59 ↗ next to each other? I think we can start

1:24:01 ↗ with the report and say here were the

1:24:03 ↗ recommendations, here's what we've done,

1:24:05 ↗ here's what we can do conversation with

1:24:07 ↗ council and then tease out real

1:24:09 ↗ quantifiable things from that report. Uh

1:24:13 ↗ it studied three strategies out of the

1:24:15 ↗ nine strategies out that are in the

1:24:16 ↗ housing action plan. So more work could

1:24:19 ↗ be done about those other strategies,

1:24:22 ↗ but these were prioritized because we

1:24:24 ↗ had to quantify, you know, there was

1:24:25 ↗ only so much money and we, you know,

1:24:27 ↗ have that conversation with council

1:24:28 ↗ about which ones out of the nine to pick

1:24:31 ↗ to study. Um so we can look at the other

1:24:34 ↗ strategies but we can also look at the

1:24:36 ↗ the plan update um more holistically

1:24:39 ↗ before we study other strategies because

1:24:43 ↗ you know some of the lay of the land has

1:24:44 ↗ changed just with legislator's focus on

1:24:48 ↗ housing. Um now with the new governor's

1:24:52 ↗ um you know roundt that we attended

1:24:54 ↗ there's probably more stuff go you know

1:24:57 ↗ in the in the works of what to do at the

1:25:00 ↗ state level that we will have to to kind

1:25:02 ↗ of uh pivot and and do as well. So um

1:25:07 ↗ but but it it provides a good foundation

1:25:10 ↗ and you know the the nine strategies it

1:25:12 ↗ gives you something tangible uh rather

1:25:14 ↗ than differences in opinion and it's a

1:25:16 ↗ community conversations that inform that

1:25:18 ↗ plan. So that's a good place but really

1:25:22 ↗ first step would be looking at that plan

1:25:23 ↗ and saying okay what have we done uh out

1:25:26 ↗ of implementation one would be the eco

1:25:28 ↗ northwest and these three strategies is

1:25:30 ↗ there other things there or do we start

1:25:33 ↗ having you know a an update to the plan

1:25:37 ↗ because things have changed at the state

1:25:39 ↗ law level or we've learned a few things

1:25:41 ↗ or you know middle housing has come into

1:25:43 ↗ play that didn't exist when in 2018. So

1:25:46 ↗ what does that shift look like from a

1:25:50 ↗ from a housing act, you know, strategies

1:25:52 ↗ plan piece? So we're happy to do

1:25:55 ↗ whatever, you know, council prefers in

1:25:58 ↗ terms of the order um that you'd like us

1:26:01 ↗ to do, but there's there's starting with

1:26:03 ↗ the phase one um of looking at

1:26:06 ↗ implementation in the Eco Northwest is

1:26:08 ↗ certainly something we can start off and

1:26:10 ↗ then build from there.

1:26:14 ↗ Council

1:26:14 ↗ >> member Shane

1:26:16 ↗ Um to your point, I liked your point

1:26:19 ↗ about, you know, just given some

1:26:21 ↗ transits funding situation exploring

1:26:23 ↗ different options. I'm curious if we

1:26:26 ↗ could potentially retool part of the

1:26:28 ↗ light rail station area and alignment

1:26:30 ↗ planning to also include some potential

1:26:32 ↗ alignments for bus rapid transit so that

1:26:34 ↗ we could like compare, you know, what

1:26:36 ↗ those look like and just be cleareyed

1:26:38 ↗ about, okay, well, you know what? and

1:26:41 ↗ some transit will probably have some

1:26:42 ↗ budget implications, but just seeing,

1:26:44 ↗ you know, how that's going to change

1:26:46 ↗ potentially the level of transit service

1:26:48 ↗ that we get and what that would look

1:26:50 ↗ like for a city, I think that could be a

1:26:51 ↗ really interesting way that we could use

1:26:52 ↗ this budget that we already have. um as

1:26:55 ↗ far as you know planning for the transit

1:26:59 ↗ oriented development and like the

1:27:01 ↗ overlays and fitting in with the MFTts

1:27:03 ↗ from the state. I think that kind of

1:27:06 ↗ goes back to my original point of, you

1:27:08 ↗ know, are we going to revisit the MFTTE

1:27:11 ↗ in general? Um, with the Pioneer

1:27:13 ↗ project, we haven't really seen uptake

1:27:14 ↗ of it constru, you know, given where

1:27:17 ↗ construction costs have changed over the

1:27:20 ↗ last like five years compared to a lot

1:27:22 ↗ of the data that we have from MFT

1:27:23 ↗ programs is from like pre- pandemic. So,

1:27:25 ↗ I think we really need to, you know, if

1:27:27 ↗ we really are serious about doing this,

1:27:29 ↗ I think we might need to take another

1:27:31 ↗ look at this. Um, that said, you know,

1:27:33 ↗ given the con constraints with

1:27:35 ↗ resources.

1:27:37 ↗ It's probably fine if we prior I think

1:27:40 ↗ it's good for us to prioritize what's in

1:27:42 ↗ the Eco Northwest report because that's

1:27:44 ↗ like actionable projects that we can

1:27:46 ↗ implement now. Um and then you know

1:27:48 ↗ these other things figure out how we can

1:27:50 ↗ fit it in given staff capacity over

1:27:52 ↗ time.

1:27:53 ↗ >> Yeah. One thing to um you know to add to

1:27:56 ↗ this whole discussion about a bus rapid

1:27:58 ↗ uh versus light rail. Uh that was some

1:28:01 ↗ transits bone to the communities that

1:28:02 ↗ didn't get light rail. So Reon and

1:28:04 ↗ Kirkland long haul there's a study that

1:28:07 ↗ the state um you know funded where urban

1:28:11 ↗ land institute sort of did that study

1:28:13 ↗ and I had attended some of the

1:28:14 ↗ presentation what they found was um and

1:28:17 ↗ the first time I heard this say in that

1:28:19 ↗ fashion highost cities and lowcost

1:28:21 ↗ cities. So they looked at, you know,

1:28:24 ↗ places like Isukqua, light rail would be

1:28:26 ↗ heavily used and people would shed their

1:28:28 ↗ cars much more than if say city of

1:28:31 ↗ Auburn got light rail because they still

1:28:33 ↗ need to go, you know, depend on their

1:28:35 ↗ vehicles to go to their warehouse u you

1:28:38 ↗ know and those connections and seem to

1:28:40 ↗ be missing. So, so there's a little

1:28:43 ↗ there's a lot that the region is

1:28:45 ↗ learning in terms of um light rail. Uh

1:28:49 ↗ but the city's investment, you know,

1:28:51 ↗ would one it would be the biggest public

1:28:52 ↗ investment if Isuk were to get the light

1:28:55 ↗ rail station. Um the the bus rapid

1:28:58 ↗ transit that SD was part of the SD3 was

1:29:01 ↗ a billion dollar project to run a bus

1:29:05 ↗ every 10 minutes from Burian to Lynwood.

1:29:08 ↗ And that that's what you see happening

1:29:09 ↗ on 405. Uh so that also comes at a cost

1:29:13 ↗ because if you have bus rapid transit,

1:29:15 ↗ you need a new lane where you're not

1:29:18 ↗ behind cars. So so in terms of what we

1:29:21 ↗ know at this point, um based on the

1:29:25 ↗ comparisons between those two, we

1:29:26 ↗ already know some of these things. um

1:29:29 ↗ and city's planning has predicated the

1:29:32 ↗ central court plan and everything sort

1:29:34 ↗ of anticipates um and and from the

1:29:37 ↗ voters who've been paying and you know

1:29:40 ↗ waiting for their grandchildren to ride

1:29:42 ↗ the ride the light trail in the future.

1:29:44 ↗ So, so it's complicated but but at this

1:29:47 ↗ stage I think um we are studying the

1:29:49 ↗ preferred location and and the other

1:29:52 ↗ thing that I think public works is uh

1:29:54 ↗ taking a lead on is the over and under

1:29:56 ↗ crossing uh discussion with council

1:29:59 ↗ related to that. But where yeah

1:30:04 ↗ deputy council president Michelle

1:30:06 ↗ >> yeah I just uh I was going to make

1:30:08 ↗ remarks very similar. Um I think uh

1:30:12 ↗ probably it would help us to take a look

1:30:14 ↗ at what is bus rapid transit. Um uh the

1:30:18 ↗ perfect example of bus rapid transit is

1:30:21 ↗ Pacific Highway where you have a long

1:30:24 ↗ long corridor with many many businesses.

1:30:27 ↗ Um and it is not at all similar to what

1:30:30 ↗ we have here. We have really good

1:30:33 ↗ connections

1:30:35 ↗ um down I90

1:30:37 ↗ um already which uh take us places very

1:30:40 ↗ rapidly. Uh but where rapid bus rapid

1:30:44 ↗ trans would fit into Isiqua uh is very

1:30:48 ↗ difficult to tell because we don't have

1:30:51 ↗ that long long corridor of uh businesses

1:30:54 ↗ and housing and businesses and housing

1:30:58 ↗ uh where people get off and on every two

1:31:00 ↗ three blocks. Uh we just don't have

1:31:03 ↗ anything like that. So, um

1:31:07 ↗ I think it would be very good for us to

1:31:09 ↗ have like a work study session to

1:31:10 ↗ explore those two and just explain what

1:31:14 ↗ uh the advantages and disadvantages of

1:31:18 ↗ light rail versus bus uh rapid transit

1:31:20 ↗ would be for a location like Isiqua. Um

1:31:25 ↗ we the other thing I I would hate to see

1:31:28 ↗ us in a moment of headlines

1:31:32 ↗ give up on a major project uh because

1:31:36 ↗ we're facing financial problems. We have

1:31:38 ↗ faced financial problems

1:31:41 ↗ on on this on these kinds of projects

1:31:43 ↗ forever and yet somehow we have a light

1:31:47 ↗ rail system that now goes all the way to

1:31:50 ↗ Redmond. And so I think for us to toss

1:31:53 ↗ in the towel at this point uh with just

1:31:56 ↗ one headline what they're doing I think

1:31:58 ↗ in my opinion is they're aligning

1:32:01 ↗ uh their budget with reality. That

1:32:03 ↗ doesn't mean that we're going to lose

1:32:05 ↗ this project. It means that uh we're

1:32:08 ↗ going to have better budgeting. So uh

1:32:10 ↗ I'm not ready to throw in the towel on

1:32:12 ↗ the light rail project at this point. Uh

1:32:15 ↗ I'd like to wait and see where we're

1:32:17 ↗ going to go. A lot of things are

1:32:19 ↗ happening in this country economically.

1:32:21 ↗ We do not know where this is going to

1:32:23 ↗ end up. So those are my two comments.

1:32:27 ↗ >> Council member Mertz.

1:32:31 ↗ So, one of the challenges when talking

1:32:33 ↗ about the light rail project and sound

1:32:36 ↗ transit and and uh uh transit in in this

1:32:40 ↗ area is the combination of it's not like

1:32:44 ↗ are we going to not get a super great

1:32:47 ↗ mass transit system that would come to

1:32:50 ↗ Isiqua. Whenever I talk to people in the

1:32:53 ↗ community about how this is going to

1:32:55 ↗ shape up and about how we're going to

1:32:56 ↗ have to go into Belleview before we can

1:32:58 ↗ get into Seattle, people are miserable

1:33:00 ↗ and they say, "What the heck, man? I can

1:33:02 ↗ take the 554 right now straight into

1:33:04 ↗ Seattle." So, this this whole thing

1:33:08 ↗ needs a lot of care and attention. Uh we

1:33:10 ↗ all in this area spend a lot of money on

1:33:12 ↗ our tabs every year um to pay for for

1:33:15 ↗ sound transit and and what's coming um

1:33:19 ↗ is is

1:33:22 ↗ not even not perfect. It's it's it's

1:33:24 ↗ really in a lot of ways will look worse

1:33:26 ↗ than than what we have right now.

1:33:28 ↗ Meanwhile, you know, this massive job

1:33:31 ↗ center that is South King County is

1:33:33 ↗ completely unserved for us, right? Like

1:33:35 ↗ getting to South King County from Isiqua

1:33:38 ↗ with transit is is just a non-starter.

1:33:41 ↗ You you can't do it. And that's where

1:33:43 ↗ the jobs are, right? If we want to talk

1:33:45 ↗ about connecting folks in Isiqua with

1:33:47 ↗ where the jobs are, and there's jobs in

1:33:49 ↗ Seattle and there's jobs in Belleview,

1:33:51 ↗ but I've spent most of the last 25 years

1:33:53 ↗ commuting to Kent and and dealing with

1:33:56 ↗ the S-curves and and they're miserable

1:33:58 ↗ and they would it would so benefit from

1:34:00 ↗ having some sort of transit. So, I I say

1:34:03 ↗ all these things just to say that um you

1:34:06 ↗ know, we measure all that against what I

1:34:08 ↗ continue to believe is a real risk of

1:34:11 ↗ getting lots and lots of parking here

1:34:13 ↗ for the folks who live further east. So,

1:34:16 ↗ you know, I I I want to see it happen. I

1:34:19 ↗ want that all this money that I've been

1:34:20 ↗ pouring into tabs for all these years

1:34:22 ↗ and the and the and the aspiration that

1:34:25 ↗ East King County showed when it

1:34:26 ↗ supported ST3, I want to see all that

1:34:29 ↗ happen. I'm not I'm not ready to throw

1:34:32 ↗ in the towel, but there's there's just

1:34:33 ↗ there are a lot of uh dragons in the in

1:34:37 ↗ the public policy between here and

1:34:39 ↗ getting the transit that would impact

1:34:42 ↗ Isiqua residents and would um would

1:34:45 ↗ reduce uh traffic and reduce the amount

1:34:48 ↗ of um the amount of pollution that's

1:34:51 ↗ generated by car trips in and out of

1:34:53 ↗ Isiquas. we have, you know, whatever it

1:34:55 ↗ is, 12,000 cars per hour um in the for

1:34:58 ↗ the morning commute and the afternoon

1:35:00 ↗ commute. So, um you know, I I'm I'm I'm

1:35:04 ↗ sticking with it. Um but I'm I I have

1:35:07 ↗ just really really serious concerns. So

1:35:09 ↗ meanwhile, I think that we should uh

1:35:13 ↗ move forward with the housing pieces

1:35:14 ↗ that we can, you know, part of, you

1:35:17 ↗ know, if part of our solution is to get

1:35:20 ↗ um better mass transit here, an equal

1:35:23 ↗ part of the solution is to provide

1:35:24 ↗ houses for the people that work here and

1:35:27 ↗ provide jobs for the people who live

1:35:28 ↗ here. And let's work on if we have if we

1:35:31 ↗ have those keys in front of us and

1:35:32 ↗ they're and they're in our destiny to

1:35:35 ↗ change, let's go let's go get that done.

1:35:38 ↗ And then if sound transit happens in my

1:35:40 ↗ lifetime, I will say huzzah.

1:35:45 ↗ >> Well, maybe that's a wonderful way to

1:35:48 ↗ take it. Uh, Council Member Jen.

1:35:50 ↗ >> Yeah. Uh, Council Member Mart mentioned,

1:35:53 ↗ you know, our residents who complain

1:35:55 ↗ about um the how light roll will not

1:35:59 ↗ improve their transit service. I have a

1:36:01 ↗ constituent in my household who

1:36:02 ↗ complains about this literally every day

1:36:04 ↗ who r fears the day that the light rail

1:36:07 ↗ bridge over I90 will open because that

1:36:09 ↗ will mean that you know to go to Seattle

1:36:11 ↗ to go to work you're going to have to

1:36:12 ↗ transfer at the south south Belleview

1:36:14 ↗ station which is out of the way. Um so

1:36:17 ↗ you know that's a daily discussion in my

1:36:20 ↗ household. Um I think you know I your

1:36:23 ↗ point on

1:36:25 ↗ just like the general transit service in

1:36:28 ↗ this area is very well taken and one

1:36:30 ↗ thing that voters are very concerned

1:36:32 ↗ about um including our public commenters

1:36:34 ↗ is the amount of traffic going through

1:36:35 ↗ Oldtown from people who live in Reton

1:36:38 ↗ Highlands or Maple Valley south of here

1:36:40 ↗ and work north of here in Belleview or

1:36:41 ↗ Redmond or Seattle. And you know there

1:36:44 ↗ really is no way about it that we are

1:36:47 ↗ very severely constrained by geography.

1:36:48 ↗ the most direct way is to go between

1:36:50 ↗ Squawk and Tiger Mountain or between

1:36:52 ↗ Squawk and Cougar Mountain. And guess

1:36:53 ↗ what? The only way to go through there

1:36:54 ↗ is on our neighborhood streets. And so,

1:36:57 ↗ and currently there's no transit

1:36:58 ↗ options. And so, one thing that, you

1:37:01 ↗ know, we've been talking with voters

1:37:02 ↗ about is the potential to add more

1:37:04 ↗ transit options there. If there is I

1:37:06 ↗ mean and this would you know be a whole

1:37:08 ↗ other can of worms but if there is the

1:37:10 ↗ potential to say you know hey just

1:37:12 ↗ thinking about where our actual needs

1:37:14 ↗ are as a community in terms of reducing

1:37:16 ↗ traffic reducing pollution in our

1:37:18 ↗ residential neighborhoods is you know

1:37:20 ↗ okay sure we we want bus rapid transit

1:37:22 ↗ to Kirkland but really what we need is

1:37:24 ↗ bus rapid transit to Maple Valley. And

1:37:27 ↗ so if there I mean if there's any way

1:37:29 ↗ for us to say okay, you know, we're in

1:37:31 ↗ this budget situation. How can we figure

1:37:33 ↗ out what is actually the best use of our

1:37:35 ↗ dollars instead of just going down this

1:37:36 ↗ path that we approved 10 years ago

1:37:38 ↗ because that's what was presented to

1:37:39 ↗ voters in 2016. We're in a totally

1:37:42 ↗ different place now. I think basically

1:37:44 ↗ everything is on the table and that's

1:37:46 ↗ something where, you know, just given

1:37:48 ↗ everything that we've people are not

1:37:50 ↗ excited about having a train to

1:37:51 ↗ Kirkland. I mean really. So I think you

1:37:54 ↗ know how can we as a city kind of

1:37:58 ↗ facilitate that discussion and see if if

1:38:02 ↗ this is the point that we need to just

1:38:03 ↗ totally rethink what transit service

1:38:05 ↗ we're getting and bus rapid transit is

1:38:06 ↗ less expensive than light rail. So maybe

1:38:09 ↗ if we don't get the light rail we could

1:38:11 ↗ do BRTs which would actually be way

1:38:13 ↗ better.

1:38:14 ↗ >> Yeah. You know one thing I would like to

1:38:15 ↗ add is the communities that didn't want

1:38:17 ↗ light rail at the time were the were

1:38:20 ↗ where the alignment was running through

1:38:21 ↗ residential neighborhoods. So that was

1:38:23 ↗ sort of the the push back. I know that

1:38:26 ↗ for Reton and I know that for Kirkland

1:38:28 ↗ as well. Uh so so it was more about

1:38:30 ↗ impacts to people that were living in

1:38:33 ↗ those areas. Here we're connecting a dot

1:38:35 ↗ of a future potential. It may not exist

1:38:37 ↗ today, but you know the consultant who's

1:38:40 ↗ done um some case studies for us is also

1:38:43 ↗ what this can look like. And I wish we

1:38:46 ↗ could share some of those photos with

1:38:47 ↗ you because it it's phenomenal of what

1:38:50 ↗ transit and land use, how well connected

1:38:52 ↗ those two items are and and it isn't

1:38:54 ↗ what's on the ground today, but what a

1:38:57 ↗ future light rail station could bring to

1:38:59 ↗ Isiqua. So I think it it's a good debate

1:39:01 ↗ and it's a good conversation. Um perhaps

1:39:04 ↗ we need to do more work in terms of

1:39:06 ↗ sharing some of the success stories of

1:39:07 ↗ light rail and other things.

1:39:11 ↗ So, I guess one thing I would say is as

1:39:15 ↗ much as we may have some questions about

1:39:19 ↗ whether or not light rail and sound

1:39:20 ↗ transit is going to, you know, other

1:39:23 ↗ things that are appearing on here. I

1:39:26 ↗ don't think that changes our commitment

1:39:28 ↗ to the central Isiqua plan and the idea

1:39:31 ↗ that we still need to do something that

1:39:34 ↗ enables housing on the valley floor that

1:39:40 ↗ makes it feasible.

1:39:42 ↗ um whether that is through parking um

1:39:46 ↗ adjustments, you know, what level of

1:39:50 ↗ height requirement or height um is

1:39:52 ↗ allowed, the density um in those spaces.

1:39:55 ↗ So, it it may be that we can still move

1:40:00 ↗ toward that idea even with um some of

1:40:04 ↗ the

1:40:06 ↗ differing opinions on um what the light

1:40:09 ↗ rail area is. there's still that sense

1:40:11 ↗ of um the central plan and the housing

1:40:14 ↗ that we need to figure out how to unlock

1:40:16 ↗ that um in that area.

1:40:20 ↗ Okay. Anybody else coming through?

1:40:25 ↗ Okay. City administrator.

1:40:28 ↗ >> Um C President, members of the council,

1:40:31 ↗ thank you for this great feedback. We

1:40:33 ↗ would like to take a couple minutes

1:40:35 ↗ recess to make sure we compare our notes

1:40:37 ↗ to hear what we've thought we've heard

1:40:40 ↗ and to see if we've identified anything

1:40:41 ↗ that might require additional resources

1:40:43 ↗ or can we address what you've done what

1:40:46 ↗ you've said this evening with the

1:40:48 ↗ resources we have. So we could take five

1:40:50 ↗ minutes or so that'd be great.

1:40:52 ↗ >> Yeah. And I guess what I would say is

1:40:54 ↗ there was some feedback on what do we

1:40:56 ↗ want to do, but there was also some

1:40:58 ↗ feedback on what um timeline, which

1:41:02 ↗ things get handled first. And so if

1:41:04 ↗ there's any sense of that that you can

1:41:06 ↗ come up with during the recess, that

1:41:08 ↗ would be great.

1:41:08 ↗ >> Very good.

1:41:09 ↗ >> Okay, we'll take a fivem minute recess.

1:41:11 ↗ >> Sure.

1:41:12 ↗ >> Thanks. We'll be back at 8:20.

1:41:26 ↗ Okay, we are back from our recess. You

1:41:29 ↗ all have had an opportunity to chat and

1:41:32 ↗ talk. What is your feedback?

1:41:35 ↗ >> Uh again, thank you. Um few topics we

1:41:38 ↗ wanted to cover. First of all, let me

1:41:39 ↗ talk about transportation. Um it's a

1:41:42 ↗ multifaceted topic. It certainly goes

1:41:44 ↗ far beyond uh planning and zoning

1:41:48 ↗ requirements. Um you know, Mayor Paulie

1:41:51 ↗ feels very strongly about this. We've

1:41:53 ↗ expended a lot of resources uh dealing

1:41:56 ↗ not only with the future of light rail,

1:41:59 ↗ but also uh there are policy issues. You

1:42:02 ↗ know, Thomas Vald is here. Thomas's time

1:42:04 ↗ gets pulled in lots of different

1:42:06 ↗ directions and is getting pulled even

1:42:08 ↗ more and more into the policym at Sound

1:42:12 ↗ Transit. Um the administration feels

1:42:14 ↗ very strongly that we need to continue

1:42:17 ↗ to be very active advocating for what's

1:42:19 ↗ in ST3. The voters of Isiqua have

1:42:21 ↗ approved it. The voters of King County

1:42:23 ↗ have approved it and we are going to do

1:42:24 ↗ everything in our power uh to make sure

1:42:27 ↗ that Sound Transit Board uh with under

1:42:30 ↗ Mayor Paulie's direction understands

1:42:32 ↗ that this is still a priority for Isqua.

1:42:34 ↗ But that said, there are absolutely

1:42:36 ↗ issues happening today uh that we need

1:42:38 ↗ to continue to be mindful of. internal

1:42:40 ↗ traffic issues in Oldtown and elsewhere,

1:42:43 ↗ um, uh, advanced transportation systems,

1:42:46 ↗ all the things that we have talked

1:42:47 ↗ about. Uh, and so we are committed to

1:42:49 ↗ doing that. We have, uh, various pots in

1:42:52 ↗ the budget, uh, to deal with it. We're

1:42:54 ↗ looking at continuing, uh, to reallocate

1:42:58 ↗ existing staff. Uh, Andrew Snyder is on

1:43:00 ↗ the call, uh, this evening. uh more and

1:43:02 ↗ more of her time is being spent in uh

1:43:05 ↗ transportation planning uh working with

1:43:07 ↗ our partners and so that will continue

1:43:10 ↗ uh for both uh short-term and long-term

1:43:14 ↗ transportation needs. So we will

1:43:15 ↗ continue to work on that. Um you know we

1:43:19 ↗ also heard from you this evening um

1:43:21 ↗ interest about central Isiqua and how uh

1:43:25 ↗ light rail does or does not impact

1:43:28 ↗ central Isiqua.

1:43:30 ↗ Kristen is here to talk maybe just a

1:43:32 ↗ little bit about um you know some of the

1:43:35 ↗ assumptions that we've been under and

1:43:37 ↗ any changes to light rail coming or not

1:43:40 ↗ coming will have impacts on how central

1:43:43 ↗ is plays out.

1:43:45 ↗ Yes, the central isqua plan was actually

1:43:47 ↗ started in 2007 prior to any discussions

1:43:51 ↗ about light rail coming to Isiqua and

1:43:52 ↗ then discussions started. So then we put

1:43:55 ↗ it in there. But the whole idea is that

1:43:56 ↗ our development would occur in central

1:43:58 ↗ Isiqua before or the rest of our

1:44:00 ↗ development would occur in central

1:44:01 ↗ Isiqua prior to light rail coming here.

1:44:03 ↗ But it does play a factor. But even if

1:44:05 ↗ light rail were to go away and we did

1:44:07 ↗ bus rapid transit that come comes

1:44:09 ↗ through here. I live in Kirkland. I'm a

1:44:11 ↗ mile from the rapid transit station that

1:44:13 ↗ they're planning now. It's a huge

1:44:15 ↗ planning process. So whether it's light

1:44:16 ↗ rail or bus rapid transit, there is

1:44:19 ↗ planning that has to occur around where

1:44:21 ↗ that stop will be. So it it does play a

1:44:24 ↗ role either way in central Isiqua.

1:44:27 ↗ >> And I and thank you Kristen. I think it

1:44:29 ↗ just reinforces for us uh that this is

1:44:32 ↗ just a multi-prong approach and we hear

1:44:33 ↗ loud and clear from the council that

1:44:36 ↗ your expectation of the administration

1:44:37 ↗ is to attack it in a multi-prong way. uh

1:44:40 ↗ Mayor Paulie's direction to her staff is

1:44:42 ↗ to uh attack it in a multi-prong way.

1:44:45 ↗ So, we will do that, but there are many

1:44:46 ↗ consequences. We just need to continue

1:44:48 ↗ to be mindful of them. Uh the last piece

1:44:50 ↗ we wanted to talk about was the Eco

1:44:52 ↗ Northwest report. Uh there seems to be

1:44:54 ↗ consensus there to take a report that's

1:44:56 ↗ already there, recommendations that are

1:44:58 ↗ already in hand. What do we need to do

1:45:00 ↗ to make that happen? And so again,

1:45:03 ↗ Kristen, if you could talk a little bit

1:45:04 ↗ about where we stand with that report

1:45:06 ↗ and what you think it will take uh to

1:45:09 ↗ make more meaningful progress in 26.

1:45:11 ↗ >> Sure. So as many mentioned earlier, the

1:45:13 ↗ housing the Eco Northwest report was

1:45:15 ↗ addressing three of the different

1:45:16 ↗ strategies that are currently in the

1:45:19 ↗ housing strategy action plan. So to do

1:45:22 ↗ those, you know, that would that would

1:45:24 ↗ be implementing what we already have in

1:45:25 ↗ place as far as the plan goes and that

1:45:28 ↗ could be done earlier with consultant

1:45:30 ↗ help. We would need that to do the

1:45:33 ↗ housing action plan to update the

1:45:35 ↗ housing strategy action plan requires

1:45:38 ↗ much broader outreach because then you

1:45:40 ↗ take in you get new information you get

1:45:44 ↗ new input from the public and you

1:45:45 ↗ completely whoops excuse me redo a plan

1:45:49 ↗ um and then you start addressing that as

1:45:51 ↗ well. So, um, yes, we did talk about how

1:45:54 ↗ addressing Eco Northwest and the actions

1:45:56 ↗ that they provided in there could happen

1:45:58 ↗ much sooner than the housing strategy

1:46:00 ↗ plan.

1:46:04 ↗ We think that uh, additional resources

1:46:06 ↗ would be needed to do what we're hearing

1:46:08 ↗ the council say you'd like to do. Those

1:46:10 ↗ resources, I think, can vary depending

1:46:13 ↗ on the outside help we can get. Arch may

1:46:16 ↗ be a resource and if they're a resource

1:46:17 ↗ with their staff, that's probably less

1:46:19 ↗ dollars than going to a third party. So,

1:46:21 ↗ what we'd like to commit to do this

1:46:23 ↗ evening is take that as a to-do. Um,

1:46:26 ↗ we'll uh do a little bit more uh

1:46:28 ↗ investigation as to uh what we think

1:46:32 ↗ would be needed and we'll include that

1:46:34 ↗ in your uh midby budget discussions. And

1:46:36 ↗ so, if we make sense and we can find a

1:46:39 ↗ funding source, great. If not, we'll

1:46:41 ↗ stay the course. But of all the things

1:46:43 ↗ you've talked about this evening, um

1:46:45 ↗ that's the one piece that we're going to

1:46:47 ↗ take from tonight and work on a little

1:46:49 ↗ bit. So, Council President, I'm just

1:46:51 ↗ looking to you and your colleagues to

1:46:53 ↗ confirm that's a reasonable takeaway

1:46:56 ↗ from this evening. Otherwise, we'll stay

1:46:58 ↗ the course with what we're planning on

1:47:01 ↗ doing during 26.

1:47:04 ↗ >> I'm seeing some good head nods. So, I

1:47:06 ↗ think I'm seeing some good head nods. So

1:47:09 ↗ I think the focus on the eco northwest

1:47:12 ↗ um is great. So are we understanding

1:47:16 ↗ that then the housing strategy work plan

1:47:18 ↗ as an update because it requires more

1:47:20 ↗ public engagement would be longer and

1:47:22 ↗ larger would be after that and are we at

1:47:26 ↗ this point adding it to the work plan or

1:47:30 ↗ saying that we can evaluate again before

1:47:34 ↗ that becomes a an item?

1:47:38 ↗ So we can add it to the work plan for

1:47:41 ↗ 207 and 28 and and we'll discuss that

1:47:45 ↗ with the ne that year's budgets. Um and

1:47:48 ↗ and I'll have a discussion about how

1:47:50 ↗ much it'll cost and part of the so no

1:47:54 ↗ midyear budget adjustment needed because

1:47:56 ↗ we'll focus on the implementation for

1:47:58 ↗ next year and then for the next the next

1:48:00 ↗ two years budget 27 and 28 we'll add it

1:48:04 ↗ to the work plan.

1:48:07 ↗ Okay. So, how are we feeling about all

1:48:10 ↗ of this? So, potentially a midbian

1:48:15 ↗ adjustment to enable the Eco Northwest

1:48:19 ↗ um recommendations

1:48:21 ↗ and then looking beyond that would be a

1:48:24 ↗ 2728 budget decision.

1:48:28 ↗ Yeah. Okay. Sounds good.

1:48:31 ↗ >> Thank you.

1:48:33 ↗ >> Excellent.

1:48:34 ↗ Okay. Um, looking at the agenda. Again,

1:48:37 ↗ that was our only agenda item. So, we've

1:48:40 ↗ got good of the order. Anybody have

1:48:42 ↗ anything?

1:48:44 ↗ Okay. Council member Hall,

1:48:45 ↗ >> just really quickly to say thank you to

1:48:47 ↗ the city. I was at the farmer the rainy

1:48:49 ↗ farmers market this weekend and the city

1:48:51 ↗ had a booth with a bunch of boards and

1:48:53 ↗ maps and design pictures for the

1:48:55 ↗ Northwest Samish Road project and John

1:48:58 ↗ Mortonson was there with other staff

1:48:59 ↗ holding down the fort and talking to

1:49:01 ↗ community members. He told me they're at

1:49:03 ↗ 90% design, which is outstanding. And uh

1:49:06 ↗ I heard nothing but good things

1:49:08 ↗ community members coming over and being

1:49:09 ↗ like, "What's this?" Oh, really?

1:49:10 ↗ Awesome. So, anyways, just thank you to

1:49:12 ↗ staff. That seemed to go very well.

1:49:16 ↗ >> Excellent. Um just one more item for go

1:49:19 ↗ to the order. Just a reminder. Oh, okay.

1:49:22 ↗ Two more items. Give me one second. um

1:49:24 ↗ the east side fire and rescue um chief

1:49:27 ↗ uh there's a an event at Samish City

1:49:30 ↗ Hall uh tomorrow from 2 to 4. So if

1:49:33 ↗ anybody wants to meet the finalists

1:49:36 ↗ candidates for that um please join me

1:49:39 ↗ and council member Jen.

1:49:41 ↗ >> Um I just wanted to make sure everyone

1:49:43 ↗ knows the salmon on sunset celebration

1:49:46 ↗ is the Saturday from 10 to 6. It's

1:49:49 ↗ basically you can watch the salmon with

1:49:50 ↗ way less crowds than salmon days. So, um

1:49:53 ↗ I enjoy going to that and uh encourage

1:49:56 ↗ everyone else to attend as well.

1:49:58 ↗ >> Deputy Council President.

1:50:00 ↗ >> All right. As long as we're praising, uh

1:50:03 ↗ I attended the culture fest on Friday

1:50:06 ↗ and it was amazing. You were there, too.

1:50:08 ↗ I mean, I think we had a good pretty

1:50:10 ↗ good representation from the council. Um

1:50:13 ↗ I think it was the best crowd. This is

1:50:15 ↗ the fourth or fifth year that I've

1:50:17 ↗ attended. I think this is the best crowd

1:50:18 ↗ they've ever had. And uh the amount of

1:50:22 ↗ uh of people performing and engagement

1:50:26 ↗ was just uh over the top. It was just a

1:50:28 ↗ really nice evening and again the city

1:50:31 ↗ staff did a wonderful wonderful job.

1:50:34 ↗ Thank you.

1:50:35 ↗ >> Yes. And pointing at Clerk Geyser did a

1:50:39 ↗ wonderful job. So appreciate that. Okay.

1:50:43 ↗ Well, our uh love fest and announcements

1:50:46 ↗ uh going on. We appreciate you all for

1:50:49 ↗ being here. And at that we are adjourned

1:50:52 ↗ at 8:33 p.m. Thank you.

Approved minutes

Extracted from the next meeting's packet, where this meeting's minutes were approved as a consent-calendar attachment.

Open PDF

Attendance

Council / Members (7)

Barbara de Michele

Zach Hall

Kelly Jiang

Russell Joe

Tola Marts

Chris Reh

Lindsey Walsh