City Council Regular Meeting · Monday, July 7, 2025 · City Council Digest

3. SPECIAL BUSINESS

Recognition of Tina Eggers ID 1883

5 min · packet pp.5

▶ Watch from 1:17 Open packet at p.5 ↗

Staff report:

CITY OF ISSAQUAH Mayor's Office

Parks & Community Services Month Proclamation ID 1847

5 min · packet pp.7

Topics: Parks

▶ Watch from 4:16 Open packet at p.7 ↗

Staff report:

CITY OF ISSAQUAH Mayor's Office

Disability Pride Month Proclamation ID 1848

5 min

▶ Watch from 7:15

5. CONSENT CALENDAR

Accounts: Payables and Payroll of July 7, 2025, $6,633,585.15 ID 1794

Carried 6-0

Approve · packet pp.9–26

Topics: Budget

▶ Watch from 18:14 Open packet at p.9 ↗

Staff report:

Finance Department P.O. Box 1307 Issaquah, WA 98027 PH: 425-837-3050 www.issaquahwa.gov

Roll call:

Moved by MARTS · seconded by HALL

In favor: Barbara de Michele, Zach Hall, Kelly Jiang, Russell Joe, Tola Marts, Lindsey Walsh (attended virtually)

Minutes: City Council Committee of the Whole, June 16, 2025

Carried 6-0

Approve · packet pp.27–28

▶ Watch from 34:38 Open packet at p.27 ↗

Staff report:

CONSENT CALENDAR b) 06-16-25 City Council Committee of the Whole Minutes Page (0000)

Roll call:

Moved by MARTS · seconded by HALL

In favor: Barbara de Michele, Zach Hall, Kelly Jiang, Russell Joe, Tola Marts, Lindsey Walsh (attended virtually)

Minutes: City Council Regular Meeting, June 23, 2025

Carried 6-0

Approve · packet pp.29–32

Previously discussed: City Council Regular Meeting · Jun 9, 2025

▶ Watch from 51:02 Open packet at p.29 ↗

Staff report:

CONSENT CALENDAR c) 06-23-25 City Council Regular Meeting Minutes Page (0000) CITY OF ISSAQUAH City Council Regular Meeting 7:00 PM Council Chambers June 23, 2025 MINUTES 135 E. Sunset Way

Roll call:

Moved by MARTS · seconded by HALL

In favor: Barbara de Michele, Zach Hall, Kelly Jiang, Russell Joe, Tola Marts, Lindsey Walsh (attended virtually)

Informational Update: Issaquah Climate Action Plan Mid Year Update ID 1892

Carried 6-0

Receive Report · packet pp.33–59

Topics: Climate

Previously discussed: City Council Regular Meeting · Dec 6, 2021

▶ Watch from 1:07:26 Open packet at p.33 ↗

Staff report:

The Office of Sustainability provides this update to City Council on the implementation status of the Issaquah Climate Action Plan and priorities for 2025.

Roll call:

Moved by MARTS · seconded by HALL

In favor: Barbara de Michele, Zach Hall, Kelly Jiang, Russell Joe, Tola Marts, Lindsey Walsh (attended virtually)

6. REGULAR BUSINESS

Transit Oriented Development Opportunity Center (TOD-OC) Housing Cooperation Agreement Make Recommendation ID 1898

45 min · packet pp.61–107

Topics: HousingTransportation

▶ Watch from 1:01 Open packet at p.61 ↗

Staff report:

The Administration supports the inclusion of the waivers below in the HCA:

Policy for Naming Public Facilities/Parks/Trails Make Recommendation AB 9040

30 min · packet pp.109–113

Topics: Parks

▶ Watch from 1:11 Open packet at p.109 ↗

Staff report:

DEPARTMENT OF Executive Department Wally Bobkiewicz OTHER COUNCIL MEETINGS n/a COMP PLAN POLICY NOS. n/a OTHER POLICIES n/a EXHIBITS A. Naming Policy, Resolution No. 1990-06 City Attorney Review Rachel Bender Turpin City Attorney Review Date: July 2, 2025

9. GOOD OF THE ORDER

Upcoming Council Meetings

▶ Watch from 1:26:12

2197 segments .txt ↗

0:15 ↗ Welcome everyone. I call the July 7th um

0:19 ↗ city council meeting to order. Mayor

0:21 ↗ Paulie and Council Member Ray have

0:23 ↗ excused absences tonight. Council

0:25 ↗ President Walsh is attending the meeting

0:28 ↗ remotely. Deputy I, Deputy Council

0:31 ↗ President D. Michelle will be ser

0:32 ↗ serving tonight as mayor pro 10. This

0:35 ↗ meeting is being held one week later

0:37 ↗ than normal due to the Fourth of July

0:39 ↗ holiday that occurred last week. As a

0:42 ↗ reminder, we continue to have a remote

0:44 ↗ aspect to our meetings. Both staff and

0:46 ↗ members of the public may be

0:48 ↗ participating in tonight's meeting

0:49 ↗ remotely via WebEx. Before we get into

0:53 ↗ the agenda, I'd like to suggest that

0:55 ↗ AB9040,

0:57 ↗ policy for naming public facilities,

0:59 ↗ parks, and trails, which is under

1:01 ↗ regular business, be postponed until the

1:04 ↗ July 21st council meeting when we have

1:06 ↗ full attendance. Is there any objection

1:09 ↗ to postponing this item?

1:12 ↗ Okay. Seeing uh seeing none, this item

1:15 ↗ will be postponed to the July 21st

1:17 ↗ council meeting. Special business item

1:20 ↗ ID 1883, recognition of Tina Igger, will

1:24 ↗ also be delayed to a future meeting when

1:25 ↗ the mayor can be with us. The next item

1:28 ↗ on the agenda is the pledge of

1:29 ↗ allegiance. And I welcome you to join me

1:31 ↗ in the pledge.

1:34 ↗ I aliance to the flag of the United

1:37 ↗ States of America and to the republic

1:40 ↗ for it stands nationy

1:46 ↗ and justice for all.

1:52 ↗ See,

1:58 ↗ the next item of business is ID1847,

2:02 ↗ Parks and Community Services Month

2:04 ↗ Proclamation, and Council Member Mart is

2:06 ↗ going to be presenting this. I'd like to

2:08 ↗ invite human services manager Brenda

2:11 ↗ Parker and park planning and development

2:13 ↗ manager Robin Spear to the lectern.

2:26 ↗ and also Leo Alrech with parks

2:29 ↗ operations.

2:38 ↗ Whereas parks, recreation, and community

2:41 ↗ services are an integral part of our

2:43 ↗ community. And whereas parks and

2:45 ↗ recreation promote health and wellness,

2:48 ↗ improving the physical and mental

2:49 ↗ well-being of people who live near or

2:52 ↗ recreate in parks. And whereas parks and

2:55 ↗ community services strengthen Isiqua's

2:58 ↗ identity by providing exceptional parks,

3:01 ↗ trails, green spaces, and recreation

3:04 ↗ facilities that reflect and celebrate

3:06 ↗ community character, history, culture,

3:09 ↗ aesthetics, and landscape.

3:12 ↗ Whereas Isiqua's Parks and Community

3:14 ↗ Services provides value to the local

3:16 ↗ economy through increased tourism,

3:18 ↗ attract attraction and retention of

3:21 ↗ businesses and residents. Meanwhile, the

3:24 ↗ department strives to provide equitable

3:26 ↗ human services to add value for all

3:28 ↗ Isiqua residents. Now therefore, Mayor

3:31 ↗ Mary Lupali, mayor of the city of

3:33 ↗ Isiqua, does hereby proclaim July 2025

3:37 ↗ to be Parks and Community Services Month

3:40 ↗ in the city of Isiqua. And we invite the

3:43 ↗ community to join us in thanking the

3:44 ↗ staff within the parks and community

3:46 ↗ services department for their service

3:48 ↗ and outstanding contributions. In

3:50 ↗ witness thereof, she has herefore set

3:52 ↗ her hand and seal of the city of Isiqua

3:55 ↗ this 7th day of July, 2025.

3:59 ↗ you care to speak.

4:05 ↗ Still on? Good. Okay. Well, good

4:07 ↗ evening, council members. Um, I'm Robin

4:09 ↗ Spear, park planning, and development

4:11 ↗ manager here with you tonight to help

4:14 ↗ celebrate parks and community services

4:16 ↗ department. On behalf of the park

4:18 ↗ planning, arts and culture, and

4:20 ↗ operations team, we truly enjoy being

4:22 ↗ stewards of our parks and open spaces

4:25 ↗ for a community that appreciates,

4:28 ↗ supports, and recognizes our work, and

4:31 ↗ it's fun for the team to be able to

4:33 ↗ foster a quality of life that will

4:34 ↗ impact generations to come. We

4:36 ↗ appreciate your help. Now, Brenda,

4:41 ↗ sorry.

4:42 ↗ Hi, and I'm Brenda Parker, human

4:44 ↗ services manager. On behalf of my team

4:47 ↗ as well as the recreation teams, we want

4:49 ↗ to thank you for recognizing the

4:51 ↗ community services that we provide for

4:53 ↗ Isiqua. Thank you very much.

4:57 ↗ [Applause]

5:29 ↗ Thank you so much for all that you do

5:31 ↗ for our community. So glad you were able

5:33 ↗ to be here. Uh our next item of business

5:36 ↗ is ID1848

5:38 ↗ disability pride month proclamation. And

5:41 ↗ I'd like to invite Roshni Cara Cayan uh

5:44 ↗ from the kindering she is a kindering

5:46 ↗ communication specialist to the lecture.

6:00 ↗ And this proclamation always holds a

6:03 ↗ special place in my heart because I

6:04 ↗ served for five years on the Atwork uh

6:08 ↗ board of directors and and understand

6:10 ↗ the importance of uh disability pride.

6:13 ↗ So I'm very happy that you were able to

6:14 ↗ be here with us. So whereas the

6:17 ↗ Americans with Disability Act or ADA was

6:20 ↗ passed by the US Congress on July 26th,

6:23 ↗ 1990 to ensure the civil rights of

6:25 ↗ citizens with disabilities. And whereas

6:28 ↗ the ADA prevents discrimination based on

6:31 ↗ disability, requires that employers

6:33 ↗ provide reasonable accommodations,

6:35 ↗ ensures that public accommodations meet

6:38 ↗ accessibility requirements, and is

6:40 ↗ recognized as one of the most important

6:42 ↗ civil rights laws in history. And

6:45 ↗ whereas disability pride fights against

6:47 ↗ a history of stigmatization, shame, and

6:50 ↗ isolation with self-determination and

6:53 ↗ pride. And whereas the city of Isiqua

6:56 ↗ acknowledges the barriers and challenges

6:58 ↗ faced by individuals with disabilities,

7:00 ↗ including societal attitudes built in

7:03 ↗ architectural barriers, lack of

7:06 ↗ accessibility discrimination and

7:08 ↗ unequal opportunities. And whereas

7:11 ↗ disability pride month is a time to

7:13 ↗ celebrate the achievements,

7:14 ↗ contributions, and resilience of

7:17 ↗ individuals with disabilities in our

7:19 ↗ community and to promote inclusion,

7:21 ↗ acceptance, and understanding of

7:23 ↗ disability as a natural part of human

7:25 ↗ diversity. And whereas we appreciate the

7:28 ↗ efforts of disability rights activists,

7:30 ↗ organizations, and advocates who work

7:32 ↗ tirelessly to advance the rights,

7:34 ↗ independence, and well-being of

7:36 ↗ individuals with disabilities, and to

7:38 ↗ create a more inclusive and accessible

7:41 ↗ world for all. Thou therefore, Mary

7:44 ↗ Lupali, mayor of the city of Isiqua,

7:47 ↗ hereby proclaims the month of July, 2025

7:50 ↗ to be disability pride month. In witness

7:53 ↗ whereof, she has here unto set her hand

7:56 ↗ and seal of the city of Isiqua the 7th

7:58 ↗ day of July, 2025. And Roshni, would you

8:02 ↗ like to say a few words? There you go.

8:06 ↗ You bet.

8:13 ↗ Good evening, council members and city

8:15 ↗ staff. My name is Roshniki Kartikan and

8:18 ↗ I serve as the communication specialist

8:20 ↗ at Kindering. I'm here tonight on behalf

8:22 ↗ of Kindred and as a resident of Isiqua

8:25 ↗ to simply say thank you for recognizing

8:27 ↗ disability pride month. As you may know,

8:30 ↗ Kindred is a local nonprofit serving

8:32 ↗ children with disabilities,

8:33 ↗ developmental delays, and other needs.

8:35 ↗ We provide early supports, pediatric

8:38 ↗ therapies, inclusive preschool, and

8:40 ↗ more. Last year, we served over 100

8:43 ↗ young children from the city of Isiqua.

8:45 ↗ So, why is disability pride important to

8:47 ↗ kindering? It is important because we

8:50 ↗ work with lots of wonderful little kids

8:52 ↗ with disabilities who will grow up into

8:55 ↗ wonderful adults with disabilities and

8:57 ↗ we want them to grow up into a world

8:59 ↗ that supports, includes, and celebrates

9:01 ↗ them. A kindering parent shared,

9:03 ↗ "Disability Pride Month is important to

9:05 ↗ me as a parent because I want my son

9:07 ↗ Gabe to grow up knowing that who he is,

9:10 ↗ disability and all, is something to be

9:13 ↗ proud of. I want him to feel confident,

9:15 ↗ seen, and valued for exactly who he is.

9:18 ↗ And that's what you're doing with this

9:20 ↗ proclamation. You're sending a clear

9:22 ↗ message to our families that you care

9:24 ↗ about the kids now, and you will care

9:26 ↗ about them when they grow up. And you

9:28 ↗ will treat them with the respect and

9:29 ↗ dignity that they deserve. We appreciate

9:31 ↗ the city promoting disability inclusion

9:33 ↗ in the small but powerful way. On behalf

9:36 ↗ of kinding, again, thank you. It means a

9:38 ↗ lot.

9:40 ↗ [Applause]

10:12 ↗ All All right, the next item of of

10:14 ↗ business is audience comments. Members

10:17 ↗ of the public may address the council at

10:19 ↗ this time in person or virtually. Those

10:22 ↗ who signed up in advance to make

10:23 ↗ comments will be called on first. If you

10:26 ↗ are joining us virtually and would like

10:28 ↗ to make comments, please raise your

10:30 ↗ virtual hand or send the host a chat

10:32 ↗ message. If you are on your phone, press

10:35 ↗ star three. If you have joined by

10:37 ↗ computer or smartphone, look for a hand

10:40 ↗ icon. If you are in the room and did not

10:42 ↗ sign up, I will ask for other speakers

10:44 ↗ before closing this portion of the

10:46 ↗ meeting. Clerk, has anyone signed up to

10:48 ↗ speak for general audience comments or

10:50 ↗ indicated a desire to speak this

10:52 ↗ evening?

10:53 ↗ Yes.

10:55 ↗ Um, all right. I will read some

10:57 ↗ guidelines for making comments and then

10:59 ↗ we will call on those who have signed

11:01 ↗ up. For those making comments, you are

11:04 ↗ invited to address the council regarding

11:06 ↗ matters that are directly related to

11:07 ↗ Isiqua's programs, projects, services,

11:10 ↗ or events. Comments related to political

11:13 ↗ campaigns are not permitted. Please

11:16 ↗ direct comments to the whole council and

11:18 ↗ not to individuals. While this is not a

11:20 ↗ question and answer session, we will

11:22 ↗ contact you to follow up if needed. When

11:25 ↗ recognized, unmute your microphone for

11:28 ↗ virtual attendees or step up to the

11:30 ↗ lectern in person attendees and the

11:33 ↗ lectern is right there, the one in the

11:35 ↗ middle. State your name and address or

11:37 ↗ relationship to the city. Speak clearly

11:40 ↗ and pause frequently and limit comments

11:43 ↗ to five minutes. Um, and it doesn't say

11:46 ↗ this, but you need to turn on your

11:47 ↗ microphone and when you press a little

11:49 ↗ button, it becomes red and that then you

11:51 ↗ know the microphone's on. If you are

11:54 ↗ attending virtually and do not respond

11:55 ↗ after your name or phone number is

11:57 ↗ called or if your connection is lost

11:59 ↗ unexpectedly, the meeting will need to

12:01 ↗ proceed. You are encouraged to rejoin

12:03 ↗ the meeting if able. Personal attacks,

12:06 ↗ obscene language, derogatory remarks,

12:08 ↗ and disruptive behavior will not be

12:10 ↗ permitted. Public comments, written and

12:13 ↗ verbal, are an important aspect of the

12:15 ↗ public process. The city takes comments

12:17 ↗ seriously, and we thank you for taking

12:19 ↗ the time to address us. Clerk, please

12:22 ↗ identify the first person who has signed

12:23 ↗ up to speak.

12:24 ↗ Chris Richley.

12:26 ↗ Uh, Mr. Richley.

12:38 ↗ Good evening.

12:40 ↗ Uh, good evening, city council members,

12:42 ↗ madam mayor who's not here. Um, my

12:44 ↗ name's Chris Richley. My address is 2616

12:47 ↗ 28th Avenue Northeast up in the

12:48 ↗ Highlands. 11-year resident, also

12:50 ↗ economic vitality commission chair of

12:52 ↗ the city. Tonight, I want to begin by

12:54 ↗ saying that I noticed in one of the

12:56 ↗ proposed items for the the transit

12:58 ↗ oriented development project was

13:00 ↗ commercial retail space.

13:02 ↗ I want to begin by saying I agree Isqua

13:05 ↗ is in need of retail locations. That is

13:07 ↗ clear through our feedback that we

13:09 ↗ received on the commission, through the

13:11 ↗ business surveys, the public comments

13:12 ↗ that we've heard throughout those

13:14 ↗ processes around the economic

13:15 ↗ development plan.

13:17 ↗ However, I believe including retail as a

13:20 ↗ part of this specific project in this

13:22 ↗ specific location is not practical. The

13:25 ↗ area is already burdened with increasing

13:27 ↗ traffic and adding retail here could be

13:29 ↗ that could make it even worse,

13:32 ↗ especially without adequate parking or

13:33 ↗ infrastructure improvements. And

13:35 ↗ realistically, what kind of businesses

13:37 ↗ would thrive in that specific location?

13:42 ↗ A few shops or a cafe may not be enough

13:44 ↗ to truly address our retail needs or

13:46 ↗ justify that space. One, on the other

13:48 ↗ hand, I can speak from personal

13:50 ↗ experience

13:52 ↗ about the very real need for more child

13:54 ↗ care options. I faced a challenge of

13:57 ↗ trying to find daycare for my daughters

14:00 ↗ and stress that comes with it racing

14:02 ↗ across traffic making it on time there.

14:04 ↗ It is inconsistent pressure for working

14:06 ↗ parents and a daycare center near a

14:08 ↗ transit oriented hub makes more real

14:11 ↗ differences in our people's lives that

14:12 ↗ by easing the daily logistics and

14:14 ↗ supporting families in a meaningful way.

14:18 ↗ While I support the retail is right

14:21 ↗ location, this isn't a place for it. A

14:22 ↗ daycare center would make more far sense

14:25 ↗ valuable and realistic use of this

14:26 ↗ space. Thank you.

14:28 ↗ Thank you.

14:30 ↗ Uh clerk, is there someone else who has

14:32 ↗ signed up to speak?

14:35 ↗ No one else has sign up signed up in

14:37 ↗ advance. We do have a few members of the

14:39 ↗ public with us virtually, but I don't

14:41 ↗ see any of them indicating a desire to

14:42 ↗ speak. Is there anybody else in the

14:45 ↗ room? Yes, sir.

14:56 ↗ Yes. Press the button. There you go. The

14:58 ↗ button.

14:59 ↗ Hi. Good evening, council. My name is

15:02 ↗ Jim Hayes. I live with my wife and two

15:04 ↗ kids and a dog on Bush Street 585 kind

15:07 ↗ of right at the elbow where all the high

15:09 ↗ schoolers turn their turn their cars too

15:11 ↗ fast and trying to get to school. But I

15:13 ↗ want to talk a little bit about the or I

15:14 ↗ want to share our family's perspective I

15:16 ↗ guess around the transitoriented

15:18 ↗ development and um I know that when in

15:22 ↗ conversations that I've been attuned to

15:23 ↗ which admittedly is not too many a lot

15:25 ↗ of the

15:27 ↗ a lot of the benefits described for

15:30 ↗ folks who are already here is in the

15:32 ↗ context of their children. I want to

15:34 ↗ have a spot where my kids can afford to

15:36 ↗ live in this town which we love so well.

15:38 ↗ So, my family and I moved here in 2019,

15:40 ↗ which as I say it, I realize is six

15:42 ↗ years ago, but it feels like it's only

15:44 ↗ been, you know, about six months.

15:47 ↗ But since we moved here, my one of my

15:50 ↗ brothers has followed me from Arizona to

15:52 ↗ come here. Two of my step brothers or

15:56 ↗ step sisters have come and they found a

15:59 ↗ place in Redmond where they're renting

16:00 ↗ and actively looking. And when I think

16:02 ↗ about what Isiqua is and means to our

16:05 ↗ family and what it means to our extended

16:06 ↗ family, it's important to me to think

16:08 ↗ not just like 20 years on the road, 10

16:09 ↗ years down the road when my 10-year-old

16:11 ↗ and 11-year-old want to move. So,

16:12 ↗ they'll move away your kids, you know,

16:13 ↗ but but like my parents, my in-laws,

16:17 ↗ like they're scattered around the

16:18 ↗ country. They're getting older. We just

16:20 ↗ buried my wife's grandfather uh and her

16:23 ↗ father as well. It's a situation where

16:24 ↗ we're seriously having to consider like

16:26 ↗ what do we do to be supportive to our

16:28 ↗ parents who can't afford to get their

16:31 ↗ own place in the real estate environ or

16:33 ↗ that in real estate environment that is

16:34 ↗ here. And so

16:37 ↗ my father-in-law has looked at like,

16:39 ↗ hey, here's a spot a two-hour drive

16:42 ↗ north where I can afford. It's like,

16:44 ↗ wouldn't that be great? It would be

16:46 ↗ closer to kids than Riverside,

16:47 ↗ California. Sure. Yeah. But still too

16:49 ↗ far. And so when we think about what I

16:52 ↗ what makes me in favor of anything we

16:54 ↗ can do to increase the affordability or

16:55 ↗ the density is thinking about right now

16:57 ↗ the family that I want to have and the

16:58 ↗ choice that my family is fortunate

17:00 ↗ enough to have to to leave if we need to

17:02 ↗ to be supportive to our parents, but I'd

17:04 ↗ rather see what we can do to to make

17:07 ↗ things more possible for us to be a

17:09 ↗ magnet for people who we want to be

17:11 ↗ around here. like I I'd hate to have to

17:13 ↗ leave because we have to take care of an

17:15 ↗ alien family member me member and we

17:16 ↗ can't find the right combination of

17:20 ↗ transportation access and affordable

17:22 ↗ living to to join us here. So just

17:24 ↗ wanted to share that other perspective

17:27 ↗ which is getting increasingly urgent day

17:29 ↗ by day for me my personal experience as

17:31 ↗ you consider what to do about the

17:32 ↗ transit oriented development and other

17:34 ↗ density improvements. I'm very much in

17:36 ↗ favor even though I've got one of this

17:38 ↗ house on Bush Street which I love

17:40 ↗ dearly. So Uh, thank you. Appreciate it.

17:43 ↗ Thank you so much. Is there anybody else

17:45 ↗ in the in the audience that would like

17:47 ↗ to speak?

17:50 ↗ All right. Not seeing any. Um, we heard

17:53 ↗ uh comments about uh the retail space

17:56 ↗ proposal and the child care at the

17:59 ↗ transit oriented development and then

18:01 ↗ comments about the need for affordable

18:03 ↗ housing in Isiqua related also to the

18:06 ↗ transitoriented development. and we

18:08 ↗ really thank you both for being here

18:09 ↗ tonight and giving us your thoughts. Um,

18:12 ↗ all right. The next item on the agenda

18:14 ↗ is the uh consent calendar and um the

18:20 ↗ mayor does not did not send any remarks

18:22 ↗ for the consent calendar. Um, are there

18:24 ↗ any committee chairs or chair design who

18:27 ↗ would like to report on any of the

18:28 ↗ consent calendar items?

18:31 ↗ Okay, not seeing any. The consent

18:33 ↗ calendar was distributed to council in

18:35 ↗ advance. If authorized, the items on the

18:38 ↗ consent calendar will be considered

18:39 ↗ together and approved by one motion.

18:42 ↗ Have the payables and payroll been

18:44 ↗ reviewed?

18:45 ↗ They have.

18:46 ↗ They have. And did council member Ray

18:50 ↗ No. Okay. So, thank you, Council Member

18:53 ↗ um Joe. Um

18:55 ↗ um is uh I'm sorry I'm losing my place

18:59 ↗ here. Um, is there any uh, council

19:01 ↗ member, we would like to take something

19:03 ↗ off the consent agenda for

19:04 ↗ consideration?

19:07 ↗ Not seeing any. Can we have a motion?

19:10 ↗ I move to approve the consent agenda as

19:13 ↗ listed in our agenda. Uh, the consent

19:16 ↗ packet as uh, listed in our agenda this

19:18 ↗ evening.

19:19 ↗ All right. Second.

19:20 ↗ And it's been moved and seconded to

19:23 ↗ adopt the consent agenda as presented.

19:26 ↗ Um, is there any further discussion?

19:30 ↗ All those in favor signify by saying I I

19:33 ↗ I.

19:34 ↗ Any opposed. All right, that passes

19:37 ↗ unanimously. And the next item of

19:39 ↗ business is uh ID1898,

19:43 ↗ transit oriented development opportunity

19:46 ↗ center TODC

19:48 ↗ Housing Cooperation Agreement. The city

19:50 ↗ council last considered this item at the

19:53 ↗ May 5th, 2025 city council meeting.

19:55 ↗ Tonight, the city is requesting

19:57 ↗ additional feedback on the housing

19:59 ↗ cooperation agreement. This item is

20:01 ↗ being brought to a regular council

20:03 ↗ meeting rather than a committee of the

20:04 ↗ whole meeting due to the timing. No

20:07 ↗ action is being requested on this item

20:09 ↗ tonight. I'd like to invite Deputy City

20:11 ↗ Administrator Andrea Snder to introduce

20:13 ↗ this item.

20:17 ↗ Thank you, uh, Mayor Promd Michelle. Hi,

20:20 ↗ I'm Andrea Snyder, deputy city

20:22 ↗ administrator and uh pleased to bring

20:24 ↗ this item before you tonight. With me is

20:27 ↗ a whole team of people who've been

20:28 ↗ working on this project uh including Dan

20:31 ↗ Landis from King County Housing

20:33 ↗ Authority who also has his architecture

20:34 ↗ team with him and Jillian

20:37 ↗ uh Strob who's our management analyst um

20:40 ↗ who will also be taking part in the

20:41 ↗ presentation. uh community planning and

20:44 ↗ development director Minnie Dollywal is

20:46 ↗ also available virtually for questions

20:48 ↗ in case uh we need that planning

20:51 ↗ perspective. So um as

20:56 ↗ uh council member DM Michelle um you

20:59 ↗ indicated we are not expecting action

21:02 ↗ this evening. It's really to review the

21:04 ↗ changes to the housing cooperative

21:05 ↗ agreement since it was last brought

21:08 ↗ before council. we can talk about some

21:09 ↗ of the progress and some of the

21:11 ↗ additional things that we have found in

21:13 ↗ our review of the permit application um

21:16 ↗ that we think make um make sense to go

21:19 ↗ into the agreement from the

21:20 ↗ administration's perspective and also

21:23 ↗ receive your feedback on any additional

21:26 ↗ proposed items within the agreement.

21:35 ↗ So direction needed tonight

21:37 ↗ specifically, there's a few items that

21:38 ↗ we'll be talking about in a lot more

21:40 ↗ detail, including tree retention

21:43 ↗ requirements the administration is

21:45 ↗ proposing to wave. Uh also to reduce

21:50 ↗ transparency requirements for the

21:52 ↗ building, allow bike storage with

21:55 ↗ limited transparency on the bottom

21:57 ↗ floor, and also to wave the fifth floor

22:01 ↗ step back for the market rate building.

22:03 ↗ You may recall we discussed waving the

22:05 ↗ fifth floor stepback for the affordable

22:07 ↗ housing building. We received some

22:09 ↗ feedback from council about this item

22:11 ↗ last time that maybe we should apply it

22:14 ↗ towards the market rate building as well

22:16 ↗ in order to have the buildings look

22:18 ↗ consistent to each other as they're both

22:20 ↗ being developed on the same property.

22:22 ↗ And so we're proposing that um within

22:24 ↗ the uh revised agreement tonight.

22:29 ↗ There are many goals that we have

22:31 ↗ associated with this project and have

22:33 ↗ been since the beginning in 2017. Um

22:36 ↗ goals for sustainability, goals for

22:39 ↗ affordable housing, goals for um even at

22:43 ↗ one point to I think it was discussed to

22:45 ↗ catalyze more redevelopment in the

22:47 ↗ central Isiqua area. So there's a lot of

22:49 ↗ goals that we're throwing into this

22:51 ↗ project. One of the most important goals

22:53 ↗ from the administration's perspective is

22:56 ↗ affordable housing and increasing the

22:58 ↗ affordable housing supply. And so I

23:01 ↗ wanted to share this with you to offer

23:02 ↗ some of our perspective as the

23:04 ↗ administration on where we have kept our

23:06 ↗ focus when we're negotiating this

23:08 ↗ housing cooperative agreement is we

23:10 ↗ really want to maintain uh as many units

23:13 ↗ of affordable housing within this

23:14 ↗ project as possible. And that's been our

23:16 ↗ priority and our lens as we weigh and

23:18 ↗ balance these other goals within the

23:20 ↗ project. And um as you can see from this

23:23 ↗ slide, there's a lot of other uh city

23:27 ↗ documents, planning documents, policy

23:29 ↗ documents that um also uh have that same

23:33 ↗ goal of increasing affordable housing

23:35 ↗ within the city.

23:38 ↗ And so with that, I want to introduce

23:40 ↗ Jillian, who will be talking a little

23:41 ↗ bit more detail about the housing

23:43 ↗ cooperative agreement.

23:50 ↗ All right. So, we'll first cover all of

23:52 ↗ the items in the agreement and then most

23:54 ↗ of the presentation will be will be

23:55 ↗ focused on the items that are new since

23:57 ↗ the May 5th meeting and a few items that

23:58 ↗ have been adjusted. So, you see here

24:00 ↗ eight items. The first five were

24:02 ↗ introduced at that May 5th meeting. Um

24:04 ↗ I'll note that uh the first item has

24:07 ↗ been adjusted to include both buildings

24:09 ↗ are subject to a waiver for that fifth

24:11 ↗ floor step back for the consistency of

24:13 ↗ look on the site. The next four items

24:15 ↗ are the same as they were presented on

24:17 ↗ May 5th. And then the final three items

24:19 ↗ were raised during the site development

24:21 ↗ review process. The first round of

24:23 ↗ review finished on June uh in mid June.

24:26 ↗ Um and it raised some items where where

24:28 ↗ the plans didn't comply with our land

24:30 ↗ use code as it was supposed to. Some of

24:32 ↗ them could be addressed by the developer

24:35 ↗ um but some items were prohibitive. So

24:37 ↗ then we we spoke with KCHA and uh

24:39 ↗ proposed adding these three items to the

24:42 ↗ to the HCA for the same reason that the

24:44 ↗ first five were added. Some of them

24:46 ↗ might be cost prohibitive or in conflict

24:48 ↗ with other goals. So those items are to

24:51 ↗ wave um the requirement to retain 25% of

24:54 ↗ the tree caliper on the developable area

24:57 ↗ of the site to reduce the transparency

24:59 ↗ requirement uh for the sides of the

25:01 ↗ buildings facing natural areas from 50%

25:04 ↗ down to a lower uh 20 or 30% and then to

25:08 ↗ allow bike storage uh facing the natural

25:10 ↗ area with less transparency than would

25:12 ↗ normally be required.

25:15 ↗ So, this table just lists those items

25:17 ↗ again, whether they they apply to the

25:20 ↗ affordable building, the market rate

25:21 ↗ building, or both. Um, and if they may

25:23 ↗ be subject to a future code amendment.

25:26 ↗ This project highlighted a few items

25:27 ↗ that our community planning and

25:28 ↗ development staff were already aware of

25:30 ↗ or considering for future code

25:32 ↗ amendments. Those will be taken up in

25:34 ↗ 2025 and 2026. So, the timing of those

25:37 ↗ wasn't appropriate to to wait. um rather

25:40 ↗ the housing cooperation agreement was

25:42 ↗ pursued as a way to ensure that this

25:43 ↗ project uh could be built uh to city

25:46 ↗ standards.

25:47 ↗ And with that or I'm sorry, one more

25:49 ↗ slide. Um so from the May 5th, 2025 city

25:53 ↗ council meeting, we received general

25:54 ↗ support for the use of a housing

25:56 ↗ cooperation agreement for this project.

25:58 ↗ Um and got some limited direction on the

26:00 ↗ following items. first exploring if

26:03 ↗ there were additional sustainability

26:04 ↗ features or certifications that the

26:06 ↗ affordable building could pursue if it

26:08 ↗ wasn't going to be lead platinum

26:09 ↗ certified. Um if there was any way to

26:12 ↗ mandate mixed use in the market rate

26:14 ↗ building and to ensure that the the two

26:17 ↗ buildings look and feel the same um and

26:19 ↗ are indistinguishable based on rental

26:21 ↗ costs. So at this point I'd like to

26:22 ↗ invite up Dan Landis, the vice president

26:24 ↗ of development from KCHA to address

26:26 ↗ these items as well as the new items we

26:28 ↗ just talked about.

26:36 ↗ Thank you, Jillian. Uh, I have been

26:39 ↗ before you a number of times and, uh,

26:42 ↗ have spoken to this project. I thought,

26:44 ↗ uh, for a change tonight, we would, uh,

26:46 ↗ listen to people who know what they're

26:47 ↗ talking about. So, uh, I brought with

26:50 ↗ me, um, or at least electronically

26:53 ↗ brought with me a couple of our

26:54 ↗ consultants, uh, including Maggie Carson

26:58 ↗ from Weber Thompson, our architect, and

27:00 ↗ Cararissa Iris from Delta E, our

27:03 ↗ sustainability consultant.

27:07 ↗ So, I'm going to turn it over initially

27:08 ↗ to Cararissa to talk to this first

27:10 ↗ slide. And this is our response to the

27:12 ↗ questions that were raised about whether

27:15 ↗ or or how ESDs compares to enterprise

27:18 ↗ green communities and uh and lead.

27:28 ↗ All right. Hi there. Can y'all hear me?

27:32 ↗ Great. Thank you. My name is Carissa

27:34 ↗ Iris as Dan mentioned and I'm the

27:37 ↗ sustainability consultant and the

27:38 ↗ evergreen um coordinator for um King

27:41 ↗ County Housing Authority for the

27:43 ↗ affordable housing building. Um so we've

27:47 ↗ done a lot of homework exploring all of

27:49 ↗ the options from lead platinum

27:52 ↗ equivalency we and then we started to

27:54 ↗ look into evergreen communities um

27:57 ↗ enterprise green communities as asked

27:59 ↗ last and um you know wanted to bring up

28:02 ↗ some points around um the alignment

28:04 ↗ there just with the enterprise green

28:07 ↗ communities that's a fantastic

28:08 ↗ certification so much so that if yall

28:12 ↗ all didn't know ESDs was actually

28:14 ↗ derived from that certification

28:16 ↗ protocol. Um so where Enterprise Green

28:20 ↗ Communities is a national affordable

28:22 ↗ housing um standard, ESDS is our state

28:26 ↗ focused um sustainable uh standard for

28:30 ↗ affordable housing project projects

28:32 ↗ specifically. And why that's really

28:34 ↗ great is it takes everything that's

28:36 ↗ wonderful about enterprise green

28:38 ↗ communities and then adapts it for our

28:40 ↗ local environment, for our local codes.

28:42 ↗ And as you all know with sustainability,

28:45 ↗ local is best, right? And so I really

28:47 ↗ love what ESDS has done. And um just

28:51 ↗ giving you that background because it I

28:53 ↗ think just the um the founding of ESDS

28:56 ↗ really does highlight how aligned it is

28:59 ↗ with um enterprise green communities.

29:02 ↗ um where we wanted to um you know talk

29:06 ↗ about our path and what we've done to

29:08 ↗ try to find ways to both satisfy the

29:11 ↗ wonderful sustainable goals for this

29:14 ↗ project but also meet an affordable

29:16 ↗ housing project's budget is remain with

29:20 ↗ ESDS because it's already state required

29:23 ↗ so we don't have an option we have to

29:24 ↗ pursue that pathway

29:27 ↗ um adding an additional certification

29:30 ↗ would just add um essentially paperwork

29:33 ↗ costs and that's that's you know out of

29:37 ↗ alignment with the with the sustainable

29:39 ↗ goal that we're trying to do here which

29:40 ↗ is pour as much money as we can into the

29:43 ↗ project doing good things rather than um

29:46 ↗ me doing more documentation essentially

29:49 ↗ um but through ESDs we've charted a

29:51 ↗ really great path we've looked at um

29:53 ↗ enterprise green communities and lead

29:54 ↗ platinum and tried to pick um some from

29:57 ↗ everything so we represent a very wide

30:00 ↗ gambit of sustainability for this

30:02 ↗ project. We're looking at everything

30:04 ↗ from, you know, integrative design, um,

30:08 ↗ operations and management, making sure

30:10 ↗ that it's commissioned properly through,

30:13 ↗ um, really amazing energy, um,

30:15 ↗ explorations. We're adding 20% more

30:18 ↗ solar on this project than, um, typical.

30:23 ↗ Um, we're doing a lot. So, I don't want

30:26 ↗ to just blather. I wanted to pause see

30:28 ↗ if there are any specific questions from

30:29 ↗ the council members on this proposed

30:32 ↗ path and how it aligns with the goals.

30:35 ↗ Great. Are do any of the council members

30:37 ↗ have questions?

30:40 ↗ Uh, Council President Walsh, do you have

30:42 ↗ any questions?

30:44 ↗ No. Okay. No, I don't see any.

30:51 ↗ Thank you, Cararissa. I I would just

30:54 ↗ want to add real quickly that um some of

30:58 ↗ you may be aware that there was a bill

31:00 ↗ signed this past uh Friday that has some

31:03 ↗ serious ramifications for the ability to

31:05 ↗ fund solar work. And we have not given

31:08 ↗ up the idea that we're going to

31:09 ↗ overperform on the solar. It's just a

31:12 ↗ lot more challenging now than it was.

31:14 ↗ And so we're doing what we can to to uh

31:17 ↗ gear up quickly and potentially take

31:19 ↗ care or take advantage of the last year

31:23 ↗ or so that uh these credits are

31:25 ↗ available. We're also exploring other

31:28 ↗ options. So I just want to offer that as

31:31 ↗ at some point we may need to scale back

31:33 ↗ our solar just for financial realities,

31:36 ↗ but we haven't reached that point yet.

31:38 ↗ uh and our hope is that we can uh we can

31:42 ↗ use the federal credits as we planned.

31:47 ↗ So the next uh thing we wanted to

31:49 ↗ respond to was about commercial use and

31:51 ↗ I'll ask Maggie Carson from Weber

31:54 ↗ Thompson if she could jump in here.

31:57 ↗ Yeah, absolutely. Thank you, Dan. Um,

32:00 ↗ last time we met there was discussion

32:02 ↗ about adding a requirement for

32:03 ↗ commercial use within that south

32:05 ↗ building, the market rate building. As

32:07 ↗ KCHA seeks the development partner, they

32:10 ↗ will broach the topic with potential

32:11 ↗ developers. Um, but we want to give a

32:13 ↗ little context to um what that ask comes

32:18 ↗ with. Adding retail can create financing

32:20 ↗ obstacles and depends on the viability

32:23 ↗ of the exact location. With no adjacent

32:26 ↗ street retail to build synergy, the

32:28 ↗ frontage on Newport or the core street

32:30 ↗ may not actually be appealing to

32:32 ↗ retailers. The addition of retail will

32:34 ↗ also impact the efficiency and yield of

32:36 ↗ residential, hurting a developer's

32:38 ↗ perform. The code required height for

32:41 ↗ retail spaces will take out units on

32:43 ↗ both the ground floor and the floor

32:45 ↗ above. Um, next slide please.

32:50 ↗ isqua code requires 15 feet clear height

32:53 ↗ for retail spaces. The building height

32:56 ↗ is too tall to simply raise all the

32:58 ↗ floors of the building to allow for a

32:59 ↗ taller first floor. Instead, retail

33:02 ↗ space on the ground floor will need to

33:04 ↗ extend into level two, essentially

33:06 ↗ providing double height space. For a

33:09 ↗ developer, this means losing apartments

33:11 ↗ on both the ground floor and the floor

33:13 ↗ above. In terms of square footage, it

33:15 ↗ means trading two square feet of

33:17 ↗ rentable residential space for one

33:19 ↗ square feet or one square foot of retail

33:22 ↗ space. Next slide.

33:27 ↗ In our last city council presentation,

33:29 ↗ we talked about the challenges of

33:31 ↗ stepping the building back within the

33:32 ↗ upper wood level and how that creates

33:35 ↗ structural, mechanical, and layout

33:37 ↗ complications that impact cost and

33:39 ↗ efficiency. In your discussion, you

33:41 ↗ contemplated extending this exemption to

33:43 ↗ the market rate building as well and

33:45 ↗ allowing the south building to follow

33:46 ↗ the same guidelines as the north

33:48 ↗ building when it comes to mapping better

33:50 ↗ ensures that the two buildings will feel

33:52 ↗ and look similar. Um, so if we go to the

33:55 ↗ next slide, uh, we can see the images

33:58 ↗ that we showed last time. These are the

33:59 ↗ same images from the previous

34:01 ↗ presentation and they show the north

34:03 ↗ building, but they're here for example

34:04 ↗ sake. The images on the left show the

34:07 ↗ code required step back above the fifth

34:09 ↗ floor and the images on the right show

34:11 ↗ the proposed design. Um and currently

34:14 ↗ the south building also follows that

34:17 ↗ same proposed design with the step back

34:20 ↗ um modulation happening at that lower

34:22 ↗ floor.

34:24 ↗ Next slide.

34:27 ↗ We have a couple of new items as

34:28 ↗ everybody's mentioned that we'd like to

34:30 ↗ propose. Oh, did you want to

34:32 ↗ Yes. Uh, thank you. Uh, Council Member

34:35 ↗ Hall has a question.

34:36 ↗ Yeah, thanks. If it's okay, I've got a

34:38 ↗ question about the commercial space and

34:39 ↗ then one about the step back. Um, really

34:41 ↗ quickly before we go on tree retention.

34:43 ↗ So,

34:44 ↗ um, can you repeat what you said toward

34:46 ↗ the beginning of the commercial space

34:48 ↗ slide? You were talking about frontages

34:49 ↗ and it might not be appealing for

34:50 ↗ retail. Can you can you repeat that?

34:54 ↗ Yeah. Um, you know, frequently when we

34:57 ↗ work with retailers, um, they're looking

35:00 ↗ for spaces that have synergy with other

35:02 ↗ retail, uh, nearby because shoppers are

35:05 ↗ looking for easy access, easy

35:07 ↗ visualization. Um, and the more that's

35:11 ↗ grouped together, the more convenient it

35:13 ↗ is for somebody shopping. Uh, the

35:16 ↗ current situation on Newport, there

35:18 ↗ there isn't really retail fronting onto

35:21 ↗ that street. everything else in the

35:23 ↗ neighborhood is more inwardly focused.

35:25 ↗ Um, you know, with larger surface

35:27 ↗ parking lots and things like that. Uh,

35:30 ↗ and so putting some sort of commercial

35:32 ↗ use fronting on Newport, while it would

35:34 ↗ have good visibility, wouldn't have a

35:36 ↗ lot of cross traffic necessarily. Um,

35:39 ↗ and some retailers would see that as a

35:42 ↗ as a as a downside to this particular

35:45 ↗ space.

35:46 ↗ Okay. And so for this kind of cross

35:48 ↗ traffic that you're looking for, you

35:49 ↗ would want to look for kind of recent or

35:51 ↗ I mean upcoming cross traffic cuz like

35:54 ↗ the long-term plan for that area is

35:55 ↗ there will be lots of dense development

35:58 ↗ of mixed use things and I imagine there

35:59 ↗ would be a lot of frontage um or of

36:03 ↗ retailers fronting Newport in the

36:05 ↗ different streets over there. So is the

36:06 ↗ idea that you want to kind of plan for

36:08 ↗ this kind of more immediate time frame

36:10 ↗ of if there's cross track cross traffic?

36:14 ↗ Yeah, that could be one good way of

36:16 ↗ looking at it is, you know, since this

36:18 ↗ is sort of the first development to take

36:20 ↗ shape, it would be a struggle for the um

36:23 ↗ this development in the short term and

36:26 ↗ like you said, maybe in the long term as

36:28 ↗ other uh other sites redevelop and there

36:32 ↗ is more street traffic and a greater

36:35 ↗ revitalization of pedestrian traffic and

36:37 ↗ retail in this area, um then it might be

36:41 ↗ something worth reconsidering. But in

36:43 ↗ the short term, it would it would be

36:45 ↗ hard for the financing and whatnot of

36:48 ↗ the developer looking to be the first

36:50 ↗ one in the neighborhood to redevelop.

36:52 ↗ Oh, okay. Okay. Thank you. That that

36:54 ↗ makes sense. And then for the um

36:59 ↗ expanded floor height that you were

37:01 ↗ talking about, I I just want to be

37:03 ↗ clear. So, if we did do that, it would

37:06 ↗ eat into the second floor. That would

37:08 ↗ mean a loss of units. Is that

37:10 ↗ the impact you're describing? Okay.

37:12 ↗ Thank you. I appreciate that.

37:13 ↗ Yes.

37:13 ↗ Yeah.

37:14 ↗ Um and then this one might be for staff

37:15 ↗ about the step back thing. So um in the

37:18 ↗ beginning you had you had mentioned that

37:20 ↗ um bringing the step back for the or the

37:23 ↗ reduction of the step back of the fifth

37:25 ↗ floor um uh to both buildings because of

37:30 ↗ consistency which is something we said.

37:32 ↗ I was just curious, was it that or was

37:33 ↗ it um

37:36 ↗ this makes it easier for KCHA and

37:38 ↗ developers to make the market rate

37:40 ↗ building pence allow or some mix of both

37:42 ↗ or is it really just more about kind of

37:44 ↗ consistency of building type?

37:46 ↗ Uh I would say it's all of the above.

37:49 ↗ Oh, sorry. Yes, go ahead.

37:51 ↗ Thank you, Maggie. This is Andrea

37:53 ↗ Snyder. Um,

37:55 ↗ I I I would say from the city's

37:58 ↗ perspective, what we are considering is

38:01 ↗ making sure that those buildings are

38:02 ↗ cohesive, that they look similar, that's

38:05 ↗ been one of the goals that we've heard

38:07 ↗ loud and clear from council throughout

38:09 ↗ this process. Um and so while uh while

38:14 ↗ we had you know heard some community

38:17 ↗ feedback that they liked other the fifth

38:20 ↗ floor stepbacks and the aesthetics,

38:22 ↗ keeping the buildings looking similar um

38:25 ↗ between the affordable building and the

38:26 ↗ market rate building was something that

38:29 ↗ um we we can do with the housing

38:31 ↗ cooperative agreement. And so that's the

38:33 ↗ main um p that's the main benefit the

38:35 ↗ administration sees. Now, of course,

38:37 ↗ that's also beneficial to KCHA

38:40 ↗ um as they look for a development

38:42 ↗ partner for that market rate building as

38:44 ↗ well because of all the reasons that

38:46 ↗ they cited in the last meeting that um

38:49 ↗ the upper floor stepbacks create these

38:51 ↗ other complications with design.

38:55 ↗ Okay, thank you both very much. Thank

38:56 ↗ you all very much.

38:57 ↗ Oh, and I do have a question as well.

38:59 ↗ So, and maybe um Andrea, this might be

39:02 ↗ for you too. So, so we heard tonight uh

39:05 ↗ support for the idea of a daycare center

39:08 ↗ or something like that. And I would that

39:10 ↗ be in if if we were to to look for

39:13 ↗ something along those lines, would that

39:15 ↗ be in the opportunity center or um where

39:19 ↗ would we would we be able to I guess the

39:21 ↗ question is would we be able to

39:22 ↗ accommodate that? And uh it would a

39:25 ↗ daycare center be considered a

39:26 ↗ commercial purpose? So,

39:29 ↗ daycare center would definitely be a

39:31 ↗ commercial use. Um, and I think that

39:35 ↗ we're going well, we're going to have a

39:37 ↗ conversation with council later this

39:39 ↗ month at the committee of the whole

39:40 ↗ about the opportunity center and what

39:42 ↗ our options are moving forward. Oh,

39:44 ↗ good.

39:44 ↗ So, we can have that conversation at

39:46 ↗ that time. As you may recall, originally

39:48 ↗ with this project couple years ago, we

39:52 ↗ had anticipated perhaps a daycare center

39:54 ↗ could be in the market rate building. I

39:56 ↗ think the issue is with mandating a

39:59 ↗ certain type of use like that. So, not

40:01 ↗ only mandating commercial, but then

40:03 ↗ mandating one specific type of use, it's

40:05 ↗ going to be really hard to find that

40:07 ↗ tenant that's able to expand at uh you

40:11 ↗ to move into that space at the timing

40:13 ↗ that the building comes on and find a

40:15 ↗ viable tenant to do that. That's just

40:16 ↗ one specific use. So, I think I think

40:19 ↗ that that's difficult to be able to

40:22 ↗ narrow it down and then find the right

40:23 ↗ tenant um who's ready at the right time

40:25 ↗ for that space. So, um so Dan may able

40:30 ↗ to speak more to this, but um it's

40:32 ↗ certainly something that I think we can

40:34 ↗ consider as we look at opportunity

40:36 ↗ center and we'd be able to provide a

40:39 ↗ little bit more information about that

40:41 ↗ um at uh the committee of the whole

40:43 ↗ later this month.

40:44 ↗ Thank you. Thank you. Any other

40:47 ↗ questions? Council member Jen.

40:49 ↗ Um, so I'm very curious about this 15

40:51 ↗ foot uh retail height requirement. Does

40:55 ↗ that apply to the opportunity center?

40:58 ↗ Because you know the opportunity center

41:00 ↗ we are h going to have some kind of

41:01 ↗ ground floor uses like health health

41:04 ↗ services, social services. Are those

41:06 ↗ also subject to this 15t requirement?

41:08 ↗ And if so, how are we able to have more,

41:10 ↗ you know, the same number of stories on

41:12 ↗ that building? So we essentially have

41:14 ↗ two twostory space on

41:18 ↗ uh Maple for the opportunity center. Um

41:22 ↗ so we we did meet that by losing units

41:25 ↗ up above. Uh we also have uh some 50

41:28 ↗ units less than what the the south

41:31 ↗ building has. We can make a make a deal

41:33 ↗ work for fewer units than a market rate

41:35 ↗ can. We do. So, um I guess the quick

41:40 ↗ answer is our space could be retail

41:42 ↗ space or or any kind of commercial space

41:44 ↗ um in the north building.

41:46 ↗ That makes sense. Is this So, based on

41:49 ↗ the, you know, picture in the slides, it

41:52 ↗ looks like the height is like 12 feet

41:54 ↗ and 8 in. Is the 15 foot requirement for

41:58 ↗ commercial space. Is that like a common

42:00 ↗ thing across all jurisdictions?

42:05 ↗ Maggie,

42:07 ↗ I

42:07 ↗ yeah, I can speak to this. Um, so in

42:10 ↗ Seattle, the requirement is 13 feet and

42:13 ↗ that's measured floor to floor. So

42:15 ↗ structure and mechanical space at the

42:17 ↗ ceiling doesn't uh count against you. So

42:20 ↗ the 13 ft is from the base floor up to

42:22 ↗ the the floor level of the next level.

42:25 ↗ Um, Kirkland is the same. They're also

42:28 ↗ 13 feet floor to floor. Belleview's

42:31 ↗ requirement varies.

42:34 ↗ between different zones within

42:36 ↗ Belleview. Um, but generally they're

42:39 ↗ around 13 feet as well. I believe some

42:41 ↗ of their zones are actually 12 and some

42:43 ↗ of their zones actually don't specify a

42:45 ↗ minimum height.

42:47 ↗ I'm also wondering if uh Director

42:49 ↗ Dollywal wants to weigh in on the 15t

42:52 ↗ requirement.

43:00 ↗ Sure. Um this is mini deli wall. Um you

43:05 ↗ know different cities maybe the 13 ft is

43:08 ↗ the way to go but the basic premise of

43:11 ↗ this um the space is to have flexibility

43:14 ↗ for the retail to be a viable option. Um

43:17 ↗ because when the mixeduse buildings were

43:19 ↗ first coming along, one of the main

43:21 ↗ things that uh they sat there not

43:24 ↗ getting leased up. Uh and one of the

43:26 ↗ feedback that the retailers provided was

43:29 ↗ the the fact that these taller ceilings

43:32 ↗ had to experience uh of the re uh the

43:35 ↗ people that come in to shop and also for

43:37 ↗ the businesses of stacking up stuff

43:39 ↗ having mechanical units and so on. So

43:42 ↗ the taller building, taller ceiling

43:44 ↗ heights do give flexibility for future

43:47 ↗ um retail uses as well. So it adds a

43:50 ↗ little bit of flexibility but whether

43:52 ↗ it's 13 I think I saw Seattle's was 14

43:55 ↗ but you know I trust Maggie's done more

43:57 ↗ recent search um that it's 13 um so it

44:02 ↗ is common whether we are within 2 ft of

44:04 ↗ each other uh perhaps that that's

44:06 ↗ something we can look at.

44:10 ↗ Thank you. Any more for questions?

44:13 ↗ Council member Jay. Yeah, I'm not quite

44:16 ↗ sure if this is necessarily a question,

44:18 ↗ but I think if the question is kind of

44:20 ↗ about, you know, how do we make retail

44:23 ↗ viable in our, you know, future vision

44:26 ↗ of a mixeduse downtown core, if this

44:28 ↗ height limit is preventing retail from

44:31 ↗ being built in buildings above a certain

44:33 ↗ floor and, you know, it's because

44:34 ↗ there's requirements with fire code and

44:36 ↗ stuff that we really can't change, then

44:38 ↗ is is that, you know, minimum height of

44:42 ↗ retail something that we could

44:43 ↗ potentially look into in a future code

44:45 ↗ amendment or as part of the housing

44:48 ↗ cooperation agreement.

44:52 ↗ Yes, absolutely. U and again uh the plan

44:56 ↗ development environment committee has

44:57 ↗ been looking I think more broadly at

44:59 ↗ some code issues that they'd like to

45:01 ↗ bring forward to the full council. I

45:02 ↗ think uh the chair is going to mention

45:04 ↗ that uh when the uh current batch of uh

45:08 ↗ code amendments come before the full

45:09 ↗ council here in a couple weeks. So

45:11 ↗ that's certainly something we can look

45:12 ↗ at in the future.

45:17 ↗ All right. Any further questions?

45:20 ↗ All right, Dian.

45:25 ↗ Okay Maggie

45:28 ↗ we'll jump back in and we'll talk tree.

45:30 ↗ So, at this point, we're talking about

45:32 ↗ new items being added to the housing

45:34 ↗ cooperation agreement. And this first

45:36 ↗ one is about the tree retention. Um the

45:38 ↗ code specifies that we must retain 25%

45:41 ↗ of the trees within the developable area

45:44 ↗ and that that's key that developable

45:46 ↗ area piece. So the developable

45:48 ↗ developable area does not include the

45:51 ↗ wetland or the right of way. So although

45:53 ↗ we are retaining many trees, anything

45:56 ↗ within the wetland or the right of way

45:57 ↗ does not count towards the retention.

46:00 ↗ Within the developable area, there are

46:03 ↗ 13 trees and we're requesting we remove

46:05 ↗ all of those. They're identified by

46:07 ↗ those bright red dots on the screen.

46:09 ↗ However, we are adding back in 52 trees

46:13 ↗ in place of the 13. The new trees will

46:15 ↗ vary in size and species, but will

46:17 ↗ provide more canopy than what is being

46:19 ↗ removed. The area within the wetland

46:21 ↗ will preserve many of the large older

46:23 ↗ trees to maintain that established look

46:25 ↗ and feel of the vegetation on site. Um,

46:29 ↗ next slide.

46:32 ↗ Uh the next item we are proposing being

46:35 ↗ added to the HVA is regarding conditions

46:37 ↗ facing natural context. In our preapp

46:40 ↗ meeting, we asked the city to clarify if

46:42 ↗ the on-site wetland was considered

46:45 ↗ natural context per the code. And at the

46:48 ↗ time, further consideration was needed

46:49 ↗ from the city, but we now have

46:51 ↗ confirmation that the wetland along the

46:53 ↗ western edge of the site at the bottom

46:55 ↗ of the page here is official natural

46:58 ↗ context and results in a natural context

47:01 ↗ zone for the west facades of both

47:03 ↗ buildings. Also, proximity to Tibet Park

47:06 ↗ results in a natural context zone for

47:08 ↗ the south facade of the south building.

47:11 ↗ Facades facing the natural context

47:13 ↗ within the natural context zone have

47:15 ↗ additional requirements including

47:17 ↗ greater transparency and specific uses.

47:21 ↗ We go to the next slide.

47:25 ↗ The code requires facads facing the

47:27 ↗ natural context zone to be 50%

47:29 ↗ transparent. While that sounds simple,

47:31 ↗ the reality is really challenging to

47:33 ↗ achieve. Partly because Washington's

47:35 ↗ energy code strives to limit glazing to

47:37 ↗ only 30%. And partly because much of the

47:40 ↗ wall must be solid where interior walls

47:43 ↗ and floors above the exterior wall. Most

47:46 ↗ of our affordable buildings land between

47:48 ↗ 20 and 25% glazing. Meaning 50% is

47:51 ↗ asking for at least double the windows

47:53 ↗ of what is typical. Doubling the

47:55 ↗ glazing, especially on the south and

47:57 ↗ west facads, which are the facads in

47:58 ↗ question here, has a profound impact on

48:01 ↗ both heat gain and loss. Compensating

48:03 ↗ for increased glazing means adding more

48:05 ↗ triple pane windows, which are both

48:07 ↗ heavier and more expensive, as well as

48:10 ↗ reducing glazing on other facads to

48:12 ↗ balance the overall building envelope.

48:14 ↗ Providing 50% glazing on some facades

48:17 ↗ and less than 20% glazing on other

48:19 ↗ facads will look odd, but also creates

48:21 ↗ equity issues between apartment homes.

48:24 ↗ Lastly, the increased glazing impacts

48:27 ↗ other building systems. Each apartment

48:29 ↗ has air intake and exhaust requirements.

48:32 ↗ The exhaust is limited on how closely it

48:34 ↗ can be located to operable windows or to

48:37 ↗ intake locations. Increasing the windows

48:39 ↗ decreases the wall space available for

48:41 ↗ the intake and exhaust and makes laying

48:43 ↗ out the mechanical systems very very

48:45 ↗ difficult. Uh similarly, some of the

48:48 ↗ exterior walls are structural shear

48:50 ↗ walls which cannot easily accommodate

48:51 ↗ more glazing without diminishing their

48:53 ↗ structural capacity.

48:55 ↗ We go to the next slide.

48:59 ↗ The image here shows the west facade of

49:01 ↗ the north building. The white areas show

49:04 ↗ the current planned openings at 19%. The

49:07 ↗ hatched areas show how much of the wall

49:09 ↗ would need to be made transparent to

49:10 ↗ reach 50%. We would like to propose the

49:13 ↗ west facade be increased to 20% to

49:16 ↗ better meet the energy code,

49:17 ↗ affordability, ease of construction, and

49:19 ↗ efficiency of mechanical and structural

49:21 ↗ systems.

49:23 ↗ Next slide.

49:26 ↗ The image on this slide shows the west

49:28 ↗ facade of the south building. Again, the

49:30 ↗ white area shows the current planned

49:32 ↗ openings, in this case, 35%. And the

49:35 ↗ hatched areas show what the transparency

49:38 ↗ would be at 50%. I'd like to point out

49:40 ↗ that we don't have a market rate

49:42 ↗ developable,

49:43 ↗ uh, excuse me, development partner yet,

49:45 ↗ but it's very likely they will ask us to

49:47 ↗ reduce transparency to avoid significant

49:50 ↗ triple pane windows. Just like the north

49:52 ↗ building, we would like to propose the

49:54 ↗ west facade of the south building. also

49:56 ↗ have a 20% minimum. It's possible the

49:59 ↗ market rate building will opt to provide

50:00 ↗ slightly more. We do typically see

50:02 ↗ transparency between 25 and 30% on our

50:05 ↗ market rate building, but we think for

50:07 ↗ all the same reasons mentioned

50:08 ↗ previously and to ensure the buildings

50:10 ↗ look similar and feel equitable, the

50:13 ↗ west facade of the market rate building

50:14 ↗ should have the same minimum

50:16 ↗ requirement.

50:18 ↗ Next slide.

50:20 ↗ And then lastly, this is the south

50:22 ↗ facade of the south building which is

50:24 ↗ also within a natural context zone

50:26 ↗ because it faces Tibbitz Park. Here the

50:29 ↗ current transparency is 29%. We would

50:32 ↗ like to propose a minimum 30% glazing on

50:34 ↗ the south facade which is still within

50:36 ↗ the limits of energy code but does

50:38 ↗ ensure more glazing facing the park.

50:40 ↗ This facade is not directly comparable

50:42 ↗ to the north building which reduces the

50:44 ↗ concern about the buildings looking the

50:46 ↗ same. Next slide.

50:51 ↗ Uh the second item that's related to

50:53 ↗ natural context zone is the location of

50:56 ↗ the bike room. Technically, the bike

50:58 ↗ room is considered storage and storage

51:00 ↗ uses are limited on natural context

51:02 ↗ frontage. We would argue though that the

51:04 ↗ bike room is more like a resident

51:06 ↗ amenity instead of basic storage. We

51:08 ↗ place the bike room here because it's

51:10 ↗ conveniently located adjacent to the

51:12 ↗ lobby and directly next to the

51:14 ↗ throughblock bike path. In other KCH

51:16 ↗ properties, the bike room is heavily

51:18 ↗ used by residents, and we anticipate it

51:20 ↗ being the same here, making the bike

51:22 ↗ room an active and engaging portal

51:24 ↗ between inside and outside. Glazing is

51:26 ↗ limited to higher windows in order to

51:28 ↗ allow for bike racks along the wall and

51:30 ↗ for security of the bikes themselves.

51:33 ↗ Next slide.

51:36 ↗ And here you can see a perspective

51:38 ↗ looking at that frontage. At the far

51:40 ↗ left is the entry vestibule for the

51:42 ↗ lobby. Close to kind of the middle of

51:44 ↗ the page is the glass door leading into

51:46 ↗ the bike room. And uh towards the right

51:49 ↗ you can see the higher windows that are

51:51 ↗ up above the wall-mounted bike racks.

51:53 ↗ The wall below uh is obscured by

51:56 ↗ landscaping and elements of the

51:58 ↗ landscape design including short-term

52:00 ↗ bike parking which sort of directly ties

52:02 ↗ the interior and exterior environments

52:04 ↗ together.

52:06 ↗ Um, and that that concludes sort of an

52:09 ↗ overview of the new items uh that are

52:12 ↗ being proposed. And I think it goes back

52:14 ↗ to Andrea at this point uh to talk

52:17 ↗ through next steps. Thanks. Or I can

52:19 ↗ answer questions. Either one.

52:22 ↗ Do any council members have questions?

52:27 ↗ Okay. Council member or council

52:28 ↗ president Walsh?

52:31 ↗ Okay. No, I don't see any questions.

52:35 ↗ Uh I'll just conclude by this is the uh

52:38 ↗ schedule that we're we're hoping to

52:41 ↗ stick to. Um that we get our building

52:43 ↗ permit next May, we start construction

52:45 ↗ shortly thereafter and that in um

52:50 ↗ early to mid 2028. Uh we will pl place

52:53 ↗ the building in service and start

52:55 ↗ welcoming residents and the opportunity

52:57 ↗ center tenants.

53:00 ↗ Thank you.

53:06 ↗ Thank you, Dan. So that brings us back

53:08 ↗ to specific direction we're seeking from

53:10 ↗ you this evening is does the city

53:13 ↗ council agree with the administration's

53:14 ↗ recommendations to add the items to the

53:17 ↗ HCA including waving tree retention

53:21 ↗ requirements reducing transparency

53:23 ↗ requirements allowing bike storage with

53:26 ↗ that limited transparency and waving the

53:29 ↗ fifth floor stepback for the market rate

53:31 ↗ building to match the affordable

53:32 ↗ building.

53:34 ↗ Thank you. Just a reminder, we're not

53:36 ↗ voting tonight. We're just giving

53:38 ↗ feedback. So, would somebody like to

53:40 ↗ start with the feedback?

53:45 ↗ Yes.

53:46 ↗ I just want to ask a clarifying

53:48 ↗ question. So, so I'm still wrapping my

53:51 ↗ head around this transparency thing. So,

53:54 ↗ so um just to be clear, we have set a

53:57 ↗ 50% transparency

54:00 ↗ which is in conflict with state energy

54:02 ↗ code. Is that right?

54:06 ↗ I think I'm saying sorry. So yeah, and

54:09 ↗ perhaps director Dolly will wants to

54:11 ↗ speak to this because I know that as she

54:13 ↗ was looking at what our code requires

54:14 ↗ and 50% transparency that um she also

54:18 ↗ has an interest in taking another look

54:20 ↗ at that and making modifications on a

54:22 ↗ more permanent basis that that would

54:24 ↗ apply to other developments um because

54:26 ↗ 50% transparency is a lot. So the energy

54:29 ↗ code is a little bit different in that

54:31 ↗ it talks about I believe it talks about

54:33 ↗ glazing um which is uh similar to

54:38 ↗ transparency but not exactly. And now

54:40 ↗ I'm venturing into the land of planning

54:42 ↗ which maybe is uh dangerous for me to

54:45 ↗ go. So I can I can let director Dolly

54:48 ↗ Wells speak to this maybe a little bit

54:49 ↗ better.

54:52 ↗ Sure. Andrea. So uh yeah the the 50% is

54:55 ↗ just a land use code requirement. So

54:57 ↗ that's a council decision to u set it at

55:00 ↗ whatever it needs to be. Uh that is on

55:03 ↗ our list to look at with the next uh

55:06 ↗ annual updates. Um having a you know a

55:10 ↗ hardwired number is is good but if it

55:13 ↗ it's in conflict with other codes uh

55:15 ↗ then we certainly want to look at it. Uh

55:17 ↗ in terms of the energy code you know

55:19 ↗ there are two paths for that. Uh one is

55:22 ↗ your prescriptive you pick the 30%

55:24 ↗ you're good. Energy codes have gotten

55:26 ↗ very complex with uh the recent uh

55:28 ↗ building code updates through uh all of

55:31 ↗ that. There is a performance method in

55:33 ↗ which you can you know it's not a

55:35 ↗ hardwired 30%. There's other ways to do

55:38 ↗ do the calculation based on floor areas

55:40 ↗ and so on and so forth. So uh however I

55:42 ↗ think the easiest path for people to

55:44 ↗ pick the prescriptive method would be

55:46 ↗ the 30%. Again, Esqua's context of being

55:50 ↗ in the setting, uh, the idea was to not

55:52 ↗ have blank walls along um along natural

55:56 ↗ areas and to actually have that context

55:59 ↗ piece. It comes from design standards um

56:03 ↗ that were previously in in the books. Uh

56:06 ↗ so we'll certainly add it in our uh next

56:09 ↗ year's amendments uh to take a look at

56:11 ↗ it uh potentially as long as the intent

56:13 ↗ is met of not having blank walls along

56:16 ↗ natural context that there's flexibility

56:18 ↗ on the percentage piece um that can be

56:21 ↗ handled through the design review

56:23 ↗ process.

56:25 ↗ Okay. Thank you. Um I can just share

56:28 ↗ some comments if you want.

56:29 ↗ Uh I just want to check. Council member

56:30 ↗ Jen, did you have a question or a

56:32 ↗ comment? Oh, okay. Let's uh well, you

56:35 ↗ know, something I I have a question and

56:38 ↗ then uh we'll go to comments. So, so

56:40 ↗ this is just a general, you know, I

56:42 ↗ heard you refer to the fact that the PTE

56:45 ↗ committee is going to take up uh a

56:47 ↗ packet of changes. Um and I'm just

56:50 ↗ wondering are we is there any chance to

56:53 ↗ add or a or add to that package or um

56:58 ↗ what is exactly the process we're going

57:00 ↗ to go through to make these code

57:02 ↗ amendments? uh which I think are really

57:04 ↗ important and we've learned a lot from

57:06 ↗ this project, but um I'm just wondering

57:09 ↗ about the community input into that and

57:12 ↗ uh so forth. So, can you just speak to

57:14 ↗ that a little bit

57:15 ↗ for for the future code amendments?

57:18 ↗ Um so certainly we can take some of that

57:20 ↗ feedback this evening if there's

57:22 ↗ specific things that council would like

57:23 ↗ for us to look at and then um and then

57:27 ↗ you know I would invite director Dolly

57:29 ↗ Wall to make any further comments. But I

57:31 ↗ think part of this is we're going to

57:32 ↗ have to figure out um there's a lot of

57:35 ↗ code fixes that we've identified with um

57:39 ↗ the old whiteboard and um other items,

57:42 ↗ the title 18, our land use code. So we

57:45 ↗ still need to prioritize. At this point,

57:47 ↗ as you are aware, our planning staff are

57:50 ↗ woefully understaffed and so there is a

57:52 ↗ limited staffing capacity. What is good

57:55 ↗ about this project is certainly it's

57:56 ↗ highlighting some of these areas of our

57:58 ↗ code that um we want to make sure work

58:01 ↗ for redevelopment and encourage the type

58:04 ↗ of redevelopment that we want to see in

58:05 ↗ the central Isiqua area. So um perhaps

58:09 ↗ city administrator Bob Quitz can speak

58:11 ↗ to this but I would imagine that we

58:13 ↗ would love to hear your feedback on what

58:15 ↗ other type of code fixes you'd like to

58:16 ↗ see and then we'd have to perhaps

58:18 ↗ prioritize for staff capacity.

58:21 ↗ A and if I may add madam mayor prom uh

58:24 ↗ the planning development environment

58:25 ↗ committee has had uh at least a first

58:28 ↗ iteration of this discussion and they

58:30 ↗ plan to bring that up again when they

58:32 ↗ bring the uh code amendments uh the

58:34 ↗ ministerial code amendments that have

58:36 ↗ already been through uh planning policy

58:38 ↗ committee uh that's coming up on the

58:40 ↗ 21st of uh July.

58:42 ↗ Okay.

58:43 ↗ And so I don't want to steal Chair

58:46 ↗ Hall's thunder any further.

58:49 ↗ Okay. Thank you so much. So, uh, let's

58:51 ↗ go to comments from Council Member Hall

58:53 ↗ and then Council Member Jane.

58:57 ↗ Um, yeah. Well, and just to add to that,

58:59 ↗ too, like that was at the last council

59:01 ↗ meeting, I I said when that comes back

59:03 ↗ from planning, development, environment

59:05 ↗ committee, we're going to have a bit of

59:06 ↗ a trade-off conversation, kind of

59:07 ↗ building off what deputy city, deputy

59:10 ↗ city administrator was saying around we

59:12 ↗ have a lot of work going on in the

59:14 ↗ planning development um community

59:16 ↗ planning and development already, right?

59:17 ↗ So, also just kind of being able to

59:19 ↗ recognize that and prioritize at

59:21 ↗ council. So, I'm looking forward to that

59:22 ↗ conversation. I'll definitely add some

59:24 ↗ of the things that have come up tonight

59:25 ↗ to that list that we talk about um as

59:28 ↗ council. Um just in terms of direction,

59:31 ↗ um first and foremost, thank you for

59:33 ↗ being so um responsive to needs from

59:35 ↗ KCHA from sitting down and really trying

59:38 ↗ to understand how are we going to make

59:40 ↗ this work? how are we going to deliver

59:41 ↗ on this important community promise um

59:44 ↗ in our community uh that are that is so

59:46 ↗ aligned with our vision and our goals

59:47 ↗ and that northstar of m making as many

59:50 ↗ affordable units as we can. So I

59:52 ↗ appreciate you kind of highlighting that

59:53 ↗ right at the very beginning as well. Um

59:55 ↗ there's nothing that I've seen today

59:58 ↗ that I'm concerned about in terms of um

1:00:00 ↗ creating um space for consistency

1:00:04 ↗ between buildings. Um making it easier

1:00:06 ↗ to pencil out um understanding the um

1:00:10 ↗ challenges around natural areas and

1:00:13 ↗ transparency and all this. So um just

1:00:15 ↗ from kind of a high level perspective,

1:00:17 ↗ nothing that I see here that I would

1:00:19 ↗ that I would warn us from from going

1:00:21 ↗ down too much further. So, when this

1:00:22 ↗ comes back to council, I'd like to see

1:00:24 ↗ I'd like to see these. And um uh just

1:00:26 ↗ like as some of uh council's already

1:00:28 ↗ kind of alluded to, I'm I'm interested

1:00:30 ↗ in having that conversation around the

1:00:32 ↗ commercial height. Um I think that's an

1:00:34 ↗ interesting one whether or not that

1:00:35 ↗ happens um um in this or we have kind of

1:00:41 ↗ a trade-off conversate because I we also

1:00:43 ↗ like you said our northstar is number of

1:00:45 ↗ affordable units. We don't want to like

1:00:47 ↗ eat into those units as well too. So

1:00:49 ↗ maybe we frame up a discussion, but

1:00:50 ↗ maybe that's more for a code amendment

1:00:52 ↗ for general title 18 later on um for us

1:00:55 ↗ to have a conversation about. But those

1:00:57 ↗ are just some of my kind of general

1:00:58 ↗ thoughts and u if you want to get more

1:01:01 ↗ specific on anything, go back for two

1:01:04 ↗ comments.

1:01:05 ↗ Okay, council member Jenk.

1:01:08 ↗ Yeah, I want to echo everything that uh

1:01:10 ↗ council member Hall said. I think um you

1:01:12 ↗ know waving the fifth floor setback for

1:01:14 ↗ the market rate building is really

1:01:15 ↗ important to make sure that the two

1:01:17 ↗ buildings look as similar as possible.

1:01:19 ↗ And also another thing to note is that

1:01:21 ↗ you know King County Housing Authority

1:01:23 ↗ hasn't finance hasn't finalized the

1:01:25 ↗ financing stack for this. So, they're

1:01:26 ↗ going to come to, you know, Arch and to

1:01:29 ↗ the city of Isqua with a request for the

1:01:31 ↗ amount of money from our, you know,

1:01:33 ↗ inclusive housing investment pool from

1:01:34 ↗ Arch's housing trust fund that we're

1:01:35 ↗ going to put in. And if they're able to

1:01:37 ↗ get a higher price for the uh market

1:01:41 ↗ rate development because there's they're

1:01:43 ↗ reducing the cost of building it by

1:01:45 ↗ giving this exemption that directly

1:01:47 ↗ results in saving the taxpayers of Isqua

1:01:50 ↗ money in terms of getting this project

1:01:51 ↗ built. So, I'm super in favor of this. I

1:01:53 ↗ think, you know, in terms of the

1:01:55 ↗ transparency stuff, you know, figuring

1:01:57 ↗ out how that works with the state energy

1:01:59 ↗ code as those requirements are getting

1:02:00 ↗ more stringent is um really challenging

1:02:03 ↗ and so I look forward to um seeing how

1:02:05 ↗ that discussion uh comes up in the

1:02:08 ↗ coming months.

1:02:10 ↗ Okay, Council Member Joe,

1:02:13 ↗ thank you. Um Andrea, first thank you

1:02:16 ↗ for putting this all together and

1:02:17 ↗ coordinating it so that we could have it

1:02:19 ↗ in a a good solid package that we could

1:02:21 ↗ analyze carefully. Um, echoing what uh,

1:02:24 ↗ Council Member Hall says, I don't have

1:02:26 ↗ any objections about any of the

1:02:28 ↗ questions that are up there. Um, I was a

1:02:30 ↗ little bit concerned about the waiver of

1:02:32 ↗ tree retention requirements initially.

1:02:35 ↗ Um, however, with the information

1:02:38 ↗ tonight that the um, green space that's

1:02:41 ↗ already there will keep the trees. Um, I

1:02:44 ↗ feel better about um removing some of

1:02:47 ↗ the trees on the site and um allowing

1:02:50 ↗ those trees that are already there kind

1:02:52 ↗ of stay in a a glade or at least a clump

1:02:55 ↗ of trees that support each other. We

1:02:56 ↗ find that when we when we take out trees

1:02:59 ↗ sometimes then it opens up to wind

1:03:02 ↗ damage that get knocked over because

1:03:04 ↗ they don't have that support around them

1:03:06 ↗ with the other trees. So, keeping that

1:03:07 ↗ that natural area with all the trees

1:03:09 ↗ there, I think is going to be a good

1:03:11 ↗ long-term solution. and uh still keep uh

1:03:14 ↗ a natural feeling to that area with the

1:03:17 ↗ tree retention that still is being

1:03:19 ↗ required. So u I won't repeat all the

1:03:21 ↗ other comments but but I think this is a

1:03:23 ↗ good package uh going forward. Thank

1:03:24 ↗ you.

1:03:25 ↗ Right. U Council President Walsh has her

1:03:28 ↗ hand up so uh please go ahead.

1:03:32 ↗ Thank you. Um I think I'm going to end

1:03:34 ↗ up echoing much of what we have heard. I

1:03:37 ↗ I think it's just really important for

1:03:38 ↗ us to recognize that getting an analysis

1:03:42 ↗ from a nonprofit affordable housing

1:03:45 ↗ developer really here showed us we have

1:03:48 ↗ a lot of challenges with our adopted

1:03:50 ↗ code that can make building essentially

1:03:54 ↗ impossible. you know, if we've got this

1:03:57 ↗ idea of having a lot of transparency,

1:04:02 ↗ um, but then the building code says you

1:04:06 ↗ shouldn't have as much glazing. These

1:04:08 ↗ are really concerning areas for me, um,

1:04:11 ↗ that we are seeing in this case, and I

1:04:13 ↗ really do want to make sure that we

1:04:14 ↗ bring them up. Um, I would also say the

1:04:17 ↗ two remaining items that are not

1:04:20 ↗ proposed in this proposal for the market

1:04:22 ↗ rate building, um, I would be

1:04:24 ↗ comfortable with adding in, um, they're

1:04:27 ↗ not deal breakers for me, but the

1:04:30 ↗ outdoor amenity space and substituting

1:04:33 ↗ the ESDS for lead platinum. I think um

1:04:36 ↗ particularly with the ESDS for lead

1:04:38 ↗ platinum um our consultant made a good

1:04:42 ↗ point that if you're already having to

1:04:44 ↗ do that all the lead platinum

1:04:47 ↗ requirement on that is just adding extra

1:04:50 ↗ paperwork. And so I think the idea of

1:04:54 ↗ simplifying and now that we've looked at

1:04:56 ↗ what that truly does um require and

1:05:00 ↗ provide, I think um is easily something

1:05:03 ↗ that I would say our community would

1:05:05 ↗ support. So in general, I appreciate

1:05:07 ↗ that we've done this. I think um all of

1:05:10 ↗ these

1:05:11 ↗ adjustments are good for both the

1:05:14 ↗ affordable and market rate.

1:05:16 ↗ Council member Martz,

1:05:19 ↗ thank you. I'm going to say it a little

1:05:22 ↗ bit differently than everybody else

1:05:23 ↗ today. I'm going to uh quote Jane Austin

1:05:27 ↗ and um and uh I'm going to say

1:05:32 ↗ uh from Pride and Prejudice, what Jane

1:05:35 ↗ Bennett said to Mr. Bingley, yes. Yes. A

1:05:38 ↗ thousand times yes. Um this project is

1:05:42 ↗ desperately needed. It was desperately

1:05:44 ↗ needed 10 years ago when we first

1:05:45 ↗ started talking about it. It's been

1:05:47 ↗ desperately needed in the intervening

1:05:49 ↗ years. Uh the biggest thing to me today

1:05:52 ↗ is not these issues which are well

1:05:54 ↗ presented. Um it's the idea that uh they

1:05:58 ↗ would start in next year to actually

1:06:01 ↗ building this. Um that's what's

1:06:02 ↗ important.

1:06:03 ↗ Uh that's what needs to get done. Um I'm

1:06:06 ↗ like I said I'm I'm fine with all these

1:06:08 ↗ things. Full speed ahead. bias for

1:06:10 ↗ action is what they say at Blue Origin.

1:06:13 ↗ Um it's it's it's it's been too long. So

1:06:16 ↗ I hope that uh I hope that this is

1:06:19 ↗ really I hope that we're close, right?

1:06:23 ↗ Um we it we've had all sorts of great

1:06:26 ↗ conversations over the years. So um and

1:06:29 ↗ yet that lot sits forlorn and and

1:06:32 ↗ unloved. So, um, you know, I'm an ardent

1:06:36 ↗ suitor like Jane Bennett, um, from from,

1:06:39 ↗ uh, 2005's Pride and Prejudice. So,

1:06:41 ↗ let's let's get going. Thank you.

1:06:45 ↗ Thank you, Council Member Mart. Um, uh,

1:06:49 ↗ before I give my comments, uh, any other

1:06:51 ↗ comments from followup, Council Member

1:06:53 ↗ Jen.

1:06:54 ↗ Um, yeah, I also wanted to touch on the

1:06:56 ↗ sustainability standards. Um so one

1:06:59 ↗ thing that kind of came up when we were

1:07:00 ↗ looking at the sustainability standards

1:07:02 ↗ are that you know the city of Isiqua is

1:07:04 ↗ unique in that it requires all buildings

1:07:06 ↗ all residential buildings to be lead

1:07:08 ↗ platinum and whereas most other cities

1:07:11 ↗ and programs give you a menu of

1:07:13 ↗ different similar certifications to pick

1:07:15 ↗ from. So for example, you know, EGC+,

1:07:17 ↗ which we've talked about, uh, passive

1:07:19 ↗ house, there's a variety of them. And

1:07:21 ↗ so, one thing that I would also love us

1:07:23 ↗ to look at in the land use code is

1:07:24 ↗ seeing, you know, how can we expand that

1:07:26 ↗ definition to encompass these different

1:07:28 ↗ sustainability certifications, which for

1:07:30 ↗ all intents and purposes are basically

1:07:31 ↗ similar. It's just different companies

1:07:33 ↗ version of the same product. Um, so that

1:07:36 ↗ we can give more optionality to, you

1:07:38 ↗ know, people who want to build

1:07:39 ↗ environmentally friendly buildings but

1:07:40 ↗ don't have experience with the specific

1:07:41 ↗ type of paperwork. Um, so

1:07:46 ↗ And council member Hall, did you want to

1:07:48 ↗ say something else?

1:07:56 ↗ All right, let me go ahead and then we

1:07:58 ↗ can come back. Okay, so uh yeah, I'm I'm

1:08:01 ↗ going to echo everybody and uh

1:08:03 ↗ particularly uh Council President

1:08:05 ↗ Walsh's comments. Um this process has

1:08:08 ↗ absolutely surfaced some issues that we

1:08:10 ↗ really have with our code and uh that we

1:08:14 ↗ we need to um address. Um I agree with

1:08:18 ↗ Councilwoman Marts. This project itself

1:08:21 ↗ is urgent and I don't want to put any

1:08:23 ↗ roadblocks in its way. So um what I

1:08:27 ↗ would be looking at is future code

1:08:28 ↗ amendments and not stopping this project

1:08:31 ↗ to start making fixes at this point. Um

1:08:35 ↗ my I have a couple of specific uh the

1:08:38 ↗ tree retention requirements. Long long

1:08:40 ↗ long long time ago when um Leon CS was

1:08:43 ↗ the city administrator, I served on a

1:08:46 ↗ committee that looked at our tree

1:08:48 ↗ retention requirements. So this is a

1:08:50 ↗ kind of a special and I was really

1:08:52 ↗ surprised to learn that uh that the tree

1:08:56 ↗ retention requirements could actually

1:08:58 ↗ stop a project. So that one is a

1:09:00 ↗ special. I would really like us to talk

1:09:02 ↗ about uh how we make that. We all agree

1:09:06 ↗ we want our tree canopy uh but we we

1:09:09 ↗ also need affordable housing. We

1:09:11 ↗ desperately need that. So that would be

1:09:12 ↗ one of my special uh areas of of

1:09:15 ↗ attention. The other thing I'm really

1:09:17 ↗ concerned about is we've surfaced uh a

1:09:20 ↗ number of items here. Um we surfaced a

1:09:23 ↗ number of items with previous project

1:09:25 ↗ that did not go through. Um and uh I am

1:09:29 ↗ just hoping that we will have some kind

1:09:31 ↗ of process where uh we ask the

1:09:33 ↗ developers in our area if they will have

1:09:36 ↗ further additions so that we can do a

1:09:39 ↗ comprehensive amendment process so that

1:09:43 ↗ instead of coming back and then having

1:09:44 ↗ to go back a year from now and then

1:09:46 ↗ another year from now that maybe we do a

1:09:49 ↗ more comprehensive look and see if we

1:09:51 ↗ can really get a list of things that

1:09:53 ↗ need to be changed so that developers

1:09:55 ↗ come in here and feel that they can

1:09:57 ↗ really um that it's it's uh as they say

1:10:01 ↗ pencils out to build uh housing and

1:10:04 ↗ build affordable housing in Isaac. So

1:10:06 ↗ that is that would be one of my concerns

1:10:09 ↗ is the process that we're going to go

1:10:11 ↗ through to do the amendments uh and

1:10:13 ↗ making sure we get a lot of input into

1:10:15 ↗ that process. So I see that council

1:10:18 ↗ member Mart um wants to add something.

1:10:24 ↗ Well, I want to be careful that um what

1:10:28 ↗ developers hear from us tonight. Um I am

1:10:33 ↗ an ardent suitor of this project because

1:10:35 ↗ this particular project creates an

1:10:38 ↗ immense uh benefit to our community and

1:10:42 ↗ I want to be really clear that um we

1:10:46 ↗ have at times in the past not associated

1:10:48 ↗ with this project um seen requests for

1:10:52 ↗ all sorts of uh essentially variances

1:10:55 ↗ from uh developers for very small

1:10:58 ↗ community benefits. And so I I want to

1:11:01 ↗ be super super clear that um my

1:11:05 ↗ assessment as one of seven um is not

1:11:08 ↗ that it is old west, you know,

1:11:10 ↗ free-for-all on development standards um

1:11:14 ↗ but rather um you know, my sense is that

1:11:17 ↗ this council when presented with

1:11:20 ↗ substantial benefit to the community is

1:11:22 ↗ willing to consider um what we need to

1:11:25 ↗ do to help make that happen. But what I

1:11:27 ↗ don't want to see is like 2% of the

1:11:30 ↗ units at 98% of market rate and we're

1:11:33 ↗ supposed to bend over backwards and

1:11:36 ↗ provide all sorts of um changes um and

1:11:39 ↗ and diminishment of standards that we've

1:11:42 ↗ cared about. So, I just I just want to

1:11:44 ↗ caution that um I I agree with the the

1:11:48 ↗ body this evening that some of the

1:11:49 ↗ issues that were brought up this evening

1:11:51 ↗ are very important and um are are worth

1:11:55 ↗ considering more broadly as to where our

1:11:58 ↗ code is, but um I personally am not I've

1:12:02 ↗ seen too many times over the last 15

1:12:04 ↗ years where developers have come in and

1:12:06 ↗ offered extremely modest, extremely thin

1:12:09 ↗ amounts of public benefit and then

1:12:11 ↗ expected us to do all sorts of dancing

1:12:13 ↗ and gyating for it and that won't happen

1:12:16 ↗ going forward at least again as 107.

1:12:19 ↗ Thank you.

1:12:21 ↗ Any other comments?

1:12:23 ↗ So, city administrator Buckwitz.

1:12:26 ↗ Yes. Uh thank you, Madame Mayor Bertam.

1:12:28 ↗ Um let me just say a couple of words

1:12:30 ↗ from the administration's uh perspective

1:12:32 ↗ on this because certainly uh this has

1:12:34 ↗ been discussed a planning and

1:12:36 ↗ development environment. Uh Mayor

1:12:37 ↗ Paulie's very concerned uh about

1:12:40 ↗ community input. Uh that title 18 when

1:12:43 ↗ we did the major revisions uh we went to

1:12:45 ↗ many of our boards and commissions we

1:12:47 ↗ had uh discussions with the community

1:12:50 ↗ members we tested things. Um and I think

1:12:53 ↗ she would want me to say this evening

1:12:55 ↗ her concern for caution uh as changes

1:12:58 ↗ are looked at that we go back to the

1:13:00 ↗ community. It's important to hear from

1:13:02 ↗ developers. Certainly, we want to see

1:13:04 ↗ housing developed, but it's also

1:13:05 ↗ important to hear from the community,

1:13:07 ↗ uh, our various boards and commissions

1:13:09 ↗ that we charge to mine these matters. Um

1:13:13 ↗ and so and I keep saying I don't want to

1:13:15 ↗ steal thunder chair hall but uh um you

1:13:18 ↗ know one of the things that the

1:13:20 ↗ committee talked about the plan

1:13:21 ↗ development environment committee talked

1:13:22 ↗ about was coming up with a comprehensive

1:13:25 ↗ list uh and doing that during the fall

1:13:28 ↗ so that um in in January with the new

1:13:31 ↗ mayor new council uh we'll have that

1:13:34 ↗ those lists ready to go and have that

1:13:36 ↗ group then decide a path and not wait

1:13:39 ↗ for that. Uh we the committee discussed,

1:13:42 ↗ you know, kind of played through the

1:13:44 ↗ logistics of having a community dialogue

1:13:46 ↗ this fall with our boards and

1:13:48 ↗ commissions. Um and just looking at a

1:13:50 ↗ calendar, that's just going to be very

1:13:51 ↗ very difficult. What the the committee

1:13:53 ↗ plan development environment committee

1:13:55 ↗ can do uh is bring together the various

1:13:58 ↗ lists that we've had do some

1:14:00 ↗ prioritization perhaps ask the council

1:14:02 ↗ to have either part of a uh a scheduled

1:14:05 ↗ committee the whole or have another

1:14:06 ↗ committee the whole to talk about this

1:14:08 ↗ so that we are ready to go in January to

1:14:11 ↗ have those community discussions meet

1:14:13 ↗ with developers however the mayor and

1:14:14 ↗ council direct um and be ready to go

1:14:17 ↗ then but Mayor Pauliey's very concerned

1:14:19 ↗ that as we talk about this we talk about

1:14:21 ↗ developer needs needs. Uh she's

1:14:23 ↗ concerned we don't talk enough about the

1:14:24 ↗ community's desires and all the hours

1:14:27 ↗ and hours and hours that have been spent

1:14:29 ↗ by community review, board and

1:14:31 ↗ commission review of what is in title

1:14:33 ↗ 18.

1:14:34 ↗ Thank you.

1:14:35 ↗ Yeah, I I actually think we're all on

1:14:37 ↗ the same page. I just wanted to be sure

1:14:39 ↗ that um that the idea of doing a

1:14:42 ↗ comprehensive look um appeals to me much

1:14:45 ↗ more than doing a patchwork this year

1:14:47 ↗ and a patchwork two years from now and

1:14:49 ↗ so forth down the down the line. So, uh,

1:14:51 ↗ that was, uh, the purpose of my

1:14:53 ↗ comments. All right. Uh, any other any

1:14:57 ↗ other comments here?

1:14:59 ↗ Oh, sorry, Council President Walsh.

1:15:03 ↗ Thank you. Waving my hand over here. Um,

1:15:05 ↗ I I just want to be clear that when we

1:15:07 ↗ are looking at potential changes to our

1:15:12 ↗ code based on what this nonprofit

1:15:14 ↗ developer has uh, discovered for us.

1:15:18 ↗ These are not giveaways to developers.

1:15:21 ↗ We are not putting in incentives here um

1:15:25 ↗ or gifts to folks because they're

1:15:28 ↗ providing a community benefit when we're

1:15:30 ↗ talking about a wider potential scope of

1:15:32 ↗ these things. These are fixes to

1:15:35 ↗ barriers

1:15:37 ↗ for development. And I agree we should

1:15:41 ↗ absolutely

1:15:43 ↗ discuss this with the community. We know

1:15:45 ↗ the community values environmental

1:15:47 ↗ sustainability and climate action and

1:15:50 ↗ all of those things. I do think it's

1:15:52 ↗ important to recognize that if the

1:15:55 ↗ community was presented with something

1:15:57 ↗ that says 50% window transparency,

1:16:02 ↗ do you want that? without the

1:16:04 ↗ information that says, "Look, that would

1:16:06 ↗ make it not work for the energy code can

1:16:11 ↗ give us a bad result, which is that

1:16:14 ↗ development and housing isn't viable.

1:16:19 ↗ And so very important to go back to the

1:16:22 ↗ community with this information, but

1:16:24 ↗ make sure that we are presenting not

1:16:27 ↗ false choices, but rather things that

1:16:30 ↗ will equitable equitably bring about the

1:16:34 ↗ housing that our residents and employers

1:16:38 ↗ desperately need.

1:16:41 ↗ Thank you. Any other comments?

1:16:44 ↗ All right, we have a question here

1:16:46 ↗ before us also that wasn't on the list

1:16:48 ↗ and that is, do you have any preference

1:16:51 ↗ on whether this item returns under

1:16:53 ↗ consent or the regular business at the

1:16:56 ↗ July 21st meeting? Is that correct? The

1:16:59 ↗ July 21st meeting? Any input there?

1:17:06 ↗ Is there anything you heard tonight that

1:17:08 ↗ might

1:17:09 ↗ make you think this would be better?

1:17:11 ↗ like there'll be a change that might be

1:17:13 ↗ better on regular business than consent

1:17:14 ↗ or

1:17:15 ↗ I don't believe we anticipate any major

1:17:17 ↗ changes at this point.

1:17:18 ↗ Okay. And no preference.

1:17:21 ↗ No preference. Okay.

1:17:23 ↗ Uh I am not see I think

1:17:25 ↗ so we'll go ahead and put on consent.

1:17:26 ↗ Yes. I

1:17:27 ↗ the council's had a full discussion this

1:17:28 ↗ evening.

1:17:29 ↗ Right. Um I see council president

1:17:31 ↗ Walsh's hand is up again. Do you have a

1:17:34 ↗ a concern there?

1:17:36 ↗ No. Sorry about that. I didn't lower it

1:17:38 ↗ earlier.

1:17:39 ↗ Oh, okay. Yes. I think the consent

1:17:40 ↗ agenda then would be appropriate. Okay.

1:17:43 ↗ Thank you,

1:17:44 ↗ Mayor Prom, if I may. Yes. I would love

1:17:46 ↗ to correct a statement that I made

1:17:48 ↗ earlier, which is that when we were

1:17:49 ↗ talking about the opportunity center

1:17:51 ↗ discussion, that's not anticipated for

1:17:53 ↗ the committee of the whole this month,

1:17:55 ↗ but rather safety services and parks

1:17:56 ↗ committee. So, I apologize for

1:17:58 ↗ misspeaking. So I I for anybody

1:18:01 ↗ following along this item who wanted uh

1:18:04 ↗ to to attend that meeting, it's the

1:18:06 ↗ safety services and parks committee and

1:18:08 ↗ I'm I'm sorry for that error.

1:18:09 ↗ Oh, thank you so much for the

1:18:11 ↗ clarification.

1:18:12 ↗ Um the next item on the agenda again uh

1:18:15 ↗ AB9040

1:18:17 ↗ has been postponed to the July 21st

1:18:20 ↗ meeting. So we will proceed to committee

1:18:24 ↗ and regional reports next. Uh Council

1:18:27 ↗ Member J. Uh, I have no report for

1:18:30 ↗ today.

1:18:31 ↗ Council member Joe.

1:18:32 ↗ Thank you. Uh, in Council Member Ray's

1:18:35 ↗ absence, um, I'll announce that the

1:18:37 ↗ Fourth of July commission will be

1:18:39 ↗ meeting on July 14th. One of the items

1:18:41 ↗ on the agenda is uh, looking at the

1:18:44 ↗ potential new logos for the um,

1:18:46 ↗ commission and the celebration. They'll

1:18:48 ↗ be doing some board training and a

1:18:50 ↗ debrief on the Fourth of July parade. Um

1:18:54 ↗ July 18th, the chamber board is meeting

1:18:57 ↗ and um as liaison, I'll be giving a

1:19:00 ↗ report to the board about our current

1:19:02 ↗ action here at council and other goings

1:19:05 ↗ on in the city that uh they might be

1:19:07 ↗ interested in. Uh 7:15 is the um July

1:19:11 ↗ 15th is mobility and infrastructure

1:19:13 ↗ committee meeting. No agenda has been

1:19:14 ↗ set yet, but um tune in the website if

1:19:17 ↗ you're interested in going to that

1:19:18 ↗ meeting. July 23rd, Cascade Water

1:19:21 ↗ Alliance Board uh will be meeting. Um

1:19:25 ↗ the public affairs meeting, however, for

1:19:27 ↗ Cascade Water Alliance on July 2nd was

1:19:29 ↗ cancelled. July 28th, the ELTAC

1:19:32 ↗ committee will be meeting at 2 p.m. in

1:19:33 ↗ the afternoon.

1:19:35 ↗ Location to be determined. And that

1:19:37 ↗ concludes my July report for all my

1:19:39 ↗ committees. Thank you.

1:19:41 ↗ Thank you very much, Council Member

1:19:42 ↗ Hall.

1:19:43 ↗ No report this evening.

1:19:44 ↗ Okay. Council member uh Mart.

1:19:47 ↗ Thank you. Sound Cities Association

1:19:49 ↗ Public Issues Committee will be meeting

1:19:51 ↗ this Wednesday, July 9th, at 7 PM for an

1:19:54 ↗ online meeting. And I am uh sort of

1:19:56 ↗ thrilled to announce we actually have

1:19:58 ↗ something juicy to discuss. Uh so wanted

1:20:01 ↗ to bring up uh with council uh we will

1:20:04 ↗ be considering taking emergency action

1:20:07 ↗ on a recommendation

1:20:09 ↗ uh on the King County Transportation

1:20:11 ↗ District sales tax proposal. Let me read

1:20:14 ↗ you the first and last paragraphs of the

1:20:17 ↗ draft letter that we have uh for uh

1:20:21 ↗ council member Claudia Belduchi uh KCTD

1:20:25 ↗ chair Sound Cities Association is

1:20:27 ↗ writing regarding the proposed.1%

1:20:29 ↗ sales tax by the King County

1:20:32 ↗ Transportation District KCTD. Given the

1:20:34 ↗ range of scheduled taxes this year and

1:20:36 ↗ limited engagement to date, we are

1:20:38 ↗ concerned about the timing and

1:20:39 ↗ development of this funding proposal.

1:20:41 ↗ With state and federal fiscal

1:20:43 ↗ uncertainty, the proposed KCTD sales tax

1:20:46 ↗ does not fully account for broader

1:20:48 ↗ economic risks. While we understand and

1:20:50 ↗ appreciate the deep and long-standing

1:20:51 ↗ need of the county's local roads and

1:20:53 ↗ transit, we urge that any new tax be

1:20:56 ↗ delayed, allowing time for alternative

1:20:58 ↗ alternatives alternative revenue options

1:21:01 ↗ to be thoroughly explored and policy

1:21:03 ↗ priorities to be developed in

1:21:05 ↗ partnership with local jurisdictions.

1:21:07 ↗ Then there's a bunch of supporting

1:21:08 ↗ language. Finally, the 38 jurisdictions

1:21:11 ↗ of sound cities believe that the

1:21:13 ↗ proposed KCTD sales tax should not be

1:21:16 ↗ pursued this year and that any new

1:21:17 ↗ revenue will be more successful with

1:21:20 ↗ increased collaboration between King

1:21:22 ↗ County and lo local jurisdictions. More

1:21:24 ↗ time would allow for more thorough

1:21:26 ↗ analysis of geographic needs, looking at

1:21:28 ↗ alternative or or additional revenue

1:21:30 ↗ sources, and the development of

1:21:32 ↗ appropriate solutions for a balanced

1:21:34 ↗ approach to raising revenues that

1:21:35 ↗ benefit the entire transportation system

1:21:37 ↗ for the region.

1:21:39 ↗ So, uh, that is the draft language that

1:21:42 ↗ will be in front of the, uh, Sound

1:21:44 ↗ Cities Association on Wednesday. I bring

1:21:46 ↗ this up to you because if anyone, if if

1:21:49 ↗ we as a body decided that we had

1:21:51 ↗ problems with that language, uh, I would

1:21:53 ↗ of course not be supporting it. Um, the

1:21:55 ↗ way um, SCA used to work and is working

1:21:58 ↗ again now as we bring these things to

1:22:00 ↗ the municipalities and hear people out.

1:22:03 ↗ So, uh, if anybody has any concerns

1:22:05 ↗ about that or questions they would like

1:22:07 ↗ me to bring up, uh, with Sound Cities on

1:22:10 ↗ Wednesday, now would be the time. And

1:22:12 ↗ I'm not seeing any, uh,

1:22:19 ↗ well, yeah, let me just ask maybe you

1:22:22 ↗ could ask for us. I'm just curious like

1:22:24 ↗ how long they've been considering this

1:22:25 ↗ proposal. I haven't heard of this

1:22:27 ↗ before. The King County doing this.

1:22:29 ↗ Yeah, it it came up quickly. That's why

1:22:31 ↗ we're looking at emergency action. Um,

1:22:33 ↗ historically there have been challenges

1:22:35 ↗ with um, things come up at the county

1:22:38 ↗ quickly and we aren't um, historically

1:22:41 ↗ in the last couple of years we haven't

1:22:43 ↗ had the time to respond to these things.

1:22:45 ↗ This is the first one in some time that

1:22:48 ↗ and again we would have to take

1:22:49 ↗ emergency action. an emergency action

1:22:50 ↗ requires 85% of the body uh to agree

1:22:53 ↗ that an uh that an emergency is there

1:22:56 ↗ and then uh the the actual vote on this

1:22:59 ↗ motion would require two3.

1:23:03 ↗ All right. Thank you.

1:23:04 ↗ All right. Oh, and I have one other um

1:23:06 ↗ thing lest we not forget. Uh as the

1:23:08 ↗ deputy city administrator pointed out,

1:23:10 ↗ uh we do have a services, safety, and

1:23:13 ↗ parks meeting Tuesday, July 22nd, which

1:23:16 ↗ is technically beyond our next council

1:23:18 ↗ meeting, but I'll mention it anyhow.

1:23:19 ↗ 6:30 here in council chambers. And yes,

1:23:21 ↗ on the agenda is the status of the

1:23:23 ↗ opportunity center project as well as a

1:23:26 ↗ status on the three trails art project

1:23:28 ↗ proposal using recent grants from

1:23:31 ↗ Washington legislature.

1:23:33 ↗ This concludes my report.

1:23:34 ↗ Very exciting. Very exciting. Uh I do

1:23:37 ↗ not have a report. Uh Council President

1:23:39 ↗ Walsh, do you have a report?

1:23:42 ↗ No report. Thank you.

1:23:43 ↗ All right. Very good. Uh the mayor did

1:23:46 ↗ uh send in a report which I will read to

1:23:48 ↗ you. Uh first of all, there is no

1:23:50 ↗ executive session this evening. Uh

1:23:53 ↗ secondly, Mayor Pauliey's sister city

1:23:55 ↗ exchange trip to Sundal, Norway. Mayor

1:23:57 ↗ Paulie recently visited Sundal, Norway

1:24:00 ↗ is a sister city of more than 30 years

1:24:03 ↗ to strengthen international ties and

1:24:05 ↗ celebrate the enduring friendship

1:24:06 ↗ between the two communities. These

1:24:08 ↗ sister city exchanges foster cultural

1:24:10 ↗ understanding, promote collaboration on

1:24:13 ↗ shared challenges, and open doors for

1:24:14 ↗ educational and economic opportunities.

1:24:17 ↗ By connecting with Sundal's leaders and

1:24:19 ↗ residents, Mayor Paulie affirmed

1:24:21 ↗ reaffirmed the value of global

1:24:23 ↗ partnerships in building a more

1:24:24 ↗ connected and resilient Isiqua. And I

1:24:28 ↗ have been to Sundal and if it is a

1:24:31 ↗ wonderful, wonderful little salmon

1:24:33 ↗ village on the um western side of Norway

1:24:38 ↗ and it's just absolutely lovely. So, I'm

1:24:40 ↗ sure she had a wonderful time and the

1:24:42 ↗ people are very friendly. uh upcoming

1:24:44 ↗ events. Concerts on the green kicks off.

1:24:47 ↗ It's concerts time in Isiqua. Come down

1:24:49 ↗ to the Isiqua Community Center lawn

1:24:51 ↗ every Tuesday to listen to dancable

1:24:54 ↗ tunes for the whole family. The concerts

1:24:56 ↗ run from 7:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. every

1:24:58 ↗ Tuesday through August the 19th. Uh

1:25:01 ↗ Harvey Manning's 100th birthday

1:25:03 ↗ celebration. The Isiqua Alps Trails Club

1:25:06 ↗ is hosting a celebration to honor Harvey

1:25:08 ↗ Manning's 100th birthday and lasting

1:25:10 ↗ legacy of trail and conservation

1:25:12 ↗ advocacy. This family-friendly event

1:25:15 ↗ features outdoor activities, a scavenger

1:25:17 ↗ hunt, a short speaking program from

1:25:19 ↗ local conservation leaders, including a

1:25:22 ↗ special presentation by Senator Victoria

1:25:25 ↗ Hunt. This event takes place at the

1:25:27 ↗ community center lawn near the Harvey

1:25:29 ↗ Manning statue on Wednesday, July 9th

1:25:32 ↗ from 6:00 to 8:00. Bring the family and

1:25:34 ↗ a picnic to enjoy this familyfriendly

1:25:36 ↗ gathering. And then gas station blues

1:25:39 ↗ start on July the 10th. So, there's lots

1:25:42 ↗ going on in downtown Isiqua. The

1:25:44 ↗ Downtown Isakiqua Association and the

1:25:46 ↗ Washington Blues Society bring gas

1:25:49 ↗ station blues back to Isiqua for its

1:25:51 ↗ 11th year. Grab your lawn chairs,

1:25:54 ↗ blankets, and dancing shoes, and head

1:25:55 ↗ down to the historic Shell Station every

1:25:58 ↗ Thursday night from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00

1:26:00 ↗ p.m. through August the 28th to listen

1:26:02 ↗ to a variety of talented blues

1:26:04 ↗ musicians. Visit the downtown isqua

1:26:07 ↗ association's website for the full

1:26:09 ↗ lineup of musicians. And the next item

1:26:12 ↗ of business is good of the order. Does

1:26:14 ↗ anyone have good of the order? Council

1:26:16 ↗ member Joe.

1:26:18 ↗ Thank you. Um just wanted to let people

1:26:21 ↗ know that uh at the farmers market this

1:26:24 ↗ weekend on July 12th, uh they will be

1:26:27 ↗ they recycle different things every

1:26:29 ↗ week, but this week in particular,

1:26:31 ↗ they're taking plastic film. Um, so

1:26:34 ↗ think of the dry cleaning plastic you've

1:26:36 ↗ got um, stored away in your closet and

1:26:38 ↗ other films like that. Um, they're hard

1:26:41 ↗ to recycle. Um, so I encourage people to

1:26:44 ↗ go to the farmers market and bring them

1:26:45 ↗ there and they'll take them. Um, they

1:26:48 ↗ always take batteries. The batteries

1:26:50 ↗ need to have a a tape piece over the top

1:26:52 ↗ so that um, they don't leak and and

1:26:54 ↗ cause um, problems. U, but you're more

1:26:57 ↗ than welcome to bring those to uh, buy

1:26:59 ↗ on the 12th. Also, don't forget the

1:27:01 ↗ chamber event, uh, the Isqua Chamber

1:27:03 ↗ event at Bones Chocolates on the 10th at

1:27:06 ↗ 5:30 p.m. Um, if you're interested in

1:27:09 ↗ attending, I think there's still some

1:27:10 ↗ spots open. Thank you.

1:27:12 ↗ Great. Uh, anyone else for good of the

1:27:15 ↗ order?

1:27:17 ↗ Uh, I am just going to mention that I

1:27:19 ↗ attended the Association of Washington

1:27:21 ↗ Cities conference in the Tri Cities area

1:27:23 ↗ and, uh, it was a really excellent

1:27:26 ↗ conference. Uh I did send out notes to

1:27:29 ↗ uh that were distributed to the council.

1:27:31 ↗ I want to highlight u sessions they had

1:27:34 ↗ on the uh future of energy grid which

1:27:37 ↗ was excellent um talking about what the

1:27:40 ↗ tri- city areas are doing in that regard

1:27:42 ↗ which is really progressive.

1:27:44 ↗ um cyber security. Thanks to the city

1:27:47 ↗ administrator for gathering information

1:27:49 ↗ about our cyber security efforts which

1:27:52 ↗ are excellent and really way ahead of

1:27:55 ↗ what a lot of cities are doing in terms

1:27:57 ↗ of cyber security. Um a very excellent

1:28:00 ↗ presentation on short-term rentals and

1:28:02 ↗ the impacts of those on which is Airbnb

1:28:05 ↗ basically uh those on affordable housing

1:28:08 ↗ and and how some cities are really

1:28:10 ↗ struggling with those. And then the last

1:28:12 ↗ presentation which was was just

1:28:14 ↗ outstanding uh was the cities of Balden

1:28:18 ↗ and Medical Lake on the wildfires that

1:28:20 ↗ ripped through their communities about 5

1:28:23 ↗ years ago and the recovery efforts that

1:28:25 ↗ they've uh participated in. Malden lost

1:28:28 ↗ over 150 houses. Amazing. Uh the the

1:28:32 ↗ city was basically just completely

1:28:34 ↗ devastated and they're doing a wonderful

1:28:37 ↗ job of recovery. So those were great

1:28:40 ↗ things to think about and again I think

1:28:42 ↗ we're on the cutting edge of a lot of

1:28:43 ↗ those discussions. So I felt very good

1:28:46 ↗ about what we're doing uh in Isiqua and

1:28:48 ↗ all of those things. Um the other

1:28:51 ↗ announcements, the city council retreat

1:28:53 ↗ will be held this Saturday, July the

1:28:54 ↗ 12th from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. at the

1:28:57 ↗ King County Library System Service

1:28:59 ↗ Center. The July 14th committee of the

1:29:01 ↗ whole meeting is cancelled and the next

1:29:04 ↗ regular city council meeting is Monday,

1:29:06 ↗ July the 21st. Anticipated agenda items

1:29:10 ↗ include public hearing on vacation of a

1:29:12 ↗ portion of 12th Avenue Northwest, 2025

1:29:15 ↗ title 18 policy amendments, update of

1:29:18 ↗ impact and mitigation fees, Belleview

1:29:21 ↗ College development agreement, extension

1:29:22 ↗ request, and finally the transit

1:29:25 ↗ oriented development opportunity center

1:29:27 ↗ to ODOC housing cooperation agreement.

1:29:31 ↗ Uh before I adjourn the meeting, is

1:29:33 ↗ there anything else that anyone would

1:29:35 ↗ like to bring up?

1:29:39 ↗ Right. All right. There being no further

1:29:41 ↗ business, the meeting is adjourned at

1:29:44 ↗ 8:30

1:29:46 ↗ uh tonight. There we go. Oh, good. Wow.

1:29:49 ↗ Okay. Here we go.

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 (6)

Barbara de Michele

Zach Hall

Kelly Jiang

Russell Joe

Tola Marts

Lindsey Walsh (attended virtually)

Staff (4)

Wally Bobkiewicz, City Administrator

Andrea Snyder, Deputy City Administrator

Rachel Bender Turpin, City Attorney

Tisha Gieser, City Clerk

Excused

Chris Reh

Motions and votes (1)

approve the consent agenda as presented. . a)

Moved by MARTS · seconded by HALL

Carried 6-0

In favor: Barbara de Michele, Zach Hall, Kelly Jiang, Russell Joe, Tola Marts, Lindsey Walsh (attended virtually)