2023-11-15 Economic Development Commission PacketI11c. 1 g9"
AGENDA
Edmonds Economic Development Commission
Wednesday, November 15, 2023
6PM — 8PM
HYBRID MEETING
The Economic Development Commission members will be meeting in person and/or remotely for this meeting.
The public may join at the physical location or join through zoom.
PHYSICAL LOCATION
Brackett Meeting Room, Edmonds City Hall — 3' Floor
121 5t' Ave N, Edmonds, WA 98020
REMOTE MEETING/ZOOM INFORMATION:
hops://zoom.us/j/98696685791?pwd=RytOZ j VuK3ZCNON4Q 1 RrMHZq SWpyQT09
Meeting ID: 986 9668 5791
Passcode: 901513
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
3. Approval of October 18, 2023 Meeting Summary
4. Audience Comments (3 minutes per person)
Landmark Advisory Committee and Workgroup Update
6. Comprehensive Plan — Planning Board Joint Meeting Review
7. Liaison Updates (5 minutes each)
a. City Council — Vivian Olsen
b. Port of Edmonds — David Preston
c. Chamber of Commerce — Ryan Crowther
d. Planning Board - Vacant
Roundtable Discussion
9. Adjourn
Next Regular meeting: Nov 15, 2023, 6 PM
CITY OF EDMONDS
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION MEETING
October 18, 2023
COMMISSIONERS PRESENT:
Nicole Hughes, Chair
Kevin Harris, Vice Chair
Darrol Haug
Natalie Seitz
Matt Cox (via Zoom)
Kevin Smith
Allan Townsend
Nick Perrault
Kate Nolan — Student Representative
LIAISONS PRESENT:
David Preston, Port Commissioner, ex-officio
Vivian Olson, Councilmember, ex-officio
LIAISONS ABSENT:
Vacant — Planning Board, ex-officio
Ryan Crowther, Edmonds Chamber, ex-officio
GUEST:
Roger Pence
COMMISSIONERS ABSENT: STAFF PRESENT:
Jay Hoag - unexcused Megan Luttrell, Program Coordinator CS/ED
STAFF ABSENT:
Todd Tatum, Director CS/ED
Economic Development Commission meeting called to order by Nicole Hughes at 6:03 p.m.
Call to Order and Land Acknowledgement
1. Roll Call and Recognition of Approved Absences: Jay's absence is unexcused. Ryan is also absent, and
Kate is running a few minutes late.
2. Approval of Agenda: Nick moved to approve the agenda; Allan seconded; motion passed.
3. Approval of September 20, 2023, Meeting Summary: Natalie requests that Item 6.a be edited by
striking the word "community" from second sentence & replace translators to "interpreters" in the
second to last sentence. Natalie moved to approve the meeting summary with her edits; Darrol
seconded; motion passed.
4. Audience Comments: Roger is here between events and is interested in what the Commission thinks
of the next two items.
5. Landmark Advisory Committee and Workgroup Update: Kevin H. and Allan are the EDC members on
the Advisory Committee. Kevin H., Allan, Matt and Kevin S. comprise the EDC Work Group for the
Landmark Project. The role of the Advisory Committee is to be a sounding board, share expertise, and
leverage their Board & Commission networks. Todd, Angie & Susan are currently the staff leaders.
There are additional city staff from other departments who make up the steering committee. The city
is contracting with a Master Planner to develop the initial best use. Kevin H. has asked if the city will
have enough substantive info to determine whether they will be moving forward with the project by
the end of the year. There is a public meeting on October 2111 from 10a-12p at Edmonds Woodway
High School to engage the community. The city has been researching case studies. Tukwila did a
DRAFT Meeting Summary
Economic Development Commission
October 18, 2023
Page 1
public, private partnership project. Their net cost was $7M of the $131M; Matt adds $113M was
developer financed. Kevin S. explains that if this project moves forward, it would be heavily developer
leveraged and the city would have a smaller stake in it. The current property owner does not want
the property to go to for profit use only. The owner has backed off the original 24/75% language but
has made it clear they don't want the city to sell it at a high market value. Kevin H. is not expecting
much work to be asked of the EDC members through the end of this year. At this point, the Advisory
Committee has only met once. Councilmember Olson is excited about the idea of the property being
redeveloped, although it's not clear if the city can afford the property. Roger Pence adds that the
organization of the project doesn't include stakeholder input/involvement, the Advisory Committee
should include neighboring residents and businesses. Natalie adds she would appreciate more
transparency in the process. If city administration and Council representation are at meetings, there
should also be community involvement. The city should be challenged to do things differently and
publicly notice all stakeholder meetings. David Preston points out that there can be things going on
behind the scenes that are not being publicly shared at this time. Natalie feels that people will be
displaced from their homes if this redevelopment happens. Her neighbors are sharing the invitation
to the public meeting on October 215Y as she did not receive one, but this is only one part of the
equation. Kevin H. proposes a discussion for a future meeting to weigh in on how public engagement
should be happening and make a recommendation to the city on how to improve the process. Matt
supports moving forward with developing a process for public engagement. Natalie mentions that the
Planning Board has done some work on this already.
6. Comprehensive Plan Workgroup Update: Nicole shares an update of what the next 14 months could
look like. The work will be led by city staff and the consultant. The workgroup has not been given
access to the consultant yet. Councilmember Olson shares that the consultant should be given
direction to review Marysville's website on their comp plan update. Darrol adds that Shoreline is doing
an interesting job also on their comp plan update. Kevin H. suggests using a SOAR analysis, instead or
in addition to a SWOT analysis; Nicole mentions it is in the current Economic Development Element.
Natalie suggests looking at the city by geographic sections rather than just a list of categories. Natalie,
Jay, Nick, and Nicole are EDC members in this workgroup.
7. Cultural Access Program Discussion: Darrol took the EDC input for the taxing options and developed
a report and shared it with the Creative District. They discussed the options of how to implement the
Cultural Access tax. He shared the information with several arts organizations in the community that
have educational programs. They could all do more if they had more financial resources. Darrol, Matt,
Vivian met with the ECA's Director of Engagement and Education. Matt shares that the discussion also
included bringing new organizations that could provide programs that currently don't exist in
Edmonds due to lack of funding. Councilmember Olson asks what the EDC thinks of the tax.
8. Shopping Cart Ordinance Discussion: This item is bumped to a future meeting due to time.
9. Preview of November 8, 6PM joint meeting with Planning Board: Consensus, all present can attend.
The Commission will meet with the Planning Board on 11/8 and have the regularly scheduled meeting
on 11/15 as well.
DRAFT Meeting Summary
Economic Development Commission
October 18, 2023
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10. Liaison Updates:
a. City Council (Vivian Olson): Working on budget. Encourages everyone to vote.
b. Port of Edmonds (David Preston): Also working on budget. The new Port administrative
building move in has been delayed. New move in date TBD.
c. Chamber of Commerce (Ryan Crowther): Absent.
11. Roundtable Discussion: Kate is excited for her robotics competition this weekend. Darrol shares an
interesting presentation at Council last night regarding accessibility. One gentleman that was blind
shared his struggles with access to culture. It caused him to pause a bit. Natalie is getting ready for
Halloween. Allan attended the candidate's forum, he felt animosity from the crowd every time the
Landmark Project was discussed. Nicole finished the last of the weekly out of town work visitors for
the year, she was able to tour them around town and not even leave Edmonds, everyone loves
Edmonds. Kevin H. has a niece who is getting married and determined to move here. Let's try to get
Chamber involvement. Matt appreciates Darrol's comments as their increasing accessibility at ECA.
12. Adjourn: 8:06 p.m.
Next meeting: November 15, 2023, 6 PM location Hybrid — Brackett Room & Zoom
DRAFT Meeting Summary
Economic Development Commission
October 18, 2023
Page 3