Planning Policy Commission · Tuesday, May 23, 2023 · City Council Digest

2. PUBLIC COMMENTS

Recommendation on Amendments to Title 18 Diversity of Housing Types, (A)

25 min · Christen Leeson, Senior Planner Public Hearing Order: Commission Recommendation · packet pp.3–8

Topics: HousingLand UseEquity

Open packet at p.3 ↗

Staff report:

The Planning Policy Commission (PPC) will hold a public hearing on the following proposed amendments to Title 18, Land Use Code.

4. REGULAR BUSINESS

Adoption of Virtual Attendance Policy and Rules & Regulations, (A)

50 min · Tisha Gieser, City Clerk Stephen Padua, Long Range Planning Manager · packet pp.9–20

▶ Watch from 23:12 Open packet at p.9 ↗

Staff report:

City Clerk's Office 130 E. Sunset Way | P.O. Box 1307 Issaquah, WA 98027 425-837-3000 issaquahwa.gov

Open Government Training

Discussion · 20 min · Tisha Gieser, City Clerk

▶ Watch from 31:41

5. REPORTS

Council Update

Stephen Padua, Long Range Planning Manager

6. OTHER BUSINESS / ANNOUNCEMENTS

Upcoming Schedule

packet pp.21–22

Open packet at p.21 ↗

Staff report:

Planning Policy Commission 2023 Schedule (subject to change) 2022 1/12/23 1/19/23 1/26/23 (Special Meeting) Title 18 – Final Draft Introduction Public Hearing: Title 18 – Final Draft Public Hearing: Title 18 – Final Draft  Part 1 – General Provisions  Part 5 – Specified Use Standards

2065 segments .txt ↗

0:04 ↗ perfect there we go so good evening I

0:07 ↗ would like to call to order the May 23rd

0:09 ↗ special meeting of the planet planning

0:11 ↗ policy commission at 6 32 pm

0:14 ↗ tonight's meeting is a hybrid meeting

0:16 ↗ the planning policy commission is in

0:18 ↗ person but staff are members of the

0:20 ↗ public may be attending virtually or in

0:22 ↗ person

0:24 ↗ so Stephen do we have a quorum tonight

0:28 ↗ Vice chair yes you do

0:36 ↗ yes we have one person in the room

0:38 ↗ signed up for public comment okay great

0:41 ↗ um so comments at tonight's meeting may

0:43 ↗ be made in person or virtually for all

0:46 ↗ who would like to speak during public

0:47 ↗ comments speak clearly and pause

0:49 ↗ frequently state your name each time

0:51 ↗ before speaking if you are attending

0:54 ↗ virtually by computer or by phone and

0:56 ↗ would like to speak during public

0:57 ↗ comments in addition to what I just

0:59 ↗ mentioned please meet your microphone

1:00 ↗ when not speaking and if you're having

1:03 ↗ technical issues try joining the meeting

1:05 ↗ using a different device such as a

1:06 ↗ smartphone or a tablet or use the call

1:09 ↗ in information in the meeting invite to

1:10 ↗ call into the meeting

1:12 ↗ so public comments are an important part

1:14 ↗ of the public process we take them

1:16 ↗ seriously and we Factor them into the

1:18 ↗ decisions that we make comments may be

1:21 ↗ general or related to the topics we're

1:22 ↗ discussing tonight they'll also have a

1:25 ↗ public hearing later on and please note

1:27 ↗ that comments are limited to five

1:28 ↗ minutes

1:29 ↗ and so I welcome council member hunt

1:34 ↗ um

1:36 ↗ thank you good evening my name is

1:38 ↗ Victoria hunt I live at 352 Wilderness

1:41 ↗ Peak Drive Northwest in Issaquah and I

1:45 ↗ am currently serving on the Issaquah

1:47 ↗ city council I have served on the city

1:49 ↗ council since 2018 but before until the

1:52 ↗ very day that I started serving on

1:54 ↗ Council before that I served on the

1:55 ↗ planning policy commission and I know

1:58 ↗ firsthand how much work you all put into

2:01 ↗ this and how important it is to our

2:04 ↗ process and to the city so I really am

2:08 ↗ here tonight to thank you all for the

2:10 ↗ hours you take out of your busy life to

2:12 ↗ do this volunteer work and to help us at

2:16 ↗ the city council make the best possible

2:18 ↗ decisions for the benefit of the entire

2:19 ↗ community

2:21 ↗ um on the city council I also am the

2:24 ↗ chair of the Planning Development and

2:25 ↗ environment committee and so we are the

2:28 ↗ committee that oftentimes does receive

2:30 ↗ those recommendations in the first step

2:32 ↗ of our process for things like the title

2:35 ↗ 18 Municipal Code updates which was a

2:39 ↗ very big lift that you all helped with

2:41 ↗ tremendously and we are all very

2:43 ↗ grateful for those inputs that helped us

2:45 ↗ get that project across the Finish Line

2:48 ↗ lands that plane that was a very big

2:51 ↗ lift lots of community input and lots of

2:53 ↗ input from you that was invaluable to

2:55 ↗ our process

2:58 ↗ um

2:59 ↗ I also wanted to be sure to thank you

3:03 ↗ all because I know that there were many

3:05 ↗ meetings and many different deep dives

3:07 ↗ into topics that will continue into the

3:10 ↗ future and many of the topics that you

3:12 ↗ take the public comments on we use that

3:16 ↗ we do watch your meetings we look at

3:18 ↗ your meeting notes and we be sure to

3:21 ↗ factor all of that into our decisions

3:22 ↗ it's extremely important and we thank

3:26 ↗ you so much and for decades to come I

3:30 ↗ think that especially with things like

3:31 ↗ Title 18

3:33 ↗ you will have a real impact so thank you

3:36 ↗ so much and we are all available city

3:39 ↗ council members are all available

3:41 ↗ um if you have questions for us or if

3:43 ↗ you want to know how we are using your

3:45 ↗ input we have our phone numbers and

3:48 ↗ emails on the city website we would love

3:51 ↗ to hear from you directly if that's

3:52 ↗ helpful and again thank you so much

4:00 ↗ speak on all of our behalfs and I say we

4:02 ↗ appreciate the thanks and the Kudos and

4:04 ↗ to you all as well knowing that

4:07 ↗ a lot of work went in from staff and

4:09 ↗ from Council and everybody I'm on Title

4:11 ↗ 18 over the last year and a half or so

4:13 ↗ is there anyone signed up to speak

4:15 ↗ virtually

4:17 ↗ no one else has signed up to speak

4:19 ↗ okay

4:21 ↗ um so we will move on then um to our

4:23 ↗ public hearing

4:25 ↗ um so tonight we are holding a public

4:26 ↗ hearing regarding proposed amendments to

4:29 ↗ Aid in increasing diversity of housing

4:31 ↗ in Issaquah

4:32 ↗ so the public hearing we've all I think

4:34 ↗ sat through one of these but it'll work

4:36 ↗ as follows so staff will first make a

4:38 ↗ presentation

4:40 ↗ um PPC will ask Claire any clarifying

4:42 ↗ questions I'll then open the comment

4:45 ↗ period

4:46 ↗ and I will close the public hearing and

4:48 ↗ then we will deliberate and so with that

4:51 ↗ I will go ahead and open the public

4:52 ↗ hearing at 6 36 PM so Kristen go ahead

5:18 ↗ all right thank you for your patience

5:19 ↗ always takes me a minute to get that set

5:21 ↗ up it doesn't matter how many times I've

5:23 ↗ done it

5:25 ↗ so

5:26 ↗ um before I start

5:28 ↗ I do want to add on to council members

5:31 ↗ Hunt's discussion that they read the

5:33 ↗ minutes and that they watch they really

5:35 ↗ do they either watch or forever every

5:39 ↗ time that we take one of our topics to

5:41 ↗ the city council and to the Planning

5:44 ↗ Development environment committee we

5:46 ↗ include the agenda all of the

5:48 ↗ attachments the links to the videos so

5:50 ↗ that they can watch those and the

5:52 ↗ minutes so plus all the public comments

5:54 ↗ that they get that we get so they really

5:56 ↗ do pay attention to all of that so thank

5:59 ↗ you to them

6:00 ↗ um moving on we are here for a public

6:02 ↗ hearing

6:03 ↗ so tonight we are talking about doesn't

6:07 ↗ want to move

6:09 ↗ here we go

6:11 ↗ tonight we are holding a public hearing

6:13 ↗ um and we are going to take public

6:14 ↗ comment regarding the proposed

6:16 ↗ amendments believe it or not to Title 18

6:19 ↗ um regarding housing diversity so as you

6:21 ↗ recall this is part of implementing our

6:24 ↗ housing strategy here's our housing

6:26 ↗ Continuum and where we invest our money

6:29 ↗ and our time regarding housing and We

6:32 ↗ Are Tonight focusing on the housing

6:34 ↗ action work plan specifically market

6:37 ↗ rate rental and ownership housing

6:40 ↗ we're focusing on strategy eight

6:42 ↗ diversity of housing which says to

6:44 ↗ incorporate code Provisions to increase

6:46 ↗ the potential diversity of housing types

6:48 ↗ built in the city

6:51 ↗ we talked about this last time three

6:54 ↗ different types of housing that we

6:55 ↗ looked at are Cod chousing Courtyard

6:57 ↗ housing which we've changed from

6:59 ↗ apartments and micro units also you'll

7:03 ↗ find out soon known as single room

7:04 ↗ occupancies

7:06 ↗ okay

7:07 ↗ so the immediate issues as you recall

7:09 ↗ from our previous discussion there are

7:11 ↗ many issues that that factor into

7:15 ↗ getting these here and making these

7:17 ↗ happen so you know it's cost of land

7:19 ↗ cost of construction parking height

7:20 ↗ density all these things need to be

7:23 ↗ taken into consideration but the first

7:24 ↗ step because we'd like to wait on the

7:26 ↗ parking strategy to be done first so we

7:28 ↗ can look at it comprehensively the first

7:30 ↗ step that we're going to take is to

7:32 ↗ include definitions because we have no

7:34 ↗ definitions these also are not included

7:37 ↗ as permitted uses in our permitted uses

7:38 ↗ table so we'd like to take that first

7:40 ↗ step and get that done

7:43 ↗ so the first one starting with

7:44 ↗ definitions is Cottage housing so this

7:47 ↗ is what you saw last time and it was a

7:49 ↗ little long and you all commented on it

7:51 ↗ Cottage Housing Development is detached

7:53 ↗ single family housing in a cluster of 4

7:55 ↗ to 12 units around a centralized

7:57 ↗ Courtyard and then we listed all these

7:59 ↗ different things right

8:01 ↗ and you all asked us to one please be

8:04 ↗ more specific regarding the size of the

8:06 ↗ units

8:07 ↗ you asked if we need to mention

8:09 ↗ condominium because it talks about how

8:11 ↗ it might be set on a condominium setting

8:12 ↗ and if you'll recall that was units on

8:16 ↗ detached units it could be on

8:18 ↗ unsubdivided lands so that people are

8:19 ↗ buying the building and not the land

8:21 ↗ below it that's commonly owned and

8:23 ↗ that's why it was mentioned that way and

8:25 ↗ then we also removed some of the excess

8:27 ↗ language just to shorten it add a little

8:30 ↗ brevity so size of units we looked at

8:33 ↗ five different cities and their maximums

8:35 ↗ ranged anywhere from 1200 square feet to

8:38 ↗ 1700 square feet so and there were no

8:41 ↗ minimums mentioned in any of these and

8:43 ↗ one of the things that you asked about

8:45 ↗ what are their minimum size units

8:47 ↗ they're not we found in the building

8:48 ↗ code the international building code it

8:50 ↗ talks about the minimum size of a

8:53 ↗ bedroom which is 60 square feet but

8:55 ↗ there's nothing about unit itself

8:57 ↗ so we didn't put a minimum in here

8:59 ↗ because you have to assume that the

9:01 ↗ market too is going to drive nobody's

9:03 ↗ going to buy a 16 it just won't work if

9:05 ↗ your bedroom has to be 60 square it's

9:07 ↗ not going to work so we didn't include

9:09 ↗ that but we are proposing 1700 square

9:11 ↗ feet as a minimum

9:13 ↗ do we need to mention condominium no we

9:15 ↗ don't how they develop it is kind of up

9:18 ↗ to them but we can also address it if we

9:19 ↗ want to be more specific Kirkland

9:21 ↗ doesn't care you know if you look at

9:23 ↗ their code it can be done either way it

9:25 ↗ can be done as a condominium or it can

9:26 ↗ be subdivided

9:27 ↗ we can talk about when the standards

9:29 ↗ come which way we want to see if there's

9:31 ↗ a way that we want to see that happen or

9:32 ↗ leave it up to developer and then as I

9:35 ↗ said we removed excess language

9:38 ↗ so here's what we changed it to Cottage

9:40 ↗ Housing Development beans detached

9:42 ↗ single-family housing oh well

9:44 ↗ in a cluster of four to twelve dwelling

9:46 ↗ units around a central open space

9:48 ↗ providing residences for households that

9:50 ↗ are no larger than 1700 square feet in

9:52 ↗ size units may share use of common

9:55 ↗ facilities such as a party room Tool

9:57 ↗ Shed Garden Orchard Workshop or parking

9:59 ↗ areas and I should note that in the memo

10:02 ↗ that I sent you I still included the

10:04 ↗ word condominium so just I took it out

10:05 ↗ of this one we're not using that it's

10:08 ↗ not here okay

10:10 ↗ all right I'm going to move on is that

10:13 ↗ okay if I move on to the next one

10:14 ↗ commissioner Bader Professor Bader okay

10:17 ↗ and we can do questions at the end

10:20 ↗ Courtyard Apartments this is what we

10:22 ↗ started with last week

10:23 ↗ Courtyard Apartments or Courtyard

10:25 ↗ housing is the development of several

10:27 ↗ attached dwelling units arranged around

10:28 ↗ a central Courtyard or lawn area which

10:31 ↗ all unions have access to developments

10:32 ↗ are typically one to three stories

10:35 ↗ you asked us to please change Apartments

10:37 ↗ to housing so it is now we are now

10:39 ↗ calling it Cottage housing and not

10:40 ↗ College Department Cottage Apartments

10:43 ↗ our City attorney if this was all run by

10:46 ↗ our city attorneys and they asked us to

10:47 ↗ provide more specificity on the number

10:49 ↗ of units and they also asked us to

10:51 ↗ provide more specificity regarding the

10:53 ↗ number of Walls surrounding a courtyard

10:56 ↗ it's a better Define what we have a

10:58 ↗ definition of Courtyard but they wanted

10:59 ↗ a definition of how many walls surround

11:01 ↗ a courtyard

11:01 ↗ and when we looked it was two to three

11:05 ↗ so it is now we're proposing Courtyard

11:08 ↗ means a development of six or more

11:10 ↗ attached dwelling units located in one

11:12 ↗ or more buildings

11:14 ↗ arranged on two or three sides around

11:17 ↗ the central Courtyard and Lawn area

11:18 ↗ which all units have access to

11:21 ↗ they're typically one to three stories

11:23 ↗ okay she also asked our City attorney

11:25 ↗ asked if the buildings had to be in if

11:27 ↗ all the units had to be in one building

11:28 ↗ or if they could be detached and the

11:30 ↗ more I looked there were some that were

11:31 ↗ detached so but they were just all still

11:32 ↗ made a courtyard

11:35 ↗ around the courtyard

11:37 ↗ micro units they are Apartments this is

11:40 ↗ this is a really long one and you all

11:43 ↗ thankfully asked us to cut this

11:45 ↗ so I'm just gonna not read the whole

11:47 ↗ thing and say that we did but I will

11:50 ↗ talk about it you asked why is the

11:52 ↗ minimum 125 square feet

11:55 ↗ as it was it was 125 to 400 square feet

11:58 ↗ reference size uh please reference the

12:00 ↗ unit size to the building or applicable

12:02 ↗ code can we use single room occupancy as

12:05 ↗ part of the definition and stop

12:06 ↗ definition after community space so as I

12:09 ↗ mentioned we did that we're also

12:11 ↗ included single room occupancy as part

12:13 ↗ of the definition

12:14 ↗ and as I mentioned a minute ago in here

12:17 ↗ the sizes range from a minimum of 125 to

12:20 ↗ a maximum of 500 so we went sort of

12:24 ↗ towards the top and just set a maximum

12:25 ↗ of 400 square feet

12:27 ↗ for that and as I mentioned the

12:30 ↗ international building code just talks

12:31 ↗ about bedroom size and not unit size so

12:33 ↗ there was nothing for us to refer to

12:34 ↗ there so we can't really refer to that

12:36 ↗ which is why the size is listed here

12:39 ↗ so our proposal is to say micro units or

12:42 ↗ single room occupancies means apartments

12:44 ↗ that are no more than 400 square feet

12:46 ↗ they may include private bathroom and

12:48 ↗ kitchen spaces or have access to Shared

12:51 ↗ kitchens bathrooms and community space

12:55 ↗ the last amendment that we're proposing

12:57 ↗ has not changed for me the last time you

12:59 ↗ saw it we are including Courtyard

13:01 ↗ housing Cottage housing and micro units

13:04 ↗ and I do need to put a little slash

13:05 ↗ there and say single room occupancies

13:07 ↗ Courtyard Apartments or Courtyard

13:10 ↗ housing we're proposing in mfh MF sub

13:14 ↗ multi-family High multi-family High East

13:16 ↗ Sunset multi-family medium multi-family

13:20 ↗ medium old town and mixed juice

13:23 ↗ residential

13:24 ↗ and then housing Cottage housing we are

13:28 ↗ proposing for

13:29 ↗ multi-family high and MF hes

13:32 ↗ multi-family medium and MF MOA t

13:36 ↗ and then micro units in mixed use

13:38 ↗ residential

13:39 ↗ mixed-use centralized Aqua in the urban

13:42 ↗ core

13:45 ↗ so our recommended motion would be to

13:47 ↗ recommend approval of the proposed

13:48 ↗ amendments to Title 18 adding

13:50 ↗ definitions for cottage housing

13:51 ↗ Courtyard housing and micro units and

13:53 ↗ adding these three uses to 184020

13:56 ↗ permitted uses table

13:59 ↗ the next steps would be that this is

14:01 ↗ would go to the Planning Development

14:03 ↗ environment committee on June 6th for a

14:06 ↗ recommendation from them to City Council

14:08 ↗ on June 26th for action

14:16 ↗ perfect thank you thank you um so we'll

14:18 ↗ open up for questions that is asked

14:19 ↗ since we're in a public hearing if you

14:21 ↗ just raise your hand and I'll call on

14:22 ↗ you I promise I will call on you

14:24 ↗ um just to kind of keep us nice and

14:26 ↗ orderly here so any clarifying questions

14:29 ↗ um oh no never mind

14:34 ↗ commissioner million

14:36 ↗ thank you uh and thanks for responding

14:39 ↗ to our comments uh so constructively I

14:43 ↗ have a two-part question about same

14:45 ↗ topic last time we met we talked about

14:48 ↗ thesis definitions and that the other

14:50 ↗ half of the work is setting standards

14:52 ↗ and uh you know what might a standard be

14:55 ↗ you know I'm thinking do front doors

14:58 ↗ need to be facing the courtyard you know

15:00 ↗ or something like that fences things

15:04 ↗ like that and and what would happen if

15:07 ↗ we added these to a permitted use but we

15:10 ↗ didn't have a standard set yet how would

15:12 ↗ a building permit application or

15:14 ↗ whatever application would apply at this

15:16 ↗ time be waiting for standards

15:21 ↗ so as I mentioned last time with micro

15:24 ↗ units and Courtyard housing those are

15:27 ↗ technically allowed currently in our

15:29 ↗ code

15:30 ↗ so those would not be hard to apply

15:32 ↗ standards to we want to make it easier

15:34 ↗ for these things to happen so they could

15:35 ↗ happen now under current standards it

15:37 ↗ just wouldn't be as easy as when we go

15:39 ↗ back and hopefully adjust things to make

15:41 ↗ it more doable yeah

15:44 ↗ the court the cottage housing though

15:47 ↗ that one is more difficult I would have

15:50 ↗ to check probably with

15:53 ↗ I'm not sure but I would need to check

15:55 ↗ on that one and see how that would work

15:57 ↗ exactly our definition provides

16:00 ↗ some description of how it goes and that

16:02 ↗ it has a shared Courtyard and it has a

16:05 ↗ shared facility and it has shared

16:07 ↗ parking

16:09 ↗ on site so that is some description but

16:12 ↗ uh I'd have to check Stephen do you have

16:14 ↗ any thoughts on that one

16:23 ↗ so if we adopt the definitions and the

16:27 ↗ changes to the use table when would that

16:29 ↗ come into effect and is there any reason

16:31 ↗ to

16:33 ↗ go through this formal adoption but hold

16:36 ↗ until we have standards

16:39 ↗ it would go into effect five days after

16:41 ↗ Council adoption

16:44 ↗ and

16:45 ↗ yes

16:47 ↗ yeah it still takes a while to develop

16:49 ↗ so somebody would have to come in find

16:51 ↗ land it's not something that's going to

16:53 ↗ happen right away but this way if they

16:55 ↗ were more ready when they do

17:03 ↗ any other questions

17:05 ↗ commissioner Kennedy

17:07 ↗ not a question I have a really really

17:09 ↗ tiny little nitpick on the very very

17:10 ↗ first definition it used two numbers one

17:14 ↗ was spelled as a word and one was used

17:15 ↗ as a number it would make me either both

17:17 ↗ words or both numbers

17:18 ↗ I I have a consistency thing

17:46 ↗ appreciated though

17:57 ↗ I have a quick clarifying question as I

18:00 ↗ listened to last time rounds meeting I

18:02 ↗ thought I understood this but now I

18:03 ↗ think I don't so the

18:06 ↗ um

18:07 ↗ Courtyard and the micro units are

18:10 ↗ currently allowed under code they're

18:12 ↗ just not called out specifically and the

18:14 ↗ cottage housing is not

18:16 ↗ or it is but there's not

18:19 ↗ the micro units and Courtyards are

18:21 ↗ allowed we just don't say where

18:23 ↗ so this group is clearer for developers

18:27 ↗ who come in yeah because you know they

18:28 ↗ might come in and ask a current planner

18:30 ↗ can I put this in you know

18:34 ↗ mixed UCI we go I don't know

18:36 ↗ so this makes it clear for developers

18:38 ↗ incorrect uh Cottage units are not

18:47 ↗ okay yeah just a clarifying question uh

18:49 ↗ the micro units are they present in

18:51 ↗ Issaquah now

18:53 ↗ they are not okay yes thank you and I

18:55 ↗ think it meant I mentioned last time

18:57 ↗ yeah I think so yeah yeah the developers

18:59 ↗ had asked but they didn't think they

19:01 ↗ were allowed so now it'll it'll give

19:03 ↗ them a little bit more of a route to be

19:06 ↗ able to actually do that with more

19:08 ↗ definition now correct sure

19:17 ↗ uh bacteria Bader one additional

19:19 ↗ question with the micro units are those

19:20 ↗ different than like Studios

19:24 ↗ they are Studios because Studios you're

19:27 ↗ always going to have a kitchen in the

19:28 ↗ unit

19:29 ↗ and micro units you don't necessarily

19:31 ↗ have to have that and Studios can be up

19:34 ↗ to you know 800 square feet this

19:36 ↗ actually limits the maximum size yeah

19:38 ↗ our studios are not limited in their

19:40 ↗ size so it could be a

19:42 ↗ small Studio but it could be yes it

19:45 ↗ would just be 500 square 400 square feet

19:47 ↗ or less

19:53 ↗ any other questions

19:56 ↗ okay hearing none

19:59 ↗ um I will open the floor now to pull the

20:02 ↗ comment

20:03 ↗ um

20:04 ↗ if we have anyone signed up

20:07 ↗ even has anyone sign up to speak uh very

20:10 ↗ sure we don't have anybody attending

20:11 ↗ virtually and we don't have anybody in

20:13 ↗ the room that would like to speak

20:16 ↗ okay so given that there are no public

20:18 ↗ comments

20:19 ↗ um I will close the public hearing at 6

20:22 ↗ 52.

20:24 ↗ um okay so now it is time to deliberate

20:28 ↗ um so there is a proposed motion I don't

20:30 ↗ think we need to formally make that

20:31 ↗ motion if that's right

20:34 ↗ um to adopt the definitions

20:36 ↗ um as written as we were just presented

20:38 ↗ to us

20:38 ↗ [Music]

20:39 ↗ um

20:40 ↗ I opened the floor for a little version

20:47 ↗ uh I appreciate the adjustments that

20:49 ↗ were made given our prior conversation

20:51 ↗ and I feel confident about the way that

20:54 ↗ these were presented today and therefore

20:56 ↗ I would be in favor of recommending this

20:58 ↗ to the council

21:04 ↗ but yeah I I second the thanks and also

21:07 ↗ appreciate that that

21:10 ↗ say the micro units were allowed but the

21:13 ↗ clarification of the appropriate zones

21:16 ↗ to allow them is is really a a great

21:20 ↗ addition

21:22 ↗ to that use because they will be much

21:26 ↗ more appreciated and especially since in

21:29 ↗ the future we want to talk about those

21:30 ↗ zones and whether parking is available

21:32 ↗ or not and that'll help in the

21:34 ↗ affordability of developing those not

21:36 ↗ based on the housing type as I'm looking

21:38 ↗ forward to talking about that about

21:40 ↗ where it is but I really appreciate

21:42 ↗ showing on the use table where the these

21:45 ↗ types are allowed thank you

21:51 ↗ yeah this is my favorite I agree I think

21:54 ↗ um it sounds like it's just kind of

21:55 ↗ making that knowledge of what these are

21:57 ↗ where they're allowed that much clear

21:59 ↗ and so again not having been in the last

22:02 ↗ conversation but listening to it it

22:03 ↗ feels like all of the

22:05 ↗ um comments were taken into account in

22:07 ↗ the updated definition so agree with the

22:09 ↗ support of them

22:14 ↗ I just want to add an agreement with

22:17 ↗ these changes and the key thing is that

22:20 ↗ this provides more options for

22:23 ↗ affordable housing and I think this is a

22:26 ↗ good thing the end of the day thank you

22:37 ↗ your voice is heard good perfect okay so

22:40 ↗ let's do a quick show of hands I think

22:41 ↗ we're all in consensus but

22:44 ↗ good with the definitions as presented

22:47 ↗ and changes to the permitted use table

22:48 ↗ perfect

22:50 ↗ all right I think we're we're good on

22:52 ↗ that

22:58 ↗ right

23:00 ↗ okay I think that was easy I was nervous

23:02 ↗ about like having to run the public

23:04 ↗ hearing but if they can all be like that

23:06 ↗ then

23:07 ↗ perfect

23:09 ↗ um okay so we will move right along then

23:11 ↗ um

23:12 ↗ to our regular business

23:14 ↗ um so the first item under regular

23:16 ↗ business is the adoption of a virtual

23:18 ↗ attendance policy and rules and

23:20 ↗ regulations

23:22 ↗ um so Stephen

23:23 ↗ um Padua our long-range planning manager

23:25 ↗ and Tisha stasha here uh she is on the

23:28 ↗ way so we're going to do this a little

23:29 ↗ backwards I'll start with

23:31 ↗ um the general changes that were added

23:34 ↗ to the rules and regulations and then

23:35 ↗ went to show arrives we'll start talking

23:36 ↗ specifically about the the virtual

23:40 ↗ policy that she's presenting on tonight

23:42 ↗ and then we'll go to a vote to a

23:45 ↗ adopt the rules and regulations

23:47 ↗ okay so famous last words about the

23:49 ↗ public hearing being easy because this

23:51 ↗ will probably be

23:53 ↗ maybe not so much but give me Grace

23:56 ↗ um okay so Stephen I'll let you take it

23:57 ↗ away

24:00 ↗ okay can everybody see the screen so um

24:03 ↗ if everybody I don't know if everybody

24:04 ↗ was able to review the rules and

24:06 ↗ regulations I provided a red line

24:08 ↗ version so you could see where all the

24:10 ↗ edits were the biggest changes that were

24:12 ↗ made to the rules and regulations is

24:14 ↗ first when we adopted Title 18 we

24:17 ↗ removed the commission's responsibility

24:20 ↗ for Sight Zone site-specific rezones and

24:24 ↗ so we removed all mention of

24:25 ↗ quasi-judicial process from the rules

24:27 ↗ and regulations and so

24:30 ↗ that was added throughout so references

24:34 ↗ removed the process were removed from

24:36 ↗ the public hearing steps in terms of

24:38 ↗ like how the commission conducts its

24:40 ↗ public hearings

24:41 ↗ when public comment is presented during

24:44 ↗ public hearings and so forth so are

24:46 ↗ there any questions around any of those

24:48 ↗ edits

24:49 ↗ okay the other biggest other big

24:52 ↗ question is specifically around the

24:55 ↗ virtual attendance policy and

24:58 ↗ unfortunately Tisha has the presentation

25:00 ↗ for that one so when she gets here we'll

25:02 ↗ talk about that but are there any

25:04 ↗ specific questions in terms of the

25:06 ↗ language that you might have saw in the

25:08 ↗ draft or

25:10 ↗ um in the presentation material that

25:12 ↗ Tisha had provided as part of tonight's

25:14 ↗ materials

25:19 ↗ thank you uh and and pardon me if I

25:21 ↗ missed it but one of the questions I had

25:23 ↗ in my mind was about and I'm really

25:26 ↗ excited about maintaining the virtual

25:28 ↗ hybrid format especially for public

25:31 ↗ comment but I was also developing a

25:34 ↗ concern about how we have people from

25:37 ↗ the public identify themselves

25:39 ↗ especially when we have it open to a

25:42 ↗ virtual and so I just wanted a little

25:43 ↗ more information about how we manage

25:46 ↗ going forward that rule that you state

25:49 ↗ your name and your association with the

25:51 ↗ city

25:52 ↗ um we are we're kind of loose about that

25:54 ↗ and I thought having it open to anyone

25:57 ↗ chiming in from a remote location we

26:00 ↗ might need to have a stricter rule so

26:05 ↗ the state regulation around public

26:07 ↗ comment and people

26:09 ↗ providing information about who they are

26:11 ↗ where they're from we can have a very

26:14 ↗ strict policy around it but when it

26:16 ↗ comes to the state regulation around it

26:18 ↗ it's not really specific saying we

26:20 ↗ actually need to have them present that

26:22 ↗ information particularly for commission

26:23 ↗ meetings for city council the rules are

26:26 ↗ a little bit different but for a

26:27 ↗ Planning Commission the rules aren't as

26:30 ↗ strict and so it really is at the

26:32 ↗ commission's discretion on whether or

26:35 ↗ not they want to be strict with that

26:36 ↗ policy or that type of policy when it

26:38 ↗ comes to public comment for our meetings

26:40 ↗ and so I don't know if you want to

26:41 ↗ discuss that tonight in terms of do we

26:44 ↗ want to have a strict policy in making

26:46 ↗ sure

26:47 ↗ someone provides their name and and

26:49 ↗ where they're from or is it primarily an

26:52 ↗ optional item we would still present

26:54 ↗ please pick your name and location or

26:57 ↗ where you're from as part of public

26:59 ↗ comment but not necessarily make it a

27:00 ↗ requirement

27:05 ↗ so the ones that I've seen people say

27:07 ↗ their name and their address and I've

27:09 ↗ always seen them they're all in Issaquah

27:11 ↗ is there a rule they need to be in

27:13 ↗ Issaquah to be able to make public

27:14 ↗ comment or just they have to State their

27:16 ↗ address and it's so that's okay no the

27:19 ↗ rules yeah the rules in specific same

27:22 ↗ you can only be from Issaquah to speak

27:24 ↗ at the public it's primarily just

27:27 ↗ identifying yourself the name and

27:28 ↗ address exactly okay

27:32 ↗ uh and I've seen this argued from a

27:36 ↗ couple of points of view people don't

27:37 ↗ like seeing what their home address is

27:38 ↗ for privacy concerns and and I can I can

27:41 ↗ appreciate that I totally support that

27:42 ↗ and what is more meaningful to me

27:46 ↗ is what is your relation to the city you

27:50 ↗ know you might live in Bellevue but you

27:52 ↗ have a job here as an executive director

27:54 ↗ of an organization that's materially

27:56 ↗ associated with the subject matter that

27:58 ↗ we're talking about now that I say that

28:00 ↗ though if we're not making any

28:03 ↗ quasi-judicial

28:05 ↗ decisions where we have interested

28:08 ↗ parties if that's really no longer on

28:11 ↗ the table

28:13 ↗ maybe it's not as big of a concern but

28:15 ↗ you know I'm not able to really wrap my

28:16 ↗ head around what all the decisions we

28:19 ↗ may make

28:20 ↗ could be materially people who could be

28:24 ↗ speaking who have material benefit and I

28:26 ↗ want to know if they do when they're

28:28 ↗ addressing me

28:29 ↗ that's the nature of my interest and and

28:32 ↗ like I said we we can always ask people

28:35 ↗ giving public comment to provide certain

28:37 ↗ information about their relationship

28:38 ↗ with the city it's typically where where

28:42 ↗ you're from what's your and and maybe a

28:45 ↗ general statement around your

28:46 ↗ relationship with the city but it's not

28:48 ↗ consistent across the board for all the

28:50 ↗ boards of commissions in terms of like

28:51 ↗ what they're asking public commentaries

28:53 ↗ to provide for information

29:00 ↗ I totally agree with commissioner

29:03 ↗ Milligan I would like to see yet forego

29:05 ↗ the address I could see people not

29:07 ↗ wanting to give that but I would love

29:08 ↗ name and just your affiliation with the

29:10 ↗ city

29:11 ↗ whatever that is and actually I think

29:14 ↗ I'd prefer that because I think people

29:15 ↗ will be more comfortable and that's

29:16 ↗ really more important than what your

29:17 ↗ address is because

29:19 ↗ just wanted to sit here and do a little

29:21 ↗ Google search together so I know what

29:23 ↗ that affiliation is

29:25 ↗ one one thing I would add is a general

29:29 ↗ statement of what's your relationship to

29:30 ↗ the city not everybody really

29:32 ↗ understands what that means

29:34 ↗ and so you'll get actually a really wide

29:37 ↗ variety of responses to that of whether

29:39 ↗ I'm a resident or

29:41 ↗ I live nearby or I'm related to someone

29:46 ↗ in Issaquah like it they you'll get a

29:49 ↗ pretty with a broad statement like that

29:51 ↗ you'll get pretty broad responses and so

29:54 ↗ that's kind of why sometimes uh public

29:57 ↗ comments you'll ask for more specific

29:59 ↗ information like your address because

30:00 ↗ that's very specific

30:07 ↗ should we say state your name and your

30:11 ↗ relationship to the matter before us

30:13 ↗ or the matters before the commission

30:17 ↗ because there is a reason why they're

30:18 ↗ here

30:19 ↗ they're here because of some matter

30:22 ↗ before it so they should know the answer

30:23 ↗ to that question or they wouldn't be

30:24 ↗ here

30:25 ↗ for the matter they're going to speak to

30:28 ↗ them I guess it also comes down to I

30:30 ↗ mean is the intent to have people who

30:32 ↗ have an affiliation whether they live

30:34 ↗ here work here or something like that so

30:37 ↗ I think

30:38 ↗ asking you know the specific address but

30:40 ↗ like you know what area do you live in

30:42 ↗ the city if not you know your

30:44 ↗ association with with with the city

30:48 ↗ um because I think that

30:49 ↗ has a lot more weight than just somebody

30:51 ↗ who cares about it has nothing to do

30:53 ↗ with this so there could be a topic up

30:55 ↗ here and that it means nothing to them

30:57 ↗ because they lived somewhere else and

30:58 ↗ they like to to talk

31:00 ↗ um so it's I think transparency and

31:03 ↗ openness of of what that connection is

31:06 ↗ is important

31:07 ↗ um it sounds like we don't exclude any

31:09 ↗ of that but I think it's also a good

31:10 ↗ piece of information for us to

31:12 ↗ understand

31:13 ↗ is it relevant or not

31:17 ↗ petition

31:21 ↗ yeah and I think the the question about

31:24 ↗ their address could be a little bit

31:26 ↗ limited because it may keep

31:28 ↗ um public from comment and because they

31:31 ↗ may not want to divulge their address so

31:33 ↗ we should probably look into that to see

31:35 ↗ what other question we could ask them

31:38 ↗ like what neighborhood or

31:40 ↗ um that that they're from

31:43 ↗ I also think you can usually like infer

31:45 ↗ based on their comments

31:48 ↗ um you know what their relationship to

31:49 ↗ the subject matter is I wouldn't want to

31:51 ↗ be so intimidating for people to think

31:53 ↗ about like who do I have to you know

31:55 ↗ meet a certain requirement to comment

31:57 ↗ that kind of then prohibits or kind of

32:00 ↗ scares people away from commenting um

32:02 ↗ but maybe that's something we can just

32:03 ↗ add to the

32:04 ↗ script right about saying you know

32:06 ↗ introduce yourself State like your

32:08 ↗ relationship to the city or whatever the

32:09 ↗ term is and then it's kind of up to

32:11 ↗ people to interpret what that means and

32:15 ↗ on that note Stephen if you wouldn't

32:17 ↗ mind scrolling to section 7D I think it

32:20 ↗ is

32:22 ↗ uh number two uh

32:28 ↗ keep going a little further

32:30 ↗ a little further a little further

32:32 ↗ section right here public participation

32:33 ↗ yeah and then number two below there oh

32:36 ↗ I see there you go got it so yeah as

32:38 ↗ it's stated in here it says Commerce

32:40 ↗ must State their name in relationship to

32:42 ↗ City example uh resident business owner

32:44 ↗ property owner

32:46 ↗ Etc and then they're encouraged but not

32:48 ↗ required to provide their address

32:50 ↗ so that's how it's currently written

32:51 ↗ which seems kind of where we're going I

32:53 ↗ think or anything yeah it's kind of

32:56 ↗ the idea

32:57 ↗ um so I'm I'm pretty content with

33:01 ↗ how it's shown there I think it's uh you

33:03 ↗ know kind of protects their privacy by

33:05 ↗ not forcing them to reveal an address

33:07 ↗ but also give some context as to what

33:10 ↗ they're speaking to or why they're here

33:12 ↗ so by hopefully providing their relation

33:15 ↗ to the city

33:17 ↗ and now that tisha's here should we

33:18 ↗ pause this to this discussion and hear

33:20 ↗ the presentation and then we can

33:21 ↗ continue after or is are you still

33:24 ↗ getting set up

33:26 ↗ okay so as we can continue the

33:28 ↗ conversation and then once Tisha is

33:30 ↗ fully set up then then we can transition

33:32 ↗ to her presentation about that virtual

33:35 ↗ policy are there so what I'm hearing is

33:37 ↗ the language that's currently in the

33:39 ↗ drafts it would would satisfy a lot of

33:41 ↗ the comments that we're hearing tonight

33:42 ↗ is there

33:45 ↗ uh thank you Jesse for finding that and

33:47 ↗ I think it just is upon us to follow

33:51 ↗ through and enforce it because it does

33:52 ↗ say must

33:54 ↗ State the relationship

33:56 ↗ and so we just need to do a little

33:58 ↗ better job of incur of getting that part

34:01 ↗ done

34:04 ↗ okay are there any other sections that

34:06 ↗ the Commissioners would like to take a

34:07 ↗ look at tonight when the draft

34:11 ↗ again not much really changed from

34:12 ↗ before with the exception of removing

34:14 ↗ quasi-judicial process and then adding

34:17 ↗ in the virtual policy that tissue will

34:19 ↗ be discussing tonight

34:22 ↗ should we raise hold questions about the

34:24 ↗ virtual policy until after the

34:26 ↗ presentation uh yes because she might

34:28 ↗ answer some of your questions about the

34:29 ↗ virtual policy with her presentation

34:32 ↗ um are you

34:34 ↗ okay so I am going to stop sharing

34:37 ↗ and I am gonna allow

34:39 ↗ [Music]

34:41 ↗ tissue to share

34:51 ↗ no need

34:53 ↗ okay now I turn it over to tisho who's

34:56 ↗ the city clerk and she's going to be

34:59 ↗ presenting on the virtual policy tonight

35:01 ↗ hi everyone thank you thank you for it

35:03 ↗ sounds like filling some time there

35:05 ↗ between your last agenda item in this

35:07 ↗ one so

35:08 ↗ um as Steven said my name is Tisha

35:10 ↗ Geezer City Clerk and I met most of you

35:12 ↗ last year around this time when I

35:13 ↗ provided open government training and we

35:15 ↗ have a new commissioner so welcome

35:18 ↗ um so yes tonight I'm here to talk to

35:20 ↗ you about two two things and the first

35:22 ↗ is the virtual attendance policy and let

35:24 ↗ me pull up my PowerPoint I have just a

35:26 ↗ few slides

35:28 ↗ um and Stephen did you

35:30 ↗ um did you cover did you start talking

35:31 ↗ through some of the other changes you

35:34 ↗ did to the title 18 okay

35:36 ↗ all right so I will just focus on the

35:39 ↗ the virtual attendance element

35:43 ↗ um so uh during covid-19 that the city

35:46 ↗ has 13 boards and commissions and during

35:48 ↗ uh covid we moved all of them to all

35:50 ↗ virtual meetings and we were able to do

35:52 ↗ that because the governor issued a

35:53 ↗ proclamation sort of prohibiting

35:55 ↗ in-person meetings so that Proclamation

35:57 ↗ was terminated in June of last year and

36:00 ↗ in July and September we phased back all

36:02 ↗ the boards and commissions and initially

36:04 ↗ the mayor's Direction was boarding

36:07 ↗ Commissioners in seats in rooms and uh

36:10 ↗ continuing to allow virtual attendance

36:12 ↗ for members of the public so that

36:14 ↗ because we we found that I'm not sure

36:17 ↗ that you would say that our volume of

36:20 ↗ comments increased during covid but

36:22 ↗ people definitely seem to be interested

36:24 ↗ in participating virtually in the

36:26 ↗ convenience and so we wanted to continue

36:28 ↗ that but we did hear some feedback from

36:31 ↗ boarding commission members that they

36:33 ↗ had a desire to be able to attend

36:35 ↗ virtually in some occasions and so the

36:37 ↗ mayor asked me to draft a policy that I

36:40 ↗ have been taking around to the boards

36:42 ↗ over the last year

36:44 ↗ and because your commission has been so

36:47 ↗ busy with some other vital work

36:50 ↗ you're one of the last commissions to

36:51 ↗ consider this policy

36:53 ↗ um but the the mayor um the mayor's

36:55 ↗ Direction was to continue to emphasize

36:57 ↗ in-person attendance

36:59 ↗ um I think uh from her perspective it's

37:02 ↗ really valuable when people come into

37:03 ↗ the meeting room and I know you and I

37:06 ↗ would be interested Stephen are you have

37:07 ↗ you noticed a uh between virtual and

37:12 ↗ in-person public comment what would you

37:14 ↗ say the commission's seeing I would say

37:17 ↗ the Commission in the last couple years

37:19 ↗ has seen a lot more virtual public

37:20 ↗ comment than in person you still have

37:24 ↗ some of the regulars that like to be in

37:26 ↗ person versus virtual but it also is is

37:30 ↗ sometimes shift depending on

37:32 ↗ availability but this has kind of opened

37:33 ↗ the door to allow a lot of the regular

37:36 ↗ attendees to attend even when there's

37:39 ↗ personal uh scheduling conflicts so

37:43 ↗ and that and that's

37:44 ↗ seeing pretty consistently at the City

37:46 ↗ Council meetings I'm seeing about 50 50

37:49 ↗ with public that's just I haven't

37:51 ↗ calculated that officially but that's

37:53 ↗ just um just my observation so the mayor

37:56 ↗ is really wanting to make sure that when

37:58 ↗ people come out to the meeting room that

38:00 ↗ they have some people to look at and

38:02 ↗ that there is um in and you'll see if

38:04 ↗ you've looked through the proposed

38:06 ↗ policy it is that a quorum of the

38:08 ↗ commission so four Commissioners would

38:10 ↗ be required to be in person and so the

38:12 ↗ city is still wanting to encourage that

38:15 ↗ um also not not just the you know being

38:20 ↗ in person for members of the public but

38:21 ↗ also I think there's

38:23 ↗ um connection you can have before the

38:25 ↗ meeting during breaks there's just

38:27 ↗ something that being in person can give

38:29 ↗ you with each other that is difficult to

38:31 ↗ achieve and so the proposed policy does

38:33 ↗ continue to emphasize attending in

38:35 ↗ person but allows sort of requesting

38:38 ↗ permission to attend virtually if a

38:39 ↗ quorum of the commission can be in

38:41 ↗ person so it'd be sort of an assumption

38:42 ↗ for each meeting that you would be

38:44 ↗ attending in person but if you to

38:46 ↗ we're on a business trip or you had an

38:49 ↗ ill child and wanted to be from home you

38:51 ↗ would reach out to the staff to sort of

38:54 ↗ request virtual attendance all of your

38:56 ↗ meetings have a virtual element all of

38:58 ↗ your regular meetings so we don't have

39:00 ↗ to worry about setting up you know

39:02 ↗ additional equipment and I understand

39:03 ↗ over the last year you've been using

39:05 ↗ certain Commissioners have been using

39:07 ↗ that virtual option which is great

39:10 ↗ um so tonight is a discussion about sort

39:12 ↗ of the norms for the commission

39:14 ↗ um so the policy talks a little bit

39:15 ↗ about just making sure there's a good

39:17 ↗ audio connection encourages

39:19 ↗ um having the video on if you're

39:21 ↗ participating at home

39:23 ↗ um it also emphasizes that if you are

39:25 ↗ unwell

39:26 ↗ um please request an excused absence if

39:28 ↗ you're on vacation with your family

39:29 ↗ please request an excused absence this

39:32 ↗ virtual element isn't meant to

39:34 ↗ um you know require you at every at

39:37 ↗ every meeting

39:38 ↗ and then there are some other minor

39:40 ↗ changes through the rules to just

39:42 ↗ formalize the fact that we're committing

39:44 ↗ to having that virtual component for all

39:46 ↗ regular meetings some special meetings

39:48 ↗ like for example if you do any kind of

39:49 ↗ tour or a kind of a social Gathering we

39:52 ↗ probably would not extend the virtual

39:54 ↗ element to those but um certainly your

39:57 ↗ regular meetings and then clarifies that

39:58 ↗ staff in the public may also attend

40:00 ↗ virtually and then I unders it sounds

40:02 ↗ like Stephen talked to you a little bit

40:04 ↗ about some of the changes we wanted to

40:06 ↗ make to the rules to conform them to the

40:09 ↗ title 18 updates and the shift of the

40:11 ↗ code pertaining to PPC into Title II of

40:16 ↗ the municipal code

40:18 ↗ and so

40:20 ↗ um the options tonight and just before

40:22 ↗ we we get to the options just a um a

40:24 ↗ comment so we have 13 boards and

40:26 ↗ commissions and the um I have uh

40:29 ↗ assisted six of the commissions in

40:31 ↗ talking through this policy three of

40:34 ↗ them adopted uh pretty much the version

40:36 ↗ that's before you tonight and then

40:38 ↗ um we have had two of our commissions

40:40 ↗ who have uh the equity commission and

40:43 ↗ Human Services Commission who've wanted

40:45 ↗ to have fewer restrictions on attending

40:47 ↗ virtually and make that more open-ended

40:50 ↗ and our environmental board

40:53 ↗ and park board made some slight changes

40:56 ↗ to encourage but not require the Quorum

40:59 ↗ be in person so

41:01 ↗ um the boards are making some changes

41:03 ↗ and I'm here to talk to you about those

41:04 ↗ tonight here are your thoughts about

41:06 ↗ what you're interested in if you're

41:07 ↗ interested in the policy as proposed

41:09 ↗ there is a motion

41:11 ↗ um to adopt the Amendments and that is

41:14 ↗ all I have on this topic

41:18 ↗ thanks to Sharon so I think before we

41:20 ↗ start discussion we need emotion um the

41:23 ↗ motion can

41:25 ↗ questions questions first okay

41:29 ↗ like I said new aggressively

41:32 ↗ um okay so questions

41:35 ↗ that commission requests so I mean I

41:37 ↗ everything's very logical thank you um

41:40 ↗ the idea of encouraging precipitation

41:43 ↗ particip participation

41:46 ↗ um in person is great I think it's also

41:48 ↗ important that the meetings happen so

41:51 ↗ um the only questions I have around the

41:53 ↗ as you mentioned the Quorum I mean

41:55 ↗ encourage

41:57 ↗ the quorum to be here but if it's not

42:00 ↗ you would be a shame to lose momentum of

42:03 ↗ an organization

42:04 ↗ if you still have people who could do it

42:06 ↗ but they are virtual so that was one

42:08 ↗ thing so my question is

42:11 ↗ the learnings from the discussions with

42:13 ↗ the other ones of why they adopted or or

42:16 ↗ had that change and what their their

42:20 ↗ thoughts are intent or on that that may

42:22 ↗ help influence the discussion here

42:25 ↗ yeah and that is a good point and

42:27 ↗ actually you'll notice the policy and

42:28 ↗ this was motivated by the Planning

42:30 ↗ Commission that was operating with a

42:31 ↗ real skeleton crew for a while you know

42:33 ↗ some of um so if if there are two or

42:36 ↗ more vacancies on the commission then

42:38 ↗ that requirement that a quorum B in

42:40 ↗ person would go away because you're

42:42 ↗ right if we're if we have to

42:45 ↗ um two vacancies it could be it could be

42:47 ↗ difficult to get a quorum I think um the

42:50 ↗ conversations with the other boards have

42:51 ↗ been less around that so one of the

42:53 ↗ things all most of our boards and

42:54 ↗ commissions have are alternate members

42:56 ↗ and so that gives us you know usually

42:59 ↗ it's two to three members but that

43:01 ↗ really help help ensure that we are

43:03 ↗ always able to obtain that Quorum so

43:05 ↗ that has been a little less I'd say with

43:07 ↗ the other boards and commissions the

43:09 ↗ discussion around requiring the Quorum

43:11 ↗ some of them have had concerns over the

43:13 ↗ administrative burden of that and just

43:15 ↗ not wanting it to become too cumbersome

43:17 ↗ but also I think more so there have been

43:21 ↗ some members of those boards that um you

43:24 ↗ know like the flexibility of attending

43:26 ↗ virtually and and want to be able to

43:28 ↗ continue to do that and

43:30 ↗ um just advocated for that

43:35 ↗ I can't really

43:36 ↗ thank you and uh and thanks for that

43:38 ↗ question commissioner cross uh the if we

43:40 ↗ do not have a quorum of people a

43:43 ↗ Commissioners in person

43:45 ↗ remind me is the meeting canceled or are

43:48 ↗ we just unable to take actions what's

43:50 ↗ the outcome

43:52 ↗ Tech

43:53 ↗ um for the clerk's office would

43:55 ↗ recommend that the meeting just not

43:57 ↗ occur so technically you um

44:01 ↗ there was an informational item but Eve

44:04 ↗ I the the meeting isn't really happening

44:06 ↗ if there's not there need to be four of

44:09 ↗ you for there to be a planning policy

44:11 ↗ commission if there are three of you it

44:12 ↗ isn't a planning policy commission it's

44:14 ↗ three people

44:16 ↗ um and so

44:17 ↗ uh we would we would recommend to staff

44:20 ↗ that nothing occur if there's not a

44:22 ↗ quorum

44:25 ↗ and remind me what's the notice

44:27 ↗ um that we're supposed to give

44:29 ↗ that we're not coming to a meeting

44:31 ↗ whether it's in person or an excused

44:33 ↗ absence

44:35 ↗ please we recommend five days but we

44:37 ↗ stay in the rules that we understand

44:39 ↗ emergencies happen and so if it needs to

44:42 ↗ be more last minute we understand

44:55 ↗ yes please

44:57 ↗ I'll move

44:58 ↗ I moved to amend the planning policy

45:00 ↗ commission rules and regulations by

45:02 ↗ adopting amendments throughout to

45:04 ↗ correct the Issaquah Municipal Code

45:06 ↗ references and to adopt amendments to

45:09 ↗ article 4 section 1 regular meetings

45:11 ↗ section 7 participation and add a new

45:15 ↗ section 6 virtual attendance as proposed

45:24 ↗ when the separate discussion

45:30 ↗ I like the Amendments I would be

45:32 ↗ inclined to stick to it the way it's

45:34 ↗ been drafted I'm really glad you brought

45:36 ↗ up with the other commissions have done

45:38 ↗ because that was my first question is

45:39 ↗ what all have they done

45:42 ↗ um

45:43 ↗ I think having a quorum in person I mean

45:46 ↗ I think you need I think we need to be

45:47 ↗ here as much as possible

45:49 ↗ and I get their desire for flexibility I

45:53 ↗ love flexibility is great

45:55 ↗ um but it's a whole business I think

45:57 ↗ it's it's really important that we

45:59 ↗ encourage

46:00 ↗ at least that we be here as much as

46:02 ↗ possible

46:03 ↗ and have the keep those exceptions for

46:07 ↗ business travel illness you know

46:09 ↗ vacations things come up for sure but

46:12 ↗ you know if it's just I don't feel like

46:14 ↗ coming down here this evening I'd rather

46:17 ↗ do it from my Den

46:20 ↗ that we should we should be here

46:27 ↗ this may be a clarifying question but I

46:30 ↗ guess for for the Commissioners who've

46:32 ↗ been here before

46:34 ↗ um I joined so it was join what was the

46:37 ↗ um I guess percentage of individuals

46:40 ↗ come into the actual Commission in

46:43 ↗ person to have that Quorum per se

46:48 ↗ did we have any issues where we were

46:50 ↗ less than

46:52 ↗ um four people

46:54 ↗ I think I'll be at Cove it happened of

46:57 ↗ course I would say in the last couple

46:59 ↗ years we've only had a few instances

47:01 ↗ where we came close to not having our

47:02 ↗ Quorum but I would say you know part of

47:06 ↗ staff's job is checking to see what the

47:10 ↗ attendance is going to be have have a

47:11 ↗ good idea if we're going to be even

47:12 ↗ close to not meeting a quorum the

47:15 ↗ closest we've ever been was only at a

47:17 ↗ point where we only had four members

47:18 ↗ yeah and so we were checking every day

47:20 ↗ hey are you coming here are you coming

47:23 ↗ um and we really never got to a point

47:25 ↗ where we had to cancel meeting because

47:26 ↗ we didn't have a quorum I I think with

47:29 ↗ that because it's it's based on the

47:32 ↗ individuals that are in these seats and

47:36 ↗ we have a culture of showing up

47:38 ↗ basically and if we if we can't show up

47:42 ↗ of course we would talk with with the

47:44 ↗ city staff to let them know I think that

47:47 ↗ flexibility will still be good in the

47:50 ↗ sense of um the point that our

47:52 ↗ commissioner just made to be able to

47:55 ↗ ensure that the meetings continue to

47:57 ↗ move forward in the event that you don't

48:00 ↗ have four people in in person I'm for

48:05 ↗ everyone being here in person but we

48:08 ↗ also have to make sure the business

48:09 ↗ continues to to move forward as well

48:15 ↗ yeah as a as a commissioner who has

48:17 ↗ taken advantage of the virtual

48:19 ↗ attendance options both by necessity

48:21 ↗ being pregnant and having to to attend

48:24 ↗ virtually

48:26 ↗ um to you know having to have kids at

48:28 ↗ home and just manage that I really

48:30 ↗ appreciate the virtual option

48:33 ↗ um I also really enjoy the in-person

48:35 ↗ setting and so I'm more on the line of

48:37 ↗ like listening because my my concern and

48:39 ↗ this is maybe not warranted is that

48:43 ↗ um you know if you have the sniffles

48:44 ↗ right where you're not so sick that you

48:47 ↗ can't participate I would rather

48:50 ↗ um you know as a mom to now small babies

48:52 ↗ I would rather you attend virtually than

48:54 ↗ say oh you know what I can't you know I

48:57 ↗ have to be there in person and so I'm

48:59 ↗ going to come in with my sniffles right

49:01 ↗ um and so just for those sorts of

49:03 ↗ situations I'd like to have the

49:04 ↗ flexibility for us to attend virtually

49:08 ↗ um without worrying about you know am I

49:10 ↗ gonna jeopardize the meeting and things

49:13 ↗ like that because I would hate for

49:14 ↗ somebody to like feel like I'm not sure

49:15 ↗ if I should attend this right but I'm

49:18 ↗ going to because I don't want to mess

49:19 ↗ things up

49:21 ↗ um so for that reason I think that that

49:23 ↗ kind of like encouraged but not require

49:25 ↗ the Quorum

49:26 ↗ um language might be

49:28 ↗ um what I'm more in favor of

49:34 ↗ Australia

49:35 ↗ I'll argue that point just I want to

49:39 ↗ Second commissioner Kennedy's assertion

49:42 ↗ that how important it is to be in person

49:44 ↗ at a quorum and the reason that I'm the

49:49 ↗ way that I got there was when we were

49:51 ↗ all virtual we were all in the same room

49:55 ↗ and I felt that the dynamic of the board

49:58 ↗ was really very productive

50:00 ↗ and when we're here on the diocese I

50:02 ↗ feel it's very productive when there's

50:04 ↗ one person or maybe two on the screen or

50:08 ↗ on the camera I personally don't feel

50:11 ↗ their presence as much I don't

50:14 ↗ um it's

50:15 ↗ um it's my fault of course I could but

50:18 ↗ I'm just saying honestly it's very hard

50:21 ↗ to incorporate that into the dynamic of

50:23 ↗ the group

50:24 ↗ working together and I think that's

50:26 ↗ that's one of the reasons why I enjoy

50:28 ↗ commission so much is this

50:31 ↗ the the persuasiveness of having us

50:35 ↗ together and really listening and

50:37 ↗ hearing and and engaging with one

50:39 ↗ another and understanding what one

50:40 ↗ another is saying

50:42 ↗ um I would

50:44 ↗ I was inclined and I think I still am to

50:48 ↗ have a quorum of have a quorum present

50:51 ↗ they're still as long as we have enough

50:55 ↗ commissioners

50:56 ↗ and so what What's the total number of

50:58 ↗ this body it's nine no it's

51:02 ↗ I'm sorry what is it and what's the

51:04 ↗ quorum

51:05 ↗ so they're uh there are seven regular

51:08 ↗ members and two alternate members right

51:11 ↗ now we have you have one vacancy so you

51:13 ↗ have a total of eight and you would need

51:16 ↗ four four bodies and seats under the

51:18 ↗ policy I would think the the critical

51:21 ↗ thing to do is make sure we have all our

51:22 ↗ seats filled so that if you have the

51:24 ↗ sniffles you don't have to come but I do

51:26 ↗ think that the um corpsman person is

51:28 ↗ important to me

51:31 ↗ so I think we agree on The Guiding

51:33 ↗ principles of number one being in person

51:34 ↗ because all good things happen I mean

51:36 ↗ it's great two is you don't want to miss

51:39 ↗ work like you don't want to have to not

51:41 ↗ have a meeting which then

51:43 ↗ it opens my next I have a question is

51:46 ↗ let's let's forget covid like a lot of

51:49 ↗ us want to and go like the two years

51:51 ↗ before covet how many meetings got

51:53 ↗ canceled because there was not a quorum

51:55 ↗ did it happen ever meaning is this even

51:57 ↗ a

51:58 ↗ a big issue like

52:00 ↗ if it hasn't if it never happened in the

52:02 ↗ last a couple years leading up to Quorum

52:03 ↗ then I think I feel very confident to

52:05 ↗ say have it in person because we could

52:07 ↗ probably manage to that but if that was

52:08 ↗ an issue then you know it would

52:11 ↗ pre-covered I wasn't involved with the

52:13 ↗ commission I heard that maybe one

52:15 ↗ meeting was canceled before that but I'm

52:17 ↗ not sure of the exact date

52:20 ↗ um so it you know consistently the the

52:22 ↗ commission has always had done a good

52:23 ↗ job of getting a quorum for its meetings

52:25 ↗ so I mean so then I agree if we want to

52:29 ↗ like drive drive it to have people here

52:31 ↗ and we find let me ask if we find that

52:34 ↗ all of a sudden oh my gosh there's going

52:36 ↗ to be a meeting that's not going to be

52:37 ↗ made because people can only do it

52:39 ↗ virtually because this can this be

52:41 ↗ changed again and then say there's a

52:43 ↗ discrete at the discretion of the chair

52:45 ↗ they can allow the next meeting or

52:47 ↗ something along those lines

52:49 ↗ yes and I mean this is all an exercise

52:52 ↗ right in trying to kind of figure out I

52:54 ↗ think every commission I've spoken to

52:56 ↗ it's kind of like

52:57 ↗ um

52:58 ↗ trying to figure out what the new normal

53:00 ↗ is and what everyone's comfortable with

53:01 ↗ and so I do expect

53:03 ↗ that there will need to be some changes

53:06 ↗ your point is a good point if we're

53:08 ↗ finding that Quorum can't be achieved

53:10 ↗ but there are Commissioners who are

53:12 ↗ readily available virtually I think we

53:14 ↗ would want to make a change because that

53:16 ↗ doesn't serve the city well or you well

53:19 ↗ you're setting aside your time

53:21 ↗ um

53:22 ↗ so so that's something that either could

53:24 ↗ be

53:25 ↗ um adjusted tonight or certainly these

53:28 ↗ rules can be adopted by the commission

53:30 ↗ and amended by the commission at any

53:32 ↗ time with just some advance notice in

53:34 ↗ the agenda so and and I do expect we'll

53:36 ↗ be making further tweaks this is kind of

53:38 ↗ a first first try

53:45 ↗ um on first read when I got this in the

53:47 ↗ packet I felt I was in full support of

53:49 ↗ the the draft or the motion I still do I

53:52 ↗ think that the the way it's worded and

53:55 ↗ how I read it the virtual option allows

53:58 ↗ for flexibility in certain circumstances

54:01 ↗ but it still encourages and the

54:03 ↗ preferences still to be in person and

54:06 ↗ you know right now we're discussing the

54:07 ↗ idea of the in-person Quorum which I

54:09 ↗ think it does present however it does

54:11 ↗ say an exception can be made if there's

54:13 ↗ going to be absences that would

54:15 ↗ eliminate the Quorum then we could turn

54:17 ↗ to our virtual attendees to make up for

54:21 ↗ that am I understanding that correctly

54:24 ↗ well I and I'm you're making me want to

54:28 ↗ read it again because maybe that the

54:30 ↗ intention was if there's two or more

54:32 ↗ vacancies on the commission then this

54:34 ↗ the Quorum would be that's sort of

54:35 ↗ waived like we we're gonna take you

54:37 ↗ however we can get you to make sure we

54:39 ↗ can convene the meetings but

54:41 ↗ um

54:42 ↗ and I you know the word language could

54:45 ↗ be maybe be stronger but the

54:48 ↗ um

54:48 ↗ my intention was that if if you are like

54:52 ↗ in your situation now where you only

54:53 ↗ have one vacancy if you couldn't have a

54:55 ↗ quorum in person then it it would be a

54:58 ↗ little questionable to persist with the

55:00 ↗ meeting with the virtual I mean I don't

55:03 ↗ um I would need to talk to our City

55:05 ↗ attorney about how risky that would be

55:07 ↗ but it's not certainly not something we

55:09 ↗ would want to do on a regular basis we'd

55:10 ↗ want to amend the rules and so if there

55:12 ↗ is concern about that now we we could

55:14 ↗ make a change to soften

55:17 ↗ um it to encourage rather than require

55:18 ↗ the Quorum in person

55:21 ↗ and some of the other commissions have

55:22 ↗ chosen to do that

55:25 ↗ yeah and thanks for highlighting Stephen

55:26 ↗ that's yeah that's right on the screen

55:28 ↗ right now that except that specific

55:30 ↗ exception language

55:32 ↗ um for where a quorum might be

55:37 ↗ yeah I I still feel the same way I feel

55:39 ↗ like the softer language that just

55:41 ↗ allows for that possibility I think

55:43 ↗ we're all committed to being here

55:45 ↗ um in person again as someone who has

55:47 ↗ attended virtually I've had both a

55:48 ↗ horrible experience where none of the

55:50 ↗ audio worked and I had to watch you all

55:51 ↗ on YouTube and try to follow along

55:53 ↗ um which might be why you didn't sense

55:55 ↗ my presence

55:57 ↗ um because I was about 35 seconds behind

55:59 ↗ all of you um but I've also felt like I

56:02 ↗ was like there and commenting

56:05 ↗ um in meetings I think there's only been

56:06 ↗ like three or so that I've attended

56:08 ↗ virtually but it hasn't been a negative

56:10 ↗ experience for me as a virtual

56:12 ↗ participant and so again I think we want

56:15 ↗ to put forward that the preference is

56:17 ↗ for in person

56:19 ↗ um but I think just having that

56:20 ↗ flexibility

56:21 ↗ um you know if because I I think none of

56:24 ↗ us would want a meeting to be canceled

56:25 ↗ but again my preference is that if you

56:27 ↗ don't you know I'm again the germaphobe

56:30 ↗ with the mask still on seven years later

56:33 ↗ um you know if you're like oh I'm not

56:35 ↗ sure I wouldn't want people to have the

56:37 ↗ ability to just you know stay home and

56:39 ↗ still be able to join and contribute and

56:41 ↗ I think that that flexibility allows for

56:44 ↗ that

56:45 ↗ still gonna argue that point yeah for

56:48 ↗ sure and I'm the same as well to have

56:50 ↗ that flexibility we have a culture of

56:52 ↗ showing up

56:54 ↗ um we're in a new age where technology

56:56 ↗ is here we could use technology there

56:59 ↗ may be some technical issues but that's

57:02 ↗ because we're not using it enough at the

57:04 ↗ end of the day

57:05 ↗ um the key thing is is that I've exceed

57:08 ↗ these saved faces for almost a year now

57:11 ↗ in person so I don't think that that's

57:13 ↗ really going to change at the end of the

57:15 ↗ day so why Institute a restriction

57:19 ↗ that's not needed because we're already

57:22 ↗ here

57:24 ↗ thank you

57:28 ↗ and I'm wondering Kisha if you have like

57:30 ↗ the language that the Commissioners who

57:32 ↗ have commissions who have softened it

57:33 ↗ used

57:36 ↗ yes I'm not sure I'm going to be able

57:38 ↗ I'm not sure how quickly I can I can do

57:41 ↗ this but I can talk through the

57:44 ↗ um

57:46 ↗ so I if you if you want the precise

57:48 ↗ wording I would either need a few

57:50 ↗ minutes or we can bring this back but

57:52 ↗ essentially it would be

57:54 ↗ we sort of took out the um

57:58 ↗ let's see they them they may request

58:00 ↗ permission softened that and then remove

58:03 ↗ one basically

58:06 ↗ um

58:06 ↗ here under sorry section I'm looking at

58:09 ↗ my screen let me share it with you so

58:10 ↗ you can see it

58:12 ↗ um

58:17 ↗ so okay so here's the section six

58:19 ↗ virtual attendance make that a little

58:22 ↗ bit bigger so we would essentially

58:26 ↗ kind of strike out request permission

58:29 ↗ we'd soften this sentence here

58:31 ↗ um

58:32 ↗ and then

58:35 ↗ remove one and then kind of true it up

58:38 ↗ so that it reads in a streamlined way we

58:42 ↗ take out the exception language and

58:45 ↗ one

58:47 ↗ and do a little bit of a

58:49 ↗ little bit of reformatting and a little

58:52 ↗ bit of wordsmithing to just make it flow

58:55 ↗ so that is one option we have I think

58:58 ↗ we've had two two commissions kind of go

59:01 ↗ this way where it's still an Anchorage

59:04 ↗ on the in person but

59:06 ↗ um not have formal permission that needs

59:09 ↗ to be granted

59:11 ↗ um and not requiring but encouraging a

59:14 ↗ quorum which is what I'm hearing so um I

59:17 ↗ would we'd probably also want to put a

59:19 ↗ phrase in here and I I can I can mock

59:22 ↗ this up either now

59:24 ↗ um

59:25 ↗ or bring it back with those changes

59:50 ↗ and can I can make a motion Amendment

59:54 ↗ um so I propose an amendment

59:57 ↗ um to the motion where we

1:00:00 ↗ um

1:00:01 ↗ I think

1:00:02 ↗ this one got me well worded

1:00:04 ↗ um

1:00:06 ↗ I think formal permission I still think

1:00:08 ↗ like a notification and like okay

1:00:09 ↗ process right is yeah so I'm removing

1:00:12 ↗ kind of formal permission

1:00:15 ↗ um

1:00:18 ↗ and I think it's the language that's in

1:00:20 ↗ number one is okay but taking out the

1:00:22 ↗ requirement of the two or more vacancies

1:00:24 ↗ so that that can apply to any Commission

1:00:30 ↗ so really the only changes are

1:00:31 ↗ notification instead of Express kind of

1:00:34 ↗ formal permission

1:00:36 ↗ and an exception can be made to the

1:00:39 ↗ requirement for an in-person quorum

1:00:42 ↗ if that's not possible at a certain

1:00:44 ↗ meeting

1:00:47 ↗ in a second

1:00:49 ↗ and second I like those changes

1:00:54 ↗ and now we'll discuss that Amendment

1:00:57 ↗ thank you all for bearing with me and my

1:00:59 ↗ clunkiness of this

1:01:06 ↗ well my my initial comments about in

1:01:08 ↗ person I mean goes we all seem to be on

1:01:10 ↗ the same page we're all on the same page

1:01:12 ↗ encouraging in person to be here in

1:01:15 ↗ person but we also agree that

1:01:17 ↗ flexibility is good I mean we've all

1:01:18 ↗ lived through covid we've dealt with the

1:01:20 ↗ zoom meetings

1:01:21 ↗ it's and I totally agree I don't want

1:01:24 ↗ someone coming if they've got a cold

1:01:26 ↗ just because they feel they have to be

1:01:28 ↗ here

1:01:28 ↗ I agree I would prefer they stay home

1:01:31 ↗ and not give me whatever it is they have

1:01:33 ↗ um

1:01:34 ↗ so ICS is all on the same page it might

1:01:37 ↗ just be very minor tweaks to

1:01:41 ↗ you know the option not needing the

1:01:43 ↗ permission

1:01:44 ↗ I think we can we can tweak that pretty

1:01:46 ↗ easily

1:01:47 ↗ um

1:01:48 ↗ but that's where I I'm still in the same

1:01:50 ↗ stance of let's be here in person let's

1:01:52 ↗ have Quorum in person

1:01:54 ↗ but I still wanted that that flexibility

1:01:57 ↗ when we need it so

1:01:59 ↗ that's why I like your interchanges

1:02:05 ↗ see what being in person does for you

1:02:09 ↗ I'm being persuaded if I understand

1:02:12 ↗ correctly that the first section A would

1:02:15 ↗ be changing from required to get

1:02:19 ↗ permission but you still have you have

1:02:22 ↗ to give notice

1:02:23 ↗ in that the number one would end after

1:02:28 ↗ um

1:02:29 ↗ if they're unable an exception may be

1:02:32 ↗ made to this requirement if they're

1:02:34 ↗ unable to make a quorum

1:02:36 ↗ something like that

1:02:38 ↗ does give some discretion for those

1:02:41 ↗ reasons and gives us flexibility

1:02:44 ↗ but if we start having no shows though

1:02:48 ↗ I'm going to go back to my old

1:02:51 ↗ yeah

1:02:53 ↗ yeah but if we I think if we see that

1:02:56 ↗ there's no shows and we can amend it

1:02:57 ↗ again and then and solve that problem

1:03:02 ↗ yeah and I'm solely speaking as like a

1:03:04 ↗ germaphobe here not as somebody who

1:03:06 ↗ wants to like say I sit on enough Zoom

1:03:08 ↗ meetings all day that this is like a

1:03:09 ↗ welcome you know thing to come and talk

1:03:11 ↗ with you all in person so yeah the

1:03:13 ↗ intention behind this is that to just

1:03:16 ↗ hang out at home and like you know eat

1:03:17 ↗ dinner in front of the computer while

1:03:19 ↗ we're on these meetings it's to you know

1:03:21 ↗ when we need to be home

1:03:24 ↗ um be able to be home um but still have

1:03:26 ↗ the meeting continue

1:03:30 ↗ uh there there are um words in here that

1:03:33 ↗ talk about when you are virtual that you

1:03:35 ↗ have to be giving your full attention

1:03:36 ↗ and so there are um there are

1:03:38 ↗ expectations behind it yeah so they're

1:03:40 ↗ very good

1:03:49 ↗ uh I guess one other note now that we've

1:03:52 ↗ made these

1:03:54 ↗ uh adjustments is number three A3 would

1:03:57 ↗ also likely need to be modified just

1:04:00 ↗ wording wise uh it also kind of reflects

1:04:04 ↗ the idea of permissions and

1:04:07 ↗ um and so it might just need some

1:04:09 ↗ wordsmithing on on that front

1:04:22 ↗ I'm sorry I'm reading actually I'm glad

1:04:25 ↗ you brought that up because now reading

1:04:26 ↗ through it again given our understanding

1:04:28 ↗ of

1:04:30 ↗ you know the fact that we all just zoom

1:04:31 ↗ into these meetings nowadays anyway and

1:04:33 ↗ no no equipment needs to be set up can't

1:04:35 ↗ be just strike number three

1:04:42 ↗ and I'll just speak up and add that when

1:04:43 ↗ we've made this similar change for the

1:04:45 ↗ other boards we've we've kind of removed

1:04:47 ↗ the anything referring to request

1:04:49 ↗ permission and just said notice advanced

1:04:51 ↗ notice will be provided and then

1:04:55 ↗ um

1:04:57 ↗ made a statement encouraging a quorum in

1:05:00 ↗ attendance but not mandating it so I I

1:05:03 ↗ would recommend I I it's not perfectly

1:05:05 ↗ marked up right now so I'll um kind of

1:05:08 ↗ defer to your comfort level with this

1:05:10 ↗ proposed amendment I think I have a

1:05:12 ↗ strong I think I understand clearly what

1:05:15 ↗ the amendment which has not yet been

1:05:16 ↗ voted on but what it intends to achieve

1:05:21 ↗ okay

1:05:23 ↗ any other discussion on that

1:05:26 ↗ next session we vote on the amendment

1:05:28 ↗ first or the English Okay so let's vote

1:05:30 ↗ on the amendment

1:05:32 ↗ um which is to um

1:05:35 ↗ no longer require permission but provide

1:05:39 ↗ advance notice

1:05:40 ↗ um ever need to attend virtually

1:05:43 ↗ um and still

1:05:45 ↗ um desire to have an in-person Quorum

1:05:48 ↗ um but

1:05:49 ↗ um to have the exception made if

1:05:53 ↗ we're not able to get there so that the

1:05:55 ↗ meeting can continue

1:05:57 ↗ so all in favor of that Amendment

1:06:05 ↗ so I think we're unanimous um on that

1:06:07 ↗ then

1:06:08 ↗ so that passes

1:06:14 ↗ okay and so then we have the original

1:06:15 ↗ motion which is to adopt as

1:06:18 ↗ um presented and proposed in here

1:06:21 ↗ um

1:06:22 ↗ anyone in favor

1:06:39 ↗ this is hard

1:06:41 ↗ um

1:06:42 ↗ so any more discussion on the main

1:06:44 ↗ motion

1:06:49 ↗ and so for my own sake because I'm like

1:06:52 ↗ lost in the bureaucracy now

1:06:55 ↗ okay and we're not Contra motion as

1:06:57 ↗ amended okay got it okay

1:07:01 ↗ so erase like go behind the scenes edit

1:07:04 ↗ that part out and

1:07:06 ↗ um we're now going to vote on the motion

1:07:08 ↗ as amended and so all of those in favor

1:07:11 ↗ of the motion as amended uh show of

1:07:14 ↗ hands

1:07:15 ↗ okay great and we're unanimous on that

1:07:17 ↗ as well so that motion as amended passes

1:07:22 ↗ you all

1:07:25 ↗ good

1:07:29 ↗ yeah thank you I think I'm up next too

1:07:32 ↗ Stephen yeah okay move on to the open

1:07:34 ↗ government training great thank you so

1:07:36 ↗ I'll make those changes and I'll

1:07:38 ↗ circulate those rules for Signature and

1:07:40 ↗ update the um the website thank you

1:07:43 ↗ um so my next item again I know I was

1:07:45 ↗ here and presented to most of you

1:07:46 ↗ commissioner cross is is the the new

1:07:49 ↗ audience for the next content I have

1:07:51 ↗ which is our annual open government

1:07:52 ↗ training so I'll try and move through

1:07:55 ↗ this pretty brief quickly and if you

1:07:57 ↗ have any questions

1:07:59 ↗ um let me know so let me

1:08:01 ↗ oh not start my video let me share my

1:08:04 ↗ other PowerPoint here

1:08:07 ↗ all right

1:08:09 ↗ okay so every um every every year we

1:08:12 ↗ train new Commissioners and we aim to

1:08:14 ↗ also provide some uh sort of refresher

1:08:18 ↗ training to all our boarding

1:08:19 ↗ Commissioners on the states to open

1:08:21 ↗ meetings laws the open public meetings

1:08:24 ↗ Act and the public records act and this

1:08:26 ↗ is required of elected officials and

1:08:27 ↗ members of open public meetings act

1:08:30 ↗ compliant boards which include the

1:08:33 ↗ city's advisory boards like the Planning

1:08:35 ↗ Commission to make sure that you're

1:08:38 ↗ familiar familiar with these state laws

1:08:40 ↗ of course we as staff are helping

1:08:42 ↗ helping you and the commissioner remain

1:08:44 ↗ compliant all the time but there are

1:08:46 ↗ some some things I'll be covering

1:08:47 ↗ tonight that relate to your personal

1:08:49 ↗ responsibility so

1:08:52 ↗ um

1:08:53 ↗ I just talked through this so we we want

1:08:55 ↗ to reduce Risk by giving you some

1:08:57 ↗ education around these laws and we

1:08:59 ↗ certainly want to decrease any

1:09:00 ↗ violations the city has a wonderful

1:09:02 ↗ track record and we hope to continue it

1:09:04 ↗ in these areas

1:09:06 ↗ so the first uh well I'll go over is the

1:09:09 ↗ open public meetings act and this is

1:09:11 ↗ really aimed at ensuring public access

1:09:13 ↗ to your decision making as you're

1:09:15 ↗ representing our community and so it

1:09:17 ↗ means that any meeting you have needs to

1:09:19 ↗ be noticed in advance we publish an

1:09:21 ↗ agenda it's posted outside it's posted

1:09:24 ↗ on our website the door needs to be open

1:09:26 ↗ the password to the WebEx virtual

1:09:29 ↗ meeting is posted so anyone can get in

1:09:32 ↗ there's no barriers

1:09:34 ↗ um so that we can just maximize

1:09:36 ↗ transparency

1:09:39 ↗ um all uh all these boards like yours

1:09:43 ↗ have regular meetings and you have twice

1:09:45 ↗ twice monthly meetings you meet probably

1:09:47 ↗ the most frequently of any of our

1:09:49 ↗ advisory boards

1:09:50 ↗ um but you also may have some special

1:09:53 ↗ meetings uh for example if a quorum of

1:09:56 ↗ you aren't available for a meeting in

1:09:58 ↗ July you know we might schedule I

1:10:00 ↗ believe tonight's a special meeting

1:10:01 ↗ actually because it's a different date

1:10:03 ↗ or time so anytime you're meeting

1:10:04 ↗ outside of that regular every other

1:10:06 ↗ Thursday schedule it's considered a

1:10:08 ↗ special meeting under the state law and

1:10:10 ↗ the one thing to know about that is we

1:10:13 ↗ are you are restricted to only

1:10:15 ↗ discussing and taking action on items on

1:10:17 ↗ that agenda for any special meeting so

1:10:20 ↗ you can't bring up new items of business

1:10:22 ↗ where that is a possibility at your

1:10:25 ↗ regular meeting so that is why we want

1:10:27 ↗ you to know that we have I think the

1:10:28 ↗ idea is because you're meeting at a

1:10:30 ↗ different time the public may be less

1:10:31 ↗ aware of your meeting and so you have to

1:10:34 ↗ kind of have that discipline to stick to

1:10:36 ↗ the special meeting agenda so we we are

1:10:38 ↗ aware of that and we take care to be

1:10:40 ↗ thorough in your special meeting agendas

1:10:44 ↗ um so I I went over this previously but

1:10:46 ↗ um we always provide an agenda in

1:10:50 ↗ advance for your benefit and for the

1:10:52 ↗ Publix benefit

1:10:53 ↗ public comment is not required at every

1:10:56 ↗ meeting but we have it as a standing

1:10:58 ↗ item on your agenda and then you of

1:11:00 ↗ course also have public hearings pretty

1:11:01 ↗ frequently

1:11:03 ↗ there are some limited uh reasons under

1:11:06 ↗ which you can have a closed meeting

1:11:07 ↗ where the public is excluded those are

1:11:09 ↗ called executive sessions but there's a

1:11:11 ↗ really narrow list of topics for which

1:11:15 ↗ you can go into a closed session and

1:11:16 ↗ they most often occur at our city

1:11:18 ↗ council so if they're discussing

1:11:19 ↗ collective bargaining litigation the

1:11:22 ↗ sale of property so they're pretty

1:11:23 ↗ unlikely to occur here but I want to

1:11:26 ↗ just make you aware that there it could

1:11:28 ↗ happen and we would have an attorney

1:11:31 ↗ present if you are needing to go into

1:11:33 ↗ one of those closed sessions

1:11:37 ↗ um so something to to think about here

1:11:40 ↗ and I guess the main point under talking

1:11:43 ↗ about the open public meetings Act is to

1:11:45 ↗ think of times when you there's sort of

1:11:47 ↗ two situations we want you thinking

1:11:49 ↗ about one is four of you

1:11:52 ↗ um physically or virtually being present

1:11:55 ↗ at one event or at one place

1:11:57 ↗ um so stay there with like the highlands

1:11:59 ↗ Council was hosting an event on like

1:12:00 ↗ growth in Issaquah or something and you

1:12:02 ↗ know you guys had some interest in

1:12:04 ↗ attending we would really want to avoid

1:12:06 ↗ having four of you attend because

1:12:07 ↗ technically that could be considered a

1:12:10 ↗ meeting of the commission especially if

1:12:12 ↗ there were topics pertaining to the

1:12:13 ↗ commission's work being discussed so if

1:12:16 ↗ something like that comes up and I'm not

1:12:18 ↗ sure um you know how how common that is

1:12:20 ↗ for your commission I know some of our

1:12:21 ↗ commissions have a lot of local and

1:12:23 ↗ Regional groups that they like to

1:12:26 ↗ participate with we really encourage

1:12:27 ↗ that you pick a few people to be

1:12:29 ↗ spokespeople and report back to the

1:12:32 ↗ commission at large and if you do happen

1:12:34 ↗ to find three of your Commissioners at

1:12:36 ↗ an event like that don't cluster

1:12:38 ↗ together and talk about the commission's

1:12:40 ↗ work because it could be perceived as a

1:12:42 ↗ as a meeting of the commission which

1:12:44 ↗ would put us out of compliance with this

1:12:46 ↗ state law so that's one situation to be

1:12:49 ↗ aware of

1:12:50 ↗ um

1:12:50 ↗ social Gatherings are okay just don't

1:12:52 ↗ talk about the commission's work

1:12:56 ↗ the second situation that I want to

1:12:59 ↗ remind you about to to avoid is what's

1:13:01 ↗ called a Serial meeting I think this one

1:13:03 ↗ is fairly easy to fall into so this is

1:13:06 ↗ when you're sharing the perspectives of

1:13:08 ↗ each other with multiple Commissioners

1:13:09 ↗ so if you debrief with one commissioner

1:13:11 ↗ after a meeting or before a meeting and

1:13:13 ↗ then one of those Commissioners shares

1:13:15 ↗ your discussion with the third

1:13:16 ↗ commissioner and they share it with the

1:13:18 ↗ fourth commissioner you kind of had like

1:13:20 ↗ a string of discussion culminating in

1:13:22 ↗ the perspectives of four of you being

1:13:24 ↗ talked about outside of a meeting again

1:13:26 ↗ not not what we want under this state

1:13:28 ↗ law and so just if if you wanted debrief

1:13:30 ↗ or chat in advance with one of your

1:13:32 ↗ Commissioners just keep it to one or two

1:13:34 ↗ and try to avoid sharing

1:13:37 ↗ um sharing other perspectives this also

1:13:39 ↗ can really easily happen by email and

1:13:41 ↗ forwarding of emails or sharing opinions

1:13:43 ↗ by email so we just encourage you to uh

1:13:46 ↗ to avoid that especially with multiple

1:13:49 ↗ Commissioners

1:13:50 ↗ um

1:13:51 ↗ it's helpful if you have information

1:13:53 ↗ that you want to disseminate that you

1:13:55 ↗ share it with Stephen and he can as a

1:13:57 ↗ neutral party disperse it and

1:14:01 ↗ just keep keep email minimal keep keep

1:14:03 ↗ it minimal and try and avoid replyalls

1:14:06 ↗ or really sharing an opinion we want to

1:14:08 ↗ hear your opinions at these meetings and

1:14:11 ↗ want them to be minimal in being

1:14:13 ↗ formally shared outside of the meetings

1:14:17 ↗ um I think I've pretty much covered the

1:14:19 ↗ points there if you have any questions

1:14:20 ↗ about this let me know

1:14:22 ↗ if not I'll move on to the the second

1:14:25 ↗ um

1:14:26 ↗ well there are some there are some

1:14:27 ↗ penalties

1:14:29 ↗ um and and the commissions action can be

1:14:30 ↗ jeopardized but again we're we're

1:14:32 ↗ working hard at all your regularly

1:14:33 ↗ scheduled meetings to ensure compliance

1:14:35 ↗ so if you keep those two situations in

1:14:37 ↗ mind that I highlighted

1:14:39 ↗ um work we're good uh so the second

1:14:41 ↗ state law is the public records act and

1:14:43 ↗ so the city has some pretty onerous

1:14:45 ↗ obligations to provide records to anyone

1:14:47 ↗ in the world who asks at any time and

1:14:49 ↗ they fill out a form on our website and

1:14:51 ↗ uh at this point we do not uh there are

1:14:55 ↗ really no charges for providing these

1:14:57 ↗ records and there is a chance as a

1:14:58 ↗ commissioner you you could be asked for

1:15:00 ↗ records either pertaining to a

1:15:02 ↗ particular per one of you or pertaining

1:15:05 ↗ to a project that you've heard so we

1:15:08 ↗ could be asked for all communication or

1:15:10 ↗ correspondence around a particular

1:15:11 ↗ project and might need to reach out to

1:15:13 ↗ you and so I want to go over a couple

1:15:15 ↗ things for you to be mindful of by and

1:15:19 ↗ large most of your content that you're

1:15:21 ↗ reviewing is coming from us through the

1:15:24 ↗ city through your agendas and through

1:15:25 ↗ City email

1:15:27 ↗ um so we have all those records but if

1:15:29 ↗ you're taking notes or producing any

1:15:30 ↗ kind of document outside of our systems

1:15:33 ↗ please be organized with them if you are

1:15:36 ↗ a note taker under our records

1:15:39 ↗ obligations notes are not something we

1:15:42 ↗ have are required to keep for any length

1:15:44 ↗ of time so once they've served their

1:15:46 ↗ purpose to you you are okay to get rid

1:15:48 ↗ of them and actually that's a healthy

1:15:49 ↗ thing to do because if we do get a

1:15:52 ↗ request you can't then get rid of them

1:15:54 ↗ you have to you have to give us what

1:15:57 ↗ you've got so um you know some kind of

1:15:59 ↗ healthy

1:16:00 ↗ um

1:16:01 ↗ cleaning up of your notes digitally or

1:16:03 ↗ by paper is a healthy thing but if you

1:16:05 ↗ want to just keep them that's fine just

1:16:07 ↗ know where they're at so if we ask you

1:16:09 ↗ you can provide them to us email is

1:16:11 ↗ another another one so I'm guessing a

1:16:14 ↗ few of you may have a dedicated email

1:16:15 ↗ for your commission

1:16:18 ↗ Communications that's not a requirement

1:16:20 ↗ but again if you are possibly emailing

1:16:23 ↗ with someone a member of the public

1:16:26 ↗ another commissioner where a city staff

1:16:28 ↗ person isn't cc'd on that email but we

1:16:30 ↗ don't have that record so we would ask

1:16:33 ↗ you if we got a records request if you

1:16:34 ↗ had any responsive emails and we would

1:16:36 ↗ need you to provide them for us and so

1:16:38 ↗ in some cases a commissioner is more

1:16:40 ↗ comfortable just having a separate email

1:16:42 ↗ account so they just know it's real

1:16:43 ↗ clean and they know where everything is

1:16:45 ↗ just also you know having a folder or

1:16:47 ↗ just kind of having awareness of what

1:16:50 ↗ you have I guess is the important thing

1:16:52 ↗ so those are the two points notes in

1:16:55 ↗ email

1:16:56 ↗ um and and hopefully and hopefully we

1:16:59 ↗ won't have to bother you with the public

1:17:00 ↗ records request but that's that's the

1:17:02 ↗ main point there if you have questions

1:17:04 ↗ about any content you have or want to

1:17:06 ↗ follow up

1:17:07 ↗ um please reach out to me my contact

1:17:11 ↗ information is on the next slide

1:17:13 ↗ um commissioner Krause you should have

1:17:15 ↗ gotten a link to our code of ethics I'm

1:17:16 ↗ guessing the other Commissioners have

1:17:18 ↗ already completed this but we do have an

1:17:19 ↗ Ethics form the URL is on the screen

1:17:22 ↗ here

1:17:23 ↗ um and uh when able we'd appreciate you

1:17:26 ↗ looking through the code of ethics and

1:17:28 ↗ there's a little acknowledgment that you

1:17:30 ↗ make and it covers some of the topics

1:17:31 ↗ that I am speaking to tonight and it

1:17:34 ↗ goes into a little more detail on a few

1:17:35 ↗ other things

1:17:38 ↗ with that you can reach me at clerks at

1:17:40 ↗ issaquah.gov anytime you have questions

1:17:43 ↗ or also direct them to Stephen and and

1:17:46 ↗ thank you for listening again

1:17:51 ↗ any questions

1:18:00 ↗ okay so that

1:18:02 ↗ um concludes in our regular business

1:18:04 ↗ um for today so we'll move on to reports

1:18:08 ↗ um and versus city council update so I'd

1:18:11 ↗ like to ask uh Stephen

1:18:13 ↗ um if there are any updates I have a few

1:18:16 ↗ for you tonight so as many as you know

1:18:19 ↗ uh city council adopted the title 18

1:18:22 ↗ update on May 1st uh the new virtual

1:18:25 ↗ version will be online starting June 1st

1:18:27 ↗ and so once that's available I'll send

1:18:28 ↗ that out to all the Commissioners what's

1:18:30 ↗ changing with the formatting online is

1:18:32 ↗ we're adding uh direct link preferences

1:18:34 ↗ in the code something that wasn't

1:18:36 ↗ available before so that when a

1:18:38 ↗ definition comes up or a reference to

1:18:40 ↗ another section of code you the link

1:18:43 ↗ will actually be right there in the code

1:18:44 ↗ itself so you're not having to Now look

1:18:47 ↗ up that other section Define where the

1:18:49 ↗ definition is or where that reference is

1:18:52 ↗ you'll be able to directly link it from

1:18:54 ↗ whatever section you're reading in the

1:18:55 ↗ code which is going to be huge help for

1:18:57 ↗ all of us who use the code fairly

1:18:59 ↗ regularly but also for a huge help for

1:19:02 ↗ people just trying to understand what

1:19:03 ↗ our code is trying to say

1:19:05 ↗ the other biggest change that's coming

1:19:07 ↗ with that is the

1:19:11 ↗ navigation of the code will be much more

1:19:13 ↗ easier before it was kind of it was

1:19:15 ↗ almost like an online pdf version where

1:19:17 ↗ you just had to look through now there's

1:19:20 ↗ actually going to be a navigation table

1:19:21 ↗ as you're looking through that'll help

1:19:23 ↗ you look at what section you're in what

1:19:25 ↗ other sections are nearby

1:19:27 ↗ being able to easily navigate to the

1:19:30 ↗ other sections without having to just

1:19:31 ↗ scroll down you can go to the navigation

1:19:33 ↗ table so the navigation of the code will

1:19:35 ↗ be significantly easier as well

1:19:38 ↗ that's it for that update

1:19:40 ↗ uh next week There's the title 18

1:19:43 ↗ celebration party I'm hoping you all can

1:19:45 ↗ attend let me know if you're not able to

1:19:48 ↗ attend that'll just help us keep track

1:19:50 ↗ of quorums for all the boards of

1:19:51 ↗ commissions

1:19:52 ↗ we're planning

1:19:54 ↗ um an exciting event for all of you food

1:19:57 ↗ will be provided and drinks but also

1:20:00 ↗ just a general thank you for everyone

1:20:01 ↗ that's been involved in this entire

1:20:03 ↗ process just because for how large this

1:20:06 ↗ project has been we want to make sure

1:20:08 ↗ everybody is recognized in in every

1:20:11 ↗ level of effort that went into this

1:20:13 ↗ update to our land use code

1:20:17 ↗ the last update that I have for you is

1:20:19 ↗ that we have the June tour so all your

1:20:21 ↗ regular meetings in June are canceled

1:20:23 ↗ and instead we have the tours scheduled

1:20:26 ↗ with small groups of you so we can take

1:20:29 ↗ a look at some upcoming policy

1:20:31 ↗ discussions we'll be having specifically

1:20:33 ↗ around housing we'll be talking some

1:20:35 ↗ transportation in some of these tours as

1:20:37 ↗ it relates to housing and answering your

1:20:39 ↗ questions around that but it's really

1:20:40 ↗ going to be focused on the housing

1:20:42 ↗ discussions that'll be upcoming as part

1:20:43 ↗ of the comprehensive Plan update there

1:20:45 ↗ will be some code updates that will

1:20:47 ↗ result from some of these discussions

1:20:49 ↗ but it really is focused on a lot of the

1:20:51 ↗ goals and policies embedded in the

1:20:53 ↗ comprehensive plan

1:20:55 ↗ and lastly

1:20:59 ↗ uh July of all your July meetings

1:21:02 ↗ that'll actually be kicking off many of

1:21:03 ↗ those policy discussions we'll be having

1:21:05 ↗ on policy following the tours in June

1:21:07 ↗ that's it for staff report

1:21:11 ↗ you know

1:21:12 ↗ um

1:21:13 ↗ any other

1:21:18 ↗ you all um for the grace you gave me as

1:21:21 ↗ I tried to navigate that

1:21:23 ↗ um with their being no further business

1:21:26 ↗ before the commission I adjourn today's

1:21:29 ↗ meeting at 7 53 pm

1:21:32 ↗ thank you all

Approved minutes

Extracted from the next meeting's packet, where this meeting's minutes were approved as a consent-calendar attachment.

Open PDF

Attendance

Staff (1)

Tisha Gieser, City Clerk Christen Leeson, Senior Planner Stephen Padua, Long Range Planning Manager 2

Recommendations & actions (6)

Sentences extracted from the narrative containing words like recommended, requested, directed, moved, or approved. Best-effort — verify against the full minutes for context.

Padua replied that the information requested is only for identification and that there is not a rule that a commenter must reside in Issaquah.
Padua replied that people can be asked to provide certain information regarding the relationship to the city but what is requested is not consistent throughout all Boards and Commissions.
MOTION seconded by COMMISSIONER KENNEDY. (00:45) VICE-CHAIR BADER opened Commissioner discussion.
MOTION seconded by COMMISSIONER KENNEDY. (01:00) COMMISSIONER KENNEDY stated that the Commission appears to be in consensus to encourage in-person quorums, but also in flexibility when needed.
Gieser replied that changes requested by other Commissions have involved removing Request permission, substituting with Advance notice will be provided, and a statement encouraging a quorum in attendance but not…
a) Council Update Padua stated that the City Council adopted the Title 18 Update on May 1,