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2017-11-15 Economic Development Commission Packet"7C. 189., AGENDA Edmonds Economic Develoament Commission Edmonds City Hall Brackett Meeting Room, 121 5th Ave N Wednesday, November 15, 2017 6-8PM 6:00 P.M. - CALL TO ORDER 1. Call to Order 2. Approval of Agenda 3. Approval of October 18, 2017 Meeting Summary 4. Audience Comments 5. Old Business: Subgroup Discussion (60 minutes): • Development Feasibility • Art • Civic Facilities • Affordable Housing 6. New Business Meeting attendance via phone 7. Roundtable Discussion (Council, Commissioners, City, Liaisons) (15 minutes) 8. Adjourn Next regular meeting: December 20, 2017, 6 PM CITY OF EDMONDS ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION October 18, 2017 COMMISSIONERS PRESENT Jamie Reece, Chair Aseem Prakash Mary Monroe, Vice -Chair George Bennett Darrol Haug Michael Schindler COMMISSIONERS ABSENT Nicole Hughes Stephen Clifton Matthew Waldron Nathan Monroe, Planning Board, ex officio GUESTS: None Adrienne Fraley-Monillas, Councilmember, ex STAFF PRESENT officio Patrick Doherty, Econ. Dev & Comm. Serv. Dir. Greg Urban, Edmonds Chamber, ex officio Jeannie Dines, Recorder Bruce Faires, Port Commissioner, ex-officio 1. The Economic Development Commission meeting was called to order by Jamie Reece at 6:01 p.m. 2. Approval of Agenda: Approved as submitted. 3. Approval of September 20, 2017 Meeting Summary. Darrol moved that the meeting summary reflect members with excused absences, Mary seconded; motion passed. Darrol raised the issue of whether the September 20 meeting had a quorum because two members participated by phone and questioned the authority that allowed members participating in a meeting via phone to considered part of the quorum. Darrol moved if the EDC did not have that authority, that people on the telephone not be counted as part of the quorum. Motion failed for lack of a second. Discussion followed regarding difficulty hearing when on the telephone, how to determine what the person on the phone can/cannot hear, whether other commissions allow participation by phone, having enough technology in the future so participants can hear, precedence for allowing members to participate by phone, and City Council rules that allow Councilmembers to participate by phone. Patrick relayed his research found nothing in the code regarding participation by phone; the code is silent on that issue. Darrol requested the record reflect this discussion and that he objected to members participating by phone being counted in the quorum and requested investigation be done to determine whether there is the authority for call -ins to be counted in the quorum. Patrick offered to research the process to allow members to participate by phone. Greg pointed out the meeting summary of the EDC's first meeting in March 2016 states skyping or phoning in is allowed when members are out of town. Darrol moved to discuss members' participation by phone at the next meeting and specify whether they can vote as part of the quorum, Mary seconded; motion passed. George moved to approve the meeting summary as amended. Aseem seconded; motion passed, Darrol opposed. 4. Public Comments: Draft Meeting Summary Economic Development Commission October 18, 2017 Page 1 Councilmember Fraley-Monillas introduced herself 5 Old Business: Subgroup Discussion (60 minutes): • Development Feasibility: Mary distributed a Problem/Benefit Statement for 15-foot floor to floor height requirement in BD1 zone that included objective, issue, approach, possible strategies and outcomes and asked for Commissioners' input. Patrick described the rational for the original change from 12 to 15 feet; national recognized retail speakers said for successful retail spaces including longevity, flexibility and versatility, a higher ceiling height was often better. The 15-foot first floor is also a reaction to some new buildings with low first floor ceiling heights with offices that do not engage the streetscape. Adrianne recalled another reason for increasing the height was to draw retail businesses downtown during the downturn. Patrick referred to a list of other cities' ground floor requirements. Greg pointed out few other cities have a 30-foot height limit. Mary referred to the list of possible strategies in the Problem/Benefit Statement. Discussion followed regarding impact 15-feet has on redevelopment, 15-foot ground floor heights as an experiment that did not work, retaining the 30-foot building height, and adding "parking" to the "Approach" section. Darrol moved to use this document when modified to include parking as the foundation for a recommendation to Council and to bring the document back to the EDC when modified, Michael seconded. Jamie moved amend to remove the bottom two bullets under Possible Strategies, Mary seconded; motion passed. Main motion as amended passed. Art: Data collection on the survey continues and waiting for the consultants to provide their report. Patrick reported the State is in the process of hiring a new person to run the creative district process. Civic Facilities: Subgroup is developing pros and cons replaced to locating civic facilities on Hwy 99 and/or other areas; a draft memo will be presented to the EDC for review in November. Discussion followed regarding potential other uses for City Hall, sale of public property, potential to transform Hwy 99, and potentially moving City Hall and Police Department to Hwy 99. Affordable Housing: Jamie encouraged commissioners to attend the Affordable Housing Task Force meeting on October 26 in the Library Plaza Room. Patrick commented on the potential for the subgroup to incubate ideas and forward them to the Task Force. He suggested a memo from the subgroup to the Affordable Housing Task Force regarding issues the subgroup has discussed including, 1) optimizing the ADU provisions in the code including allowing detached ADUs, 2) advocate for revision of condominium law that has restrained development of condos, and 3) establishing sensible guidelines for Airbnbs. Discussion followed regarding the definition of "affordability" in Edmonds, what is affordable to whom, establishing "affordable housing" based on median income in Edmonds, diversity of housing stock, and reduced lot sizes improving affordability. Mary moved to write a memo to Affordable Housing Task Force regarding the three issues the subgroup has been discussing for consideration at the Task Force's 10/26 meeting, George seconded; motion passed. 6. New Business: None 7. Roundtable Discussion (Council, Commissioners, City, Liaisons) Draft Minutes Economic Development Commission October 18, 2017 Page 2 Bruce: Port budget presented to public and Commission a week ago. Input on the budget at 10/30/17 meeting, final budget amended and approved 11/13/17. Port beginning process of permitting a building on the south of the work yard for marine -related tenant(s). Puget Sound Express doing well; adding a boat next year. Grant from Port of Seattle to advertise Edmonds whale watching in other areas. Jamie: difficult for Port tenants to find parking this summer, suggested increasing parking security. Aseem: has a parking garage been considered? Bruce: preliminary discussion regarding parking garage across from Arnies on NE corner of Port property; hoping for a public/private partnership. Greg: 10/25 Networking with Spirts at Yacht Club. Benefit concert with four bands on 1115 at Edmonds Center for the Arts. Attendance at festivals is declining. Trick or Treat downtown on Halloween; live remote with KING 5 meteorologist from the museum. Photo contest, tree lighting MC'd by Mimi Jung KING 5. Jamie suggested licensing the photos from the photo contest for businesses to use in advertising. Darrol: great vacation in Morocco. He and other former drum majors leading the UW band into the stadium on 10/28. Working with Edmonds School District to study demography and enrollment; may be interesting data for EDC. Patrick: Developers and property owners attended 9/27 Hwy 99 redevelopment forum, possibly some deals made. ED! developed a book with Edmonds restaurant menus that is available on Puget Sound Express boats. City participating in holiday advertising with ED! Holiday market on Saturdays in November and December, caroling contest during holiday season. Diversity film series begins this weekend 12 pm at the Edmonds Theater. Small Business Development Center Business Advisor Kathy Rupert will have office hours once/month in City Hall and the Export Assistance person will also have office hours in City Hall. Adrienne: met with developer on Hwy 99 who wants to be the first to develop under the new regulations. City Council is reviewing the 2018 budget. 8. Adjourn at 7:46 p.m. Next regular meeting: November 15, 2017, 6 PM Draft Minutes Economic Development Commission October 18, 2017 Page 3 Issues related to allowing Economic Development Commission Commissioners to participating by telephone and being counted in the Quorum. What is the authority cited that allows members of any commission to participate and be considered as part of the quorum? Is it part of general procedures for commissions? Is a part of the procedures for the EDC? What gives us the authority to participate and be counted in the quorum. To be a full participant in the meeting one must be able to hear all the proceedings. Based on the location of the speakerphone in the room the folks in the room are not near the speakerphone and cannot be heard. I have participated by phone in the past and could not hear all the conversation. I could hear those at the head table, but I could not hear the others in the room. As a result, I did not fully understand what the total conversation was and could not fully understand the view point of other commissioners. Our September meeting had two who participated by phone and were counted in the quorum. One admitted she could not hear all that was said. The other person was not at the October meet to offer an opinion of the ability to fully hear. It is my opinion that we should be allowed to participate in the meeting by phone but only for staying in tune with the general proceedings. We should not be allowed to be considered as a part of the quorum. We should also not be allow to vote for the same reasons cited. MEMORANDUM TO: MAYOR'S HOUSING STRATEGY TASK FORCE FROM: JAMIE REECE, CHAIR, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION SUBJECT: RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FURTHER CONSIDERATION DATE: October 26, 2017 The Edmonds Economic Development Commission has reviewed and discussed ideas regarding the current draft of City of Edmonds Housing Affordability Task Force, Over the last two quarters, the Housing Affordability subgroup of the Economic Development Commission has surveyed, evaluated and discussed the challenge of improving the climate for affordable housing in our city. Through these efforts we rendered four ideas which should provide some of the best opportunities for the greatest short- and long-term gains in affordable housing opportunity: Accessory Dwelling Units The City's existing code allows for Accessory Dwelling Units which are within or attached to the primary residence or structure of the property. We recommend the City consider allowing for Detached Accessory Dwelling Units (DADU's) on single-family properties, such as cottages or carriage houses (apartments over detached garages). Additionally, we recommend potentially refining the standards to allow units larger than the current limits (maximum 800 sq ft, 2-bedroom) especially when this does not exceed 40% of the livable area of the principal dwelling. Condo Regulations We believe there is stagnation within the Edmonds housing stock due to the lack of new or newer condos available in the market. Many citizens with larger homes looking to downsize to smaller, more contemporary homes have very few, if any, real opportunities within the city. A substantial portion of this issue is likely the result of the current State regulations related to multiyear liability on condominium builders which may create too great a burden to make building condos either possible or financially feasible. We encourage the City to work with the State Legislature to consider revisions to the condo regulations to balance the rights of new condo owners with the interests of builders to ensure these important housing opportunities are made available in the future. Zoning We appreciate the dedicated work of the City to continue reforming our zoning in districts like Westgate and the Highway 99 Corridor, and encourage the continuation of these efforts throughout all parts of the City, creating updates to zoning to provide more opportunities for affordable home ownership and rental within communities with a diverse stock of home types and prices. Short -Term Rental Regulations As the popularity of AirBnB, HomeAway, VRBO and other short-term or vacation rental services grows, we recommend the City consider sensible regulations that provide balance between the interests of property owners to have flexible income producing properties, and the need for a healthy stock of affordable long-term rental residences. Other cities have been experiencing issues with rising rents due to the removal of a substantial number of long-term rentals from the market as they've become short- term/vacation rentals. Providing more opportunity for accessory dwellings and lower - cost homeownership and rentals may not serve to address our housing affordability issue if many of these new units are made into short-term rentals. We hope these ideas are helpful in your discussion of potential ideas and solutions to greater housing affordability in our city, and look forward to reviewing the recommendations of your task force.