2022-05-11 Planning Board MinutesCITY OF EDMONDS PLANNING BOARD
Minutes of Webinar Meeting
May 11, 2022
Chair Crank called the virtual meeting of the Edmonds Planning Board to order at 7:00 p.m.
LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT FOR INDIGENOUS PEOPLES
Student Representative Distelhorst read the Land Acknowledgement.
Board Members Present
Alicia Crank, Chair
Roger Pence, Vice Chair
Judi Gladstone
Richard Kuehn
Beth Tragus-Campbell (alternate)
Lily Distelhorst (student rep)
Board Members Absent
Matt Cheung (excused)
Todd Cloutier (excused)
Mike Rosen (excused)
Staff Present
Kemen Lien, Planning Manager
ANNOUNCEMENT OF AGENDA
THERE WAS UNANIMOUS CONSENT TO APPROVE THE AGENDA AS PRESENTED.
READING/APPROVAL OF MINUTES
Vice Chair Pence asked if staff was satisfied that the minutes adequately reflected Ms. Seitz's written comments.
Mr. Lien stated he would forward those written comments to the minutes taker to confirm that they were
included.
MOTION MADE BY BOARD MEMBER GLADSTONE, SECONDED BY BOARD MEMBER
KUEHN, TO APPROVE THE MINUTES OF APRIL 27 AS AMENDED. MOTION PASSED. 4-0
WITH CHAIR CRANK ABSTAINING.
AUDIENCE COMMENTS
Mr. Williamson stated he was just present to watch the meeting.
NEW BUSINESS
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A. 2024 Comprehensive Plan Update Discussion
Mr. Lien made the presentation regarding the 2024 Comprehensive Plan Update. He reviewed general
information regarding the substance, purpose, mandatory elements, and optional elements of the
Comprehensive Plan. Elements in the City's current plan include Community Sustainability; Land Use;
Housing; Economic Development; Community Culture and Urban Design; Utilities; Capital Facilities;
Transportation; Parks, Recreation, and Open Space; and Appendices. Additional Plans adopted by reference
include the Highway 99 Subarea Plan, Community Cultural Plan; Parks, Recreation, and Open Space Plan
(2014); and Streetscape and Street Tree Plan (2015).
Mr. Lien reviewed considerations of the 2024 Update including incorporation of Puget Sound Regional
Council's (PSRC) Vision 2050 Regional Plan and certification of the Comprehensive Plan by PSRC. Population
Capacity and Employment Capacity as indicated by the Buildable Lands Report (BLR) will also be included.
Edmonds is considered a High -Capacity Transit Community because it is connected to existing or planned
commuter rail, ferry, and bus rapid transit. Mr. Lien reviewed projected needs and current supply of population
and employment capacity. He also reviewed examples of reasonable measures from Countywide Planning
Policies related to increasing residential capacity, increasing employment capacity, and supporting increased
densities. A key aspect of this update will be establishing an overall "vision" for the City of Edmonds.
The update of the Comprehensive Plan will include coordination with the Waterfront Study; Climate Action
Plan; Highway 99 Community Renewal; Citizens Housing Commission recommendations; Equity/Climate
GAP Analysis; and Reimagining Neighborhoods and Streets. There will also be an analysis of the
Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) Alternatives. Likely focus areas will be reasonable measures on housing
and employment growth capacity under state and regional buildable lands requirements; policies and actions
that advance equity in the community; Climate Action Planning (greenhouse gas emissions and adaption); and
the Transportation Plan. Mr. Lien also reviewed the outreach strategy and preliminary expected timeline.
Comments and Questions:
Board Member Gladstone asked what kind of studies are going into the Comprehensive Plan and who will be
doing those. She also asked about the Planning Board's involvement in the update process. Mr. Lien replied
that consultants would be involved for most of the studies such as transportation, housing capacity, and an
aquifer recharge areas study. The Board is expected to be involved regularly throughout the process.
Board Member Campbell referred to the outreach strategy and recommended that they are considering how to
reach the minority populations. She suggested putting up billboards along Highway 99 with the website or event
info. Mr. Lien agreed and noted they would be translating materials into Korean, Chinese, and Spanish. They
will also be creating QR codes to surveys in other languages. Board Member Campbell suggested contacting
local church leaders to help with engaging their populations.
Vice Chair Pence asked about the survey format. Mr. Lien replied that is still to be determined. He reviewed
ways it had been done in the past which they intend to replicate. Vice Chair Pence spoke to the value of a
scientific survey even though it can be expensive.
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Vice Chair Pence asked how population is translated into housing units. Mr. Lien thought there was a
requirement for how to account for those. He added that the City would be verifying the Buildable Lands
capacity with its own analysis.
Board Member Kuehn said he really likes the idea of billboards and signage at other activities. He also asked
for clarification about the City's responsibility to meet growth target numbers. Mr. Lien explained how growth
target surplus/shortfalls work between jurisdictions. Board Member Kuehn referred to the timeline and asked
for confirmation that they are building in enough time for delays. Mr. Lien explained he is basically setting
aside all of 2024 for the adoption process.
Chair Crank asked for the presentation to be emailed to the Board. She also asked if natural population growth
is a part of population growth numbers. Mr. Lien explained the numbers include immigration, births, deaths,
etc. Chair Crank recommended pointing out the fact that some portion of the growth can be accounted for by
couples having children, and that it's not all adults moving into the area. Mr. Lien indicated he could add that
information to future presentations. Chair Crank asked if there are other conversations regionally talking about
the current state of employment capacity. She expressed concern about the potential disparity between housing
prices and wages which could force people to live in areas different from where they work. Mr. Lien explained
the economic element in the comprehensive plan makes connections between employment and housing.
Once the City gets an Economic Development Director on board, they will be part of the Comprehensive Plan
update process as well.
Board Member Gladstone asked for clarification about where the Planning Board fits into the visioning process.
Mr. Lien explained that the Planning Board will be involved in both the visioning and the scoping. Part of the
scoping may be a hearing in front of the Planning Board. The Comprehensive Plan Update will be a continual
process of interacting with the Planning Board. Board Member Gladstone referred to a study that had been
presented at the Housing Commission which broke out anticipated types of population by age, household size,
etc. because that is as important as the volume of housing. Mr. Lien agreed.
Board Member Campbell agreed that it was important to note the type of population they were expecting
because it would also have an impact on the types of services that need to be provided. She referred to the
expense of surveys and recommended that the consultants get the school systems involved to assist in the
process to reduce the costs. Regarding economic development, she suggested trying to see what the City Council
thinks about expansion of government because that is an excellent way to get appropriate paying jobs.
Vice Chair Pence noted that the Sounder North service got cut back significantly because of COVID. Sound
Transit recently published a plan to ramp up service systemwide to restore some of the COVID cuts. That plan
did not include restoring trains to Sounder North due to low current ridership and the future addition of Link
Light Rail in Lynnwood. He recommended that when they are thinking about where to put the High -Capacity
Transit communities they shouldn't focus on the train. He also referred to the issue of a lack of a vision statement
for the City of Edmonds. He asked how they would approach this process. Mr. Lien explained that the consultant
PRR will be helping with the development of a vision statement. One thing they will be doing is looking back
at all the enormous amount of public input they have received to date. It will also involve a lot of engagement
and continuous conversations with the public. Vice Chair Pence suggested putting out a call for opinions or
recommendations for vision statements for the community. This could be published on Facebook, in the
newspaper, on the website, etc.
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Chair Crank expressed a desire to have all board members involved in discussing the outreach and visioning
process and to do it in a way that everyone's opinions are heard.
Board Member Gladstone commented that visioning is a really hard thing because people don't necessarily
know what it can be like. She recommended the consultant do some homework about what other cities have for
their vision statements and as a way of giving people something to react to rather than just trying to come up
with a vision.
Chair Crank asked how often staff would be coming back to the Planning Board with updates. Mr. Lien thought
it would be at least monthly. Board Member Gladstone recommended staff come back to the Planning Board
after they have their timeline sorted out to determine when would be the best places for the Planning Board to
be involved.
PLANNING BOARD EXTENDED AGENDA
The extended agenda was reviewed and amended. Mr. Lien reviewed the status of staffing issues.
PLANNING BOARD MEMBER COMMENTS
Board Member Campbell thanked staff for the great information and stated she was happy to be involved.
Board Member Koehn welcomed Board Member Campbell.
Vice Chair Pence asked if there is a new planning manager yet. Mr. Lien stated he will officially be the Planning
Manager on Monday. The Board congratulated him. Vice Chair Pence asked about the status of streateries. Mr.
Lien replied that most of them are gone, and all are required to be gone by the 15th. This will come up again as
a topic of conversation under the public spaces discussion. He noted that Board Member Campbell needs to be
added to the Planning Board group email.
Board Member Distelhorst noted that the presentation gave her a lot to think about, and she looks forward to
future conversations.
PLANNING BOARD CHAIR COMMENTS
Chair Crank welcomed Board Member Campbell. She urged everyone to use their city emails.
Mr. Lien reminded the Board about the May 20 Special Council Meeting on parliamentary procedures.
ADJOURNMENT:
The meeting was adjourned at 8:34 p.m.
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