2023-12-20 Economic Development Commission MinutesCITY OF EDMONDS
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION MEETING
December 20, 2023
COMMISSIONERS PRESENT:
LIAISONS PRESENT:
Nicole Hughes, Chair
David Preston, Port Commissioner, ex-officio
Kevin Harris, Vice Chair via Zoom
Vivian Olson, Councilmember, ex-officio
Darrol Haug
Jay Hoag
LIAISONS ABSENT:
Natalie Seitz
Vacant — Planning Board, ex-officio
Matt Cox
Ryan Crowther, Chamber, ex-officio
Kevin Smith
Allan Townsend
STAFF PRESENT:
Nick Perrault
Todd Tatum, Director CS/ED
Kate Nolan — Student Representative
Megan Luttrell, Program Coordinator CS/ED
Economic Development Commission meeting called to order by Nicole Hughes at 6:02 p.m.
Call to Order and Land Acknowledgement
1. Roll Call and Recognition of Approved Absences: No absences.
2. Approval of Agenda: Matt moves to approve the agenda; Nick seconds; motion passes.
3. Approval of November 15, 2023, Meeting Summary: Kevin Smith moves to approve the meeting
summary; Darrol seconds; motion passes.
4. Audience Comments: None.
S. Landmark Advisory Committee and Workgroup Update: Kevin Harris shares that Council voted to
continue moving forward with exploration of this project. Allan was present at the Council meeting
and appreciated the additional information that Todd shared. Todd provided a heat map of the
community feedback that Allan requested at the previous EDC meeting. Todd explains that once
Mayor elect Rosen is in office, there will be more direction on how to approach the project. Staff are
planning to get an RFP out in January and Todd would like the Advisory Committee to weigh in on it
prior to sending it out. After the new year, momentum will pick back up. The RFP process approach
has not been sorted out yet. The purpose of the RFP is to determine possible partners to move forward
working with. It will likely be open for a month and a half. There could be a partner nailed down by
mid -year. Natalie asks if the RFP will have community outreach, Todd can't speak to that, at this time.
6. Comprehensive Plan — Review Summary Notes from November Meeting: The group met last week.
They put together the Comp Plan Economic Development Element Feedback from November
11.8.23 Presentation memo (see attached). Nicole is seeking feedback on top goals and
organization. The Economic Development goals from 2020 that are top priorities are B, C & D and
thread A & E into the goals. Matt asks what does destination development means. Destination
development considers attraction, accessibility, infrastructure, businesses attraction, permitting,
it focuses on the destination and what it provides. It turns it from an activity to an organizational
perspective. Natalie points out that this concept should stretch across all revenue generating
sectors. How do we leverage all the business districts into this concept. Kevin H. mentions that
he thought the comp plan would be higher level than being into the details of the individual
neighborhoods and/or business districts. Todd agrees; calling out specific business districts is
Meeting Summary
Economic Development Commission
December 20, 2023
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likely too detailed. David points out that it is helpful to define terms so that is clear what the
intention of the statements are. Nick's perspective is that the consultant will glean the overall
point of what the EDC is trying to convey. Kevin H. adds that due to the 20-year length of the
comp plan, we will not know how many business districts will exist on Hwy 99, 20 years from now.
Todd highlights that many of the notes that were developed at the last meeting included a holistic
approach as a priority, keep that in mind as the plan is developed. Natalie points out that the
census data highlights that the bulk of the residents will be away from City resources. Moving City
Hall and the police department is an approach that would mitigate the issue. She points out that
there are challenges to lumping Hwy 99 as one business district, it's a two mile stretch that has
different flavors throughout the corridor. Kevin Harris suggests changing terminology to business
neighborhoods rather than business districts. Vivan suggests checking out Marysville's comp plan
process on their website, it's very well organized and is a good model to follow. Darrol explains
that a previous EDC group worked with UW to identify the needs of the different business
districts, doing this again could be valuable. David Preston asks Natalie what resources east
Edmonds would need to meet equitably needs. She explains 10 times the parks would need to be
added; stormwater treatment into Lake Ballinger. Todd mentions that walkability improvements
are another area that could use improvements. Kevin Smith suggests identifying named business
districts along Hwy 99 to give a sense of place or identity and start building some clear definition
of what is being discussed during the building of the comp plan update. Natalie agrees with
creating centers along Hwy 99 would be a great start. Kate adds that creating identities will lead
to adding imagery, much like how downtown has clear imagery associated with it. Nicole suggests
the committee take notes from this discussion and refine what the message is. Matt feels that
Kevin Smith's idea can tie nicely into Todd's points of identity and organization. Kevin H. suggests
the workgroup revisiting the partnership section and what does it mean to economic
development, call it out as a strategic and tactical tool. More partnership between the City Boards
& Commissions, and the County as well as other municipalities.
Natalie would like to see more in the goals about public health, under D. Quality of Life. Natalie
points out that business displacement strategies and business resiliency could fall under
Partnerships and/or Equity and DEIA Principles. The displacement can push businesses out of
Edmonds. If corporate businesses replace displaced small businesses, it can change the
character of a business district. Nicole suggests that this is a topic worth a bigger discussion at a
later meeting. David adds that permitting improvements should be highlighted. Darrol suggests
utilizing the Swift bus structure could address mobility issues on Hwy 99. David Preston suggests
adding safety to the list of goals.
The meeting for this group is scheduled for the second week of January.
7. Liaison Updates:
a. City Council (Vivian Olson): They've been focused on the budget. New liaison
assignments will be completed in January. There is a possibility that there will be a
business support grant program again in 2024.
b. Port of Edmonds (David Preston): The Ports holiday event was a great success! The admin
building had a generator mishap, and it will be another 8 weeks for the repairs to be
complete. Angela Harris is doing a great job! The Port had reps at the Marsh public
meeting.
c. Chamber of Commerce (Ryan Crowther): Absent.
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Economic Development Commission
December 20, 2023
Page 2
8. Roundtable Discussion: Matt, happy holidays. Kevin Smith, happy holidays; Johnny Mo's is a great
addition. Nicole reminds everyone with the admin change and new Councilmembers, check in with
your new person & happy holidays! Natalie, enjoy the season! Darrol, sat on the interview panel for
the Creative District Advisory Committee, great candidates. Allan, went to the Port's Holiday event, it
was great! Jay, happy holidays! Kate finished her last essay of 2023 yesterday! Nick, happy holidays!
Kevin H. happy holidays!
9. Adjourn: 8:00 p.m.
Next meeting: January 17, 2024, 6 PM location Hybrid — Brackett Room & Zoom
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Economic Development Commission
December 20, 2023
Page 3
DRAFT: December 14, 2023
To: Brian Vanneman, Susan McLaughlin, Todd Tatum
Cc: Economic Development Commissioners
From: Economic Development Commission
Subject: Comp Plan Economic Development Element Feedback from 11.8.23 Presentation
Background: The purpose of this memo is to provide collective feedback relating to the Economic
Development Element (EDE) portion of the Comprehensive Plan (Comp Plan) update. The Economic
Development Commission (EDC) has spent time reviewing the presentation from the 11.8.23 joint
meeting with the Planning Board as well as the full 2020 Comp Plan and specific EDE portion.
The commission was asked to provide feedback related to the following questions:
1. Which of the existing Comp Plan Goals do you believe are most important to carry forward
into this Comp Plan update?
Are there any other goals that you think should be considered for this Comp Plan update?
Do you think that the definition of Economic Development proposed in the 2020 Comp Plan is
a good one? What would you add or change if anything?
Economic Development Goals (2020 Comp Plan)
A. Foster a healthy business community that encourages appropriately scaled growth and
investment that offers a wide range of goods and services, provides employment, and
enhances municipal revenue.
B. Revitalize and enhance the city's business districts, balancing the needs for housing,
commerce and employment development with neighborhood character, amenities, and scale.
C. Diversify and grow the City's economic make-up to reduce sales leakage, attract spending
from nearby communities, enhance local employment, and increase municipal tax revenues to
support local services.
D. Support and enhance the community's quality of life for residents, workers and visitors in
order to sustain and attract business and investment and enhance economic vitality.
E. Expand and enhance the tourism sector to attract outside spending to help fuel the local
economy.
Definition of Economic Development (2020 Comp Plan)
Improving the economic wellbeing of a community through efforts that entail job creation, job
retention, tax base enhancements and quality of life.
Summary comments and notes from EDC discussions — both full commission and workgroup — are
included.
Q: Which of the existing Economic Development Goals in the EDE portion of the 2020 Comp Plan do
you believe are most important to carry forward into this Comp Plan update?
In general we recommend action and outcome -oriented goals.
Top Carry Forward Goals:
• B — Activate Business Districts
o Maximize spending local
o Be poised to act in each of our business districts
o Be organizationally aligned to support the business district
• C — Diversify city economy
o Develop and attract tourism/outside dollars
o Appropriately scale development opportunities and growth
• D — Quality of life
o More traffic may mean less parking — need a plan to support parking
The following Goals remain important, but weren't focused on in feedback
• A- Healthy Business Community
o This goal seems to have overlap in other Goals, would like to make sure the ideas are
captured in other goals.
• E — Tourism
o Current goal is a general tourism goal — would like to see this be more of a destination
development goal.
Ranking Top 3 Topics (not in preferential order)
• Zoning — Intentional housing and business to manage displacement
• All zoning code review
• A Housing near amenities
• Increase tax revenue from housing
• B — Right- size business districsts with resources
• Community centered business
• Need to include equity focus between different biz districts
• C — Diversity Economic makeup — tech, healthcare, development
• Diversify and grow city makeup
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• Attract high income jobs
• Attract/ask for what we want here
• Diversify tax base — industries — include fast track permitting
• B — prioritize the whole thing — enhance business districts
• B — Revitalize and enhance Business Districts
• B Revitalize Firdale, Perrinville
• Foster Business Community
• Int'I District connect to esp park, create infrastructure that increases character and appeal
• D — Quality of life — be the city people want to come to and spend money
• D — support community health with walkable, safe business districts — mitigate harm
Q: Are there other goals that should be considered for this Comp Plan update?
• Partnerships
o Get port engaged with development
o Healthcare District Branding
• Equity and DEIA Priciples
o Call out DEIA principles in Economic Development
o Build Equity — invest across diverse communities
o Resilient Communities— expand blue collar employment
• City services supporting business development
o Fast Track Permitting
o Have a strategy for fire district escalating costs
o Help planning department coach businesses through process so openings can be filled
quickly
o Seek to build collaboration between Economic group to align efforts with other city
efforts
o Recruitment and attraction of diverse business and gap in local offerings
Q: Do you think the definition of economic development in the 2020 Comp Plan is a good one?
What would you change if anything?
• Add Build Connections between districts
• Expand tourism to all revenue generating sectors
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• Need to communicate a wholistic view of the plan
• Be the city people want to come to to spend their money
Questions and areas of exploration needed
• How do these broad goals get translated into measurable action items?
• How do we stimulate the chages we want to see
• What implements the GMA
• Need to understand ripple effects of leveraging existing CIP/PROS/CAP/CRP and hollistaclly
understand unintended risks
• Is car sales revenue owned by 99 districts — should it be?
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