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Planning Policy Commission Auto captions

Thursday, July 13, 2023

6:30 PM · 1h 25m · Council Chambers, 135 E. Sunset Way, Issaquah WA
Topic tracked across meetings:
Recommendation on Revised Policies in the Draft Land Use and Sustainability Element, (D) ID 1403 2/5
Section
Topic
2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES
2a
Minutes of May 11, 2023
packet pp.3–8
Staff report:
MINUTES PLANNING POLICY COMMISSION 6:30 p.m. - Thursday, May 11, 2023
2b
Minutes of May 23, 2023
packet pp.9–15
Staff report:
MINUTES PLANNING POLICY COMMISSION 6:30 p.m. – Tuesday, May 23, 2023
4. REGULAR BUSINESS
4a
Comprehensive Plan: Land Use Element Overview, (D)
30 min · Christen Leeson, Senior Planner · packet pp.17–47
Topics: Land Use
Staff report:
The purpose of the July 13, 2023, meeting is to review and discuss existing Growth Management Act (GMA) requirements, new GMA requirements, and staff proposed changes.
4b
Comprehensive Plan: Equity Tool
Discussion · 50 min · Stephen Padua, Long Range Planning Manager · packet pp.49–75
Topics: Land UseEquity
Staff report:
The City has an established goal to work with the community to identify and remove barriers to accessing City programs and services. This goal creates an equity and cultural competency initiative for City staff. Staff will work on cultivating relationships with diverse community groups by improving hiring practices and engagement methodologies. In 2021, the City formalized the creation of a new Equity Board to support and cultivate the voices of diverse communities in Issaquah to advance the City’s work on equity and inclusion. This board supports the City in all matters of equity, cultural diversity and inclusion policy and planning. As part of these efforts, City staff, in collaboration with the Equity Board, developed an Equity Framework to guide the City’s work.
4c
Tours: Middle Housing Types
Discussion · 20 min · Stephen Padua, Long Range Planning Manager · packet pp.77–86
Topics: Housing
Staff report:
In June 2023, City staff facilitated tours to explore middle housing types implemented in our region. The tours were primarily conducted in Kirkland, WA; however, the examples explored in Kirkland are representative of different approaches to middle housing that can be found throughout the Puget Sound region. The purpose of these tours were to explore middle housing types the City will need to allow in accordance with new state legislation. More information about these bills are below:
5. REPORTS
5a
Council Update
Christen Leeson, Senior Planner
6. OTHER BUSINESS / ANNOUNCEMENTS
6a
Upcoming Schedule
packet pp.87–88
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
0:08 good evening planning policy
0:12 it's nice to see all of you I hope
0:14 everyone had a great June staff was kind
0:17 enough to take us on
0:18 a tour and we'll get to hear about that
0:20 a little bit later this evening
0:23 but tonight we'll get through some
0:25 boilerplate stuff and we'll get into our
0:26 agenda
0:27 tonight's meeting is a hybrid meeting
0:29 the planning policy commission is in
0:31 person but staff are members of the
0:33 public may be attending virtually or in
0:35 person to make sure this is official I
0:37 did skip over something I'd like to call
0:40 the planning policy commission to order
0:42 it is currently 6 32 PM July 13th
0:47 Stephen do we have a quorum this evening
0:51 I'll respond yes we do have a quorum it
0:54 should be noted that Commissioners es
0:55 moire and Milligan are have both have
0:57 excused absences
1:00 our first item in the business is to
1:02 take action to approve the minutes for
1:04 the May 11th and the 23rd meeting of EPC
1:08 are there any corrections to the draft
1:10 minutes provided in the agenda packet
1:12 for May 11th
1:15 Vice chair Bader
1:17 um I had an excused absence and not
1:19 marked on the May 11th
1:25 all right duly noted are there any other
1:27 uh concerns
1:29 all right moving along
1:31 the May 23rd agenda minutes any concerns
1:35 clarifications
1:38 hearing none those minutes are also
1:40 approved
1:41 our next item of business is public
1:43 comments
1:44 Stephen has anyone signed up virtually
1:46 to make any comments this evening
1:49 no one has signed up to make comments
1:51 this evening
1:53 it's been a while haven't been here
1:55 since early May thank you Jared we will
1:58 skip all of that because there is no one
2:00 in-house with us this evening
2:03 getting right into it regular business
2:05 and the first item tonight is under
2:08 regular business is land use overview
2:10 for the comprehensive plan
2:12 Kristen Leeson our senior planner will
2:14 be presenting uh this tonight so Kristen
2:17 when you are ready please
2:33 there we go
2:35 um hi good evening I'm Kristen Leeson
2:37 senior planner with Community planning
2:39 and development
2:40 and yes we're talking about the because
2:43 we're starting our 2024 periodic update
2:45 we're just sort of doing an overview of
2:48 several of the elements out there and
2:49 tonight we're going to talk about land
2:50 use
2:52 not diving deep in it's a pretty high
2:53 level but just to kind of let you know
2:55 what we're going to be looking at
2:57 in this round
3:01 so yeah we're going to look at existing
3:03 over at kind of what's there what's
3:05 required by the state what's newly
3:08 required by the state and potential
3:10 amendments that are being proposed by
3:11 the staff
3:16 excuse me we'll come back to these later
3:18 but just at first glance do you believe
3:20 the vision captures the intent of the
3:22 land use element do you agree with our
3:24 proposed amendments are there other
3:25 specific topics that you all would like
3:28 to discuss with this update and is there
3:30 information or feedback that would be
3:32 helpful in this process so just think
3:33 about that as we're going
3:36 so the intent of the land use element is
3:39 to guide the accommodation of growth and
3:42 change while ensuring the retention of
3:44 quality of life environment character
3:46 distinct neighborhoods and amenities
3:48 the land use patterns that are
3:51 established through the element
3:52 determine our unique character types and
3:55 locations of development and
3:56 Redevelopment traffic patterns and they
4:00 are the vision for the regulations they
4:04 set the vision for the regulations that
4:07 Implement our vision
4:11 you know what I mean uh the vision is
4:13 long
4:14 and I'm not going to go into it in
4:16 detail but I sort of highlighted the
4:18 bigger aspects of it maintains the
4:20 equity of Life sets the framework for
4:22 sustainable community
4:24 fundamental value and identity of the
4:26 forested character it it requires
4:29 stronger protection of the forest at
4:30 hillsides talks about Community the
4:33 public realm which is making you feel
4:36 like you're not surrounded by huge giant
4:38 buildings but that you're comfortable in
4:40 this setting that it's a human scale and
4:42 that it's all connected through trails
4:45 and shared use routes and other
4:46 connections now
4:48 so I said that was going to be one of
4:49 your questions but it's really not we're
4:51 going to talk about it at a later date
4:52 there are two a few reasons for this
4:54 now one is that you may have noticed
4:56 when I went through the intent of the
4:58 land use element and the vision of the
5:00 land you settlement They Don't Really
5:02 connect there's not a huge connection
5:03 there and the vision talks a lot about
5:06 environment and trees and so forth well
5:10 State now requires us to have a separate
5:13 element for environment and resilience
5:15 and climate change and resilience so
5:18 Stephen has been working with the
5:20 environmental board to talk about what
5:23 policies would come out of the land use
5:25 element to help form this new chapter
5:27 required by the state and so I think
5:30 what we'll do is
5:32 start thinking about what the land use
5:34 element should be okay and we'll go back
5:38 to the vision later once we've started
5:41 talking about the policies and making
5:42 sure that everything is cohesive it's
5:44 all there that what we see as what the
5:47 Landry settlement needs to be
5:49 is actually in there in the policies and
5:52 then we go back and do our you know I
5:54 generally would go back and do the
5:55 vision last I feel like an introduction
5:57 to my story but
5:59 I it just needs to be looked at later so
6:02 don't get wrapped around the axle on
6:04 that one yet okay I think we need to
6:06 break it down more before we can talk
6:07 about it
6:08 okay so that was a really long thing to
6:10 say we're not going to talk about it all
6:11 right
6:13 Uh current state requirements
6:16 are that one we have a land use map and
6:19 the land use map has to show the city
6:20 limits which is in Black here
6:22 the urban growth area boundary which is
6:25 the line that you see in red and you can
6:27 see that most of our city about
6:29 two-thirds of our city border the urban
6:30 growth boundary and the proposed
6:32 distribution and location of land uses
6:34 which are the land use designations that
6:36 you see there so mixed use
6:40 retail
6:42 we have Community facilities Conservancy
6:44 so that's
6:45 we have that
6:47 they require that we show population
6:49 estimates now you can't read this and
6:51 you don't need to read this right now
6:52 but it shows
6:54 what our population is at a certain date
6:56 and then we project it out for the next
6:58 20 years which is our planning Horizon
7:00 okay
7:02 it requires that we show population
7:04 densities so in our memo I said we cover
7:07 this and then going back and looking at
7:08 it a little bit more closely we don't
7:10 quite so we do population we show our
7:13 Acres this is from our buildable lands
7:15 report that was done in 2019. we show
7:17 how much acreage is available for
7:19 development and Redevelopment and we
7:21 show what capacity we have for housing
7:23 units and for jobs and that's a two-year
7:26 process that we work through with the
7:27 state
7:29 um but we don't have our building
7:31 intensity which is also required so
7:33 these samples are from Everett they're
7:35 kind of small I didn't realize how small
7:36 these are from Everett and Kirkland and
7:39 they pretty much take the table that I
7:40 just showed you
7:42 and they put in there in the Middle
7:43 based on their zoning the densities that
7:46 are allowed within those land uses so
7:49 Everett right here
7:51 they'll show in this range you can go
7:55 from you know say one dwelling unit for
7:58 five acres to four and a half dwelling
8:00 units per acre with a Max height of 35
8:02 feet or something like that Kirkland's a
8:05 little bit more detailed and they come
8:07 down and they have their zones that fall
8:09 within that land use designation they
8:11 have their zones on the right hand side
8:13 and list specifically what each Zone
8:15 allows
8:16 so we'll look at that and we'll change
8:17 our table so that it looks something
8:19 like this
8:21 and we will insert all that there
8:23 and you guys can tell me which way you
8:25 prefer
8:27 and what we're I'm gonna have to work
8:28 through it first and
8:30 that's
8:32 they require that we provide protection
8:34 for the quality and quantity of ground
8:36 water used for our Public Water Supplies
8:39 and we do have policies in our plan
8:40 right now that address these when we go
8:43 through it again if you want to
8:45 enhance these shorten these edit these
8:49 we are more than welcome to do that but
8:51 I do want we do have the policies there
8:52 we're covered
8:56 and water discharge we have to provide
8:58 guidance for corrective actions to
9:00 mitigate or cleanse State want to start
9:04 discharges that pollute Waters of the
9:06 state so Lake Sammamish as streams that
9:10 would then eventually it's a state Lake
9:11 right and then it has streams that
9:13 eventually go into the sound as well so
9:15 um that's we have that and we do have
9:18 um policies six different
9:20 five different policies that address
9:22 that in our land right now I didn't list
9:25 them all but there's a link to the site
9:27 and go through that
9:30 our new state requirements uh since 2020
9:34 most of these are since 2021.
9:37 but one this is this is a biggie that we
9:41 include policies to to reduce risk from
9:43 wildfires
9:45 um or reduce and mitigate the risk to
9:48 lives and property posed by wildfires
9:50 and as you know we have a lot of
9:52 forested lands around here and a lot of
9:55 homes that are close to those forested
9:56 lands so we I have talked to have
10:00 reached out to our Emergency Management
10:02 director to see if he has any policies
10:05 that he's aware of
10:06 um but that one's going to be a big one
10:08 for us to cover in the chapter
10:13 physical activity we do have
10:15 a lot of policies that cover this most
10:20 of them however are in our
10:21 transportation section in our Park
10:23 section but the state requires that we
10:24 include it in our land use section as
10:26 well so some things that I was thinking
10:28 about that might include this would be
10:29 safety just making sure that you know
10:32 sidewalks are well lit or they're wide
10:36 enough that we cover Ada that kind of
10:38 thing
10:38 that our trails and sidewalks are
10:41 connected that we promote active Street
10:43 levels meaning like I said that you
10:45 don't have giant buildings that you have
10:47 windows that are you know clear and that
10:50 you feel safe walking on those streets
10:52 not like you're walking against a brick
10:54 wall
10:57 generally you have smaller
11:00 block sizes which also help with that
11:02 require pedestrian scale development
11:05 which would be part of that or treat
11:06 wine right-of-ways as places so it's not
11:09 just a street don't think of it just as
11:10 a street that sends people through but
11:12 places where people can stop and
11:14 congregate
11:16 things to think about
11:19 population projections we do include
11:21 these and it says make sure that your
11:23 population projections are consistent
11:24 all the way through we do that we have
11:26 our buildable lands and we have our
11:28 population projections and we try to
11:30 make sure that when we look at safer but
11:32 double check us when we do Capital
11:34 facilities or utilities you talk about
11:35 populations and future populations a lot
11:38 so that we can plan for it so we just
11:40 need to make sure that that is done
11:43 staff proposed updates
11:46 not enough to do
11:48 remove Community facilities land use
11:51 designations and create a new
11:52 designation so right now
11:55 we have land use designations which are
11:58 the umbrella
12:00 for The Umbrellas right here
12:03 that contain within them all the
12:05 community facility zones which are open
12:07 space Recreation and Facilities the
12:10 difference differences between these two
12:12 is the one that has
12:13 cfospo anything with po after it those
12:17 are all up in the esca highlands and
12:18 that means that they are privately owned
12:21 yeah it was it was done later but what
12:24 we're finding particularly with the
12:25 community facilities facilities so they
12:27 all allow normally Within
12:30 uh land use designations one big
12:33 umbrella has low in City Residential so
12:35 you'll have anything that can have
12:36 housing from one you know dwelling unit
12:39 for five acres up to 4.5 dwelling units
12:42 breaker and that's it so it's all housed
12:44 generally housing that can go under
12:45 there but when you look at the community
12:47 facilities you've got anything from open
12:49 space where you can't have paved
12:51 um paved areas can't be impervious to
12:55 buildings that can be built within that
12:58 same umbrella and it's it's making it
13:00 hard whenever anybody any entity wants
13:02 to come in
13:03 we have to do a whole comprehensive plan
13:05 Amendment just to change it from your a
13:09 building that you know the PSE came in
13:11 and bought a building we have to rezone
13:13 it you have to do a whole Conference of
13:14 plan Amendment it shouldn't be that
13:15 difficult
13:16 so that's our our basic reason for
13:19 wanting to change it it just doesn't
13:20 make a lot of sense the way it's set up
13:22 so what we're proposing
13:25 this is my scribble is that we get rid
13:29 of the Conservancy or what I'm just this
13:31 is just an initial thing that came out
13:33 of my head okay so that we would get rid
13:36 of the Conservancy Community facilities
13:37 and facility Community facilities
13:40 privately owned land use designations
13:42 and what I have found is that mostly
13:44 bless you most cities will just call it
13:47 they'll just have a land use designation
13:49 that's called Park and open space
13:51 and within those we would just take the
13:53 everything that's in Conservancy TP and
13:55 RCA
13:56 uh Conservancy Recreation
13:59 the open space the recreation CFR CFOs
14:01 and put all those under park in open
14:03 space and then potentially and again so
14:05 just out of my head move the CF F and
14:09 cffo down to like mixed use where it
14:13 allows for those buildings and more
14:14 commercial uses that are allowed under
14:16 cff
14:17 needs to be reviewed initial thought but
14:20 um something for you guys to chew on for
14:22 a while
14:24 any questions so far I've just been
14:25 talking
14:28 commissioner cross
14:30 this seems like this is like hygiene
14:32 which is great trying to be clear
14:34 when you have the the Amendments these
14:36 are not what the state these are just
14:38 City of Issaquah wants to do extra
14:41 things there's no requirement by the
14:43 state for these and they and they also
14:45 don't conflict as we go through them
14:47 with anything in the state is that
14:49 correct correct and I actually with this
14:51 one I actually have been to the
14:53 municipal resources
14:55 I don't know mrsc uh Municipal Municipal
14:58 resources service organization or
15:00 something like that
15:02 um and they have lawyers and staff
15:04 planners on hand to help you
15:07 address questions so I eat them online I
15:10 said how do other cities do this and so
15:12 he and I have been going back and forth
15:13 on the phone so just to make sure to
15:15 address
15:16 um to answer your question yeah it
15:17 shouldn't conflict we're
15:19 and it is it's one that's being asked
15:21 for by staff and not by the state
15:26 we desperately need to update our
15:28 sub-area map so we've had this sub area
15:31 map in place for a very long time uh
15:33 well since 2014 2013.
15:37 um but in the meantime a neighborhoods
15:40 map was also developed I don't know if
15:43 it was ever officially adopted but it
15:44 was developed and people
15:47 or again one's called a neighborhoods
15:48 map one's a sub area map we'd like to
15:50 change the subarian name to Neighborhood
15:52 it's just friendlier
15:53 um and these are really neighborhoods
15:55 that's what we need to identify but the
15:57 boundaries in these two don't match we
15:59 need to rectify that
16:02 and uh merge the maps together we use
16:05 them both as planners but but residents
16:07 also
16:09 do some
16:10 what Mr crafts so there's so there'll be
16:13 just one not a super subset of because
16:16 what I read through some of the other
16:17 things because I saw sub areas which
16:19 seem bigger than I saw the term
16:20 neighborhoods which were I think of
16:22 smaller those are really going to be the
16:24 same thing they are okay yes
16:30 and part of this is because the city
16:33 strategic plan uh has asked us to
16:38 preserve the character of neighborhoods
16:40 and what we've fallen on is that means
16:43 doing neighborhood plans and working
16:45 with neighborhoods to see what
16:46 characteristics they actually can they
16:49 identify with in their neighborhoods so
16:51 in order to do those neighborhood plans
16:53 we need to know what the neighborhood
16:54 boundaries are and we need to um
16:58 come up with policies and a Common
17:01 Thread that comes goes through all of
17:04 these plans so the plans will Foster
17:07 awareness for the neighborhoods on what
17:09 they what their interests really are and
17:11 it'll maximize all the public input from
17:14 the residents hopefully it'll be hey
17:15 we're talking about your neighborhood
17:16 tonight come and meet with us instead of
17:19 people just coming to the city and
17:20 saying driving me crazy we don't have
17:22 sidewalks on this side of the street
17:23 this way everybody comes together as one
17:25 so hopefully a bigger voice and then the
17:27 policies that would go into the
17:28 comprehensive plan will establish like I
17:31 said a common framework or a Common
17:32 Thread that would go through all of
17:34 these identify core needs yeah and then
17:38 identify techniques and tools to help
17:40 address the issues in the neighborhood
17:41 such as we used to have a neighborhood
17:44 grant program where I worked a long time
17:46 ago and things like that
17:51 um this one we're not going to do now we
17:53 were going to add policies regarding
17:54 form-based code for Central osafa
17:57 one is that we actually already have we
17:59 realized we have a policy in there that
18:01 says
18:01 use form-based code as one of the tools
18:04 so it's already in there but this also
18:06 talks specifically about Central
18:07 Issaquah and maybe we want to use it in
18:10 some other way so we're gonna put a
18:12 pause on that whole topic for now and
18:14 wait until the conference the plan is
18:16 done and we start talking about housing
18:17 again and we update the centralized plan
18:20 again so it'll come later it's not going
18:22 away it's just a topic that we've
18:24 decided to post on
18:28 and lastly relocate environmental
18:31 policies so effective July 23rd like I
18:35 said the state is now going to require
18:37 when I send out the memo it wasn't
18:38 required yet but now they've adopted it
18:40 and will be required to have a climate
18:42 change and resiliency element so as I
18:44 said Steven's been working with the
18:46 environmental board to figure out what's
18:49 going to be in that element and not in
18:51 the land you settlement anymore so that
18:52 will change
18:55 so question one that's all I have for
18:58 the changes
19:00 um do you agree with our proposed
19:01 amendment says anything
19:03 okay thank you Kristen so yeah let's
19:05 open it up for our commissioners to uh
19:08 ask questions and feedback
19:14 Vice chair Bader
19:16 um to answer the question yes I agree
19:19 with um SAS proposed amendments I am I
19:22 have a question that
19:25 um it's made me reading between the
19:26 lines is maybe somewhere else and has
19:29 already been addressed but
19:31 um when we're looking at population
19:32 growth it feels like the focus is on
19:34 housing
19:36 um to accommodate that growth and so I'm
19:38 wondering where kind of the rest of the
19:40 things that are needed to support growth
19:43 like exist
19:44 um and so like are there policies for
19:46 creating like jobs and economic
19:49 development are there policies for like
19:50 access to Social Services
19:52 um that also support that population
19:54 growth outside of housing
19:58 yes and no
20:00 um so there is a policy in the housing
20:01 element that talks about having a jobs
20:03 housing balance and keeping that so
20:05 we'll look at that more there
20:08 I would imagine that Economic
20:10 Development would be addressing the jobs
20:11 as well
20:12 and during Title 18 there was an issue
20:15 about you know we don't want to lose
20:16 jobs we couldn't put it in the code
20:18 though but we may want to find a way to
20:20 strengthen that in our policies that we
20:21 don't want to lose jobs through
20:23 development of housing that kind of
20:25 thing I
20:27 and yes it is addressed so there are
20:29 utilities plans and when I said that
20:32 utilities and capital facilities it's
20:34 important that we have our population
20:35 numbers right they we talk to them all
20:38 the time when they're updating plans and
20:40 when they're applying for Grants about
20:41 what our future populations are going to
20:43 be so yes that is always Incorporated
20:45 because they have to figure out the
20:47 growth too so it's it's there and then
20:49 we have a human services element as well
20:52 and they just did a human services plan
20:56 so we're working on policies that would
21:00 address that as well
21:04 commissioner grass I'm over speaking
21:07 interesting stuff so the only the only
21:10 questions I have when you when you talk
21:11 about the neighborhood plans which Club
21:13 areas equal neighborhoods
21:16 there's a lot of details because this is
21:18 going to be a fairly Hot Topic because
21:21 who decides what's in the policies who
21:23 approves them subjective things
21:26 as I read through their things like
21:28 culture look and feel and things like
21:30 that
21:31 how do you add
21:34 how do you quantify those type of things
21:36 like like a building height you can do
21:38 setbacks you can do when you talk about
21:40 character or things like that for
21:42 specific areas I think
21:45 you know the details are going to be
21:46 really important is that will there be a
21:48 drill down on like how
21:51 this one I think is real we have to get
21:54 a microscope out on the neighborhood
21:55 because everyone in their neighborhood
21:56 is going to care what their neighborhood
21:57 is because that's where they live
21:59 and how you get to the decisions of what
22:02 those are
22:03 what is the process of understanding how
22:05 the with the policies
22:08 how does it get written and and kind of
22:11 more specific so so right now we're not
22:14 going to start addressing individual
22:17 plans that's going to come after this
22:18 some will do about two a year
22:20 what we're going to do in the land you
22:21 settlement or at least the way that I've
22:23 seen I've looked at several other cap or
22:26 comprehensive plans with other cities
22:28 because some of them have entire
22:30 chapters on this
22:32 um but what they've done is is they have
22:34 they'll have
22:36 the different topics that they're going
22:37 to talk about so one might be housing
22:39 one might be Transportation one might be
22:41 economic fatality
22:43 and that just says
22:47 kind of address these things the drug
22:49 you know address character they I'm
22:51 sorry I'm there's some um it just talks
22:54 about addressing the character there but
22:55 what happens is then you go out to the
22:56 neighborhoods and they say
22:59 is there something you know maybe a
23:00 neighborhood doesn't have
23:03 an HOA and ccnrs that regulate what
23:06 housing could look for but they're like
23:08 we don't have those regulations we want
23:11 our area to stay the way it is so please
23:13 let's develop regulations so as far as
23:15 housing goes or land use goes you know
23:17 it becomes established you know
23:19 architectural regulations for this
23:21 neighborhood just like we did for Old
23:22 Town
23:24 um or Transportation some neighborhoods
23:27 like that they don't have sidewalks
23:29 everywhere they're good with it they
23:31 like the way that the environment is
23:32 with that their character but some
23:33 neighborhoods are like uh
23:35 it needs we need neighbor we need
23:37 sidewalks everywhere so that's part of
23:39 your transportation and some of it's
23:40 just
23:41 I mean I I can't it's it's so broad I
23:44 can't get into the detail of each one
23:46 but it would be high level topics and it
23:48 would say things like update every
23:50 update plans every five years so that
23:52 you have regular and you know
23:53 discussions with neighborhoods it would
23:56 have here are the tools that are
23:58 available to neighborhoods work with
23:59 neighborhoods to figure out what you
24:00 want to do or what they want to do yeah
24:03 this could be a book but the I guess the
24:06 the who who decides is kind of a key
24:09 thing like how like I live look at the
24:11 map I'm not sure if I'm Old Town or
24:12 Newport the line goes right through my
24:14 house I think but the like when you make
24:17 a decision for what happens in those
24:20 um I think the the understanding of
24:23 who gives input and who makes the final
24:25 decision and how it all works is would
24:27 that be part of the policy document or
24:29 that it once we get to the neighborhood
24:31 plans that's part of it so you go out
24:32 you go to the neighborhoods and you have
24:34 regular meetings with those
24:36 neighborhoods you say here's what we're
24:37 going to talk about tonight and they say
24:39 but this is what's important to us this
24:41 is what's important to me and they agree
24:43 on it and we start writing policy and
24:45 then we have meetings here
24:47 um where we you know you'll represent
24:49 draft or you'll represent you'll show
24:51 draft document documents and people will
24:53 talk about it and then eventually it
24:55 makes it to city council and people are
24:56 always writing in comments it's just
24:59 like every other public process that we
25:00 do where you get everyone involved that
25:02 you can and they walk with you through
25:04 the process Up Until It ultimately gets
25:06 adopted by city council city council
25:07 that is yes but it's all based on what
25:10 the neighborhoods What the residents
25:12 have to say who live in that
25:13 neighborhood I'm not going to go to a
25:14 neighborhood and say this is what you
25:16 need no but there's going to be some
25:18 conflict in some of them oh of course
25:19 there will you have to build density but
25:20 some people don't want density because
25:22 they like they moved here 30 years ago
25:24 we all read next door of why they moved
25:26 here and they that's not the reality so
25:28 all right that's a hard thing okay and
25:31 it's and it's you know if you've got
25:32 neighborhoods that are all Zone single
25:33 family Suburban you're not going to go
25:35 start changing zoning regulations and
25:36 say this is allowed here this isn't
25:38 allowed here because you've got you know
25:40 35 of the area that zone single family
25:42 resident or single family Suburban so
25:45 it's not necessarily zoning changes and
25:46 height and stuff like that it's just
25:50 character
25:52 it's not quite as in-depth as that
25:56 so I'll just add on you differentiating
25:59 between the two we're really talking
26:00 about what's going to happen within this
26:02 comprehensive plan and really setting
26:04 the template of what's going to be going
26:05 into the neighborhood
26:07 like Kristen said after this process
26:10 then we're going to start diving into
26:11 each of the individual neighborhood
26:12 plans to decide what those individual
26:14 policies should be with the
26:15 neighborhoods
26:17 so if I could just follow up with that
26:19 so the idea is to move from the sub-area
26:21 plans
26:22 move it more towards neighborhoods and
26:25 then the idea is for lack of a better
26:26 word when we did the old town update
26:28 that was very specific we're talking
26:30 about basically making the same
26:32 judgments and neighborhoods maybe at a
26:34 higher level
26:35 but well having that be part of the
26:37 comprehensive plan the land use element
26:39 by getting that kind of yeah you know
26:41 and very very similar to Old Town right
26:43 it's just probably a little bit more
26:44 high level I mean some of those like
26:45 Talus I mean those like you said those
26:47 are all covenants right and things like
26:49 that so for example Old Town one of them
26:52 was I can't remember if it was under
26:54 environment or public realm but it was
26:56 Old Town has Issaquah Creek runs all the
26:58 way through it right so one of the
27:00 policies in Old Town is open up public
27:02 access to Issaquah Creek where possible
27:04 so some of them it runs through a
27:07 parking lot and so you work with that
27:09 property owner to
27:11 make Public Access there and make it
27:13 attractive so that people will go there
27:15 so that's that's a policy specific to
27:17 Old Town
27:19 things like that but that is the idea in
27:21 the future is that once you guys
27:22 consolidate it kind of more of set up by
27:24 neighborhoods versus Sub areas which
27:26 like you said they're basically mirror
27:27 one another for the most part and the
27:29 idea is to kind of work in again maybe a
27:31 Old Town light for everywhere exactly
27:38 thank you so sorry I may be asking
27:40 something similar because I wasn't here
27:42 for the old town so I apologize about
27:43 that but
27:44 um So within the question that you're
27:47 asking here where it says add policies
27:49 for neighborhood plans Stephen you
27:51 mentioned a template so would we be
27:53 talking about sort of the template for
27:55 the plan and the process to start to
27:57 develop the plan and then it would stop
27:59 because after the comp plan amendment is
28:01 done then we would move into actually
28:03 doing you said two a year for the
28:05 neighborhood wins yes so what we'd be
28:07 saying yes to here
28:08 is the yes to setting a process and a
28:12 sort of a guideline of how to do it but
28:14 we won't be doing it exactly okay thank
28:16 you right because those would be all set
28:18 up like you said meetings neighborhood
28:19 meetings public hearings those things
28:21 and then eventually making it
28:23 exactly
28:26 commissioner Kennedy
28:28 I would think a lot of our neighborhoods
28:30 like the highlands has ccnrs how many
28:32 neighborhoods do we have that don't have
28:34 something like that that would need them
28:35 I don't know yet I mean we need to find
28:37 that out a lot of them have HOAs but not
28:39 necessarily ccnrs
28:47 we need we need to adjust it it'll be
28:49 similar to that but we need to adjust it
28:53 Mr Patterson
28:55 what's the process for getting that
28:58 approved from a sub-area map to an
29:00 updated neighborhood map is that a city
29:02 council
29:03 it'll be it'll be part of the
29:04 comprehensive plan process so we'll talk
29:06 with you all and we'll hopefully people
29:08 will come and
29:10 um yeah we'll draw proposed boundaries
29:12 and see what people say it'll just be
29:14 part of the process
29:18 are there any other questions for
29:20 Kristen
29:21 I have a couple but I want to make sure
29:24 the Commissioners get their time into
29:26 um two of mine my favorite topics
29:28 traffic are we going to have some type
29:31 of land use element you guys mentioned
29:32 traffic I think
29:34 uh requirements including the following
29:37 no apologies
29:40 I think it's
29:41 under physical activity right so
29:45 would we be lucky enough to get
29:47 something like a traffic overlay when
29:49 we're looking at something like land use
29:50 elements to be able to see
29:52 I mean I think of today as a perfect
29:54 example
29:55 where Front Street was invaded by
29:58 50-foot monster trailers and I know they
30:00 had to do it to divert traffic from 18
30:03 but I mean I'm seeing the traffic times
30:06 get worse down there
30:08 and today I mean it was at 2 45 I think
30:11 it took me 40 minutes to go from boems
30:14 to our Savior
30:17 that's not even a joke 40 minutes
30:20 so it's getting worse I just wonder is
30:21 there something that we'll be able to
30:23 look at in terms of land use elements
30:25 when it comes to like a traffic overlay
30:26 or is that not
30:29 I would imagine that's feasible but
30:32 I mean it's
30:34 doable
30:35 what yeah you do and you just want to
30:39 see what the roads what what they're
30:42 classified as on top of the land use
30:44 most of it is a cause environmental
30:46 policies are contained in the land use
30:48 element therefore most climate natural
30:49 environment policies will be removed
30:51 from the land use element relocated to a
30:53 new element I'm wondering if traffic can
30:55 be one of those newer things brought in
30:58 well I mean we have a transportation
30:59 element
31:01 so just stay there
31:03 but
31:04 they are related so
31:07 it's kind of like look at this page over
31:09 here hot link over there yeah I mean you
31:11 think about I mean we know that our you
31:14 know eventually our heaviest traffic
31:15 will likely be in central Issaquah
31:16 because that's where all of our housing
31:18 will be hopefully that's where jobs are
31:19 going to go
31:21 and so we've sort of planned for you
31:23 know adding New Roads in there you've
31:25 got the new mall Street coming in and
31:26 you've got a few other New Roads that
31:27 are supposed to go into a common help
31:28 accommodate the traffic there so it is
31:30 definitely a consideration even though
31:32 it's not something that's something city
31:33 planners will see not necessarily boards
31:38 um they've seen it when we did the
31:41 central Planet came through
31:43 the boards and commissions and the
31:44 transportation advisory Advisory Board
31:46 sees it
31:47 as well
31:49 when we get there
31:52 I mean when we start going through it if
31:54 there's something really specific that
31:56 you want to
31:57 I'm not quite sure what to Overlay there
31:59 but um yeah I just I know we do the
32:02 traffic studies and you can see certain
32:04 spots of the city where there's
32:05 definitely heavier traffic versus others
32:06 I just wondered more or less is it a
32:08 consideration uh when we're talking
32:11 about land use elements it sounds like
32:13 like you said there's a transportation
32:14 Advisory board that does look at those
32:16 things I just don't know is that
32:18 something that also sounds like it's
32:20 interconnected you know what it is and
32:21 we're also doing our environmental
32:23 impact statement with the comprehensive
32:24 plan this time and the environmental
32:26 impact statement definitely covers
32:27 transportation and traffic and the
32:29 impacts of the proposed land uses an
32:30 area so I'm getting a big yes from
32:32 Stephen were you going to bring that up
32:34 too yeah yeah the environmental impact
32:36 statement we'll cover that it's an issue
32:38 near and dear to my heart I know I know
32:41 okay number two um real quickly when it
32:43 talks about uh including the following
32:45 protecting existing residential
32:47 development and infrastructure through
32:49 Community wildfires fire preparedness
32:51 and fire adaption measures does this
32:53 also include for one East Side Fire
32:55 would they be a party to those
32:57 discussions and then two when I think
32:59 about that it says education for the
33:00 public like are we also talking about
33:03 controlled burning and things like that
33:04 which like to your point we're
33:06 surrounded by force
33:08 unfortunately if these fires do start
33:10 jumping across the Cascades more and
33:13 more into Western Washington
33:14 our pretty city is vulnerable
33:17 so I just I kind of Wonder like what
33:19 extent does that look like so this is
33:22 this is new to me too and I'm just
33:24 becoming familiar with it which is why I
33:25 contacted our Emergency Management okay
33:27 and also because Steven said contact the
33:29 emergency okay
33:31 um so
33:33 um but yeah so I would imagine that is
33:35 definitely on his radar and would wind
33:37 up in our conference plan the education
33:39 and yeah and definitely working working
33:41 with e for eastside fire and rescue but
33:43 yeah okay
33:46 thank you you're welcome
33:49 any other questions for Kristen
33:50 commissioners
33:53 all right well thank you for the
33:54 presentation Kristen you're welcome but
33:56 may I ask one more question of course
33:58 okay um two more questions actually are
34:00 there any topics that you all would like
34:02 to see in addition besides traffic
34:04 essentially
34:06 um with this update and is there any
34:08 information or feedback that you all
34:09 need to help make decisions and you
34:11 don't have to answer all of that now
34:12 you'll probably have more as it as we go
34:15 through policies but
34:18 I don't want to ask you about things
34:19 that you put a pause on purpose you said
34:21 kind of a waste of our time so when we
34:23 come back to the
34:25 what is it the form-based code I'm sure
34:27 most of us will have more questions but
34:29 you said to hit pause yes
34:31 I'm talking about it tonight so we'll
34:34 see it when we see it
34:35 commissioner altimore
34:38 will you be sending out those slides so
34:40 that we can read the things that we
34:41 couldn't read
34:43 oh the the charts yeah the examples oh
34:46 yeah yeah I will do that okay you know
34:48 I'll just send you the presentation oh
34:50 how about that thank you so much you're
34:51 welcome
34:52 commissioner Patterson
34:54 uh yeah I understand so work in progress
34:56 splitting out the environmental elements
34:59 as well but there were a couple topics
35:01 that got brought up tonight like
35:02 groundwater protection I think the
35:04 wildfire and stream discharge and such
35:07 I'm just curious like following that
35:09 topic as we move forward I'd like to
35:11 stay on top of what gets pulled out and
35:14 and placed in that environmental one
35:16 compared to what stays
35:18 Stephen do you want to talk to them
35:19 about what you all have discussed so far
35:23 so Stephen long range planning manager
35:24 so I as Christian said I've been working
35:26 with an environmental board to identify
35:28 which of the goals and policies that are
35:30 in the existing land use element to now
35:33 switch to this new element and a lot of
35:36 what we discussed with them and the
35:37 feedback we received with them is
35:39 move it makes sense to mover a lot of
35:42 the environmental preservation goals and
35:45 policies it makes sense to move over a
35:47 lot of the policies related to climate
35:50 change and climate resiliency and
35:51 there's currently uh ongoing work with
35:55 climate vulnerability assessment going
35:57 on with that the sustainability staff is
36:00 working with our available board and
36:01 goals and policies new and goals of
36:03 policies will be introduced through that
36:04 work into this new element as well and
36:06 so as an overall package that's what
36:09 we're aiming for and so we'll we'll keep
36:11 you in the loop in terms of what gets
36:12 moved over or what might get changed
36:14 through that process
36:16 but one of the things that we did talk
36:18 if they did talk about keeping in the
36:19 landing settlement would be sort of
36:21 Green Building issues and I think the
36:24 fire protection would be one that would
36:26 stay in the land use because it has to
36:27 do with development and how to protect
36:28 the development and the land so
36:31 those would likely stay here
36:35 commissioner Kennedy did you have a
36:36 question
36:40 um I'm assuming at the end of the day
36:41 this all comes down to you will be
36:42 proposing language for all these
36:44 different changes
36:47 yes next time we come back we will
36:49 probably have a draft for you all and
36:52 probably break it up actually into two
36:53 or three different parts because there
36:54 are a lot of a lot of policies
36:58 did you have a question number two
37:00 uh no those was it so do you is there
37:03 any information other information that
37:05 you need
37:06 okay well thank you Kristen thank you
37:09 and now the second item under our
37:11 regular business is the equity lens for
37:14 comprehensive plan review
37:15 uh Stephen Padua our long-range planner
37:18 will be presenting that this evening so
37:20 Stephen when you're ready
37:24 maybe one second we'll move up to the
37:26 podium
37:48 okay
37:50 oh everyone seem to do a long range
37:51 planning manager
37:53 um tonight we're going to talk about
37:55 Equity tools so be applying as as we're
37:58 doing a lot of our comprehensive plan
38:00 policy discussions throughout this
38:02 upcoming months and a lot of this is a
38:05 follow-up to a lot of our Equity
38:07 discussions we've had in the past we've
38:08 had training on unconscious bias we've
38:11 had discussion on the importance of
38:15 recognizing Russia equity and applying a
38:18 certain perspective of
38:19 uh how we're doing our policy
38:22 discussions and so this is now the next
38:24 stage of a lot of that those discussions
38:27 now applying a tool or use of tools to
38:30 kind of broaden our our conversations to
38:33 incorporate racial equity
38:37 expectations for tonight's meeting or at
38:39 least this discussion I'm hoping you all
38:41 ask a lot of questions because the
38:42 intent of this discussion is really to
38:46 help you all understand and apply what
38:49 an equity lens is and how to incorporate
38:51 as part of our policy discussion and so
38:54 really tonight's about
38:56 how to use the process
38:58 we'll have some examples that will I'll
39:01 go through not necessarily to get
39:03 feedback on the specific examples but
39:05 more of how do we use this process for
39:08 examining the policies themselves
39:11 so a little bit of background the city
39:14 has established a vision and goal for
39:18 equity and inclusion as an organization
39:21 and as a community we've established an
39:24 equity team that looks at a lot of
39:26 different components of internal
39:28 processes to external relationships and
39:30 conversations
39:31 we've looked at different recruitment
39:33 processes and try to make improvements
39:35 to incorporate equity in terms of
39:37 questions we ask the type of process we
39:39 use and or even how we advertise
39:41 positions for City positions as well as
39:45 for boards and commissions we've
39:47 expanded a lot of our city surfaces
39:49 particularly around Human Services to
39:50 recognize some of the inequities or lack
39:53 of access to certain city services
39:56 historically we've Incorporated more
39:58 training for staff and Boards
40:00 commissions as you've experienced in
40:02 recent months of talking about racial
40:04 equity and unconscious bias
40:06 we've established a new Equity board to
40:09 help the city have some of these
40:10 conversations of
40:12 how do we look at certain policies how
40:14 do we look at certain processes and
40:16 address equity in an effective
40:20 and then more recently the city council
40:22 has approved the use of a draft Equity
40:24 framework and I call it a draft because
40:26 really the intent of this framework is
40:30 for us to now start applying a tool to a
40:33 lot of our work but it's more piloting
40:35 the framework as well because this is
40:37 something that you won't get perfect
40:39 right away is something you have to work
40:42 through and adjust so that it works for
40:45 each of our departments different
40:46 projects each of our divisions different
40:49 discussions and even our mission
40:51 discussions as we're looking through the
40:53 comprehensive plan as a good example and
40:56 so the intent of the equity framework is
40:59 really to put it through incremental
41:01 application in different ways and in
41:03 small ways and then build it up to now
41:05 building it as common practice with a
41:08 lot of our work so right now we're
41:11 training staff on how to use this as
41:13 well as Sports commissions to use it as
41:14 part of our discussions and the intent
41:16 or the goal for the framework at this
41:18 point is to continue to improve it so it
41:20 can be applied even broader
41:24 before I
41:25 continue on on application everything
41:27 lens is there any questions on any of
41:29 the background
41:31 so this kind of leads us to what we are
41:34 doing with our discussions we we are
41:37 hoping to apply an equity lens with our
41:39 discussions on comprehensive and
41:41 policies and and what the equity lens is
41:44 is an examination of how different
41:46 groups are likely affected by any
41:49 proposed decision that we might
41:51 encounter
41:53 the goal of this is to be used to
41:56 eliminate and prevent prevent adverse
41:58 consequences on many of those different
42:01 groups in our community and so we want
42:04 to look at how to apply it with our
42:07 policy discussions and I show this
42:10 graphic to really show we are really at
42:12 the initial stages of using this Equity
42:15 lens it's it's the the idea of an equity
42:19 lenses it's more of a process it's not
42:21 just a couple questions that you saw in
42:23 your materials it's it's asking those
42:25 questions and going through the process
42:27 of understanding why you're getting the
42:29 answers that you're getting and so at
42:31 this stage we're going through the
42:33 policy formulation we're applying that
42:35 lens
42:36 the process is that you continue to ask
42:39 those questions or similar questions
42:41 through the different life cycle of the
42:43 policy development so after we formulate
42:46 the policy we then go through the
42:48 adoption process in discussion with city
42:49 council and giving them feedback and
42:52 applying some of those questions
42:53 throughout that process and so forth
42:56 through the policy life cycle and once
42:58 we come back to it ask those same
43:01 questions
43:02 so tonight is really trying to better
43:05 understand what that process looks like
43:07 it all starts with Equity lens which is
43:10 those three questions what are the
43:11 racial Equity impacts of a particular
43:13 decision
43:14 will benefit or be burdened by that
43:16 particular decision then are there
43:19 strategies to mitigate unintended
43:20 consequences
43:22 the examples that I'm going to go
43:24 through tonight is to look at a
43:27 particular desired outcomes with the
43:29 equity lens and how to apply it in what
43:31 we're trying to aim to do is eliminate
43:33 and prevent discrimination
43:34 and inequities when we want to establish
43:37 this Equity lens as common practice and
43:39 so being that this is initial step it's
43:42 going to feel uncomfortable it's going
43:44 to feel uh foreign to you in terms of
43:47 you know you haven't used this type of
43:49 tool before and that's that's okay and
43:52 that's part of the reason why we're
43:55 asking for you to ask questions on how
43:57 best to apply to school because we want
44:00 to make sure that with your questions
44:01 and our responses we're improving not
44:04 only the questions themselves but also
44:06 the process of using them for the
44:07 policies
44:10 so for the examples that I'm going to go
44:13 through
44:15 sorry to interrupt I just have a
44:17 question so the first question
44:20 um specifically specifies racial Equity
44:22 the others don't are we talking about
44:24 all of the dimensions of equity so this
44:26 could be age economic uh or
44:29 socioeconomic gender identity sexuality
44:33 Etc a religion
44:35 um all country of origin Etc it is and
44:38 and I point out racial Equity
44:41 um with this question and and really it
44:43 should be with all the questions
44:44 primarily because what we've learned in
44:46 the profession and in the trainings of
44:48 staff is that when you're addressing
44:50 racial equity in itself you are actually
44:53 addressing a lot of that inequities for
44:55 the other population groups that they're
44:57 experiencing within the system or
45:00 foundations that have been kind of built
45:01 on race and so when we're addressing
45:04 racial Equity you are addressing a lot
45:06 of equities for the other groups
45:10 are there any questions on that
45:17 so I'm going to dive into a couple
45:19 examples on using the process the the
45:21 intent of these examples is primarily
45:23 for us to have a discussion of the
45:25 process not to dive into and and try to
45:29 uh pull out the issues with the policies
45:33 themselves but to really better
45:34 understand the process and so this is
45:36 kind of the point where I'm hoping we
45:38 have a little more discussion of where
45:40 at what point what question should we be
45:42 asking what information should we be
45:44 looking for and so forth yeah
45:48 and the process that I'm talking about
45:49 is is when you're you apply the equity
45:52 lenses at first you look at those three
45:53 first three questions the second is
45:56 applying what's called a root cause
45:57 analysis and I'll talk about that in a
45:59 little bit in terms of trying to figure
46:01 out why something is the reason it is
46:04 and the last part of that is evaluating
46:06 the data that's available and what
46:08 you'll learn going through this process
46:10 is you won't always get the data or
46:12 information you're going to need to
46:14 answer questions and that's okay but
46:16 it's good to point that out because
46:18 that's part of the Improvement of the
46:20 entire process
46:24 so the first example I'll let you all
46:27 read it
46:42 so with this example how do we apply the
46:46 equity lens when you're asking the
46:47 question on where the racial Equity
46:50 impacts of a particular decision around
46:52 manufactured homes and or in
46:54 single-family neighborhoods think about
46:57 what are those impacts what are the
47:00 impacts to different communities who's
47:03 who benefits or is burdened by this
47:05 decision with those type of poems or
47:08 those neighborhoods and then what could
47:11 be potential strategies mitigate those
47:14 unintended consequences
47:19 the next step is now applying the root
47:21 cause analysis and asking the question
47:23 why
47:24 and the suggestion is you ask it
47:27 multiple times because more often than
47:29 not you're going to get to a root cause
47:31 of what was causing the issue in the
47:34 first place because you're really not
47:35 going to typically get the answer right
47:37 away
47:38 and so you want to dig into more of why
47:41 is this an issue or why why isn't it
47:44 something that we haven't noticed before
47:48 and the last you want to evaluate the
47:49 data what information do we have that
47:52 can help answer those questions of why
47:54 what can help answer those questions for
47:57 the equity lens
47:58 what information do I need to find to
48:01 better answer those questions or come up
48:03 with those mitigation for those
48:05 unintended Concepts
48:07 and how can we best provide
48:11 a lot of that data or find that data and
48:13 more information so that we can come up
48:15 with a better decision
48:18 and you repeat the process
48:22 now before I start diving into this
48:23 example are there any questions about
48:24 kind of those three steps
48:29 yes commissioner
48:32 thank you I don't know if this is a
48:33 question as much as just a request that
48:37 particularly applying those first three
48:39 questions if the key and the core tenets
48:43 of the implicit bias training were
48:45 available and very visible I think
48:47 that's important when you put something
48:50 together like a housing type like
48:52 manufactured housing or whatever the
48:54 example might be
48:55 the implicit bias is so the risk is so
48:59 great of who people assume might take
49:02 advantage of an opportunity like that in
49:04 the wise and all of that so I just think
49:05 that I would really like it for us to
49:08 pair that together as much as we can
49:10 because this is going to be a learning
49:11 process for all of us so that we are
49:13 examining our own implicit biases before
49:16 we move forward into answering those yes
49:18 no I'm I think that's actually a
49:21 fantastic is that it's one of the
49:23 important aspects of why we're pushing
49:26 for a lot of the unconscious unconscious
49:28 bias meaning for not only staff but a
49:30 lot of the boys commissions when we're
49:32 having these policy discussions or
49:33 making recommendations on decisions at
49:35 the city
49:38 any other questions or suggestions
49:43 commissioner cross my question is it'd
49:46 be interesting you gave a couple
49:47 examples here
49:48 is part of your process of going through
49:52 this is
49:53 look back at some decisions from
49:56 Issaquah from the last year took a
49:58 period of time and then overlay this
50:00 lens and just be critical of oh would we
50:03 have asked different things now
50:06 just looking at some real examples of
50:08 some decisions that were made in
50:09 Issaquah over the last year and what
50:11 would we learn from that by overlaying
50:14 those different questions and that may
50:15 shed some light of something at the time
50:18 you're like oh we didn't even think of
50:19 that and those may be some aha moments
50:21 that will help refine how you actually
50:24 use this by looking at our own real
50:26 world examples
50:28 no I think that's actually a really
50:30 great point and an important aspect of
50:31 this process of
50:33 getting a better understanding of why
50:35 this decision was made in the first
50:36 place and what information went into
50:38 that decision-making process or what
50:39 discussions were had who was involved
50:42 and that's kind of part of the reason
50:43 why I provided the entire Equity
50:46 framework as part of your materials for
50:48 tonight to let you in you know this is
50:50 such a small piece of the entire pie of
50:53 how to address Equity within our systems
50:56 and so I want to be able to provide you
50:59 the tools or at least the processes and
51:01 understanding of the tools so that you
51:04 can ask the right questions or at least
51:06 ask for the right information so that
51:08 you can help provide a better
51:10 recommendation for the city
51:16 any other question
51:17 so you can still go
51:19 so with the second example encourage
51:22 preservation Rehabilitation and
51:24 Redevelopment of existing housing stock
51:25 and support neighborhood-based
51:27 improvements
51:28 think about what goes into this policy
51:32 encourage preservation Rehabilitation
51:34 Redevelopment of existing housing stock
51:37 and support neighborhood-based
51:39 Improvement efforts
51:41 now apply that Equity lens going back to
51:44 three questions
51:46 what are the racial Equity impacts of
51:48 that particular if that were to be the
51:51 policy will benefit or be burdened by
51:54 the decision and then are there
51:55 strategies that mitigate
51:58 and then going back to
52:01 applying the root cause analysis asking
52:04 why
52:05 why am I getting the answer that I am
52:07 getting why why are we getting the
52:09 desired outcomes or unintended
52:11 consequences from decision or and then
52:15 evaluate the data of what's available to
52:17 understand
52:18 well why the decision was made
52:20 what went into the outcomes that we was
52:24 that resulted from the decision
52:27 just continue to ask why
52:35 before I move on to the third example
52:37 any other
52:38 questions
52:43 so for the third example promote
52:45 affordable infill residential
52:46 construction through flexibility and
52:49 development technique
52:51 apply the equity lens ask those three
52:53 questions again
52:57 go through the whys and evaluate the
52:59 available data
53:02 and a lot of the reason why I use these
53:04 particular examples in terms of when I
53:06 went out to other cities and tried to
53:09 find policies to have this discussion is
53:11 you're oftentimes going to be very it's
53:15 going to be very apparent where there's
53:16 going to be inequities in the policy
53:19 but looking at it at some of the
53:21 examples it's not very apparent
53:23 oftentimes
53:25 and sometimes you won't be a parent
53:26 until you start digging into Data or
53:28 asking questions about some of the
53:30 unintended consequences over the
53:33 outcomes what what happened in other
53:36 communities when they had a very similar
53:38 policy
53:39 and get a better understanding of how
53:42 can we mitigate for that how can we now
53:44 have a discussion of what do we actually
53:46 want from the policy or how can we tweak
53:48 the policy to get what we
53:50 and it's always going to be a continued
53:52 process every time we have these policy
53:54 discussions we're not going to get it
53:56 right the first time we're going to be
53:58 able to make recommendations and have
54:00 discussions based on the information we
54:01 have at this point
54:03 and five ten years an hour or one two
54:06 years from now we might have more
54:08 information that could help with these
54:10 decisions
54:11 it's just a continued process of going
54:14 through this or using this tool
54:20 before I go into the next steps is there
54:22 any questions on the process itself
54:28 um maybe not questions but like
54:29 Reflections um and so I want to be
54:31 transparent that I am coming into like
54:33 my questions and Reflections as identify
54:36 as a white woman right and so that is
54:37 the lived experience that I bring I
54:39 don't have I'm unfortunate enough to not
54:41 have or I personally experienced
54:43 inequities in my life and so
54:46 um as a commission I don't want to claim
54:48 your own identities but I think we
54:49 primarily present as white
54:51 um I think power sharing is a really
54:53 important piece of this and I think it's
54:56 one thing for us as a commission to make
54:58 assumptions right about what racial
55:00 inequity impacts are I think it's
55:02 another thing to you know ask the
55:05 questions about where do we actually
55:06 find out right and where do we actually
55:08 get that information from
55:10 um and so I don't know if there's a
55:12 process to kind of help us with that I
55:14 really appreciate your kind of calling
55:15 out like that it's a safe space right to
55:18 ask questions to you know name what we
55:19 don't know
55:21 um but then what is the pathway right to
55:23 both like connect with those who do know
55:25 right who have experienced inequities in
55:28 this city
55:29 um and so I would just want to like know
55:31 what that path is right of like where do
55:33 we find the answers
55:34 um when it might not be our own
55:35 experiences right because there's
55:37 something that doesn't feel genuine
55:39 about making assumptions on behalf of
55:41 others
55:43 um I also want to just like say that
55:45 this is what I do in my day-to-day
55:47 um job and so I work with Health Systems
55:49 specifically to apply an equity lens to
55:52 their work and also using like
55:54 Improvement methodologies
55:55 um so the five lies are what we talk
55:58 about a lot um and I almost want to
56:00 propose like Steps four and five which
56:02 is that it's not enough to just kind of
56:04 stop at the like identifying the problem
56:07 but we need to act on that right and so
56:10 step four is like identify opportunities
56:12 for improvement and then you know step
56:14 five you set it yourself right we're
56:16 piloting we're testing how do we test
56:17 those you know ideas that come out of
56:20 you know not only the commission but the
56:22 groups that we're hopefully connecting
56:23 with right as part of this process and
56:25 so I don't think it's like enough to
56:27 just say like let's analyze let's you
56:29 know identify but we need to act on too
56:31 to truly
56:33 um you know address
56:34 inequities no I actually think that's a
56:37 a great suggestion and the reason why it
56:40 wasn't included as part of tonight's
56:41 presentation is really just help the
56:43 commission get started because we are
56:44 all starting at different place in terms
56:46 of our understanding of applying Equity
56:48 lands our understanding of the
56:50 inequities that are built into systems
56:52 and so
56:53 I'm trying to get you at least started
56:55 to ask those questions and I I
56:58 absolutely agree with you Sarah like
57:00 these are great questions to ask but
57:02 it's it's really just the starting point
57:04 and we really need to better understand
57:06 how do we act on a lot of these issues
57:09 and um but the starting point is
57:11 identifying the issues first and
57:12 figuring out why we didn't see these
57:14 issues in the first place
57:17 thank you for that
57:20 any other questions comments
57:27 to the next steps follow-up meeting
57:30 instead of tonight you know this really
57:31 was just the next step from the previous
57:33 discussions this isn't the end point
57:35 this isn't uh where we want to stop
57:39 talking about this we want to follow up
57:42 with all of you to figure out how best
57:44 we can provide you more information more
57:46 tools more discussions on this and being
57:49 able to incorporate as part of the
57:50 comprehensive planning this uh policy
57:52 discussions but also other work that
57:53 we're doing as a commission as well
57:56 yes sorry I could I could fill the next
58:00 um a long time on this um really
58:02 concretely are these three questions
58:06 um going to be like added to our packets
58:07 from now on um are those like a ones
58:11 that we like to be really concrete right
58:13 like are we acting on this now or like
58:16 what is the implementation kind of
58:18 timeline as we're like accepting this as
58:20 like a learning process right
58:22 um when do we start right I'm hoping you
58:25 act on it now
58:26 um a lot of what this is is more of an
58:28 introduction of the tools to use with
58:30 the comprehensive plan if you would like
58:32 it included as part of your commission
58:34 packets
58:35 um we can we can discuss that and see if
58:37 that should be included and we should
58:40 incorporate that as our part part of our
58:42 policy discussions
58:48 um the other just piece of this is that
58:52 the school is like wonderful but I think
58:55 it needs to be like anchored in
58:57 something and so I was looking through
58:59 um I think I sent you an email that I
59:01 was like going on a rabbit hole earlier
59:03 um and was looking specifically at like
59:05 what Seattle has done where they have uh
59:07 like an equity toolkit template that
59:09 like different projects have gone
59:10 through and I'm curious if the city is
59:13 doing something like that for the
59:15 comprehensive plan process so like what
59:17 are your Equity goals as part of this
59:19 process that we can then anchor to right
59:21 because if we don't have like a North
59:23 star it's kind of like we're just doing
59:24 this for to what ends right if you can't
59:27 measure it you can't move it um in a lot
59:30 of ways and so
59:32 um I'm just curious if you're going
59:33 through like a parallel process to kind
59:35 of set Equity goals for yes so that's
59:37 one thing that we're trying to examine
59:39 with the comprehensive plan is how how
59:40 best to establish Equity goals and
59:43 policies uh for the city whether it's
59:45 a new section of goals and policies
59:48 specifically or Equity or if is it it's
59:50 it's more embedded in each of the
59:51 elements and a lot of the feedback we
59:53 received from the equity board is it
59:55 really should be embedded in a lot of
59:56 our work not necessarily called out its
59:58 own section and so we that's one of the
1:00:01 things that we're examining through this
1:00:02 work is how best to represent that in
1:00:04 the conference plan but also
1:00:07 you know
1:00:08 Seattle has been using their rsji tool
1:00:12 for decades now and they didn't get to
1:00:15 the plane they they started out exactly
1:00:18 where we were a couple decades ago and
1:00:20 figuring out how best it works for them
1:00:22 it works great now
1:00:24 but it where they started they went
1:00:26 through some of the frustrations that
1:00:27 were and and
1:00:29 um questions and uh uncomfortability
1:00:32 that we are
1:00:34 experiencing now and so it's it's
1:00:37 absolutely normal to have a lot of those
1:00:39 questions and want to do that and but to
1:00:41 get to your point it's important to have
1:00:43 that kind of that Northstar to
1:00:45 understand where exactly are we
1:00:48 final thing I'm gonna say
1:00:50 um is just to give kudos to the city
1:00:52 right to like
1:00:53 have this conversation right to bring
1:00:55 this to us to make this a priority um I
1:00:58 think it's like a big step towards
1:00:59 accountability and which is really
1:01:01 important and just like acknowledge
1:01:03 right that this is a journey um and it's
1:01:06 at the beginning and I appreciate you
1:01:07 know one you presenting this to us
1:01:09 um and kind of holding this face that's
1:01:11 not always easy
1:01:13 um but the city just for kind of
1:01:15 stepping up and doing this
1:01:17 thank them
1:01:18 um for bringing this
1:01:20 I also want to thank the Commissioners
1:01:22 for allowing me to come talk to you know
1:01:24 some of this was at the request of
1:01:26 Commissioners to have a follow-up
1:01:27 discussion and I want I want to respect
1:01:29 that and make sure that you know we
1:01:32 appreciate these conversations with you
1:01:34 and and I appreciate your understanding
1:01:36 of us learning how to have these
1:01:38 conversations with you as well and we
1:01:40 you know as staff are also learning how
1:01:42 best to use the tools but also have the
1:01:44 conversations with the commission's
1:01:46 boards as well as with the community on
1:01:48 how best to make improvements and
1:01:49 address inequities in the systems
1:01:54 any comments questions
1:01:58 I'll just say like I said so far it
1:02:00 looks really good I think the issue that
1:02:03 a lot of people have is everyone has a
1:02:06 different conception of what Equity
1:02:08 means to them
1:02:10 so I think it's going to be really
1:02:11 helpful as far as moving forward again
1:02:13 kind of giving the education that you
1:02:15 guys are doing a lot of what I see looks
1:02:17 really good but again that's probably
1:02:20 going to be one of the biggest hurdles
1:02:21 is everybody has a very clear definition
1:02:23 in their head it is a little bit of a
1:02:25 political potato I think everybody knows
1:02:28 that and then also seeing how the city
1:02:30 puts it into practice because you have
1:02:33 people that argue on one hand you're
1:02:34 lowering standards to the lowest common
1:02:36 denominator and then you also have other
1:02:38 people that look and it looks like
1:02:40 you're raising people up
1:02:41 so I think the city is going to have to
1:02:43 do hopefully a very good job explaining
1:02:45 to people what it is that you guys want
1:02:47 from us
1:02:48 but I think of like the Issaquah school
1:02:50 district they've done a really good job
1:02:52 I mean they serve as kids from Echo
1:02:54 Glenn's Children's Center
1:02:55 all the way up to Harrison Street here
1:02:57 in Issaquah and we are I believe number
1:03:00 six in the state supporting the
1:03:02 niche.com
1:03:03 I would say that is one of our that's
1:03:05 one of our most proud institutions we
1:03:07 have as a school district
1:03:08 I think you can look at that and then
1:03:10 you also look at people that you know
1:03:12 for a lot of people Seattle is not a
1:03:14 point of Pride actually a lot of people
1:03:16 that are pretty sad about what's
1:03:17 happened in Seattle last five years so I
1:03:20 think this could be a covet on staff to
1:03:21 help us understand all of this and what
1:03:23 it is you guys are expecting
1:03:25 because as uh as a young kid I didn't
1:03:29 have some of these things I wish I would
1:03:31 have been around in the early 80s with a
1:03:33 lot of opportunities to learn Spanish my
1:03:35 mother's native thumb they weren't there
1:03:37 for me so I don't know some of these
1:03:39 things sound really good but I'm
1:03:41 definitely interested to hear more from
1:03:43 the city how you guys Define this stuff
1:03:45 I think today's a good start today's
1:03:47 today is definitely a start and you know
1:03:50 one of the things of defining what the
1:03:52 city wants is really just hearing from a
1:03:54 lot of the community members that being
1:03:55 from the boards commissions and it's
1:03:56 like how do we help you understand what
1:03:58 we're trying to achieve with a lot of
1:04:00 these discussions but also who do we
1:04:02 need to hear from who do we need to go
1:04:03 talk to who do we need to react who
1:04:05 which relationships do we need to build
1:04:07 in order to have some of those
1:04:08 conversations that we historically
1:04:10 haven't had which Community groups have
1:04:13 not been involved in these discussions
1:04:14 which groups do we need to talk with who
1:04:18 are probably more prominently impacted
1:04:19 but have never been recorded in our data
1:04:22 so those are the kind of things that
1:04:25 we're trying to figure out with all of
1:04:27 you and we want to address those and so
1:04:30 I would say that was really a major goal
1:04:32 with all this is really to find that
1:04:34 direction yeah and hopefully we can find
1:04:36 it together but I even go back to the
1:04:37 example with the manufactured home
1:04:38 because one of the notes I wrote is so
1:04:41 and again how does that work when it
1:04:43 comes to like retaining neighborhood
1:04:45 character so again these are all things
1:04:47 again I think it's a great start but
1:04:50 there's obviously a lot for us to learn
1:04:52 and a lot for staff to kind of impart
1:04:55 their wisdom and what they're learning
1:04:57 uh because again it's it's it means so
1:04:59 many different things to so many
1:05:00 different people the commissioner Krause
1:05:02 yes I just want to um thanks uh Riri one
1:05:04 more thing I do so I'm showing my my
1:05:07 history of I grew up in the tech World
1:05:09 we're super self-critical of everything
1:05:11 we do we beat ourselves up you always
1:05:13 have to have more low lights and
1:05:14 highlights when you presented execs
1:05:16 um so I do think there's and it'll be it
1:05:19 could be painful going back to what I
1:05:21 mentioned earlier is looking back at
1:05:23 something that happened this last year
1:05:25 putting these lines and being super
1:05:26 critical of what you the city should
1:05:28 have done differently thought
1:05:29 differently and utilize that because I
1:05:31 think that would educate it's much more
1:05:33 grounded of an example
1:05:37 um as we want to roll more of this out
1:05:39 to see how we would have done something
1:05:41 different and it just makes it more
1:05:44 concrete as opposed to people trying to
1:05:46 figure out what does that mean for this
1:05:48 thing and and I'm sure there's probably
1:05:49 a couple examples as there always are
1:05:51 that hopefully oh if we would have been
1:05:54 thinking about this a year ago maybe we
1:05:57 would have asked these different hard
1:05:58 questions or we looked at it differently
1:06:00 and I think that'll that should be part
1:06:01 of the training and I think everyone at
1:06:03 least for me I would say oh yeah
1:06:05 you know that reflects back I'm always
1:06:07 critical of all the things that I've
1:06:10 um probably too too much so I think that
1:06:12 would be helpful
1:06:13 and the only other thing I would say is
1:06:14 I would give Issaquah some credit
1:06:16 because one of the biggest disparities
1:06:18 we have is socioeconomic and we've been
1:06:19 talking about this for years as far as
1:06:22 Workforce being able to live and work
1:06:23 here so
1:06:25 again it means a lot of different things
1:06:27 to a lot of different people it's a
1:06:29 broad topic I actually like the
1:06:31 definition that you guys put in by the
1:06:32 City of Renton I thought that was more
1:06:34 helpful than being extremely narrow
1:06:36 because again it means a lot of
1:06:38 different things and again for the City
1:06:39 of Issaquah
1:06:41 uh it's always I mean again some
1:06:43 communities are more welcoming than
1:06:44 others
1:06:45 but I know we've been having topics as
1:06:47 far as the racial just not racial but
1:06:49 the income and economic disparities as
1:06:52 long as I've been here
1:06:54 so again I mean the City of Issaquah
1:06:55 should get some credit for some of that
1:07:00 commissioner altimore
1:07:03 our public hearings always in this
1:07:05 chamber are they always part of these
1:07:07 meetings or do they ever go out on the
1:07:10 uh yes public hearings are typically in
1:07:12 council chambers
1:07:16 so if there were a public meeting or
1:07:18 something that could be run by staff and
1:07:19 wouldn't necessarily have to follow the
1:07:21 commission
1:07:22 rules
1:07:25 so if we were trying to bring in
1:07:26 different voices who maybe might not
1:07:28 feel comfortable uh coming into this
1:07:30 space to gather some of the information
1:07:32 in order to really apply this lens would
1:07:35 there be ways to be able to do that I
1:07:37 know the Human Services team went out
1:07:40 and did a lot of public meetings as they
1:07:41 were getting ready for their Human
1:07:43 Services strategic plan is there a way
1:07:46 for us to also consider something like
1:07:48 that that doesn't violate the public
1:07:50 meeting rules I believe so I know that
1:07:52 the city clerk's office has been looking
1:07:54 into different ways of how best to
1:07:56 incorporate more voices as part of the
1:07:59 discussions while still meeting the
1:08:01 state requirements I know there's
1:08:02 limitations around that so that's
1:08:04 something that we are exploring a little
1:08:09 any follow-up or other questions or
1:08:11 comments for Stephen
1:08:13 and again with this slide it's primarily
1:08:15 of we don't want to stop here if you
1:08:17 have questions if you'd like to talk
1:08:18 with staff more about these discussions
1:08:20 or how best to apply the tool or adjust
1:08:23 the tool we'd love to have those
1:08:24 discussions with you for our schedule
1:08:27 we're having our upcoming meetings we're
1:08:30 going to be talking about the land use
1:08:31 element as Christian was talking about
1:08:32 we're going to be talking about the
1:08:33 housing element as we've been kind of
1:08:35 preparing you for for the last couple
1:08:36 months and then we're also going to talk
1:08:38 about neighborhood planning and have a
1:08:41 bridal review of a lot of the other
1:08:42 discussions
1:08:48 that concludes my presentation are there
1:08:50 any other
1:08:51 question well I think we got you for one
1:08:53 more don't we we do you do so uh now
1:08:57 moving on to the third item of regular
1:08:59 business is an overview
1:09:01 of our June tour
1:09:03 you get to hear about all the fun you
1:09:04 guys had separately I know uh John and
1:09:07 myself and Kristen and Thomas had a
1:09:09 blast I think we were the guinea pig I
1:09:11 think we were the test run so want to
1:09:13 hear a little bit from Stephen uh about
1:09:15 if you guys were able to get
1:09:17 what you wanted in terms of showing us
1:09:19 around and then not so much questions
1:09:22 tonight because the tours are over we're
1:09:23 not going to probably do them again but
1:09:26 mainly feedback for Stephen and Kristen
1:09:28 about what you thought maybe things you
1:09:31 would have liked to see that you didn't
1:09:32 see but again really kind of looking
1:09:34 just for some feedback and maybe next
1:09:36 time we take a tour
1:09:38 and ultimately anything obviously about
1:09:41 housing different type of housing so
1:09:45 Stephen please
1:09:46 thank you chair boys so um as your voice
1:09:49 said tonight's really just going to be
1:09:50 an overview of the tours that we went
1:09:52 through in June we the intent of this is
1:09:57 really just get follow-up information we
1:09:58 you know we had small groups of you to
1:10:00 go tour Kirkland and now we as we're
1:10:03 together we're hoping to get a little
1:10:05 feedback on what you saw what what
1:10:07 things kind of stood out to you what
1:10:09 what things should we incorporate as
1:10:11 part of our discussions on the policies
1:10:13 or updates with the comprehensive plan
1:10:14 or even further along
1:10:18 the background in terms of like the
1:10:20 purpose of why we organize the tours
1:10:21 themselves is because we saw new
1:10:23 legislation or get adopted this year
1:10:26 around middle housing and new housing
1:10:28 types and that being required from a lot
1:10:30 of our a lot of the cities and and that
1:10:32 being the bills on the screen of House
1:10:34 Bill Leviton now requiring cities to
1:10:37 allow
1:10:39 middle housing types in single-family
1:10:42 zones and then House Bill 1337 is
1:10:45 specifically around what we allow for
1:10:47 accessory dwelling units single-family
1:10:50 Zone House Bill 1220 which was adopted
1:10:53 back in 2021
1:10:58 um is the requirement of where we allow
1:11:01 Emergency Shelters and transitional
1:11:03 housing in the city and how we address
1:11:07 racial Equity within a lot of the
1:11:10 demographic and data that we collect
1:11:11 housing as well and so recognizing that
1:11:14 so we're incorporating a lot of that
1:11:17 with this periodic update and we want to
1:11:19 prepare you for that by giving you the
1:11:22 real life applications of this in the
1:11:25 city of Kirkland which you know you'll
1:11:28 find a lot of the different examples of
1:11:29 this in other cities but we found that
1:11:31 within a very close proximity in
1:11:33 Kirkland to shorten our tour time we
1:11:36 wanted to show you what Kirkland had and
1:11:38 because they've been actually applying a
1:11:40 lot of this for several years
1:11:44 so again with the tours the intent was
1:11:47 to have you explore Regional examples
1:11:49 successes as well as any types of
1:11:51 improvements you could see with the
1:11:53 different housing topics we've discussed
1:11:55 and then any other environmental factors
1:11:57 that you saw went during the tour of you
1:12:00 know it's interesting that this had bus
1:12:03 service but this area didn't and or you
1:12:06 know is this successful in having those
1:12:08 housing types with in proximity certain
1:12:11 proximity to Transit service or any
1:12:13 other multimodal
1:12:14 services or access to services
1:12:19 so the topics that we addressed or
1:12:21 discussed on our tours we talked about
1:12:23 accessory dwelling units how that's been
1:12:25 applied we've talked about Cottage
1:12:28 housing Courtyard housing looked at
1:12:29 duplexes and dry plaque all that's been
1:12:32 Incorporated in different neighborhoods
1:12:34 we also talked about micro housing and
1:12:36 its location within Central Issaquah and
1:12:39 the approximity different amenities and
1:12:41 surfaces and the importance of that in
1:12:43 terms of like what what is offered as a
1:12:45 micro unit as well as what's offered in
1:12:47 proximity where micro units
1:12:51 we also looked at Emergency Shelters
1:12:53 interest housing the one example in
1:12:56 Kirkland but also talked about different
1:12:57 examples
1:12:58 on some of our tours
1:13:00 um and again we all talked about the
1:13:02 infrastructure that was supporting a lot
1:13:04 of these different
1:13:06 how Kirkland is has put together their
1:13:08 downtown relations
1:13:13 so for tonight we're looking for
1:13:15 feedback what what did you see what did
1:13:18 you like what didn't you like what would
1:13:21 you like to see more of potentially as
1:13:23 as chair boy said maybe we go on further
1:13:25 tours as we're having some of these
1:13:27 policy discussions just so we can better
1:13:28 understand something that we didn't
1:13:30 explore
1:13:35 commissioner crass my uh my travel buddy
1:13:37 it was fun I mean I like it's a
1:13:40 first of all Kirkland's beautiful for
1:13:41 those of you who live there
1:13:43 there's a couple things the threads of
1:13:46 Transit is key to a couple
1:13:49 the Emergency Shelters I'm not as
1:13:51 familiar with we spent a little time
1:13:53 there and personally I'm I don't know
1:13:56 enough about that
1:13:57 to understand except for Transit I
1:13:59 assume is very important
1:14:01 the micro housing micro units
1:14:05 um I just think yes maybe when we have a
1:14:07 Transit Center and a train and lots then
1:14:10 it would be great I think it's it's hard
1:14:11 to see that fitting into Issaquah for a
1:14:13 very long period of time
1:14:15 um unless other things change but that
1:14:17 one's so dependent on Transit as well as
1:14:19 you know the full infrastructure of
1:14:22 everything you need without
1:14:24 having to you know have a car
1:14:27 um the one thing that um has intrigued
1:14:30 me that I only see a little bit here and
1:14:32 there we didn't get a huge amount of
1:14:33 around the adus because those could be
1:14:36 done with people who already have houses
1:14:39 and adding another unit into especially
1:14:41 if they have a large enough
1:14:44 lot to be able to put another unit in
1:14:46 especially if you we reduce parking
1:14:49 requirements and all of them we didn't
1:14:50 see a ton of that we saw one I think in
1:14:52 Kirkland where they were called adus but
1:14:55 I think they sold them all individually
1:14:56 which then just becomes condos
1:14:59 um but I'm curious if if others looked a
1:15:03 little bit more about adus in terms of
1:15:05 how can things happen in the shorter
1:15:09 seems like those could happen
1:15:11 quicker than
1:15:13 building new apartment complexes and all
1:15:14 of that with me you know decades so any
1:15:18 other questions about it you know adus
1:15:21 because we only got a little glimpse of
1:15:22 that and it was a little different than
1:15:24 what I when I think of an Adu which is
1:15:26 well I have another unit I can I can
1:15:29 rent it to a teacher who lives in this
1:15:31 in this market or a fireman who doesn't
1:15:34 have to travel as far fire person
1:15:39 I'm trying to thank our our car I don't
1:15:41 know about all your guys's cars but our
1:15:43 car had a robust discussion on the adus
1:15:46 and also a little bit I think uh Steven
1:15:48 Sarah and I were talking a little bit
1:15:50 about the micro housing those were the
1:15:52 two that caught my eye I thought what
1:15:54 John was commissioner crash was
1:15:56 mentioning and how they were subletting
1:15:58 it and basically turning it into more
1:16:00 housing speculation and really not doing
1:16:02 with the intention
1:16:04 so I we thought that was kind of funny
1:16:06 and then uh I think Stephen and I were
1:16:08 kind of talking and Steven had mentioned
1:16:10 that the micro housing there's potential
1:16:12 for it I mean I didn't really see it I
1:16:13 think you and I were discussing it
1:16:15 uh to your point yeah the the
1:16:18 transportation would be a big part of
1:16:21 but um yeah no I found it all very very
1:16:24 enjoyed it thoroughly
1:16:28 commissioner Patterson
1:16:30 awesome uh yeah I definitely appreciated
1:16:31 the opportunity to go out there uh
1:16:33 seeing it on paper and Screen versus the
1:16:35 real life application I think was a huge
1:16:37 difference you know it really helped uh
1:16:40 hit things home uh I was particularly
1:16:42 taken in by the college housing option
1:16:44 that we looked at so I think there's
1:16:45 like 10 units uh on uh two lots which
1:16:50 across the street and there was two
1:16:51 houses on two lots and to see that like
1:16:53 parallel to each other uh was kind of
1:16:55 mind-blowing
1:16:56 um but with the caveat being the cottage
1:16:59 housing was a very like yeah it was cool
1:17:03 it looked cool it looked beautiful the
1:17:05 courtyard yeah I heard your group might
1:17:07 take a little closer look than our group
1:17:09 did but uh got chased out but uh but
1:17:13 yeah I thought that um you know with the
1:17:15 courtyard and like you could even see
1:17:16 like the neighbors connecting in like
1:17:18 the Courtyard area
1:17:20 um it just looked like it had kind of
1:17:22 this this good vibe about it that I
1:17:24 really enjoyed and the housing you know
1:17:26 on paper and everything looked really
1:17:28 small like I was expecting like a summer
1:17:29 camp expectation like going into it but
1:17:32 I mean the houses are great sized I mean
1:17:34 I live in a condo and it was much bigger
1:17:37 than that so I think it just opened my
1:17:40 eyes to like this would be in my opinion
1:17:43 a great addition to a community
1:17:46 um on that note the Adu we looked at was
1:17:48 very perplexing we looked at one where
1:17:51 there were three you know the main
1:17:52 primary residents and then two adus one
1:17:55 connected by a garage and then one about
1:17:58 six foot behind the other uh behind the
1:18:01 other one which was just bizarre
1:18:03 especially considering they all shared a
1:18:05 driveway and
1:18:07 um they were all sold separately as you
1:18:08 mentioned so a very interesting set up I
1:18:11 think you know we I can't imagine that
1:18:13 being always a successful option uh
1:18:16 though I do support the the Adu approach
1:18:18 and think it's a viable option uh with
1:18:21 some different Arrangements than what we
1:18:24 what we viewed I'm sure it was
1:18:25 successful for the homeowner yeah I'm
1:18:27 sure they they made a good chunk on that
1:18:29 um the other thing I wanted to call it
1:18:31 was when we did look at the micro units
1:18:33 uh the one thing that stuck out to me is
1:18:35 that for some reason we first talked
1:18:37 about I imagine like one building full
1:18:38 of micro units like very uh but in
1:18:42 reality it's a mixed use where you have
1:18:45 like say 80 the apartments and 20 micro
1:18:49 units or something along those lines
1:18:51 with some affordable housing mixed in I
1:18:53 think when I think of diversity of
1:18:55 housing I think that really helps hit
1:18:56 that home like you're giving a lot of
1:18:58 different options to different types of
1:19:00 people with different Lifestyles
1:19:03 and in this case you know that whole
1:19:05 downtown Kirkland area is so
1:19:07 interconnected with the transit and the
1:19:10 walkability of the paths through the the
1:19:12 Park area like it I I agree with John I
1:19:16 just it was a beautiful uh growth that
1:19:19 I've seen even in the last few years
1:19:20 like five years though I know it's been
1:19:23 you know 20-ish the since they've kind
1:19:25 of went down this journey so but overall
1:19:27 great trip and learn learned a lot on it
1:19:31 that's great thank you commissioner
1:19:33 Patterson that's fantastic feedback
1:19:36 found Robin
1:19:37 Mr Kennedy commissioner altimore Vice
1:19:40 chair Bader anything you guys would like
1:19:42 to add as far as the the tour
1:19:44 commissioner Kennedy I just thought it
1:19:46 was really helpful I mean I know I'm a
1:19:48 visual learner and being able to go and
1:19:51 see them physically and talk about the
1:19:53 different characteristics I mean even we
1:19:55 talked about some of those apartment
1:19:56 complexes and when you talk about sort
1:19:58 of how they're they're stepped because
1:20:00 you can describe things when we're in
1:20:02 and we can see photos but then looking
1:20:04 I'm like oh now I got it it's just
1:20:07 seeing it in the flesh just makes it
1:20:08 that much better so I enjoyed it
1:20:13 sure all tomorrow
1:20:15 that was the piece that stood out the
1:20:16 most to me and I guess because we were
1:20:17 on the same tour but the um the setback
1:20:20 discussion and the architectural design
1:20:22 of how that affects the look and feel of
1:20:25 the neighborhood I thought that was a
1:20:27 really important discussion that we had
1:20:28 and um we were comparing and contrasting
1:20:32 some other cities that we've all
1:20:33 experienced and just the different feel
1:20:35 of that monolith right next to the
1:20:38 sidewalk versus some some really well
1:20:40 done uh setbacks Etc and those
1:20:42 architectural pieces so something I'd
1:20:44 love for us to keep in mind as we go
1:20:50 I did a virtual Google Maps and was
1:20:53 impressed by Steven's ability to zoom
1:20:55 around Google apps for
1:20:57 um the other day which was maybe not as
1:20:59 meaningful as being there in person but
1:21:01 I'm still impressed um and I guess what
1:21:04 I left with was one that I thought that
1:21:08 um I can't remember what it was called
1:21:10 but that development kind of like or
1:21:12 more urban development in Kirkland that
1:21:14 where I think the micro units were
1:21:16 um that that was cool and I was like if
1:21:18 that's the vision for like Central
1:21:19 Issaquah I think that's exciting
1:21:21 um and so
1:21:23 um I was like Yay to that and then also
1:21:26 that I could see like a place for all of
1:21:28 those different housing types right
1:21:29 especially like knowing that it's not
1:21:31 tomorrow
1:21:32 um but over time
1:21:33 um and so I think it's great to have the
1:21:36 option to build any and all um
1:21:39 of the different types of housing that
1:21:40 you showed
1:21:43 all right and I just want to say go
1:21:46 ahead Mr altmore
1:21:48 I didn't mean to interrupt you I just
1:21:49 had a follow-up question
1:21:51 um we were as we were talking about
1:21:53 these different housing types I'm just
1:21:54 wondering does all of these East Side
1:21:57 cities are also going through their comp
1:21:59 plan Amendment discussions is King
1:22:01 County Metro or Sound Transit engaging
1:22:04 in this at all in terms of understanding
1:22:06 uh what the transit hopes are of the
1:22:10 different communities because we're also
1:22:11 interconnected
1:22:13 yes so um through a lot of the regional
1:22:15 groups with esrc in King County Metro
1:22:20 and Sound Transit are engaged
1:22:22 and and vice versa a lot of cities and
1:22:25 City staff are engaged with the county
1:22:27 Metro and making them aware of what our
1:22:30 Visions are of uh you know our
1:22:32 centralized is really going to be
1:22:34 needing a high service for Transit and
1:22:37 how do we incorporate that before 2044
1:22:41 when light rail gets here and how do we
1:22:44 support the systems to to get it here
1:22:47 and so yes they're engaged with the
1:22:50 cities and and our staff particular of
1:22:52 how best to do that within their systems
1:22:54 at the same time you know their
1:22:57 also trying to figure out how to recover
1:22:59 from a pandemic that is almost decimated
1:23:03 a lot of their ridership but a lot of
1:23:05 that is now coming back but they're
1:23:07 still trying to figure out how to adjust
1:23:08 from that so some of the discussions
1:23:12 have changed since pre-pandemic and
1:23:14 trying to figure out how best to move
1:23:16 forward on a lot of that is is a little
1:23:18 bit different
1:23:22 all right and I just wanted to say thank
1:23:24 you to staff that was incredible really
1:23:26 appreciate Kristin and Steven uh taking
1:23:29 time out of their day to show us around
1:23:30 in particular Kristen because that was
1:23:32 our chauffeur John and I chauffeur and
1:23:35 obviously Thomas who I imagine right now
1:23:37 is probably in Europe right
1:23:39 I was already back
1:23:42 I guess that wasn't one
1:23:43 but regardless thank you both very much
1:23:46 and to all of our city staff who helped
1:23:48 put that together I agree with fellow
1:23:51 Commissioners I thought it was very
1:23:52 educational it was very nice to be able
1:23:54 to see that in person have uh top-notch
1:23:57 explanations from our staff
1:23:59 so well done
1:24:02 yeah and and to your point yes I could
1:24:05 see a lot of that housing here I mean I
1:24:06 still have some questions about how it
1:24:08 would be done but that was very very
1:24:10 helpful
1:24:12 the cottage ones were great they did a
1:24:13 really good job
1:24:16 I mean I hope you like your neighbor but
1:24:18 otherwise yeah it was great
1:24:23 so all right well thank you Stephen
1:24:26 that's going to take care of our regular
1:24:28 business tonight but we do have a little
1:24:30 bit more time remaining for reports uh
1:24:34 to staff Kristen Stephen do you have
1:24:35 anything to share as far as our city
1:24:37 council update
1:24:42 since the last since our last meeting
1:24:44 city council adopted the new housing
1:24:46 definitions into the code of what was
1:24:48 previously discussed with all of you
1:24:50 that being incorporating Courtyard
1:24:52 Cottage and
1:24:54 three units
1:24:56 what were the three that were added
1:24:59 was it my career
1:25:00 so we'll send you a link to all that
1:25:03 musical language but more work will be
1:25:05 coming
1:25:06 like what does that mean now
1:25:08 okay great thank you
1:25:12 I think that's it for
1:25:14 staff updates that's it
1:25:19 Commissioners any other business
1:25:20 announcements anything good for the
1:25:23 order
1:25:25 all right looks like our next meeting is
1:25:27 set for July 27th
1:25:31 we can officially adjourn this meeting
1:25:33 perfect timing
1:25:35 it is currently 8 7 55 p.m thank you for
1:25:40 coming
1:25:41 thank you everybody

Attendance

Council / Members (7)
Voiss
Vice-Chair Bader
Commissioners Altimore
Kennedy
Krass (Alternate)
Patterson Absence: Commissioners Esemuede (Excused)
Milligan (Excused)
Staff (1)
Christen Leeson, Senior Planner Stephen Padua, Long Range Planning Manager 2. Approval of Minutes