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Thursday, November 13, 2025

6:30 PM · 1h 31m · Council Chambers, 135 E. Sunset Way, Issaquah WA
Topics tracked across meetings:
Street Standards - Landscaping Update AB 9099 8/10
IMC 18.606 Proposed Landscaping Amendments (A) 5/5
Issaquah Climate Action Plan (ICAP) 2/2
Section
Topic
2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES
2a
Minutes of October 23, 2025
packet pp.3–6
Staff report:
MINUTES PLANNING POLICY COMMISSION 6:30 p.m. – Thursday, October 23, 2025
4. PUBLIC HEARING
4a
IMC 18.606 Proposed Landscaping Amendments (A)
John Mortenson, Transportation Engineering Manager Public Hearing Order: Commission · packet pp.7–30
Topics: Land UseTrees
Staff report:
Hold a public hearing for the proposed amendments to Chapter 18.606 of the Issaquah Municipal Code (IMC), Landscaping and make a
5. REGULAR BUSINESS
5a
Issaquah Climate Action Plan (ICAP)
Stacy Vynne McKinstry, Sustainability Manager · packet pp.31–39
Topics: Climate
Staff report:
To discuss an update to the Issaquah Climate Action Plan (ICAP) and seek input on natural systems related actions.
6. REPORTS
6a
Council Update
7. OTHER BUSINESS / ANNOUNCEMENTS
7a
Upcoming Schedule
packet pp.41–42
Staff report:
Staff Support: Stephen Padua Staff Support: Christen Leeson 4/10/25 4/24/25 ▪ Chairs Election ▪ Tree Code
0:10 Well, hello planning policy people.
0:13 Welcome to this evening's planning
0:14 policy commission meeting. We're going
0:17 to bring this meeting to order and it
0:19 currently is 6:32 p.m. Tonight's meeting
0:23 is a hybrid meeting. The planning policy
0:25 commission is in person. one of our
0:27 commissioners is joining us uh via
0:30 online, but also for staff or members of
0:33 the public, they also might be attending
0:35 virtually or in person. Kristen, uh do
0:38 we have a quorum this evening?
0:40 >> Yes, we do.
0:42 >> Great. Thank you. We're going to move
0:44 along and we are going to start with
0:47 approving last meeting's minutes. and I
0:50 was not here. But if anyone has any
0:52 concerns,
0:54 any corrections, please now
0:58 let us know.
1:01 All right. By unanimous unanimous
1:03 consent, those meeting minutes are
1:05 approved. And that was for the October
1:07 23rd meeting. We are now going to move
1:10 on to public comment. And for this
1:12 meeting, we're going to hold general
1:14 public comment right now. If you do wish
1:17 to speak about the public hearing
1:18 topics, we ask that you hold on to those
1:20 comments for just a little bit longer.
1:22 This right now is just for general
1:24 public comments for the good of the PPC
1:27 and general comments um city business,
1:29 city issues,
1:31 but uh we'll start by asking has anyone
1:34 signed up to make general public
1:36 comments this evening?
1:38 >> No, chair, they have not.
1:40 >> Okay. Thank you, Amanda. So, I'm going
1:43 to read the public comment stuff when we
1:46 get to it.
1:51 Okay. Does anyone want to speak
1:54 generally at this time?
1:58 All right. So, it looks like everyone's
1:59 here for the public hearing.
2:03 Good news. The next thing on the topic
2:05 is our public hearing. This are the
2:07 proposed amendments to title 18 section
2:10 18.606. 606 landscaping of the Isiziqua
2:15 Municipal Code. This will be our first
2:17 item of business and this is to hold a
2:19 public hearing regarding the proposed
2:21 amendments. The purpose of this public
2:24 hearing is to provide a formal
2:25 opportunity for public comment
2:30 on the proposed amendments.
2:32 We'll open the public hearing which will
2:34 be followed by a presentation from
2:35 staff. Then I'd ask the PPC to follow up
2:39 with any questions that you may have.
2:42 We'll take public testimony, then close
2:44 the public hearing, and then the
2:45 planning policy commission will have an
2:47 opportunity to make a recommendation on
2:49 this item. John Mortonson, the
2:52 transportation engineering manager, will
2:55 be presenting this evening. So, John,
2:57 when you are ready, please go ahead with
2:59 your presentation.
3:03 >> All right. Thank you very much. I'm John
3:05 Mortonson. I am the city's
3:06 transportation engineering manager. I
3:08 want to make sure you guys can hear me.
3:10 Okay.
3:12 >> Yes, we can.
3:13 >> Okay. I will share my screen in just a
3:16 minute.
3:31 All
3:45 right.
3:46 Thank you for having me here again
3:48 tonight. I am here to talk about the
3:51 landscaping standards for streets. The
3:54 purpose of tonight's topic is to hold a
3:57 public hearing on the proposed
3:58 amendments to chapter 18.606
4:03 of the Isiqua Municipal Code
4:06 Landscaping.
4:09 Some background on this information that
4:12 I'm presenting tonight are the street
4:15 standards are the standards that the
4:17 city has when streets whether privately
4:21 owned or publicly owned are um the
4:26 standards for design and construction.
4:29 And inside the street standards right
4:32 now the landscaping requirements. It
4:35 requires a planner strip and also
4:38 references Escoan municipal code 18.606
4:42 for a lot of the details. And when you
4:45 combine the two requirements right now
4:48 the current standard is a landscape
4:50 planter strip that is 5 ft wide with
4:52 street trees that goes in between the
4:54 travel lanes and the sidewalk. Right
4:57 now, the only allowable deviation to not
5:01 construct the 5-ft planter strip for
5:03 streets is for a safety risk. Usually,
5:06 that would be associated with sight
5:09 distance, not get driveways. Um,
5:13 however, the administration's done some
5:15 research and believes this is
5:16 inconsistent with the comprehensive plan
5:18 and critical areas code, which the
5:20 comprehensive plan talks about tree
5:22 preservation and the critical areas code
5:25 talks about avoiding and minimizing
5:26 impacts to critical areas.
5:29 And so the administration worked with
5:32 the mobility and infrastructure
5:33 committee and the transportation
5:34 advisory board to create guard rails to
5:39 revise these standards which were
5:41 presented to the planning policy
5:44 commission at the October meeting, the
5:46 second October meeting.
5:50 And just to put some visuals behind what
5:52 I had talked about, this is Northwest
5:56 Dogwood and you can see a landscape
5:58 planter strip. It has street trees and
6:01 it's in this case there's on street
6:03 parking but basically between where the
6:06 cars are and the pedestrians there is a
6:08 landscaped liner strip with street
6:10 trees. When the administration was
6:13 working on a preferred concept for the
6:15 Squawk Mountain sidewalk project, one of
6:18 the things that really stood out is in
6:21 order to construct the sidewalk to city
6:24 code that required the 5-ft planter
6:26 strip which made the
6:29 roadway section wider and would have had
6:33 significant impact on trees. And in
6:36 addition to the comprehensive plan,
6:38 really talking about pre-preservation,
6:42 also just knowing this community and the
6:45 values that it would not be very popular
6:48 with the community to cut down a bunch
6:51 of 60-year-old burned cedar trees in
6:54 order to put in decorative landscaping
6:56 trees.
6:57 Um, and so the proposed standards have a
7:01 deviation process to preserve trees.
7:06 The
7:07 critical areas code in title 18 really
7:11 talks about avoiding and minimizing
7:14 impacts to critical areas like wetlands
7:16 and streams and their buffers. And so
7:20 the administration is proposing changes
7:23 to the landscape standards to reduce or
7:25 eliminate the landscape planner strip in
7:28 situations where a project or
7:30 development is trying to avoid impacts
7:32 to critical areas.
7:36 This next photo is a photo along
7:38 Northwest Seamish Road. This is an area
7:41 where the it the city is designing a
7:44 project that will construct a 12 to 14
7:48 foot wide multi-use path for pedestrians
7:52 and bicycles. In addition, the road will
7:54 be shifting a little bit towards
7:57 Interstate 90. Uh but one of the things
8:01 that this proposed street standards have
8:05 are a deviation process to not make
8:09 steep driveways steeper in situations
8:12 where the property that's served by the
8:14 driveway is not being redeveloped.
8:20 And finally, there's a deviation that's
8:24 being proposed to reduce or eliminate
8:27 the planner strip when it comes to
8:30 impacting section 4F properties. These
8:32 are recreational properties and this
8:35 really applies to city projects with
8:37 federal funds
8:40 and this would be very context
8:43 sensitive. So this is the Harvey Manning
8:45 Park on the left and of course this is a
8:48 situation where you'd want to preserve
8:50 trees and not construct a planter strip.
8:53 And actually in this case we're not even
8:55 proposing sidewalk but um it also if it
8:58 was a city park with a playground then
9:01 it might make sense to
9:03 put in a landscape planter strip.
9:06 And also the administration is proposing
9:09 a deviation process for
9:12 rehabilitation or not deviation process
9:14 an exemption to the landscape standards
9:17 for rehabilitation projects so the city
9:20 can take care of its aging
9:21 infrastructure. On the left is a
9:24 retaining wall on Black Nugget Road that
9:27 needs to
9:29 be replaced and on the right is 190th.
9:33 This is up the hill from Cougar Mountain
9:36 Zoo and the pavement
9:40 has been and the roadway has been
9:42 sliding down and so the administration
9:44 needs to come up with the fix and that
9:48 is in the capital improvement plan.
9:50 There's also a proposed exemption for
9:54 non-motorized gaps. On the left is a
9:57 picture of Second Avenue Northwest. This
10:01 is a sidewalk gap in front of three
10:03 parcels of land. It connects Gilman
10:06 Village and Confluence Park and it's
10:08 something that the the community has
10:11 asked for for the city to eliminate the
10:13 sidewalk gap and
10:16 right now it's a really expensive
10:18 sidewalk gap with all the requirements
10:20 to build it to full standard without any
10:22 exemptions.
10:24 major things that we
10:25 >> So what the administration is proposing
10:31 standards that were developed with
10:33 feedback from the transportation
10:34 advisory board in the mobility and
10:36 infrastructure committee which create a
10:38 deviation criteria for tree preservation
10:42 protection of critical areas driveway
10:44 access advisory board in the mobility
10:46 and properties or section 4f
10:50 as they're called And uh it would be
10:55 based on the pedestrian level of traffic
10:57 stress. That's a metric that comes from
11:01 the washout design manual where one
11:04 being the most ideal situation for a
11:06 pedestrian where anyone people young
11:10 children, people with disabilities,
11:12 elderly and everyone in between would
11:14 feel comfortable walking along that
11:16 corridor to
11:19 four, which is a very s stressful
11:22 situation for any pedestrians and that
11:25 the standard would be two or better with
11:28 one exception and that's on the 40 mph
11:33 straights but where the applicant would
11:36 need to do a much more in-depth
11:38 analysis. It would also be based on an
11:41 arborous tree health and condition
11:43 assessment because there's no point in
11:46 preserving a tree if after the proposed
11:49 action the tree isn't going to survive.
11:53 And so it's really important to make
11:55 sure that
11:57 The deviation process considers the
11:59 health and condition of a tree. It
12:01 utilizes existing definitions in title
12:07 >> to help simplify things for the
12:08 applicant.
12:10 The critical areas report would be an
12:12 important piece of the review process.
12:16 Obviously, for driveways, the actual
12:19 grade, how steep the dragway is, and for
12:21 recreational properties, the
12:23 recreational use.
12:27 I mentioned earlier that the pedestrian
12:29 level traffic stress would need to be
12:31 two or better in order to have a
12:33 deviation approved. Um
12:37 and that the deviation process would
12:40 include land use context such as are
12:43 there a lot of pedestrian generators in
12:45 the area or not? The needs for
12:48 multi-modal users, the roadway
12:51 characteristics, equity and costs.
12:55 A 20 foot
12:58 or longer full length planner strip
13:01 would be required. And on the next
13:03 slide, I'll show you a picture of what
13:04 this would look like. This was really
13:06 based on the city's standards and code
13:10 for a minimum planning area is 100
13:12 square ft. If the planning strip is 5 ft
13:15 wide, that means we need 20 ft of
13:18 planner strip. And of course, I talked a
13:22 lot about the exemptions for
13:23 rehabilitation projects to help the city
13:26 maintain its existing infrastructure
13:28 where the use of the street would not be
13:30 changing. and the interim pedestrian and
13:33 bicycle connections to help the
13:36 community get
13:38 more immediate connections while waiting
13:40 for the city or developers to
13:44 fully develop frontage.
13:47 So I mentioned the a planter strip needs
13:51 to be 20 ft long. And so this top this
13:55 image on the top you can see a situation
13:57 where with smooth transitions
14:01 you can fit in a 20tx 5 ft landscape
14:07 planter strip. So in this situation
14:09 where the project was trying to preserve
14:13 trees, the sidewalk would have a little
14:15 bit of meandering or jogging in order to
14:18 get the planting strip in as many areas
14:21 as possible. On the bottom of this
14:24 picture though, there's more trees and
14:27 that the sidewalk would stay next to the
14:29 curb.
14:32 The administration's recommendation is
14:34 to approve the chapter
14:37 18.606 landscaping amendments as
14:40 presented
14:42 and timing and next steps are this item
14:45 is scheduled to go before the mobility
14:48 and infrastructure committee on November
14:50 24th and tenatively scheduled for the
14:54 full council on January 5th.
14:59 And that concludes my presentation.
15:04 >> All right. Well, thank you, John.
15:06 Appreciate the presentation. We're going
15:08 to open it up right now for the
15:09 commissioners to ask any questions that
15:12 you may have at this point. Are there
15:15 any takers?
15:23 >> Commissioner Dair.
15:25 >> Uh, so I have a question. For example,
15:27 in the second street example you had
15:30 where you're basically bridging the gap
15:32 across those three parcels, would that
15:35 need
15:36 um to have that 20x 5 ft square planting
15:40 area because it looks like it should
15:42 just go straight down
15:45 logically.
15:45 >> Yeah.
15:47 So the
15:50 interim pedestrian and bicycle
15:51 connections would actually be an
15:53 exemption not a deviation. So in this
15:56 case there would not be a landscape
15:58 planner strip.
15:59 >> Great.
16:00 >> Because it's not trying to it's a
16:03 different mechanism. So it's I guess did
16:06 I answer your question?
16:07 >> Yes.
16:08 >> Okay.
16:13 >> Any other questions?
16:20 Okay,
16:23 seeing as there's no more questions,
16:25 thank you, John. Uh, we will open the
16:27 public hearing at 6:48 p.m.
16:33 Um, in one moment I'll ask, it does
16:35 appear we have some people that would
16:36 like to speak. So, just real quickly,
16:39 let me read some boilerplate.
16:42 Uh comments at tonight's meeting may be
16:45 made in person or virtually. For all
16:47 those who would like to speak during
16:49 public comments, we ask that you speak
16:51 clearly and pause frequently and please
16:54 state your name. Uh before you begin to
16:57 speak, if you're attending virtually by
17:00 computer or by phone and would like to
17:02 speak during the public comments, please
17:04 mute your microphone until you have been
17:06 called to speak. If you're having any
17:08 technical issues, you can try joining in
17:10 on another's device such as a smartphone
17:13 or tablet. We do ask people that you
17:15 keep your comments to 5 minutes or less.
17:19 All right,
17:21 staff, do we have I know we have. Who's
17:24 first up to speak?
17:28 >> Chair, no one has signed up to speak.
17:31 >> Oh, okay. Well, I imagine we have some
17:33 people in the room that would like to
17:34 speak. Would anyone like to speak that's
17:37 in the room?
17:42 >> Sure. By all means, please.
17:55 >> My name is Mike Bailey. I live at 275
17:58 East Sunset Way.
18:00 question isn't necessarily about the
18:02 street parts landscaping we're talking
18:04 about tonight. I have some other
18:06 questions about landscaping. When it
18:07 just said landscaping code, I didn't
18:09 understand that was just for street. I
18:10 thought it was going to cover the whole
18:12 landscaping thing. So, I may hold my
18:15 comments until later at the end. Is that
18:17 possible or are you only taking comments
18:19 at this time?
18:20 >> We're only taking comments right now,
18:21 but at the end of the meeting, you're
18:23 more than welcome to reach out to staff
18:25 and talk to them about the issues that
18:27 you have with landscaping.
18:28 >> Thank you.
18:28 >> By all means. Thank you.
18:32 Anyone else in the room? Going once,
18:33 going twice. How about virtually? Do we
18:36 got any takers virtually?
18:37 >> No, chair.
18:38 >> Okay.
18:43 Setting records.
18:45 Okay. We are going to close the public
18:47 hearing at 6:50 p.m. Now, there is a
18:51 formal action requested on this agenda
18:53 item. Is a member of the commission
18:56 willing to make the motion to begin uh
18:59 deliberations?
19:03 Chair Patterson.
19:06 >> Thank you, Chair Voice. I would like to
19:08 move to approve the chapter 18606
19:11 landscaping amendments as presented.
19:15 >> All right. Do we have a second?
19:18 >> Second.
19:19 >> All right. Thank you, Commissioner Oler.
19:21 It's opened up. The floor is yours. Who
19:23 would like to speak on this particular
19:25 topic?
19:29 >> Commissioner Moberu.
19:35 >> I think the lack of public comment
19:37 indicates the support for this for
19:40 voting for this measure.
19:44 >> Thank you, Commissioner Walburu. Um,
19:46 Commissioner Crass.
19:48 >> Uh, thank you, Commissioner Crass. I
19:50 think John did an excellent job both
19:52 today as well as we went through it at
19:54 the end of October and kind of talked
19:57 through a lot of the scenarios. So I
19:59 feel very comfortable moving forward the
20:00 way we have it.
20:03 >> Uh Commissioner Dair.
20:04 >> Yeah, just to it all seems very logical
20:07 to me and I think it's pretty
20:09 straightforward.
20:11 >> Thank you commissioners and I'm getting
20:13 a couple headshakes from other
20:14 commissioners. Uh yeah, what? Oh, I'm
20:18 sorry. Commissioner Zachro. Yes, yes,
20:21 yes. Commissioner Zacharov, please.
20:23 >> Thank you. Thank you guys. I would like
20:25 to say a special thank you to John for
20:27 excellent presentation. This was very
20:29 like u it's great. It's great to see the
20:32 visuals and to understand where exactly
20:35 everything should go and how it's going
20:37 to work. Uh that's probably one of the
20:41 reasons why there are not that many
20:42 questions and people are in agreement
20:44 because thank you. Thank you for great
20:46 presentation. That was my only comment.
20:50 Great comment. Thank you, Commissioner
20:52 Zachar. And I'm sure John likes to hear
20:53 from all of us, too.
20:55 Anything else?
20:58 Yeah, I think to uh Commissioner Molber,
21:01 Commissioner Crass, Commissioner Zachro,
21:03 Commissioner Adair, uh all seems pretty
21:05 logical stuff. These exemptions seem
21:07 needed, makes sense to me. Um just a
21:10 list of priorities. So, I want to say
21:12 thank you. Now, there is a motion on the
21:15 floor. So right now there's no changes
21:18 to that motion.
21:20 So I can just ask for a vote.
21:24 Phone a friend. All in favor of the
21:28 motion on the floor. All in favor say I.
21:32 >> I.
21:32 >> I.
21:32 >> I.
21:34 >> Thank you Commissioner Zacharov. And
21:35 thank you all of you. So that was
21:36 unanimous. That can pass and move along.
21:41 Did you get what you wanted? Good. Okay.
21:47 All right. Thank you, John, again for
21:49 the presentations. Appreciate it.
21:52 And we are now going to move along to
21:54 our next item of regular business.
21:58 And this tonight, we have Stacy Vin
22:01 McKinstry, sustainability manager, and
22:03 she's going to walk us through the isa
22:05 climate action plan. This is an update
22:09 uh with proposed amendments and proposed
22:11 actions. So when Stacy when you are
22:14 ready uh please go ahead. Looks like we
22:18 got some it over there.
22:27 >> Right. Good evening. Thank you very
22:29 much. Uh my name is Stacy Vin McKinstry.
22:31 I'm the sustainability manager with the
22:34 city. Um and tonight we are doing a
22:37 first touch with you all. Um we are in
22:40 the process of updating the climate
22:41 action plan and would like to get some
22:43 initial feedback um to bring back to the
22:46 environmental board as we begin working
22:48 on uh revisions to this plan. Um tonight
22:52 I'll provide a little bit of background
22:54 as well as an update on the climate
22:56 action plan progress and how we're doing
22:58 in terms of implementation and then I
23:00 will review some proposed revisions to
23:03 the land use actions that came out of a
23:05 committee process held this summer.
23:09 Um so following overview of the IAAP
23:11 implementation I'll talk give you a
23:13 little bit more detail around uh the
23:16 process we're using for our update. Um I
23:19 will go through the recommendations that
23:21 came out of committee meetings and I'll
23:23 describe how those committee meetings
23:25 worked as well. Um and that's where we
23:27 really want your feedback. We have, I
23:29 believe it's six actions um that we
23:31 received feedback on related to land use
23:34 and that's where we're really looking
23:35 for your initial input this evening.
23:39 Um it's some of you were probably
23:41 involved in the climate action plan
23:43 process back in 2021. It was uh quite a
23:46 long time ago, but I'm sure some of you
23:48 are probably new to the commission as
23:50 well. So, I wanted to provide a little
23:51 bit of a background. Um, the plan was
23:55 adopted back in December of 2021. Uh, it
23:58 went through about a 9-month process
24:01 around community engagement, a pretty
24:03 intensive process, all done virtually
24:05 during COVID.
24:07 Um, the work that was undertaken was
24:10 really meant to be as inclusive as as
24:13 possible. Uh, given the virtual nature,
24:15 there were many community listening
24:17 sessions. There were focus groups,
24:19 meetings held with youth and businesses
24:21 and environmental leaders. Um, and it
24:24 was really meant to try and represent
24:26 the voices across Isiqua and um, the
24:29 priorities for climate mitigation as
24:32 well as uh, resilience or climate
24:34 adaptation.
24:36 Um, it was really a great achievement
24:38 for the city. It was our first climate
24:40 action plan and it held the city to some
24:43 very bold and ambitious um priorities
24:46 around reducing our greenhouse gas
24:48 emissions and preparing for change.
24:51 We have a number of targets within the
24:54 plan. Some are short-term, some are
24:56 longer term uh that we are implementing
24:59 actions to make toward progress towards
25:01 those targets.
25:06 so and then I did want to just show you
25:08 all um this graphic. This is called a
25:11 wedge analysis. Um this particular one
25:14 was produced through a King County
25:17 report and it's become very common in
25:20 terms of looking at how we're doing um
25:23 and where we need to go. Um what this
25:25 represents
25:27 is um a climate emission scenario. kind
25:30 of the track that we're on right now is
25:32 shown in that black dotted line. Um it
25:35 shows where our targets are, which is
25:37 that red dashed line at the bottom. And
25:40 then the solid colors are showing how
25:43 far we can get from reducing our
25:45 missions with just federal, state, and
25:47 regional policies.
25:49 What's really important for us at the
25:51 city level are those um shaded or dotted
25:54 areas that's showing where we really
25:57 need to be taking action and focusing
25:59 our efforts in terms of reducing
26:02 greenhouse gas emissions. Um this is not
26:05 meant to be prescriptive. It's meant to
26:07 give us a sense of where we should be
26:08 focusing our priorities. Um and for us
26:12 in Isiqua, a lot of that area is around
26:15 um transportation um which uh is
26:19 impacted quite a bit by our land use
26:21 decisions and then buildings looking at
26:23 energy use and buildings. So we use this
26:27 um type of graphic as a bit of a guiding
26:29 uh force as we start to think about our
26:31 plan update and where we want to focus
26:33 our actions.
26:37 Um so just a little bit of where we are
26:39 right now uh with the plan and
26:42 implementing it uh almost four years
26:44 into that process. Um the plan has kind
26:48 of six focus areas within it uh where we
26:51 have goals, targets and actions within
26:54 each of those areas. So the first one is
26:56 called overarching actions that um
26:59 encompasses a lot of our city
27:00 operations. There's actions around
27:02 education and then we have a section
27:05 focused on transportation and land use,
27:07 natural systems and water resources,
27:10 buildings and energy, materials and
27:12 resources and then community well-being
27:14 and resilience.
27:17 We have a very small team working on
27:19 implementation. um started with one
27:21 person, we now have a two-person
27:23 full-time team and then we work with a
27:25 number of interns from Gibson and um as
27:29 well as fellows through Americanore to
27:30 work to implement all of the the
27:32 actions. Um we also work very closely
27:36 across departments at the city to get
27:38 that work done. Um we are proud to share
27:41 that we have about 90% of the actions
27:43 that were identified in that climate
27:45 action plan um they're on track or in
27:48 progress. So they're underway. Maybe
27:50 some slight hurdles or barriers, but for
27:52 the most part, we are able to move
27:54 forward. Um a number most of those
27:56 actions that were in the plan. We have a
27:59 lot of projects and programs underway
28:02 that are helping to reduce emissions in
28:04 our city operations. Um we have a couple
28:06 solar projects that'll be happening
28:08 before the end of the year and next
28:10 year. Um we're increasing energy
28:12 efficiency in our buildings. Um we're
28:14 replacing a lot of our gas heating and
28:18 cooling systems with um heat pumps or
28:21 electric systems. Um and then we're
28:23 helping green our fleet at the city. Um
28:26 we're helping the community to do
28:28 similar. Um we have a number of
28:30 community programs looking at um
28:33 providing significant rebates for heat
28:35 pumps. We've run solar campaigns. Um,
28:38 and we work with our commercial
28:39 buildings to help them meet energy
28:42 efficiency requirements.
28:45 So, we're doing all this work, um, which
28:47 is great, and we've been able to secure,
28:50 uh, quite a bit of money, uh, primarily
28:52 from the state and the state's climate
28:53 commitment act. Um, but our progress in
28:58 terms of how we're doing at reducing
28:59 greenhouse gas emissions is showing that
29:02 we're not on track to meet those targets
29:04 that we set. Um, so we had some uh
29:07 really great actions in that first plan,
29:09 but they may not have taken us far
29:11 enough to really make progress at
29:13 reducing emissions. So that is something
29:15 that we're looking at um are very
29:17 focused on for this next iteration of
29:19 the climate plan.
29:24 So as we approach um the 5-year mark of
29:27 the climate plan, um it is due for an
29:30 update in 2026. We've started that
29:33 process early. Uh we had some grant
29:35 funding that we could use back in the
29:38 spring that was able to bring on some
29:40 facilitation support.
29:42 Um and we also knew that we wanted to
29:45 finish this update ahead of the city's
29:47 next budget cycle uh which really kicks
29:49 off um by next summer. Um so we've
29:52 started this process a little bit early
29:54 with the goal of having an updated
29:55 climate plan by June of 26. Um and our
29:59 approach approach for the update is
30:01 really three-fold.
30:03 Um we're looking back at our experience
30:05 implementing the plan over the last few
30:06 years. Um identifying what types of
30:09 actions um and policies we think can
30:12 really help us uh make greater progress
30:14 towards our targets. Uh we're reviewing
30:17 other jurisdictions plans. So Belleview
30:20 is currently going through a climate
30:21 plan update. Um Redmond as well. Um,
30:24 other jurisdictions such as Bellingham
30:26 and King County have just uh wrapped up
30:29 some their plan updates. So, we have a
30:31 lot of great lessons to learn from them.
30:34 And then we knew there was a couple
30:36 areas of the climate plan that we wanted
30:37 to dig in deeper. And one of those was
30:40 around land use actions. And so, we
30:42 formed a number of committees back in
30:45 the spring to bring in subject matter
30:47 experts and really help advise us on how
30:50 we might revise those actions.
30:54 um those committees
30:56 uh were focused on land use and
30:58 transportation
31:00 um and natural systems and water
31:02 resources.
31:04 So we brought in members of our boards
31:06 and commissions um staff from across
31:10 multiple departments um in the snowcom
31:12 tribe also participated.
31:15 Uh there were only two meetings. One of
31:17 the meetings the committees met together
31:20 and then split uh in the middle of that
31:22 meeting to talk about their priorities
31:24 and then in the second meeting um the
31:27 committees met just to focus on their
31:29 area of expertise.
31:31 They shared goals um objectives for
31:35 updating the actions in that area of the
31:37 plan. Um they looked at what the current
31:39 actions were in the plan. They looked at
31:42 uh other plans and examples our
31:44 consultants had pulled in. um and then
31:47 they provided back feedback.
31:51 Um so this is just a snapshot of those
31:53 committee members. Again, this is um or
31:55 this is the combined between those two
31:58 groups, the land use and transportation
32:00 and the natural systems. So we had um
32:02 quite a few folks participating across
32:05 those and we did have um Katya
32:07 representative of the planning policy
32:09 commission participate.
32:15 So next I wanted to just provide a
32:17 highlevel summary of the recommendations
32:20 that came out of the land use and
32:22 transportation
32:24 committee. Um and then what I'll move
32:26 into is I would um really appreciate
32:29 kind of a reflection on what you all um
32:32 heard um or or what the committee shared
32:35 um and your own thoughts or reactions
32:37 and reflection on that. and then we'll
32:40 move into specific actions where there
32:42 was a recommendation coming out of the
32:44 committee discussion and we would like
32:46 your feedback on those recommendations.
32:50 So for our land use it was a combined
32:52 land use and transportation committee.
32:55 Um they looked at the actions in the
32:58 plan related mostly around adoption of
33:01 ebikes, electric vehicles and land use.
33:05 They really stressed a desire for
33:07 flexibility in terms of implementation.
33:10 Um looked at a stronger focus on
33:12 pedestrian safety and wanted um more
33:15 outcomebased metrics in the climate
33:17 plan. They felt that many of the land
33:20 use related actions had already been
33:22 covered through the recent or semi-reent
33:25 title 18 land use code update. Um as
33:28 well as implementation of the mobility
33:30 action plan. There was some concerns
33:33 voiced in the committee about too many
33:36 actions in the climate plan um also
33:38 existing in the mobility action plan and
33:40 other plans across the city.
33:44 They did express a real strong support
33:46 for expanding bike and ebike
33:48 infrastructure
33:50 um ensuring community engagement to
33:52 understand barriers to bike adoption. uh
33:55 tracking uh vehicle mile miles traveled
33:58 impacts and ensuring that any plans for
34:03 expanded biking infrastructure were
34:05 really forward-looking and aligning with
34:07 our unique community needs.
34:10 They supported incentivizing EV
34:12 infrastructure, particularly within
34:14 multifamily dwellings, and we'll talk
34:17 about that in a moment. um and uh really
34:21 wanted to see the city play a role in um
34:24 helping connect our utility um with a
34:27 multifamily developments or dwellings um
34:30 to ensure that there is capacity to
34:32 address uh uh increasing EV charging
34:35 needs. So there was a lot of focus on
34:38 transportation um but of course uh
34:40 that's very directly related to our land
34:42 use.
34:45 So um as mentioned what I would like to
34:49 do now with that kind of history of the
34:51 IAP where we are um hearing a little bit
34:54 about what came out of those committee
34:56 discussions was first just get some
34:58 general feedback on what are your all
35:00 priorities for land use actions in the
35:03 updated climate plan and then we'll go
35:06 through a few specific actions uh where
35:09 we have a recommendation and we would um
35:12 appreciate your reflection.
35:15 Um, again, this is just a first review.
35:18 Um, what we will do then is take any of
35:21 your feedback we hear tonight to the
35:22 environmental board. They'll digest that
35:25 a bit. We'll continue to revise the
35:27 actions and then we would likely come
35:29 back to you all in early 26 with any
35:32 actions that have a policy implication
35:35 around land use. So, it's a bit of a
35:37 iterative process.
35:40 So any questions before we move to
35:42 general feedback?
35:45 >> Okay, great. All right, let's jump in.
35:48 So yeah, again, we just really really
35:51 appreciate any of your feedback um from
35:53 the summary of the committee input as
35:55 well as in general any priorities you
35:57 have for updates to land use actions in
36:00 the climate plan.
36:02 >> All right. Well, thank you uh Miss
36:05 McKinstry. We'll begin with uh general
36:08 feedback. So again, just ultimate
36:10 feelings about um the process about IAP
36:13 in general and then we'll get to a
36:14 little bit more
36:16 uh specifics here momentarily. Yeah,
36:20 there we go.
36:21 >> Is that a hand I see?
36:22 >> Yes.
36:23 >> Okay. Two hands.
36:24 >> Mulberu.
36:25 >> Okay. First, um we attempted to bring an
36:29 EV charging station to Gilman Village.
36:32 What we found, and I don't know if
36:34 you're aware of it, yes. In the older
36:36 part of town, there is a lack of
36:37 electric capa electricity capacity.
36:41 Puget
36:42 power, I think it is
36:44 >> Puget Sound, PSSE, I I don't live in
36:46 Isiqua, sorry. PSSE uh said it was very
36:50 clear they did not and they attempted to
36:53 they they required the the uh provider
36:57 we were working with to do a major uh
37:00 infrastructure and it killed the deal.
37:02 So just so you understand PSSE does not
37:06 have the capacity in the bulk of Isiqua
37:08 for electric charging stations.
37:11 So um and this is critical and they seem
37:15 disinterested in doing anything. They
37:17 don't have the money. The second
37:19 question I have is what is the plan B?
37:24 the uh the previous governor sort of saw
37:27 himself as the environmental that was
37:29 his um take on who he wanted to be and
37:34 our state uh even before the federal
37:37 cuts was facing I think was an enormous
37:41 budget deficit.
37:43 It uh it appears the current governor
37:46 has a very different um list of of
37:50 things he sees as important. what is
37:52 your plan B for dealing with that?
37:55 >> Yeah. So, I think um in terms of there's
37:59 a bigger picture, but in terms of
38:01 funding city work and doing projects in
38:03 Isiqua, we're um very fortunate that the
38:06 Climate Commitment Act was um upheld.
38:10 And so that provides not only a lot of
38:12 funding for city projects, partner
38:15 projects, but also will be providing
38:18 additional um rebates and incentives to
38:22 um community members. And so we partner
38:25 as much as we can, whether that's with
38:26 departments or the school district or
38:29 the library to uh work on pursuing those
38:31 grant opportunities so that we can bring
38:33 projects to our community. So what
38:36 happens if you the grants don't exist in
38:40 the in the next bienium there are going
38:42 to be severe cuts to most services. What
38:45 do you guys intend to do if those things
38:48 simply if there are no if there are no
38:50 funds available?
38:51 >> Right. Yeah. So we will as um our city
38:54 budget allows we'll continue to fund
38:56 projects and prioritize those within uh
38:59 the funds that our program um has a say
39:02 in. Um, a lot of what we are likely
39:04 going to be focusing on for this plan
39:07 update is work continuing to work with
39:09 the community business owners to help
39:11 change behavior, access rebates and
39:13 incentives through the utility um, and
39:16 pursue um, making sure that the
39:19 community understands this is a
39:20 communitywide plan. The city can't be
39:22 doing this alone, but really working
39:23 with our communities to to take that
39:25 action. Um, and that's what we would um,
39:28 appreciate feedback on is how how do we
39:31 reflect that in the plan um, and
39:34 identify actions where we can really see
39:36 that behavior change. Um, and did want
39:38 to just recognize the concerns around
39:40 the electrical capacity and grid and we
39:43 will be acknowledging those concerns in
39:46 the plan and calling on that strong
39:48 partnership with PSSE.
39:53 >> All right. Thank you. Uh, Commissioner
39:55 Millander Irwin, is that a red mic? Is
39:57 that a hot mic?
39:58 >> It is. It is. Chair Voice. Um, I just
40:01 have a a perspective um as a manager in
40:04 a multifamily uh community, specifically
40:07 a large scale uh condominium property.
40:10 The PSC process for EV for multifamilies
40:14 is very um cumbersome
40:16 >> and with an older established community,
40:19 without a doubt, we do have a challenge
40:21 with electrical capacity. So in my
40:24 estimation it appears that there are
40:26 probably two tracks to be considered for
40:29 EVs in multifamily. So one would be
40:32 directly to uh developers. So as they're
40:35 developing a um a community that
40:38 electrical capacity is being addressed
40:40 immediately
40:41 um as the community is being built and
40:45 um EV is made as part of that that
40:47 entire process. Um that seems to be the
40:50 easier lift. I think the challenging
40:52 aspect are older larges scale
40:54 communities or even smaller scale
40:56 communities that are wanting to have um
40:59 EV in their communities but simply don't
41:01 have the wherewithal. So I think a uh I
41:04 think a wholesome kind of a a plan to
41:07 address that to make um EV more
41:10 accessible for multifamily communities
41:13 um beyond what uh PSSE offers is is
41:16 really I think a need that should be
41:18 addressed.
41:19 >> Great. Great. That's great feedback. We
41:22 do have a specific action. We can talk a
41:24 little bit more about that, but I'm
41:25 hearing kind of those two tracks for new
41:27 development and existing.
41:29 >> Thank you.
41:30 >> Um, let's move on to let's let everybody
41:32 speak. Uh, Commissioner Zachro.
41:36 >> Thank you. Well, I would like to support
41:38 Commissioner Milinder Irvin because I'm
41:40 also representing a multif family uh
41:43 community and we also had a
41:45 communication with PSC and this is
41:47 something that I have mentioned at the
41:49 IAP meetings as well. Uh some of the
41:51 programs that PSE is offering uh they
41:55 are not getting very popular and not
41:58 getting very popular because we actually
42:00 we touched them twice and those were
42:02 programs that would not really work for
42:04 communities. So there's some more
42:06 communication has to be uh taken with
42:10 the PSE regarding what programs they're
42:12 offering and what actually those
42:13 programs doing for existing communities
42:16 uh not just newly built communities. So
42:18 we actually need the upgrade of our grid
42:20 in the community and we kind of like
42:24 there there might be different
42:25 initiatives that I made. Uh that is the
42:28 first thing. Another thing is of course
42:29 I've had a lot of conversations in the
42:31 past months about our climate action
42:33 plan and the uh education of the major
42:38 contributors to our emissions which are
42:42 the residents of the city and uh well
42:45 cars and uh buildings are the major
42:48 major contributors. So residents need to
42:51 understand what role they're actually
42:52 playing and not many people really think
42:55 about that and not many people know what
42:57 they can do uh to make things better.
43:01 And then another thing that I would
43:03 really like us to think about, it's not
43:07 only rebates or tax rebates that are
43:10 important because many people cannot
43:12 simply afford uh upgrading their uh
43:18 upgrading their buildings or upgrading
43:19 their cars. So there's some programs
43:22 should be there for grants. And going
43:24 back to uh uh Commissioner Maul's
43:28 comment, we do not currently probably
43:30 have uh funds for that. So we need to be
43:34 uh creative. So those are my comments
43:37 and those comments. I think I had very
43:39 similar comments during the IP meeting.
43:41 So I just wanted to repeat that one for
43:43 the commission. Thank you.
43:45 >> Thank you, Commissioner Zack Ruff.
43:46 Commissioner Kra.
43:48 >> Hi. Um u mine's I have a question. Um
43:51 there's two projects being built. Um
43:55 they're both town houses. One's 19
43:57 units, one's 29 units. They're both down
44:00 near the Safeway
44:01 >> and they're nice. They're all between a
44:03 million and a million and a half
44:04 dollars. So do we have any learning? Do
44:06 we know if they're doing EV charging in
44:08 those? And if so, what learnings do we
44:11 have that um tipped the developers to
44:16 say yes, it's worth building this into
44:18 the cost structure? Um, I think one of
44:21 them even had it on a sign saying EV
44:23 ready. I wasn't sure if that meant they
44:24 just put a plug in there or they did
44:26 something special. So, any learnings
44:28 that we have of the things that are kind
44:29 of currently in the process, albeit at
44:31 the higher end, may help understand what
44:34 what the market will take care of um or
44:37 how that that process works so far.
44:39 >> That's a good question. I don't know
44:40 specific to that project. I'll look to
44:43 >> your staff leaison. Yeah, that's over on
44:45 over on seventh.
44:47 >> Um and one on seventh.
44:49 >> There's one on seventh and then there's
44:51 one right near the school. The one in
44:52 the school is 29 units, right?
44:54 >> And then the one um on seventh I think
44:57 is 19. Yeah.
44:58 >> Wow. They move fast, too. I'm very
45:00 impressed.
45:01 >> Yeah, they did. They they move very
45:02 fast. Um they are required. There are
45:05 two different levels of EV,
45:07 >> and I can't recall. One is to be EV
45:10 ready. So you can go in and just plug it
45:11 in. You're you're ready to go. And the
45:13 other we had a long conversation about
45:15 this.
45:16 >> But the EV I'm curious.
45:18 >> And then there's the EV.
45:20 >> Is EV ready? Give some definitions if
45:22 you can. Does that mean a plug a 240
45:24 plug or is that
45:25 >> one? One means that you can come and
45:27 it's it's set up so that you can come
45:28 and install the plugs. The other one
45:30 actually installs the plug for you. It's
45:32 ready to go. But I believe that right
45:34 now our multif family projects, our new
45:36 multif family projects are required to
45:37 be the ones that you can in you can set
45:40 it up. It doesn't have the plug in
45:43 there.
45:43 >> You'd be ready,
45:44 >> but you'd be ready,
45:45 >> right? It's like the the plugs and all
45:47 the the conduit and everything's already
45:49 in the walls.
45:50 >> And then like you said, the there's like
45:52 three tiers from what I remember and
45:54 then the actual one where the plug is in
45:56 the wall.
45:56 >> Exactly. So they're not required to have
45:58 the plug in the wall. They're required
45:59 to be EV ready.
46:00 >> Right. I'm just curious, not just what's
46:02 required, but what they're doing because
46:04 it'd be interesting to see if they say,
46:05 "Wow, our customers want this. We're
46:07 building this in. Sure, it may cost an
46:09 extra $500 when we're building out the
46:12 garage to have the two
46:13 >> the city had really high requirements
46:17 that exceeded the state. The state got
46:19 ahead for the EV ready and then we've
46:22 caught up to the state. And so I think
46:24 that will be a question. Um and we have
46:26 a proposed action is do we increase even
46:29 further the requirement for multifamily
46:32 in particular to get at that new
46:34 development. Um and that could be either
46:37 um EV ready which is you just need to
46:40 install the charger. There's also the
46:41 third um option which is EV capable um
46:45 where I believe just the conduit is in.
46:47 Uh Redmond passed a 100% EV ready
46:51 requirement. Uh I believe it went into
46:54 effect in July. So, we're curious to see
46:56 lessons learned from that. So, I don't
46:58 know those two projects how far they've
47:00 exceeded the state and city requirement,
47:02 but
47:03 >> we can look. There are requirements. But
47:05 your second question is interesting. You
47:07 know, you're wondering if they're EV
47:08 capable, how many have actually gone in
47:10 and and employed that. And our code
47:12 hasn't been in place long enough to be
47:14 able to go back and and find out. But I
47:16 think that's a really interesting
47:17 question.
47:17 >> If you don't mind, a couple other
47:19 questions on this topic because it help
47:20 with our learning.
47:22 >> Can I continue? Can I can I speak?
47:24 >> Oh, this is just a follow. This is this
47:26 is related to that same question.
47:27 >> All right. And then I want to make sure
47:28 we get to Commissioner Matthews and
47:30 Commissioner Mayor before we start.
47:31 >> I think it's valuable to say yes, we
47:33 understand what the requirements are. I
47:35 think the things we it'd be great to
47:37 find out from the from the city talking
47:40 to the developers are what are they
47:42 doing? Are they doing above on that? And
47:45 then
47:46 >> are they um and if they can give any
47:49 information of what the extra cost was.
47:50 So I think those are help influence when
47:52 we start making decisions of what we
47:54 require a developer either for um multif
47:58 family or single family understanding
48:00 what's already been happening what the
48:01 costs and the decisions I think that
48:03 would be helpful.
48:07 >> Thank you Commissioner Crass. I want to
48:08 make sure everybody gets the opportunity
48:10 to talk. Clearly there's some people
48:11 that are very passionate about this but
48:12 let's make sure we get everybody in the
48:14 conversation. Commissioner Oler,
48:17 Commissioner Matthews, Commissioner
48:18 Derek. We haven't heard any of you
48:19 speak. Would any of you like to speak on
48:21 this?
48:22 >> All right, we see Commissioner Derek
48:24 grabbed it first. She's got a hot mic.
48:26 >> So, this is not EV related, but I just
48:28 wanted to uh ask and maybe bring to your
48:30 attention the adoption of solar by
48:33 commercial. Uh, one thing from when I
48:36 moved, we had in LA a lot of commercial
48:40 buildings putting solar panels over
48:43 their parking lot, which kind of served
48:45 a double service, right? They provided
48:47 energy and they also protected from the
48:49 rain and the elements. So, and it just
48:51 occurs to me there's a lot of commercial
48:53 buildings with a lot of flat roofs. So,
48:55 that just might be something to look at
48:57 and investigate and see if we can
48:59 explore.
49:00 >> Yeah. And not only the protection from
49:02 the elements, they're a great cooling
49:04 mechanism and help reduce that urban
49:06 heat island. So, yeah, that's something
49:08 we're definitely interested in. So,
49:09 yeah.
49:11 >> All right. Uh let's go with Commissioner
49:12 Matthews and we'll round it out with
49:14 you, Commissioner. Um, I'm going to go
49:16 off of uh Milner, Commissioner Milner
49:19 and Zagarov regarding the multif family
49:22 existing units. The electrical capacity
49:25 may not be the only limitation. They may
49:27 not have spots.
49:28 >> You know, there may be visitor spot
49:31 limitations. Um, since there's so many
49:33 condo units or multi-family housings
49:37 close together, I was wondering if there
49:39 was a way where they could share like
49:41 cuz they obviously these HOAs probably
49:44 don't talk to each other, but it may be
49:46 an opportunity to use shared street
49:50 frontage or something where they could
49:51 actually share in the cost because it
49:54 can be very expensive to bring,
49:57 you know, sorry, extra electrical into
50:01 an existing complex but may not on the
50:03 street. So that might be something to to
50:05 think about is having them share cost
50:07 and actually do it street frontage
50:09 instead of within a complex.
50:11 >> Yeah, it's a great suggestion.
50:13 >> Thank you.
50:14 >> Yeah,
50:15 >> thank you Commissioner Eer. Uh just to
50:19 build on uh Commissioner Matthews
50:21 comment, I I think geographical
50:23 distribution is essential. And so, you
50:27 know, we don't want to have three or
50:29 four developments within a very tightly
50:32 uh tight geographical area all with EVs
50:35 and then have another portion of the
50:37 city where it's basically an EV desert.
50:41 Um the other point I wanted to make was
50:44 just from an anecdotal standpoint. I
50:46 read recently that EV sales have started
50:49 to taper off and I don't know whether
50:51 that's something that we are able to
50:53 measure locally but generally on a
50:57 national basis when the uh tax credits
51:01 go away
51:02 >> um it's important I I think to not get
51:05 ahead of ourselves and have so many
51:08 charging stations and so few cars or
51:11 trucks that are actually using them.
51:14 >> Great.
51:14 >> Thank you. Yeah, that's a great point.
51:16 And there is data from the state. We can
51:18 track sales um and by zip code. So, I
51:22 haven't looked at it since the federal
51:23 rebate ended at the end of September,
51:25 but that's something we'll keep a close
51:26 eye on. Thank you. Yeah, great point.
51:32 >> All right. And Chair Patterson, we
51:34 haven't heard from you. Would you like
51:35 to speak?
51:37 >> Vice Chair, don't try and give me your
51:38 your role.
51:41 Uh thank you so much, Chair Voice. Uh
51:44 couple of things. one on the EV one that
51:46 you just kind of pinged me my brain on
51:48 was um I have noticed an increase in
51:50 charging station banks across Isqua like
51:53 parking lot uh where there's multiple
51:55 charging stations that might be
51:56 something to take into consideration is
51:59 uh maybe distance from one of those
52:00 larger installments based on how we
52:02 would judge the criteria for for
52:05 charging units at maybe a multif family.
52:08 Um the other thing I want to bring up is
52:10 also a little bit anecdotal uh but it's
52:12 regarding uh 2.4 for and uh land use
52:16 codes to promote multimmodal
52:17 transportation. Uh one thing I've
52:20 recently observed is in multif family
52:22 developments in Newcastle and Redmond is
52:26 >> um condos, town houses, uh apartments
52:29 that have a bike storage room. So if you
52:31 imagine you go in, there's like two
52:32 racks stacked on top of each other with
52:34 multiple uh slots to park a bike. Um, as
52:37 someone that lives in a condo with mine
52:39 mounted on a wall, I think that having
52:41 the opportunity to store them in a room
52:43 meant for that where they're not only
52:45 secure but easily accessible and not in
52:47 your living space, uh, would be a great
52:50 opportunity. Um, and one thing that I
52:52 thought from a land use perspective is I
52:54 believe we recently discussed the need
52:56 for shared recreational space, if that's
52:59 correct. Uh maybe that's an opportunity
53:02 to make those part of that um area
53:05 square footage that's required for that.
53:09 >> Excellent. Thank you, Vice Chair
53:11 Patterson.
53:12 >> And I'll just briefly say that uh yeah,
53:14 I know these are a little bit it seems
53:16 we've zeroed in on our favorite topic,
53:18 but uh we'll be getting Yeah, we'll
53:19 we'll definitely get there. But I know I
53:21 applaud the work you guys are done and
53:23 and again I I know a lot of work has
53:25 gone into IAP. Um, yeah, I'll I'll have
53:28 a little bit more to say when we
53:29 actually start going down the list.
53:31 >> But again, I applaud all the work you
53:32 guys have done and I'm looking forward
53:34 to even more conversations. Now, we're
53:36 going to I'll go around the horn again
53:38 to uh let anybody else continue to
53:40 speak. Again, we're trying to keep these
53:42 general. Uh we're going to get all the
53:44 opportunity in the world to drill down
53:45 on this, but general. And then I would
53:48 ask that when you are done speaking,
53:49 please turn off your microphone. That
53:51 way when I don't have to hear people
53:52 breathe. Okay. Commissioner Mu.
53:56 >> Okay. When we talk about capacity,
53:58 there's another point to be made here.
54:00 And that is when we had the extreme heat
54:02 about two years ago. Gilman Village was
54:06 shut down, we had no power on two
54:09 Sundays. Now, I believe that it was
54:12 because of the amount of air
54:15 conditioning that was used in that part
54:17 of the grid.
54:19 I believe that with all of the
54:21 additional electrical requirements that
54:24 we run the risk of damaging the amount
54:27 of commerce that's being done and I can
54:29 tell you the city of Isiqua loses a fair
54:32 amount of sales tax when businesses
54:35 cannot operate on a Sunday
54:37 >> and I think that needs to be considered.
54:45 >> Thank you, Commissioner Molber. Uh
54:47 again, any other general comments and
54:49 then we'll start drilling down on
54:51 everything.
54:54 That's okay, Commissioner there.
54:58 >> Okay, this might not be the
54:59 jurisdiction, so feel free to correct
55:01 me, but I just want to put on the radar.
55:03 I love electric bikes. My husband loves
55:06 his electric bike, but there is a lot of
55:09 misuse of electric bikes right now.
55:11 Also, just to put on the radar that we
55:12 should also be concurrently developing
55:15 perhaps regulations around the use of
55:18 electric bikes and perhaps the age of
55:21 people riding electric bikes. That's
55:23 all.
55:24 >> You are not alone. That was quite a
55:27 discussion both at TAB and the
55:28 environmental board and incorporating a
55:31 saf safety aspect into any actions
55:33 around ebikes and there's language
55:35 working its way through council as well
55:37 around that. Yeah, I feel like we had a
55:39 conversation about ebikes and we were
55:41 talking a little bit about how you
55:42 regulate these things. Again, they're
55:44 they're new phenomena, but yeah, having
55:46 people, you know, going 15 miles per
55:48 hour, people are walking, uh, you know,
55:51 could be quite dangerous. And then also
55:52 people leaving them areas, you know,
55:54 leaving them inappropriately. How do you
55:55 keep them? You see some of the line
55:57 bikes in Seattle that have been
55:58 vandalized. So, yeah, clearly that's
56:01 going to end up being on staff's work
56:03 plate one day.
56:04 >> Yep. Just anecdotally, someone almost
56:06 hit my 5-year-old going like 25 miles
56:09 per hour in front of the community
56:11 center and then it happened to someone
56:12 else's 5-year-old, too. So, it's
56:15 >> Yeah.
56:16 >> Yeah.
56:18 >> It's not even just the ebikes. That's
56:19 right. Some of those uh What are the
56:21 other things? The scooters and the other
56:22 things that
56:23 >> Yeah. No, they they move pretty quick.
56:25 >> Yeah.
56:26 >> So, agreed. All right. any other general
56:31 um conversation point points to offer
56:35 now I believe we're going to get into
56:37 some specifics.
56:38 >> Great. You all have teed up most of what
56:40 we're going to discuss the rest of the
56:42 night and again this is kind of a first
56:44 touch getting those initial reactions
56:46 feedback um and then any actions related
56:50 to policy code change we would be
56:53 bringing those back for further review.
56:55 Um so what we've done here is we prevent
56:58 presented kind of a summary of what the
57:00 current action is and then what the
57:02 recommendation or potential
57:03 recommendation is for a change. Um so
57:06 the first action that focused on kind of
57:09 land use transportation was looking at
57:12 incentivizing dense mixeduse transit
57:14 oriented development. I think a lot of
57:16 the committee discussion felt that um
57:19 this had been accomplished in some ways
57:21 in the title 18 update and there was a
57:24 recommendation to maybe step back and
57:27 instead have some more general language
57:30 that looked across um not just uh these
57:35 specific topics currently identified in
57:37 the action, but across city code in
57:39 general and making sure that there's
57:41 kind of a climate advocate um or lens
57:45 that's applied to those city codes. So,
57:47 it'd be a little bit more of a general
57:49 statement about ensuring that climate,
57:52 sustainability, environmental protection
57:53 are considered in those city codes um
57:56 and holding staff accountable to working
57:58 with our planning department and other
58:00 departments to ensure that um happens.
58:03 So, that that was a recommendation to
58:05 kind of take a step back um not a step
58:08 back, but a step up I guess and look a
58:10 little more broadly at what this action
58:12 was. So just curious for any reactions
58:16 to that concerns.
58:18 >> All right. Again, we want to try and do
58:19 a roundroin, but uh Okay, let's let's go
58:21 this way, right? So, let's start with uh
58:24 Commissioner Crass. We can come back to
58:26 >> Okay,
58:27 >> I'll be
58:29 um so I agree with the view, but I do
58:33 have a question on how you measure.
58:36 >> So, you went from things that are
58:37 measurable to words that are not
58:40 measurable, or maybe you have some ideas
58:41 on that. So, if you could share how you
58:44 could say, "Yeah, we did a good job
58:46 because we hit A, B, and C." What are
58:48 your thoughts on that?
58:49 >> Yeah, great question. Um, we are
58:51 actually going to have another committee
58:52 forming that's going to be focused on
58:54 metrics. Um, and one thing we've talked
58:57 about is for each of the focus areas
59:00 such as land use and transportation,
59:02 instead of having a metric tied to each
59:05 individual action, we may be considering
59:08 a set of metrics that looks overall at
59:10 how those actions are being implemented.
59:13 Um but for this one in particular, it
59:16 could look at if um title 18 is updated,
59:20 were there specific actions that
59:23 strengthened the climate lens such as um
59:26 when we revisit the um sustainable
59:29 building requirements and kind of what
59:31 that process and and progress that we
59:33 made in those updates would be one way
59:35 to measure this. But we will be um
59:38 developing those metrics uh in the
59:41 coming months as we shape the actions.
59:46 >> Commissioner Olner,
59:49 Commissioner Matthews,
59:51 Commissioner Millander,
59:53 Commissioner Adair, Commissioner
59:56 Molberu,
59:58 Vice Chair Patterson.
1:00:03 I know that was a co-chair.
1:00:13 All right, Vice Chair Patterson,
1:00:15 nothing.
1:00:17 >> See what happens when you miss one
1:00:18 meeting.
1:00:20 >> Okay. All right. Um, were you able to
1:00:23 get what you needed?
1:00:24 >> Yeah, I think Stacy,
1:00:25 >> just potentially some concern that it
1:00:27 might not be measurable, maybe too
1:00:29 general. So, just being cautious if we
1:00:31 do look at revising this um and that we
1:00:34 have something that we could show
1:00:35 progress on essentially. So, yeah.
1:00:38 >> Oh, and I apologize, Commissioner
1:00:41 Zacharov. I I you know, you're this big
1:00:44 on my screen and so I often miss miss to
1:00:49 call on you, but did you want to mention
1:00:50 anything? I know you don't have the
1:00:52 Simpson hand up. Okay,
1:00:54 >> no problem. No problem.
1:00:56 >> Okay, thank you, Katya. Uh okay, let's
1:00:59 move on to the next point.
1:01:00 >> Great.
1:01:02 >> All right. And then um the next action
1:01:05 was very focused on um incorporating
1:01:08 sustainable design standards in city
1:01:10 code. We did that through the title 18
1:01:12 update. Uh we incorporated a lead
1:01:15 platinum requirement for buildings of a
1:01:17 certain size. Um there is a commitment
1:01:20 by the city to revisit that. um that's
1:01:22 on the work plan where I think in
1:01:24 particular we're looking at expanding
1:01:27 certification opportunities recognizing
1:01:30 lead is one way to certify a sustainable
1:01:33 building. There are others some that are
1:01:34 less expensive than that process. So
1:01:37 we'll be um having those discussions in
1:01:40 the new year. Um and so we felt that
1:01:42 this had been essentially accomplished
1:01:46 um and is already planned for
1:01:47 improvements next year. Um and so one of
1:01:50 the recommendations was that the if we
1:01:52 were to generalize that previous action
1:01:56 um this would be considered as part of
1:01:58 that. So as we're going through any
1:02:01 other additional improvements to title
1:02:03 18 we'd be making sure that there's a
1:02:05 strong climate sustainability uh lens
1:02:07 applied to those updates.
1:02:12 >> All right we can start at the other end
1:02:13 of the bench this time. Commissioner
1:02:15 Malberu.
1:02:18 Okay. Commissioner Adair, Commissioner
1:02:21 Miller Irwin.
1:02:23 >> All right. Commissioner Matthews,
1:02:25 >> Commissioner Oler. There we go. There's
1:02:27 a comment.
1:02:28 >> There we go. Uh I I support the notion
1:02:31 of having alternative uh measures other
1:02:34 than lead
1:02:35 >> uh platinum. We're going through this
1:02:37 with the food bank now and it's, you
1:02:40 know, we're nonprofit uh trying to
1:02:42 develop a property and serve clients in
1:02:45 the community. uh and lead is uh an
1:02:48 expense a significant one given the the
1:02:51 scale of the project. So I I support
1:02:53 that notion.
1:02:54 >> Thank you.
1:02:56 >> Thank you, Commissioner Oler. Uh
1:02:58 Commissioner Crass, Vice Chair
1:03:00 Patterson.
1:03:04 >> Okay, I'll just double down on uh
1:03:06 Commissioner Oler's comment. Yeah,
1:03:07 there's there's different avenues to get
1:03:09 where we want to go. So again, having an
1:03:11 expanded uh template that people can
1:03:14 choose different ways to get that
1:03:15 certification or get a similar
1:03:18 certification makes sense to me.
1:03:19 >> Mhm. Great.
1:03:20 >> So
1:03:21 >> I know you all just want to get to EV
1:03:23 charging and multif family and ebikes.
1:03:25 >> There's more. There's more to
1:03:26 >> almost there.
1:03:28 Okay.
1:03:29 >> Um I think this one and then we'll we'll
1:03:31 get into those. Um so we have a current
1:03:34 action 2.4 that's focused. Uh oh, I I
1:03:39 think I actually skipped one. Sorry. Um
1:03:41 that's focused on implementing the
1:03:42 missing middle housing ordinance. Um
1:03:45 there was a recommendation to maybe
1:03:48 consider that a little bit more broadly
1:03:51 around language that cons improves
1:03:53 density walkability
1:03:55 um as it relates to uh benefiting uh
1:03:58 climate mitigation.
1:04:00 And then or another option would be just
1:04:03 to continue to emphasize the need to
1:04:05 implement the current ordinance. So,
1:04:07 kind of mixed uh mixed feelings uh mixed
1:04:11 reactions that we had to any revisions
1:04:13 to this this action, but curious if you
1:04:15 all feel like um we should continue to
1:04:18 advance an action around implementing
1:04:19 missing building missile missing middle
1:04:22 housing um or if you think there's an
1:04:24 improvement we could make on that
1:04:25 action.
1:04:28 All right,
1:04:30 send it back the other way if Vice Chair
1:04:32 Patterson
1:04:35 and you can you can always come back if
1:04:36 you don't have something when we
1:04:37 >> Yeah, go ahead and come back to me. I'm
1:04:38 thinking how to phrase this for sure.
1:04:41 Uh, Commissioner Crass, Commissioner
1:04:44 Oler, Commissioner Matthews,
1:04:47 Commissioner Miller Irwin,
1:04:49 >> Commissioner Dair.
1:04:51 >> Yeah. So, just I agree with the idea
1:04:54 that we should be um prioritizing
1:04:56 walkability over the missing middle
1:04:59 housing because I feel like we're we've
1:05:01 covered middle housing pretty well a
1:05:03 lot. So, anything we can do to improve
1:05:06 safety and walkability is great.
1:05:10 >> Commissioner Molaru
1:05:13 Commission, I I support Commissioner
1:05:15 Dar's position.
1:05:16 >> Okay.
1:05:18 Uh, anyone like the opportunity to go?
1:05:20 Vice Chair Patterson.
1:05:22 >> All right. I'm going to try and say this
1:05:24 eloquently. Uh, obviously, as you
1:05:26 mentioned, we're big fans of missing
1:05:28 middle here. We've talked about a lot in
1:05:29 the last couple years. Um, personally, I
1:05:32 feel like in this document and this
1:05:34 topic, it feels a little out of place to
1:05:36 get to to that level. I think when we're
1:05:39 talking about missing middle in this
1:05:40 context, we're talking about
1:05:42 sustainability, walkability. I feel like
1:05:44 that's covered in other places. like
1:05:46 that should apply to all of our housing,
1:05:48 not just mi the middle housing. Um, so I
1:05:52 don't know if there's a way to combine
1:05:53 that. Like I think middle housing has
1:05:55 more to do with like affordability and
1:05:58 um the volume of housing available
1:06:01 versus specifying middle housing in the
1:06:05 climate action plan. So I think in
1:06:08 summary, I guess uh being able to just
1:06:11 fold that into the other actions as like
1:06:13 another type of housing that we want to
1:06:16 apply those uh sustainability and and
1:06:19 other requirements versus separating it
1:06:22 >> Okay, great. Yeah, that's helpful.
1:06:25 >> Yeah, thank you, Vice Chair Patterson. I
1:06:26 I kind of agree with Vice Chair
1:06:28 Patterson. I I don't really know how to
1:06:30 express what I feel, but it seems to me
1:06:33 that unless you copy
1:06:36 the housing goal or or action almost
1:06:39 verbatim, it almost seems like they they
1:06:41 kind of
1:06:42 >> this is where people start getting
1:06:43 confused, right? At least I I do. When
1:06:45 you start looking at two different
1:06:46 documents and going, how do these fit
1:06:48 together? So whether or not you you take
1:06:50 their language and you incorporate it
1:06:52 into IAP or whether you just
1:06:56 kind of walk around it, maybe not even
1:06:58 bring up middle housing, I don't know
1:06:59 how to say it eloquently,
1:07:01 >> but again, I think this is where people
1:07:03 start getting confused when they start
1:07:05 looking at two different plans. They're
1:07:06 both talking about something, but
1:07:07 they're coming at it from different
1:07:08 areas. I feel that's where people that
1:07:11 are using these codes and actually
1:07:12 trying to build around it, that's where
1:07:14 they start getting frustrated. Okay,
1:07:16 >> so Anyone
1:07:19 else like to go one more time for number
1:07:22 three?
1:07:24 Okay,
1:07:27 Commissioner Molaru. Um, I live in
1:07:28 Seattle and one of the things that we
1:07:31 see because Seattle is so concerned both
1:07:34 about climate action and about uh
1:07:37 affordability for housing, one of the
1:07:40 things that we see is conflicts
1:07:42 constantly because the more one focuses
1:07:46 in general on
1:07:48 uh on on climate action,
1:07:53 it becomes expensive.
1:07:55 And I don't know how you guys get around
1:07:57 it, but I can tell you the amount of
1:08:00 money just in rehabbing a garage, the
1:08:03 amount of money that it was required
1:08:05 because of climate um action was
1:08:08 substantial. And I don't know how you
1:08:10 can how you can address the the
1:08:12 differences.
1:08:17 >> Yeah, fair point.
1:08:18 >> Yeah.
1:08:20 >> Okay. Is is that all the comments for
1:08:22 number three?
1:08:24 Okay.
1:08:25 >> All right. Thank you. All right. Um the
1:08:28 next one is uh number 2.4 and the
1:08:32 current action was focused on updating
1:08:34 the land use codes to promote multimodal
1:08:36 transportation.
1:08:38 Um we did feel like uh in some ways this
1:08:41 was covered through the title 18 update
1:08:43 through the update to the mobility
1:08:46 action plan. And so there was interest
1:08:49 in either having this sort of embedded
1:08:52 in that first action that's a little
1:08:54 more overarching or ensuring a climate
1:08:56 lens in city plans and codes or an
1:09:00 alternative would be we just make sure
1:09:02 that we include the same language here
1:09:05 that is in the updated mobility action
1:09:07 plan um and just ensure it has that kind
1:09:11 of climate lens and it has a reason for
1:09:13 being in the the climate plan.
1:09:19 All right. Uh, I'm going to start with
1:09:21 Commissioner Zackov because I feel like
1:09:23 I missed her just a second ago.
1:09:26 Okay. Nope. Uh, Commissioner
1:09:28 >> Molaru
1:09:30 in Seattle. Again, multimodal
1:09:34 >> multimodal dealing with multimodal
1:09:36 transportation. I also happen to work in
1:09:37 a part of South Lake Union where we have
1:09:39 every vehicle known to man going past
1:09:41 us, including people on feet. And two of
1:09:44 the things I would suggest, one, before
1:09:47 a bike lane is added, make sure it's
1:09:49 needed because I can tell you from the
1:09:51 people who live on 75th
1:09:54 that they lost a traffic lane to u a
1:09:58 bike lane and they needed that traffic
1:10:01 lane and the bike lane never gets used.
1:10:03 This is over on Northeast 35th. The
1:10:06 other thing is that when you introduce
1:10:09 many different vehicle, many different
1:10:13 modes of transportation and you're
1:10:15 crossing in front of cars, make sure
1:10:18 that what you do is you when those are
1:10:21 built, allow for many different rates of
1:10:24 movement, perhaps having stop lights for
1:10:27 pedestrians crossing because I'm sure
1:10:30 somebody's going to get killed um
1:10:32 leaving leaving the our parking lot at
1:10:34 my office. It's only a matter of time.
1:10:38 Maybe not killed, maybe just severely
1:10:40 injured.
1:10:42 Thanks,
1:10:43 uh, Commissioner
1:10:44 >> Adair,
1:10:48 Commissioner Miller Win,
1:10:52 >> Commissioner Matthews,
1:10:56 >> always come back. Uh, Commissioner Oler.
1:11:00 Yeah, just getting back to um um
1:11:05 vice chair's comments on the previous uh
1:11:08 point. Um I I think we want to try to
1:11:11 avoid redundancy and and confusion. Um
1:11:15 and I I think if you know if the
1:11:18 requirement is in one portion of our
1:11:20 code, does it really need to you know
1:11:23 bleed over into others?
1:11:26 >> That's helpful.
1:11:28 >> Great. Thank you. Uh, Commissioner
1:11:29 Crafts,
1:11:31 Vice Chair Patterson,
1:11:33 anyone else before we turn it over to
1:11:36 number five? Yeah. And again, I it's I
1:11:38 kind of go back to the last one. I I
1:11:40 know you guys have to put language into
1:11:41 this stuff. I just for me it it seems
1:11:44 like Yeah, you got to be real careful
1:11:46 just to confuse people. I think that's
1:11:48 my only problem.
1:11:49 >> So, and I know I I appreciate the fact
1:11:51 that you said climate lens because again
1:11:54 the IAP's going to mirror a lot of stuff
1:11:56 in other plans. Uh but the less that you
1:11:58 can do to confuse people I think is
1:12:00 helpful. So that'd be my only concern.
1:12:05 >> All right.
1:12:05 >> All right.
1:12:06 >> Um and then the next two focus on EV
1:12:08 infrastructure. Um I did want to there
1:12:11 was discussion around the bike storage
1:12:13 room. I think maybe Commissioner
1:12:14 Patterson you brought that up. Um I did
1:12:16 want to mention that actually came up at
1:12:17 the environmental board last night. Um
1:12:20 coming out of the TAB discussion, they
1:12:22 had discussed having potentially some
1:12:24 requirements for uh bike storage or
1:12:28 scooter storage and charging in
1:12:29 multifamily. Um that's something we
1:12:32 might consider looking at in terms of
1:12:34 increasing requirements and there were
1:12:38 some concerns around safety battery
1:12:40 fires. Um and so just having to weigh
1:12:43 kind of all those considerations. But uh
1:12:46 it was great to hear your input on that
1:12:48 because that's something too that we may
1:12:50 consider looking at in terms of an
1:12:52 action. So wanted to mention that before
1:12:54 we move into the last two that are
1:12:56 focused on EV infrastructure. Um so
1:12:58 there is a current action that's focused
1:13:00 on increasing
1:13:02 or having requirements for single family
1:13:05 EV infrastructure. Um the state has uh
1:13:09 code requirements now around uh new
1:13:12 single family residences having EV
1:13:14 infrastructure. Um so we uh were
1:13:18 proposing or the committee discussed um
1:13:20 removing this since it's already covered
1:13:22 in state code or maybe refocusing on
1:13:25 multifamily which I have another slide
1:13:27 around that. So wanted to see if there
1:13:30 was any additional input on uh single
1:13:32 family uh requirements for charging.
1:13:38 See if anybody has anything to say about
1:13:39 that.
1:13:42 Start with Vice Chair Patterson.
1:13:47 >> Okay. Uh, Commissioner Crass,
1:13:51 Commissioner Oler,
1:13:53 Commissioner Matthews,
1:13:58 Commissioner Miller, Irwin. Um, I'll
1:14:01 just repeat that I I support a focus on
1:14:04 um EV in multifamily uh specifically in
1:14:08 older communities that are probably the
1:14:10 most challenged with that. Um, so
1:14:13 without a doubt I I support
1:14:16 >> Commissioner Adair,
1:14:19 Commissioner Mulberu.
1:14:23 Okay. Commissioner Zacharov.
1:14:32 >> Yeah, I think that was a no. Okay. Um,
1:14:34 if I understand this correctly, Stacy,
1:14:37 this is this is the idea that um they
1:14:39 actually want to see action on single
1:14:42 family
1:14:42 >> that there was an action to pursue
1:14:46 requirements around EV charging in
1:14:48 single family residents that has been
1:14:51 done at the state level. their state
1:14:53 code around that now. Um, so we feel
1:14:55 like that action's completed
1:14:58 essentially. Um, and I know there's
1:15:01 limitations on what the city can impose
1:15:04 on um, single family.
1:15:05 >> I think this one to me, similar to the
1:15:07 multif family, I I think we just stay
1:15:09 with the state, especially with the
1:15:10 housing industry right now being flat.
1:15:13 >> U, this is something that we could
1:15:14 always look back. I mean, obviously this
1:15:16 is going to be a plan that gets updated
1:15:17 along the way.
1:15:19 >> Um, but yeah, no new burdens at the
1:15:21 moment. Okay,
1:15:23 >> Commissioner Grass.
1:15:24 >> Hi. So, in single family, there's I
1:15:27 agree that let's not add any burdens,
1:15:29 but then let me flip it the other way is
1:15:31 like are there any carrots that we that
1:15:34 we would want to look at? For example,
1:15:37 speedier permits or less, you know, you
1:15:40 know, just uh cheaper permits if they do
1:15:43 certain things. Once again,
1:15:46 um help push that farther without
1:15:49 putting more burdens on there. So, um I
1:15:52 agree adding more
1:15:54 um for single family, someone building
1:15:56 or remodeling is hard, but maybe let's
1:15:59 look at carrots as well.
1:16:03 >> And that was around single family or is
1:16:05 that multif family as well? Okay.
1:16:09 >> Yeah, thank you, Commissioner Crest.
1:16:11 That was something I actually had in my
1:16:12 notes is like for certain things right
1:16:14 now just with how flat the economy is
1:16:16 and especially one of the backbones of
1:16:19 uh one of the pillars of the American
1:16:20 economy is the housing industry now
1:16:23 seems like a better time to incentivize
1:16:25 >> rather than require or regulate. So
1:16:28 where we can I I still think you know we
1:16:30 move forward with our goals but uh I
1:16:33 like what you said. Yeah, carrots right
1:16:36 >> Sticks can come later.
1:16:37 >> Okay.
1:16:38 >> Um Okay. Great.
1:16:41 >> And that I think we've discussed this
1:16:43 quite a bit tonight. Um that feeds it to
1:16:46 the or carries over from the last
1:16:47 conversation. Um I think what I have
1:16:50 been hearing around any input around um
1:16:53 for strengthening requirements for
1:16:56 multifamily charging is um potentially
1:17:00 for existing multifamily focusing on
1:17:03 education outreach probably technical
1:17:05 support um and then maybe consider more
1:17:09 incentive based actions for new
1:17:12 multifamily to go above and beyond
1:17:14 requirements
1:17:15 um is what I've heard so far tonight.
1:17:18 But yeah, curious if there's any other
1:17:20 reflections. Of course, if we were to
1:17:22 propose an action that looked at
1:17:25 increasing
1:17:26 requirements for multif family, we would
1:17:28 bring you a lot more of the research
1:17:30 especially that Redmond uh did leading
1:17:32 up to their code change as well as
1:17:34 implications since they've um
1:17:36 implemented that. But um if there's
1:17:38 other thoughts around increasing
1:17:40 multifamily development um or haven't
1:17:43 reflected back what I heard tonight,
1:17:45 would appreciate any of those comments.
1:17:47 Yeah. No, thank you. I think that was a
1:17:49 great summary and again I I like what uh
1:17:52 Stacy had to say because it's kind of my
1:17:53 feeling about it, but let's definitely
1:17:55 uh let's kick it around the room one
1:17:57 more time. Um Commissioner Zacharov,
1:18:02 Vice Chair Patterson,
1:18:04 uh just a quick clarifying question and
1:18:06 apologies if I missed it, but are there
1:18:08 any state requirements for either new or
1:18:10 existing multif family EV? Yes, for new
1:18:15 um I believe it's I would have to look
1:18:16 up the numbers. I want to say 10%.
1:18:21 and forgive me, I don't remember if
1:18:22 that's EV ready or EV capable. Um we can
1:18:26 follow up and provide you that
1:18:27 information, but there is a there is a
1:18:29 requirement. I believe it's 10%. Okay.
1:18:31 For new for existing buildings, I don't
1:18:34 think there's anything we can post
1:18:36 there. We um recommend the PSSE upandgo
1:18:40 program which I know has its significant
1:18:43 challenges. Um Belleview is
1:18:45 experimenting right now with uh
1:18:47 providing technical support to multi
1:18:49 existing multifamily to support them
1:18:52 pursuing um EV charging. So we'll be
1:18:55 tracking that and see how that process
1:18:57 goes and the the interest from
1:19:00 multifamily but no requirements for
1:19:02 existing multif family.
1:19:04 I kind of like the idea of letting
1:19:05 Belleview stick their neck out there.
1:19:08 Let's see how they do and let's take
1:19:10 their information. You know, they're a
1:19:12 very wealthy city. So, again, I'm I'm
1:19:14 okay with that. Commissioner Crass,
1:19:17 >> I guess I'm still puzzled. Um, we're
1:19:19 taking a to do this right. We have a
1:19:21 hard dependency on Puget Sound Energy,
1:19:23 and if they don't have a shared goal,
1:19:26 then I don't know how this moves
1:19:28 forward. So, I don't understand or know
1:19:31 enough about why they don't think this
1:19:33 is important. Um, I have my own
1:19:36 anecdotal. There's right near my house
1:19:38 there are some condos. They wanted to
1:19:39 have two EV spots and I talked to the
1:19:42 woman who runs the HOI and the HOA and
1:19:44 they had to scrap it because it was so
1:19:46 exorbitantly expensive. It was just not
1:19:49 worth doing. So, that just says the
1:19:50 actions of of Pugan Energy, they don't
1:19:52 care or it's not a priority. So unless
1:19:56 this changes, I think we're just going
1:19:58 to continue to be frustrated. Um, and
1:20:01 there's only so much we can do. So I'm
1:20:03 not sure where that goes. And any
1:20:06 insights into why that's not a priority
1:20:10 >> because unless that's changed, we're
1:20:11 just going to be talking about this
1:20:13 every year.
1:20:14 >> Yeah. Um, and PSSE has their own
1:20:16 requirements for decarbonization. Um,
1:20:19 they have clean energy requirements.
1:20:21 they'll be um coal free by the end of
1:20:23 this year, but they have a number of
1:20:25 requirements for decarbonizing the grid
1:20:28 and funding projects. So, we've worked
1:20:30 really well with them on a number of
1:20:32 projects. The grid capacity has
1:20:35 definitely been a challenge. Um
1:20:38 Belleview and Redmond right now are
1:20:40 working on a assessment of where they
1:20:42 anticipate their cities going with
1:20:44 electrification and what the gap is in
1:20:46 terms of grid capacity. So again, we'll
1:20:48 be kind of looking to those studies
1:20:50 because I'm sure it'll be somewhat
1:20:51 reflective of Isiqua. Um, but I do know
1:20:54 it has been a priority of Mayor Paulie
1:20:56 to be working with ESC, PSSE, raising
1:20:58 the concerns, raising the issue that
1:21:01 happened with Gilman Village and the um
1:21:04 the falling through of a a big charging
1:21:07 project there as an example. Um, and so
1:21:10 that's something we'll be working with
1:21:11 the the new mayor too to build that
1:21:13 relationship and be um continuing to uh
1:21:17 encourage PSSE and work with PSSE to
1:21:19 build out that capacity. Yeah.
1:21:22 >> Thank you. And I want to give I'm going
1:21:24 to do something a little odd. I'm going
1:21:26 to jump over to Commissioner Malberu
1:21:27 because Gilman Village was brought up.
1:21:29 Do you have anything you want to say?
1:21:31 >> It was mentioned earlier. Yeah.
1:21:33 >> One one other one other thought. Um,
1:21:36 would the city perhaps create a
1:21:39 voluntary times to charge your EVs?
1:21:43 Because I am very concerned again with
1:21:45 the increase in heat uh temperatures
1:21:51 >> that there's going and and air
1:21:53 conditioning systems. When I was growing
1:21:55 up, nobody had an air conditioner and
1:21:57 now they're fairly common. And I'm very
1:22:00 concerned that we hit these peak peak
1:22:03 periods
1:22:04 um where the system blacks out which is
1:22:08 what happened. You can look at the dates
1:22:11 and it and and perhaps it is best done
1:22:16 in a shared system so there's no not too
1:22:19 much strain all at once
1:22:21 >> during the day.
1:22:22 >> Great question. Um PSSE has a couple of
1:22:25 programs both for uh home heating and
1:22:28 cooling as well as charging where uh
1:22:30 residents can enroll in the program.
1:22:33 They have to connect their equipment and
1:22:35 then during um major electrical demands
1:22:38 PSSE can lower your thermostat for
1:22:41 example or maybe not have you charging
1:22:43 your vehicle then and then it will start
1:22:45 charging in time when the the grid isn't
1:22:47 at a uh being hit so hard. um those are
1:22:50 programs they can run as the utility,
1:22:53 but that's something we can help
1:22:54 promote. But also considering where
1:22:56 there's other education around the
1:22:58 conservation or other kind of programs,
1:23:01 policies, incentives we can um put in
1:23:04 place for that the conservation. But
1:23:06 yeah, it's a it's a really great
1:23:07 question you raised and we can look and
1:23:09 see what other cities are doing to
1:23:11 outside of what the utility has control
1:23:16 All right, Commissioner Dair,
1:23:20 Commissioner Millander Irwin,
1:23:22 >> I just want to say thank you for a great
1:23:24 presentation, very comprehensive, and um
1:23:27 also allowing us to give uh uh a comment
1:23:30 on the uh EV charging stations and
1:23:33 multif family. It's something I'm pretty
1:23:34 passionate about. Um so, thank you very
1:23:37 much.
1:23:39 >> I second that. Uh Commissioner Matthews.
1:23:43 >> Okay. Commissioner Eer. Okay.
1:23:46 I think Commissioner Crass had already
1:23:48 went. So, um, yeah, I kind of concur
1:23:51 with the rest of the group. Um, I I'd
1:23:54 like to see the multifamilies kind of
1:23:55 stay at the state level until things
1:23:58 simmer down. Uh, but I think that's it,
1:24:02 Stacy. And hopefully you got what you
1:24:04 were looking for
1:24:05 >> and enough information that you can take
1:24:07 back and and continue to work on um,
1:24:10 what you guys are doing with the IAP.
1:24:13 >> Yeah, thank you very much. um very
1:24:15 helpful feedback. We'll be taking all
1:24:17 the input tonight and sorting through
1:24:19 it, working on a summary for the
1:24:22 environmental board and then the revised
1:24:24 actions. As I mentioned, I think we'll
1:24:26 probably try and come back in 2026 with
1:24:29 any actions that have a policy
1:24:31 implication related to um land use. Um
1:24:35 and so you'll have a chance to see those
1:24:36 before anything moves to council. Um,
1:24:39 and then in the meantime, if there are
1:24:41 other ideas you have, um, feel free to
1:24:44 to send those um, our way or any
1:24:47 followup from tonight and what we
1:24:48 shared. That was a real small snapshot
1:24:50 of the the IAP, but the ones that we
1:24:52 felt was most relevant for this group.
1:24:54 So, thank you.
1:24:56 >> Excellent. Well, thank you again for the
1:24:58 presentation. Like Commissioner
1:24:59 Millander said, fantastic job. Very
1:25:02 comprehensive. And I'm sorry did
1:25:04 Commissioner Zacharov I I did ask
1:25:08 >> I can only join the rest of the team and
1:25:11 uh thank you for the great presentation
1:25:13 and yeah thank you.
1:25:16 >> All right. All right. Well, thank you.
1:25:20 Okay, that concludes our regular
1:25:22 business for this evening. Uh we are now
1:25:25 going to move along to council updates
1:25:27 and I'm looking to Kristen to provide
1:25:29 any if you have any.
1:25:32 Good evening. I I actually have quite a
1:25:34 few updates tonight.
1:25:36 Um council related and other. So, first
1:25:41 of all, we had a big night at council
1:25:42 the other night. Uh I think we took four
1:25:44 or five items from our department to
1:25:46 council. Uh we did just recently update,
1:25:50 we try and do this annually, updated our
1:25:52 land use application and permit fees
1:25:54 that was approved. Uh updated fire fees
1:25:56 were approved. Our comprehensive plan
1:25:59 and the food bank reszone were approved
1:26:01 on consent. There was sort of a
1:26:03 congratulations and a a pull out from
1:26:06 that. They highlighted it.
1:26:08 They also approved I think that many
1:26:11 talked to you all about the Belleview
1:26:12 College development agreement and the
1:26:14 potential extension and council after a
1:26:18 very long discussion voted to extend the
1:26:21 development agreement for the 19 acre
1:26:23 parcel for two more years which gives
1:26:26 and in those two years the college is
1:26:28 required to go out and do community
1:26:31 outreach to figure out what they can do
1:26:33 on that site. Had the development
1:26:34 agreement not happened, they would not
1:26:36 be able to do residential out there. And
1:26:39 right now, they may be able to do it
1:26:40 still with council approval, but they're
1:26:42 going to go out and do outreach and see
1:26:43 what the community really wants. There
1:26:45 was some information misinformation out
1:26:47 there that that was where the high
1:26:49 school wanted to go and that was cleared
1:26:50 up that that was that was not the issue.
1:26:52 This is this was not about putting the
1:26:54 high school there. It was about
1:26:55 extending their development agreement.
1:26:58 We don't have anything else going to
1:27:00 council again this year. So those that
1:27:03 is my council update.
1:27:07 >> All right, sounds good. Uh are there any
1:27:10 other updates to provide?
1:27:12 >> Yes.
1:27:14 >> All right.
1:27:15 >> So we as a reminder, we do not have our
1:27:18 second meetings in November and December
1:27:21 because of Thanksgiving and Christmas
1:27:24 holiday. We may not have our first
1:27:29 meeting in December. We were supposed to
1:27:31 be talking about the light rail criteria
1:27:35 and that came back to us and it's not
1:27:38 exactly what we wanted. So, we're
1:27:40 working on it and not sure if we can
1:27:43 make it in time for the December
1:27:44 meeting. So, I keep your keep checking
1:27:46 your emails and we will let you know as
1:27:48 soon as we know whether or not that is
1:27:49 coming.
1:27:50 >> So, it's a possibility this might be our
1:27:52 last meeting of the year.
1:27:53 >> It is a possibility that this might be
1:27:54 the last meeting. Yes.
1:27:56 >> Wow. The last thing I think that I have
1:27:59 is um we now have a new principal
1:28:02 planner.
1:28:03 >> Hey,
1:28:03 >> it is Kate Kaney right here. And hey,
1:28:08 Kate, do you want to say hi and
1:28:10 introduce yourself real quick? Okay.
1:28:20 >> Okay, great. Thank you.
1:28:22 Um, my name is Kate Kaney and I just
1:28:26 started last Monday. So, this is week
1:28:28 two and I um am extremely happy to be
1:28:33 here. I have worked as a planner in this
1:28:35 region for over 20 years primarily in
1:28:38 two cities. Um, a little bit in city
1:28:40 Seattle and mostly for 18 years in city
1:28:43 of SeaTac. Um I uh left city of SeaTac
1:28:47 as principal planner after managing the
1:28:50 uh major comprehensive plan update there
1:28:53 and uh we did a lot of things that I
1:28:57 think you all went through. Um so I'm
1:28:59 very familiar with Washington state's
1:29:01 requirements uh PSRC King County and you
1:29:05 know that overall context of growth and
1:29:07 equity in this region. Um I also um am
1:29:12 familiar with um station area planning
1:29:15 um in SeaTac. There are actually three
1:29:17 light rail stations that um serve that
1:29:19 city and I was there long enough to see
1:29:22 um them all built. So that was pretty
1:29:24 exciting. Um so doing I know that this
1:29:26 city uh is waiting for and preparing for
1:29:29 um a new light rail station. really
1:29:32 excited to uh start helping um this city
1:29:36 uh you know bring any knowledge that I
1:29:37 can to uh expanding um access and and
1:29:41 opportunity um and just maximizing you
1:29:45 know the great things that can come from
1:29:46 from stationary planning. I I know that
1:29:48 I'm not the transportation planner but
1:29:50 so much land use goes on in that that
1:29:52 it's really great. Um I also spent a
1:29:54 long time working on a city center plan.
1:29:57 Um, CATAC had a plan from 1999 that we
1:30:00 were updating and um, looking at central
1:30:02 Isqua and um, you know, the issues and
1:30:05 opportunities there. Uh, it's really
1:30:07 exciting for me to look at that. Um, so
1:30:10 so much great work here and it's so
1:30:11 beautiful in Isukqua. I don't live here.
1:30:13 I actually live in Ballard. Maybe uh,
1:30:15 one of your commissioners does or is
1:30:16 around there. Um, so um, I I uh I've
1:30:22 just enjoyed being here. Uh Kristen has
1:30:24 been amazing showing me around the city
1:30:26 and uh just I I'm really wowed by all
1:30:30 the plans and and
1:30:32 action plans that you have and
1:30:33 strategies. And so my hope is to uh come
1:30:37 up to speed as fast as I can and to help
1:30:39 supporting you and the city um as you do
1:30:42 this important work. Uh my favorite
1:30:44 thing is to go out into communities and
1:30:46 work on visions and implementing those
1:30:49 visions to maintain and enhance the
1:30:52 places people love. So really excited to
1:30:55 um do that work with you all.
1:30:57 >> That's it.
1:31:00 >> All right. Well, welcome Kate. Uh that's
1:31:03 fantastic. And it is Kate with a T,
1:31:04 correct?
1:31:05 >> Yes.
1:31:05 >> Okay. I thought I heard that. Um yeah.
1:31:07 Well, welcome. Isqua is very fortunate.
1:31:09 We have a deep bench of tremendous
1:31:11 talent on our staff. Uh, you know, I'm
1:31:13 sitting next to two fantastic people and
1:31:15 again, uh, welcome to the city and
1:31:18 that's great. You bring a lot of
1:31:19 knowledge and yes, we are going to need
1:31:20 some help with that light rail they keep
1:31:22 talking about. Um, okay. I believe that
1:31:26 is it for announcement. Does anybody
1:31:28 have anything for the good of the order
1:31:30 they'd like to present before we close
1:31:32 this out?
1:31:35 Nothing. All right. We're going to
1:31:37 adjourn this meeting of the Planning
1:31:39 Policy Commission this evening at 8:03
1:31:42 p.m. Have a good night.

Attendance

Council / Members (9)
Voiss
Vice-Chair Patterson
Commissioners Adair
Krass
Matthews
Millender-Irwin
Mohl-Barouh
Oliner
Zakharoff (virtual)
Staff (1)
Amanda Jackson, Meeting Assistant Kate Kaehny, Principal Planner Christen Leeson, Planning Manager John Mortenson, Transportation Engineering Manager Stacy Vynne McKinstry, Sustainability Manager 2. Approval of Minutes a) Minutes of October 23, 2025 With no changes or comments, the Minutes were approved. 3