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Cmd110122 spec mtg Edmonds City Council Approved Minutes November 1, 2022 Page 1 EDMONDS CITY COUNCIL SPECIAL MEETING MINUTES APPROVED MINUTES November 1, 2022 ELECTED OFFICIALS PRESENT Vivian Olson, Council President Will Chen, Councilmember Neil Tibbott, Councilmember Diane Buckshnis, Councilmember Susan Paine, Councilmember Dave Teitzel, Councilmember Jenna Nand, Councilmember ELECTED OFFICIALS ABSENT Mike Nelson, Mayor STAFF PRESENT Jeff Taraday, City Attorney Scott Passey, City Clerk Jerrie Bevington, Camera Operator 1. CALL TO ORDER The Edmonds City Council meeting was called to order at 6:00 p.m. by Council President Olson in the Council Chambers, 250 5th Avenue North, Edmonds, and virtually. 2. COUNCIL BUSINESS 1. JOINT MEETING WITH THE PLANNING BOARD Planning Board Chair Roger Pence introduced Board Members Mike Rosen and Beth Tragus-Campbell and Student Representation Lily Distelhorst. He explained he was elected as chair and Judi Gladstone was elected vice chair when Alicia Crank resigned from the planning board two months ago. As requested, this presentation will be forward-looking. He reviewed: • Who we are Position # Name Term End 1 Mike Rosen 2022 2 Roger Pence, Chair 2022 3 Matt Cheung 2023 4 Richard Kuehn 2023 Edmonds City Council Approved Minutes November 1, 2022 Page 2 5 Judi Gladstone, Vice Chair 2024 6 Beth Tragus-Campbell 2024 7 Todd Cloutier 2025 8 Alternate (vacant) 2025 Student Rep Lily Distelhorst • What we do o Edmonds Planning Code Chapter 10.40 Planning Board ▪ Our basic responsibilities - Study the issues, listen to public comments, hold public hearings, and make recommendations to the mayor and city council on:  Any changes to the Comprehensive Plan.  Any changes to text of the development code.  Any changes to the zoning map ▪ Other responsibilities - Serve as an ongoing Parks Board:  Advise on parks planning projects.  Advise on acquisition and development of park land and facilities ▪ Undertake special projects assigned by the mayor and city council, and such ad hoc duties that city council may assign • Since our last joint meeting 4/26/22, Planning Board agenda items have included: o Briefing on Waterfront Issues Study o Briefing on Comprehensive Plan Update o Briefing on Salmon Safe Certification o Public Hearing on Edmonds Way rezone o Briefing on Wireless Code Updating o Briefing on BD2 Designated Street Fronts o Two quarterly update briefings, Parks and Recreation Dept. o Public Hearing on Wireless Code amendments o Briefing on Phase II Tree Code amendments o Development Services Activity Report o Briefing on Equitable Engagement Framework o Public Hearing on Permanent Design Standards for MF buildings in BD2 zone o Joint Meeting with Economic Development Commission o Briefing on Tree Code Amendments o Briefing on Climate Action Plan update o Briefing on Comprehensive Plan Update o Public Hearing on BD Designated Street Fronts o Presentation of Proposed CFP & CIP for 2023-2028 • What we plan on doing o 2024 Comprehensive Plan Update ▪ Vision Statement ▪ Community Sustainability ▪ Land Use ▪ Housing ▪ Economic Development ▪ Community Culture and Urban Design ▪ Utilities ▪ Capital activities ▪ Transportation ▪ Parks, Recreation, and Open Space o Development Code Modernization ▪ Designated Street Fronts Edmonds City Council Approved Minutes November 1, 2022 Page 3 ▪ Wireless facilities ▪ CG Stepbacks ▪ Minor Code Amendment Process ▪ Tree Code updates ▪ Five Corners BN zoning update ▪ Subdivision code updates ▪ Sustainable development code review and updates ▪ Low impact / stormwater code updates o Additional Items From Our Extended Agenda ▪ Climate Action plan update and public outreach ▪ Housing policies and implementation ▪ Quarterly updates from Parks and Recreation ▪ Semi-annual Joint Meetings with City Council ▪ Periodic Development Activity Reports ▪ Further Highway 99 implementation Chair Pence relayed at their last meeting, the board passed a motion expressing their desire to return to in- person meetings in a hybrid format so people who cannot attend meetings can still participate as they do at city council meetings. The board believes meeting on the dais is a more effective way for them to conduct their business and meet citizens who provide testimony or comments. He introduced Planning Board Vice Chair Judi Gladstone. He invited board members to comment. Board Member Rosen said he looked forward to the conversation with council. Board Member Tragus-Campbell recognized Parks, Recreation & Human Services Director Angie Feser for the incredibly significant amount of work she and her team have done. Board Member Tragus- Campbell said she has been in a similar position with her parks department but had more staff and not as many different segments to cover so the amount of work Ms. Feser’s team does is commendable. She hoped the council would support the growth of her team moving forward. Vice Chair Judi Gladstone commented on the role the planning board plays, its importance for the city council and the importance of today’s dialogue. When she joined the planning board a couple years ago, she saw it as an opportunity to be involved with shaping the City’s vison. It will be important to have a dialogue with the city council about where they need input, particularly with the comprehensive plan, and the code modernization. The planning board is in a position to dive deeper than the city council because its agenda is not as broad, but the planning board needs priorities to ensure they have the time. The planning board spent a lot of time on briefings in the past two years and has provided the council with recommendations on EV charging stations and the PROS Plan. The board needs to know what is important for them to provide assistance to the city council on, particularly the comprehensive plan which will set the stage and is, in her opinion, what a planning board is all about. She has her own topics she is interested in and hoped the council agreed that housing was important for the planning board to look at. It will be essential for the planning board to have clear priorities so they have the time to do that deeper dive. Student Rep Councilmember Distelhorst said she has been the student rep for about a year. The planning board is a group of very passionate people who are capable of doing more work than they have done in the past year and she hoped the board had been valuable to the city council. With regard to the suggestion about the parks board, she relayed the planning board is very valuable for parks and the members are very passionate about parks. The idea of moving parks into the cemetery board does not make a lot of sense as their focus is on the operation of the cemetery. If parks and planning are separated, she hoped it created a valuable environment for parks to benefit. Edmonds City Council Approved Minutes November 1, 2022 Page 4 Council President Olson commented the plan was to devote 30 minutes to each agenda item. She suggested extending this item to 6:40 p.m. Councilmember Buckshnis said she reads the planning board minutes and knows many people watch the planning board on TV. She gave a special shout out to Alicia Crank and Nathan Monroe, excellent planning board members who provided a lot of helpful contributions. She was interested in doing whatever is necessary right now such as the supplemental EIS for Highway 99 as she wants to look at what is really happening and the environmental issues especially related to development on Highway 99 and whether the infrastructure for the additional housing units is adequate. She summarized she was interested in understanding growth on Highway 99. Councilmember Buckshnis referred to the code rewrite/update which has been needed for years. She supports the council looking into hiring a consultant as was done with tree code which went awry because it was under the tree board and not the administration and council. The code rewrite is very important to her because has been going on forever. She acknowledged the administration has been understaffed for the last couple years, and she tries to give everyone a give a break of kindness. She agreed parks & recreation has done a great job and thank goodness for the volunteers, because if it wasn’t for them, the City would be in bigger trouble. She recalled the council considered a metropolitan parks district, but she felt things needed to get fixed before forming another district. She expressed concern with times when the planning board and administration recommended different things. She assured she listens to the planning board and the citizens who attend the planning board public hearings. She did not believe the PROS Plan was handled sufficiently from the standpoint of the environment. She welcome Roger Pence as chair of the planning board. Councilmember Paine thanked the planning board for all the work they do, agreeing the planning board covers many things in more detail than the city council. She loved that the board covers parks and planning as they go hand in hand and the planning board also handles the CIP/CFP which is parks and public works. The planning board is a group of committed volunteers who filter the wheat from the chaff for the council. Her suggestions for the planning board include looking at Highway 99 as it relates to traffic safety, speeds, housing, density and the environment through the lens of the community to ensure the City does not miss a step. There are great businesses on Highway 99 and it is long overdue for an update. When driving north on Highway 99, crossing the county line it looks like you’ve entered 1950. Improvements are being made to Highway 99 in stages and she wanted to ensure issues such as community safety are addressed such as through crime prevention through environmental design (CPTED). She also wanted the planning board to look at housing to ensure the right mix of multifamily and ensuring it is equitable. Councilmember Paine continued, in looking at maps during the SEIS process, there is no multifamily zoning in the area west of Highway 99 south of Esperance, it is all high density next to single family which she found discourteous in view of the multifamily zoning on the north side of Esperance west of Highway 99. This is a great neighborhood that needs attention and looking at it through the lens of the community. She was also interested in looking at land use including commercial, housing, traffic and traffic safety and it would be great if the name (Highway 99) could be changed although she acknowledged that would involve other cities. She wanted to ensure the number of deaths that are occurring in south Everett do not occur in this area. She also gave a shout out to Alicia Crank for her work on the planning board. Councilmember Teitzel thanked the planning board for the great work they do on behalf of the City. He also reads the planning board minutes and watches their meetings online. As Councilmember Buckshnis mentioned, the code rewrite is one of the top priorities as the code affects almost everything and needs to be well written, cohesive, understandable and fair. The City is focusing on that this year and he will be supportive of additional resources in the budget process for the code rewrite. There is only one employee, Edmonds City Council Approved Minutes November 1, 2022 Page 5 Mike Clugston, assigned to the code rewrite, but he cannot do it alone and will need a lot of help which will clearly involve the planning board. He has heard a request to form a task force to help with the code rewrite effort; he encouraged the planning board to consider how they could play a part in a task force. Vice Chair Gladstone appreciated Councilmember Paine’s interest in having the planning board look through an equity lens as they do their work. She pointed out the recommendation regarding the CIP/CFP was approved on a 3-1 vote; she voted against it because she did not see any change from the previous year with regard to Highway 99. Councilmember Chen expressed his appreciation for the great work the planning board is doing, commenting the council cannot do what they do without the planning board’s support. Many planning board members take their job very seriously, walking the streets in different areas of town, boots on the ground doing actual investigation before they make a recommendation. He echoed some of the points mentioned by other councilmember, Highway 99 and the code rewrite are very important issues facing the council in the coming year. He would also like the planning board to put emphasis on housing. A couple of years ago the housing commission made several recommendations; ten of those are still waiting for further study/investigation. He would like the planning board to address those because of the importance of housing to address different income levels and needs in different areas of the community; all the multifamily residential cannot just be on Highway 99. Councilmember Nand commended the efforts of planning board volunteers. She was once a volunteer on a City commission and knew the amount of time and effort it took, especially when they were not getting paid It takes time and effort to learn about the code and what an EIS means because although laypeople may not understand the code, they understand when trees are suddenly being cut down and gigantic structures are being built in their neighborhood. The council has a lot of responsibilities; the planning board has the time to take a deep dive to understand the code. Edmonds is such a well-run town because of the passion of its volunteers. Councilmember Nand continued, the City is often complimented on its beauty and charm; she recalled years ago Council President Olson suggested defining the City’s charm. The charm comes from acknowledging the unique character and heritage of each neighborhood. There are a historic neighborhoods in Edmonds that are reflective of the sawmill in Edmonds in the 19th century and the beautiful, vibrant international community on Highway 99 that is very unique in Snohomish County. She did not know of many other places in Snohomish County with signs in a variety of languages, something that makes her proud to be from Edmonds, and there are other fun business communities like Perrinville and residential communities like Firdale. She thanked the planning board for being an example of the democratic process. Changes to the City code, planning and zoning are very sensitive issues for neighborhoods as evidenced by the blowback about the supplemental EIS. Having people who dedicate themselves to developing a comprehensive action plan with deep knowledge and expertise is important. Councilmember Nand continued, the way that people who live, work and visit Edmonds use the outdoors changed during the pandemic which becomes an issue of equity related to access to green spaces and access to the views of trees. The comprehensive plan update needs to include preparation for extreme weather events such as heat domes. She is very concerned about climate change and what life on planet earth will look like in 30 years, whether people will be dying on sidewalks due to extreme heat or vulnerable seniors dying of heat stroke in their homes because no one can reach them in time. That includes how the City chooses to use its resources and developing infrastructure. That starts with planning board who have the time and energy to do a deep dive on what Edmonds should look like in 25 years. There are also subfreezing temperatures every winter due to climate change. There are incredible regional pressures due to growth management, housing, the unhoused population, etc. landing on the doorstep of Edmonds; volunteers like the planning board and other electeds are trying to head off the environmental Edmonds City Council Approved Minutes November 1, 2022 Page 6 apocalypse. She concluded the work the planning board is doing is very important for Edmonds today and tomorrow. Councilmember Tibbott echoed the council’s appreciation for the work the planning board does. He served on the planning board for four years and knew it took time to work through the meeting packets and often took years to understand the full range of topics. He requested the planning board’s input on elevating the importance of planning board public hearings. Often the public waits to see what will happens after the planning board makes a recommendation and it gets to council. The presentations at the planning board level and the input they receive from the public are very important and assist staff in preparing and possibly revising plans before they come to the council. He asked if the planning board had any ideas on how to elevate the importance of their public hearings. Chair Pence said the planning board often talks about how to better inform the public about public hearings and/or the projects that are underway. That is currently done via notice in the legal section of the Everett Herald and a mention on the planning board’s published agenda that is buried on the City’s website. He agreed a much better, more vigorous public information effort is needed, especially when a public hearing is held on a matter of high importance, many more of which will occur given the planning board’s upcoming agenda. Board Member Rosen said the planning board feels strongly about public engagement and being a little more agnostic regarding style, not just public hearings, but allowing people to provide input outside scheduled public hearings. He was concerned that the Everett Herald was the City’s newspaper of record, instead of a local newspaper and he encouraged the council to change that. As Chair Pence relayed, the planning board is interested in returning to in-person meetings as there is nothing quite like face-to-face meetings with the public. He recalled the planning board sent the council an official recommendation regarding public engagement and a tool kit to make planning board topics relevant to a variety of people. The burden should not be for people to seek out what the council or boards and commissions are talking about. Board Member Rosen continued, the planning board will be addressing some very emotional issues that will affect the City’s future so it is important to make the public aware, provide easy access and to ensure the planning board is listening. To Councilmember Nand’s point about climate change, he referred to the picture at the beginning of their presentation of the three time periods in the City’s history to illustrate how things change. Even with the all the things that were mentioned, it does not include catastrophic planning; the Climate Action Plan should not be higher seawalls. In terms of a specific recommendation, Board Member Tragus-Campbell suggested a half-time marketing or social media person whether paid or an intern. The information is currently going to the people who are looking for it; adding methods such as social media, a billboard and/or providing information to local organizations to catch the attention of different people. Another option would be to translate information and have leaders of churches or community organization who speak languages other than English distribute information about what is happening in their neighborhood. Having a person who can consistently hit all those different locations and methods allows for consistent communication. Vice Chair Gladstone echoed everything her colleagues said. From her own experience, she knew how hard it was to get everyday people to comment on things that are happening in the future. Most of what the planning board deals with is not happen tomorrow, but will have an affect 10-15 years in future. She envisioned there would be a much great response to a postcard with a photo of a building and a question such as would you like to have this in your neighborhood? What change will mean needs to be translated because people often do not understand until it is knocking on their door and most working people, especially those working more than one job, have to prioritize what they pay attention to. Something that will happen ten years in the future does not draw their attention because they are worried about what’s at Edmonds City Council Approved Minutes November 1, 2022 Page 7 the door today. Whether it is a public hearing or other forms of engagement, people need to be met where they are and in language that makes it real for them; otherwise planning is on the back burner for them. Student Rep Distelhorst agreed with Board Member Tragus-Campbell that social media is good for spreading information. For example, when the Youth Commission was trying to get applicants, they would post about how to apply and she would repost that on her personal account and was able to get a lot of her friends and classmates to apply for the Youth Commission. Social media is a valuable way to spread information, and as Edmonds gets younger, more people will be on social media. It is important to work toward a better Edmonds for her and her classmates’ future and to emphasize and support affordable housing and alternate forms of transportation. She summarized together we can work toward a better Edmonds in the future. Council President Olson said the vision statement is one of her priorities for the planning board because if everything builds on that, it is super important to get it right. She was looking forward to not just a presentation, but a reality check by the community and she viewed the planning board as a big part of that. Staff, council and now the planning board have been struggling with workload which was the genesis of possibly culling parks from the planning board. She acknowledged it would certainly require further discussion and an ordinance to change the code. Since she brought up the issue, staff suggested possibly the tree board and parks might be a good combination. She assured this was just to start the conversation in view of the planning board’s workload in the coming year. If the planning board gets through the comprehensive plan and code rewrite this year, not much more can be expected from them. 2. CITY ATTORNEY CODE - REVISIONS TO CHAPTER 2.05 ECC City Attorney Jeff Taraday advised the packet contains a revision of Chapter 2.05 that incorporates many of the suggestions offered by councilmembers on October 18. No motions were made at that meeting so everything that that was suggested was included and amendments are welcome. The amendments highlighted in yellow are new since the October 18 council meeting. COUNCILMEMBER TIBBOTT MOVED, SECONDED BY COUNCIL PRESIDENT OLSON, TO APPROVE THE ORDINANCE IN THE PACKET. Councilmember Tibbott expressed appreciation for how the council comments from the last meeting had been incorporated into the code. He referred to the title of chapter 2.05, City Attorney and City Prosecutor which appears to assume those are in-house positions. Mr. Taraday answered not necessarily in-house, but those functions are necessary in all cities; all cities need a civil attorney and a criminal prosecutor. The code allows flexibility for them to be either contracted or in-house. A new subsection 2.05.010.B was added that reads, “By its contract, the city council may appoint an individual to be designated as city prosecutor.” The City can certainly continue to contract for prosecution services. Section 2.05.015 talks about the in-house possibility, “Any appointment of an in-house city attorney, in-house city prosecutor or in-house legal department…” which provides the option to have any one of those functions or none of them in-house. Councilmember Tibbott said the way he read it, there is flexibility either way and the language outlines a process for acquiring an in-house attorney or in-house prosecutor if the council so desires. Mr. Taraday answered the code is flexible; the council would still need to appropriate and create in-house positions through the budget process, but the code would not need to be amended. Councilmember Tibbott asked where the attorney and prosecutor show up on the org chart. In the budget book, it is under the mayor’s office which he felt was not quite accurate. Mr. Taraday answered it is not really accurate in that he represents the City so his client is the municipal corporation which is not in the org chart. Because the city council currently contracts for city attorney services, it is the council’s Edmonds City Council Approved Minutes November 1, 2022 Page 8 decision whether or not to renew the contract or change to another law firm. If the org chart is indicative of the traditional hire/fire supervision authority, that would rest with the city council. Councilmember Tibbott asked if the language Mr. Taraday just provided should be included in the code. Mr. Taraday answered because the code provides for the possibility of either contract or in-house, to the extent that the council wants to revise the org chart, that can occur outside this code adoption. The code is adequately flexible to allow for either. Councilmember Teitzel thanked Mr. Taraday for combining all the disparate comments. He suggested the following change in section 2.05.020.C.4: Provide training to the city council and the city’s boards and commissions and other officers officials on the Open Public Meetings Act…” COUNCILMEMBER TEITZEL MOVED, SECONDED BY COUNCILMEMBER BUCKSHNIS, TO AMEND BY SUBSTITUTING “OFFICIALS” FOR “OFFICERS” IN ITEM 4. AMENDMENT CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. Councilmember Teitzel referred to language in 2.05.035, “The Mayor may from time to time, with or without cause, in the mayor’s sole discretion, undertake a separate performance review of the city attorney…” relaying his concern that this could result in surprises if the mayor were to undertake this without notifying the council. He requested the sentence be revised to read “The Mayor may, from time to time, with or without cause, in the mayor’s sole discretion and upon due notice to council, undertake a separate performance review of the city attorney…”. COUNCILMEMBER TEITZEL MOVED, SECONDED BY COUNCILMEMBER BUCKSHNIS, TO REVISE THE SECOND SENTENCE IN 20.05.035 TO READ, “THE MAYOR MAY, FROM TIME TO TIME, WITH OR WITHOUT CAUSE, IN THE MAYOR’S SOLE DISCRETION AND UPON DUE NOTICE TO COUNCIL, UNDERTAKE A SEPARATE PERFORMANCE REVIEW OF THE CITY ATTORNEY…”. AMENDMENT CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. Councilmember Buckshnis thanked Councilmember Teitzel for proposing the changes to Mr. Taraday that she suggested last week. She noted the language does not include providing an annual update to the council and citizens. She asked whether that was understood or if it should be added. Mr. Taraday said that could be added to the city attorney duties in 2.05.020.C COUNCILMEMBER BUCKSHNIS MOVED, SECONDED BY COUNCILMEMBER TEITZEL, TO AMEND 2.050.020.C TO ADD A NEW 9, “PROVIDE YEARLY UPDATE TO THE COUNCIL AND PUBLIC. AMENDMENT CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. COUNCILMEMBER BUCKSHNIS MOVED, SECONDED BY COUNCILMEMBER TEITZEL, TO AMEND 2.050.025.B, TO ADD A NEW ITEM 4, “PROVIDE YEARLY UPDATE TO COUNCIL AND THE PUBLIC.” Councilmember Paine commented the city prosecutor and city attorney already provide annual updates to the council. It can be added to the code, but she wanted to recognize that it is already happening in real time. Mr. Taraday asked about the phrasing of this amendment, whether it was envisioned there would be two separate updates or one update to the council that the public would of course be privy to. Councilmember Buckshnis agreed it was the latter. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. Councilmember Nand thanked Mr. Taraday for incorporating her suggestion in 2.05.025.B.1 that the city prosecutor shall exercise discretion to prosecute criminal violations of the city code. She was unsure that Edmonds City Council Approved Minutes November 1, 2022 Page 9 prosecutorial independence was adequately represented in the code given that there have been controversial non-prosecution of criminal or perceived criminal activity in the past. She asked whether the City code could be amended to create an appearance of independence between the city prosecutor and the executive branch in the mayor’s office should that become an in-house position. Currently under 2.05.015, an in-house city attorney or in-house city prosecutor would be appointed under the appointive officer with city council confirmation. In ECC 2.10.020, assignment of duties, appointive officers are under the power of the mayor to direct, supervise and be in charge of all city appointed officers. She provided the vandalism of the “I Can’t Breathe” art installation as an example of a politically unpopular decision whether to prosecute. In that instance, the county prosecutor declined to prosecute that and it was a very politically unpopular decision. She asked if there was a way to create more independence in the code. At the county level, the county prosecutor is elected by and directly accountable to the voters, versus if the city has an appointive in-house city prosecutor, they are directly accountable to the mayor. Mr. Taraday said that was an interesting question because Councilmember Nand was correct that that distinction was very important; the county prosecutor is an elected official and therefore should absolutely be exercising their independent discretion and the voters will vote them in or out depending on whether they like what the prosecutor does. The city prosecutor is not elected and reasonable minds can differ regarding how much independence that person should have; he could see an arguments for both sides. On the one hand, you want them to use their independent judgment as a trained lawyer to make decisions based on the law with regard to whether to bring charges before a court. On the other hand, there are legitimate policy choices that take place with criminal prosecution. For example, the decision to prosecute or defer DWLS3 which was something the council looked at in the recent past. He did not have the answer to whether a city prosecutor should be allowed to basically ignore whatever the mayor or council say about those types of things. It is a very interesting debate and he will make whatever amendments to the code that the council wishes. Councilmember Nand said that was why she was referring to “appointive officer” in section 2.05.015 because then the mayor sets the policy that an in-house prosecutor would follow should council chose to create an in-house position that would be under the mayor. She questioned whether that was democratic and did it follow the necessary checks and balances of independence between the executive, legislative and justice/legal branches. She asked if he had any suggestions for how to ensure independence of policy so prosecutorial priorities are not directly attributable to the mayor, but also to the legislative branch which is council. Councilmember Teitzel raised a point of order, observing the council was out of time on this issue, but because it was an important issue to resolve tonight, he suggested continuing the discussion during the 7:00 meeting. He noted the council has the discretion to terminate the contract of a contracted prosecutor if they feel they are not comporting. Councilmember Paine raised a point of order. Councilmember Buckshnis pointed out Councilmember Teitzel’s point of order needed to be answered first. Councilmember Paine said her point of order was Councilmember Teitzel’s discussion was not on topic. Councilmember Teitzel began to continue and Councilmember Paine requested Council President Olson rule on her point of order. Council President Olson advised it was moot as it was 7 p.m. and the meeting was concluded. 3. ADJOURN The Council meeting was adjourned at 7 p.m.