2018-01-17 Economic Development Commission MinutesCITY OF EDMONDS
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION
January 17, 2018
COMMISSIONERS PRESENT
Jamie Reece, Chair
Mary Monroe Vice -Chair
Stephen Clifton
Matthew Waldron
Nicole Hughes
Michael Schindler
Darrol Haug
Greg Urban, Edmonds Chamber, ex officio (by
phone)
COMMISSIONERS ABSENT
George Bennett
Aseem Prakash STAFF PRESENT:
Bruce Faires, Port Commissioner, ex-officio Patrick Doherty, Econ. Dev & Comm. Serv. Dir.
Nathan Monroe, Planning Board, ex officio Cindi Cruz, Program Coordinator
Neil Tibbott, Councilmember, ex officio
1. Economic Development Commission meeting called to order by Mary Monroe at 6:00 p.m.
2. Approval of Agenda: Approved as submitted.
3. Approval of 12/20/17 EDC Minutes: Mike moved to approve minutes, Darrol seconded;
motion passed.
4. Audience Comments: None
5. Old Business:
Subgroup Discussion (60 minutes):
Development Feasibility: Mary stated that memo on first floor ceiling height in the BD 1 zone
presented at the December meeting had been updated and comments incorporated from last
meeting. Patrick said there are many presentations and reports from boards and commissions
scheduled at Council so this memo will be presented sometime in February. He will advise the
Commission when it is scheduled for presentation. The yearly report is normally scheduled within
1St quarter but they will be scheduled on different nights. Jamie is not available on 2/20/18 so will
try to schedule for another evening. Will review at Council level and then if the Council wants to
see further work done the topic will be sent to Planning Board for work. Neil recommended that it
be a strong presentation and state economic benefits to the City. Commissioners can attend retreat
but unlikely to be discussed at the retreat.
Art: Mary stated there was nothing new to report on the draft study on the Economic Impact of
Arts & Culture since the last meeting. Patrick reported that the final draft has just been put
together and will be presented to Council on February 6, 2018. The study does not contain any
immediate action items. There are loose recommendations regarding arts & culture sector,
prioritizing and support. Communication piece will be released after having been reviewed and
developed. Creative district legislation criteria have been released. Reiterating that Edmonds
wants to be involved but there will be an application process and Patrick and Frances will be
reviewing for submittal. Impact study will be nice addition to an application process. More of a
bragging rights issue at this point and similar to Main Street Program but over time there could be
grants programs, etc. Commissioners could be part of application development process.
Approved Meeting Summary
Economic Development Commission
January 17, 2018
Page 1
Civic Facilities: Matt stated that George is working on memo but not here tonight. Aseem asked
if this would be discussed at retreat, doubtful since it is not necessarily a time to present issues
but a team building effort. The concept could go to full Council as a presentation item within the
next few months. Neil stated that perhaps there are some items that could be packaged for a
presentation at the retreat. A consultant has been hired to review what minimum level that could
be done/developed at 5-Corners. This report should be completed sometime during the first half
of the year. Memo will also look at several options of moving either or both City Hall or Public
Safety to a different location within the City such as Hwy 99 or 5-Corners. Public meetings and
conferences are held in City Hall that bring a substantial amount of foot traffic to the downtown
business area so the impact of that loss should be considered in any report. Could a survey of the
attendees in the Brackett Room regarding what type of impact they make on the downtown
restaurants and businesses for lunches and shopping be done? Have memo circulated to
Commission before next meeting so can be discussed and commented on at the February EDC
meeting.
Affordable Housing: Nicole asked if this sub -group could be tabled for now. The Mayor has a
task force working on this issue also. Neil asked if this group could look at affordable home
ownership. Strategies and other ideas such as: condo development, fee simple lots/zero lot line,
affordable starter homes, and density. Mayor's group is meeting next Thursday, January 251h, at
3:30 in Brackett Room. The question was asked if the City has granted church a special permit
process to allow for very tiny buildings with or without plumbing as a test at the request of the
church. Could EDC do this free thinking and develop some concepts that are not based on code
requirements or development rules? Affordable housing opportunities for employees to be able to
live within the community they work in. Jamie is on Task Force and encouraged any to attend
meeting on Thursday. He had nothing to report from the Task Force at this time. Many things
being discussed at the state level on this topic. Council set aside money in budget for homeless
issues and opioid crises there will be discussion at staff level on use of the money. Hwy 99 is also
a potential area available for affordable housing.
6. New Business:
Parking discussion: Darrol reminded EDC about parking group created by Mayor — and what
has been done so far; tick marks, employee parking movement, after hours parking lot promoted
by Business Improvement District (BID), enforcement increase. Is there more to be done?
Comments from commission: Neil: asked DEMA rep about tick marks and anecdotally they have
helped, he has seen parking enforcement out and about, Sound Transit was at CC meeting and
discussed how costly a parking structure is. Jamie: parking has been hard to find, should a
parking structure be considered. Mary: would like to see tick mark painting be expanded, shuttle
service from outside downtown area. Mike: likes tick marks and encourages expanding, not
changing hours but some areas could go from 3-2 or push out. PW is not enthusiastic about doing
more tick marks around downtown parking. Need hard data rather than anecdotal for expanding.
Aseem: offered to run a survey on parking among Edmonds residents and other subjects. This
would be a measurement of the actual parking habits. Areas have been identified for adding tick
marks for increased parking. Bruce: discussed Port progress on parking structure at NE corner of
Port property as potential investment rather than just civic project in the future. This could
eventually alleviate some of Sounder parking issue although it is a different issue to create day
long parking. Shuttle could help but logistics are unknown. BID has worked with an existing lot
to increase evening parking. Employee parking has been pushed out. Residential on -street parking
has 500+ permits and the fee could be increased over time with the hopes of limiting the amount
of permits issued.
Approved Minutes
Economic Development Commission
January 17, 2018
Page 2
Subgroup/Committee review: Mary stated development feasibility sub -group could review and
choose a new topic. Set a plan for this year. Status report on 2017 and accomplishments. April
2017 was when status report was delivered to Council. Anything that is not being discussed and
reviewed to work on: Tourism was mentioned. Neil: revenues have increased and surpassed the
highest ever before, what has happened to cause this increase in revenue and is it sustainable?
Could airport traffic have an impact on property values? Review list that was developed in 2017 —
send out before next meeting. Review and come prepared to comment on what to work on this
year as far as next priorities at next meeting. Terms expiring at end of March are George, Mary,
Stephen, & Aseem. Let Patrick know if you would like to be reappointed.
7. Roundtable Discussion (Council, Commissioners, City, Liaisons): Nathan: PB will be
working on urban forest management plan, 5-Corners, accessory dwelling unit development, and
he thanked the EDC as this will be his last meeting and Phill Lovell will be the PB rep at the next
meeting. Bruce: Port is doing well; Puget Sound Express is getting another boat for this year with
an estimate on 20,000-25,000 people on whale watching tours, most come in private cars, trying
to find out more info on how many stop in Edmonds on way in or out. Port retreat will be in
March for strategic planning and prioritizing investment in infrastructure of Port and how to get
best return on investment, Harbor Square operations will be reviewed. Darrol: Edmonds School
District enrollment committee reviewing how to build and where to build more schools relating to
ages and increase in population. Greg: Friday, 1/19 is Snohomish County day at the Legislature
in Olympia, Chowder cook -off on Saturday, February 24, there will be 10 restaurants and
anticipated 800-1000 people in attendance, Chamber is putting together a trip to Thailand in
November, $2900 for everything Nov 6-18, looking at some large programmatic changes to Taste
this year. Patrick: regarding State Legislature, there may be capital budget tomorrow (Thursday)
approving the budget and bonding authority, Port tourism video and digital advertising campaign
funded by Port of Seattle grant will be marketing Edmonds and whale watching in the Denver
metro area to promote tourism March to June, planning tourism ad plan for year, holiday
marketing and events went very well, rules change for phone involvement will go to committee
next week, planning high tech business event in February, encourage all commissioners to
network, and City awarded Envirostars award to Walnut Coffee and Refinery Salon.
8. Adjourned at 8:01 p.m.
Next regular meeting: February 21, 2018, 6 PM
Approved Minutes
Economic Development Commission
January 17, 2018
Page 3