Loading...
2022-10-19 Economic Development Commission Packetf n C. 1 g9v AGENDA Edmonds Economic Development Commission Wednesday, October 19, 2022 6PM — 8PM REMOTE MEETING/ZOOM INFORMATION: https://zoom.us/j/98696685791?pwd=RytOZj VuK3ZCNON4Q 1 RrMHZq SWpyQT09 Meeting ID: 986 9668 5791 Passcode: 901513 PHYSICAL LOCATION The EDC members will be meeting remotely for this meeting and the public may as well at the zoom information above. However, given the expiration of Gov. Inslee's proclamation on open public meetings, a physical location to participate in the meeting must be provided. For this meeting the physical location provide is Edmonds Waterfront Center Community Room B located at 220 Railroad Avenue. Comments may be emailed to megan.luttrellkedmondswa.gov prior to the meeting. 6:00 P.M. — Call to Order and Land Acknowledgement: "We acknowledge the original inhabitants of this place, the Sdohobsh (Snohomish) people and their successors the Tulalip Tribes, who since time immemorial have hunted, fished, gathered, and taken care of these lands. We respect their sovereignty, their right to self-determination, and we honor their sacred spiritual connection with the land and water." - City Council Land Acknowledgment Call to Order Roll Call and Recognition of Approved Absences 2. Approval of Agenda Approval of September 21, 2022 Meeting Summary 4. Audience Comments (3 minutes per person) Economic Development Strategy Discussion (45 min) — All This is an opportunity for the full commission and Director Tatum to collaborate on vision for economic development approaches for the city, work prioritization, and commission strategies. 6. Liaison Updates (5 min each) a. City Council b. Port of Edmonds c. Chamber of Commerce d. Planning Board 7. Roundtable Discussion 8. Adjourn Next regular meeting: November 16, 2022, 6PM CITY OF EDMONDS ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION MEETING September 21, 2022 COMMISSIONERS PRESENT: Nicole Hughes, Chair Kevin Harris, Vice Chair Darrol Haug Carrie Hulbert Jay Hoag Kevin Smith Keith Hamilton COMMISSIONERS ABSENT: David Kaufer - excused LIAISONS PRESENT: Roger Pence, Planning Board, ex-officio LIAISONS ABSENT: Susan Paine, Councilmember, ex-officio Angela Harris, Port Commissioner, ex-officio Ryan Crowther, Edmonds Chamber, ex-officio GUESTS: Jim Ogonowski STAFF PRESENT: Todd Tatum, Community Services/Economic Development - Director Megan Luttrell, Program Coordinator CS/ED Susan McLaughlin, Development Services Director Economic Development Commission meeting conducted via ZOOM and called to order by Nicole Hughes at 6:01 p.m. Call to Order and Land Acknowledgement 1. Roll Call and Recognition of Approved Absences: Round robin introductions to introduce Todd Tatum to the Commission. David Kaufer has an excused absence. Ryan Crowther, Susan Paine and Angela Harris are all absent tonight as well. 2. Approval of Agenda: Darrol moved to approve the meeting summary; Carrie seconded; motion passed. 3. Approval of August 10, 2022, Meeting Summary: Jay moved to approve the meeting summary; Kevin S. seconded; motion passed, with Carrie abstaining due to absence. 4. Audience Comments: Jim Ogonowski shared that he is following the comp plan process. He served on the Housing Commission. He feels that the comp plan should outline the vision of the City and then determine how to execute. He sees there to be an over -emphasis on environmental issues and an underwhelming focus on economics. He'd like the EDC to focus on how to increase revenue. He's encouraging each board and commission to determine their own plan. He's asks if the EDC knows who they report to, Council or Staff. He feels it's not clear who each board and commission serve. 5. City Update: Todd introduced himself. He will be the main liaison between the City and the EDC. 6. Comp Plan and Neighborhood Visioning Process Discussion: Nicole explained that she added the Comp Plan on the agenda but the main focus of this item will be the neighborhood visioning process. Susan shared a brief explanation of the comprehensive plan visioning, Everyone's Edmonds has a look to attract all ages, approachable, and engage all people. This summer there was a targeted six -week themed focus. Each week there was a variety of engagement to drive approachability as well as develop recognition. Overall, the little engagement opportunity yielded 8,500 comments. Kevin explained that EDC is interested in how they can participate and provide input for developing the new comp plan. Todd added that he would appreciate meeting with the chair and vice chair to plan out future agendas to dive into to several economic topics to discuss. DRAFT Meeting Summary Economic Development Commission September 21, 2022 Page 1 Susan moved on to reimagining neighborhoods & streets. This concept took on new life during the pandemic, as people were forced to gather in new places when the typical places were closed. The focus is to really look at public spaces in all neighborhoods in Edmonds. Streets make up —77% of the City's public space. How do we redesign our streets to accommodate all users? How can we activate the streets we already have today? The scope of work includes developing new street typologies; develop new public space typologies; create public space activation strategies toolkit. Susan explained the street typology work includes a functional classification map. There is a requirement to map the arterial roads, but the focus is on showing vehicle movement. She showed a cross-section example of what the ROW could look like in the future. Susan shifted gears to discuss how public space activation and the different ideas using the entire street or just a portion; closing or blocking off portions, etc. The city held neighborhood meetings to discuss the different types of activation in each neighborhood. The city has committed funding to try a pilot project activation event in each of the 6 neighborhoods: Downtown; Five Corners; Firdale; Westgate; Hwy 99/Ballinger; Perrinville. The deliverable is an activation toolkit, it will provide description, design, and programming. Pilot project core group meetings are ongoing. Kevin S. added that sidewalk improvements are exciting. He asked how the improvements are being contemplated? Susan shared that there's several areas where the ROW is not being utilized. Kevin H. mentions he's curious to know what themes they saw from all 6 neighborhoods and did any ideas change? Five Corners wants a food truck festival; Perrinville started with a star gazing party; Westgate learned a lot about inequities. How do you activate Westgate? Where are the natural gathering places? Where do you gather that's not too noisy? Five Corners was interesting because of the streetscape so it was suggested to use BARC's lot but the idea is to use public space so they will try to close 841hAve. Nicole asked about public engagement. Susan explained that support has been typically, quite high. Carrie added that the programs themselves will be what gets people excited about the activation. Kevin H. points out that there's a lot of differing opinions out there, did you run into people who had different ideas and how was that responded to? Susan explained that the project is not about what it looks like but really connecting with neighbors. It's a holistic approach to infrastructure and street design as much as street activation. Carrie asked about bike lanes being a part of the public activation. Susan explained that it's important to approach this to utilize the entire ROW otherwise it will be allocated differently or possibly not used at all. Bike lanes will be a part of some of the typologies. Kevin H. asked what is the benefit and/or role for the EDC contributing to the comp plan? Susan shared a slide from Urbis showing the economic impact of different curbside uses to highlight the benefit of the EDC's involvement. Nicole asked if there's specialized knowledge that the group could be researching about street design to educate themselves? Susan explains that streets are not complicated, it's the way people use them. Darrol explained that every time we change something in Edmonds there seems to be input. Main Street was received well, Sunset was not as easy, bike lanes get people excited. He emphasized that if you improve but maintain the predominant use, it's better received then when the change eliminates some of the uses that previously were in place. How are those different viewpoints going to be managed? Susan expresses her understanding but explains that the emotion needs to be removed from the discussion. Nicole thanked Susan for attending and for all the work she is doing in the community. 7. Liaison Updates a. City Council (Susan Paine) Absent. b. Port of Edmonds (Angela Harris) Absent. c. Chamber of Commerce (Ryan Crowther) Absent. DRAFT Meeting Summary Economic Development Commission September 21, 2022 Page 2 d. Planning Board (Roger Pence) shared that Susan's presentation is a preview of what the PB will receive next week. The PB will be reviewing the vision statement for the comp plan. He feels the one thing that they will want to see is community engagement. 9. Roundtable Discussion: Roger shared an economic development opportunity. He did a walking tour last week and the Five Corners Plaza property, it is currently for sale. The land is zoned neighborhood business, which the zone is antiquated, it would require it to look like it does today, building on the back of the property with parking in front. Roger feels it's worth an update to the zoning code. Darrol adds that rezoning just because the property is for sale could go well or bad, it's a sticky situation. Jay mentions that Hartland study got derailed because of the purchase of the BARC property. Keith suggest less codes could be better. Roger suggests that guiding the codes in a direction that could improve the property would be a positive approach. Todd added the Hartland study was very thorough, he is trying to organize what's been done and what we know with staff and he would be willing to put that together. Jay added that the Downtown Plan Assessment (Heartland) study was focused on the economic vitality of the neighborhood. Roger adds the current zoning doesn't get redevelopment where it should be. Darrol added we lost our student rep, we need to bring on another. There were two studies at 5 Corners both of which would be meaningful for the EDC. Darrol is now the EDC rep for the Creative District, he's had two meetings, it will need to be re -designated by the end of next year. There's an emphasis on the 41h Ave Cultural Corridor and there's also an emphasis on how to get creative business out of the downtown. On the topic of moving city services out of downtown, city services will likely be evaluated as the emergency order is lifted. Someone should reach out to the city to see how the work environment will shift as we move forward. Carrie shared that listening to Susan and how EDC can be involved led her back to the neighborhood branding discussions that the EDC has done, Susan's data could be helpful. She also thinks it would be interesting to survey the BID members about the office space business and how their work environment is looking moving forward. Keith thinks that Jim had a good reminder at the beginning of the meeting to determine the EDC's focus. Kevin H. added we've been moving away from the project work. What does the work look like as a collaborative effort with other boards and commissions? He suggests continuing conversations with community members, staff, other commissioners. He also suggests developing a guide of principals to keep everyone on same track. Keith S. agrees that the governor's emergency order being rescinded does make the future of the work force look different. He's excited for the moto pizza in downtown Edmonds. Todd appreciates the comments tonight and is excited about the visioning for the comp plan. Jay shared the survey participation was great in July but dipped in August; and welcomed Todd. Nicole thanked everyone for a great meeting. Lots of positive work being done, the neighborhood meetings have great energy. Between now and the next meeting Nicole, Kevin H. & Todd will meet to explore the work that's being done and how to get it done. Kevin H. suggests an example and highlights Carrie's idea of the electric scooters could be a good idea as it fits into transportation and the comp plan. Carrie would like to think about discussing the idea at the next meeting. 10. Adjourn at 7:57 p.m. Next meeting: October 19, 2022, 6 PM location Zoom DRAFT Meeting Summary Economic Development Commission September 21, 2022 Page 3