2017-03-08 Planning Board MinutesCITY OF EDMONDS
PLANNING BOARD MINUTES
March 8, 2017
Chair Rubenkonig called the meeting of the Edmonds Planning Board to order at 7:00 p.m. in the Council Chambers, Public
Safety Complex, 250 — 5 h Avenue North.
BOARD MEMBERS PRESENT
Carreen Rubenkonig, Chair
Nathan Monroe, Vice Chair
Todd Cloutier
Daniel Robles
Malia Clark, Student Representative
BOARD MEMBERS ABSENT
Phil Lovell (excused)
Alicia Crank (excused)
Matthew Cheung (excused)
READING/APPROVAL OF MINUTES
STAFF PRESENT
Rob Chave, Planning Division Manager
Brad Shipley, Planner
Jerrie Bevington, Video Recorder
Karin Noyes, Recorder
BOARD MEMBER ROBLES MOVED THAT THE MINUTES OF FEBRUARY 22, 2017 BE APPROVED AS
PRESENTED. VICE CHAIR MONROE SECONDED THE MOTION, WHICH CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY.
ANNOUNCEMENT OF AGENDA
The agenda was accepted as presented.
AUDIENCE COMMENTS
No one in the audience indicated a desire to comment during this portion of the meeting.
DEVELOPMENT SERVICES DIRECTOR REPORT TO PLANNING BOARD
Chair Rubenkonig referred the Board to the written report that was provided by the Development Services Director. There
was no discussion relative to the report.
IMPLEMENTATION ACTION AND PERFORMANCE MEASURE MONITORING REPORT
Mr. Shipley reminded the Board that a set of implementation actions and performance measures were adopted with the 2015
Comprehensive Plan update. The intent was to track implementation of the Comprehensive Plan and provide an annual
report to the City Council and Planning Board. This is the first annual report, which covers 2016. He reviewed that
"implementation actions" are steps that are intended to be taken within a specified timeframe to address high -priority goals
that relate to sustainability and Comprehensive Plan elements. "Performance measures" are intended to provide targeted
information about the implementation and effectiveness of the Comprehensive Plan. They are intended to help assess the
City's progress towards achieving the goals and policy direction of each Comprehensive Plan element. He reviewed the
Implementation actions and performance measures as follows:
Community Sustainability Element
Implementation Action. By 2017, update the City's Hazard Mitigation Plan to reference emerging risks and
hazards related to climate change, such as rising sea levels and ocean acidification. Mr. Shipley explained that
the Hazard Mitigation Plan (HMP) is a preparedness document that describes the potential hazards that could impact
the City and details the relative likelihood that those risks might impact people, property, and the economy. It also
lists mitigation action items being planned or undertaken to minimize or eliminate risk for those hazards. He
emphasized that the Federal Emergency Management Association (FEMA) requires that cities have approved plans
in place in order to receive federal funding to cover disaster -related costs. He reported that FEMA recently
approved the City's HMP, so this implementation action has been met.
• Performance Measure. Annually report on energy usage within the City, both by City government and by the
larger Edmonds community. Mr. Shipley provided data that shows that energy usage on City -owned properties has
generally been decreasing. Energy use has also been decreasing for residential properties even though the number
of units has increased. Energy usage for commercial properties has remained stable. He concluded that this
performance measure is being met.
Housing
Implementation Action. Develop a Housing Strategy by 2019 for increasing the supply of affordable housing
and meeting diverse housing needs. Mr. Shipley said the City recognizes that the rising cost of housing is a critical
issue. Together with the Housing Authority of Snohomish County, the City is in the beginning stages of developing
a Housing Strategy with the goal of increasing the housing supply. Meanwhile, the City is working to increase the
number of affordable units. Recently, the City designated the Westgate Mixed Use Zone as a residentially targeted
area, which allows future projects to qualify for a multi -family tax exemption for affordable units. He summarized
that this implementation action is not yet due, but it may end up being completed early.
• Performance Measure. Report the number of residential units permitted each year with a goal of reaching
21,168 units by 2035 or approximately 112 additional dwelling units annually. Mr. Shipley provided a table of
information to illustrate the number of new housing units added each year from 2011 through 2016. He reported
that there were 126 new units added in 2016, which means that the City's target of having approximately 112 units
added to the housing supply each year was met last year. He noted that the City's best opportunity for meeting the
yearly target is via multi -family development/redevelopment.
Economic Development
• Performance Measure. Report the number of jobs within the City each year, with the goal of reaching 13,948
jobs, excluding jobs within the resource and construction sectors, by 2035. This would require adding
approximately 95 jobs annually from 2011 to 2035. Mr. Shipley reported that the number of jobs increased by
about 2,626 between 2011 and 2015, which is an average of 525 additional jobs per year. He concluded that this
performance measure, so far, has been more than met.
Community Culture and Urban Design
Implementation Action. Develop an update to the Street Tree Plan by the end of 2016. Mr. Shipley reported that
the Engineering Department hosted several meetings with the Public Works and Parks Departments to draft an
update to the Street Tree Plan in 2016, so this implementation action has been met. In addition to identifying
requirements for species and location, the plan includes a mechanism for removing street trees that are not
performing well or have overgrown the areas where they are planted. The Engineering Department has noted that a
lot of work still needs to be done to integrate the Street Tree Plan into the upcoming Urban Forest Management
Plan. Formal adoption of the Street Tree Plan was postponed until the Urban Forest Management Plan is underway.
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Implementation Action. Develop an Urban Forest Management Plan (UFMP) by the end of 2017. Mr. Shipley
advised that the City has just under 200 acres of publicly -owned open space and parkland. Some sites are heavily
treed and others have clusters of trees. The City recognizes that local citizens value trees but also have concerns
about having the right trees in the right place. The City's goal is to maintain and/or plant trees effectively and
sustainably on its properties. He reviewed that, two years ago, the City's Tree Board developed a draft code for tree
preservation that included private property. While the draft code contained some good ideas, its requirements for
trees on private property were broadly seen as over -reaching. The draft was not adopted, but it helped spark the
discussion about the need for an UFMP to guide policy decisions about the urban forest. The City's management of
trees on public lands is considered a priority. During the discussions about updating the Critical Areas Ordinance,
concerns were also raised about the relationship of trees on public and private lands to priority habitat corridors and
how these should be managed. He announced that the City Council recently approved authorization to executive a
professional services agreement with Davey Resource Group to assist staff in developing a URFP and facilitating
the public process. The budget for the project is $130,000, and it is scheduled for completion by the end of 2017.
He noted that this implementation action is not yet due.
Utilities
• Performance Measure. Lineal feet of old water, sewer and stormwater mains replaced or rehabilitated. Mr.
Shipley advised that, since 2015, the City has replaced or rehabilitated 13,050 linear feet of water mains and 11,100
linear feet of sewer mains. He noted that, with the information provided, the Performance Standard has been met.
Capital Facilities
• Implementation Action. Develop Level of Service (LOS) Standards for key public facilities by the end of 2017
and consider including standards in the Comprehensive Plan. Mr. Shipley advised that this implementation action
is not yet due. However, he reported that, currently, several City departments are coordinating efforts on possible
LOS Standards, and progress will be reported in 2018.
• Performance Measure. Project delivery results, based on comparing projects in the Capital Facilities Plan to
what is actually done on the projects. Mr. Shipley provided a chart that tracks the progress of each of the projects
in the Capital Facilities Plan. He reported that four projects have been completed, four are in some stage of
progress, and two remain in the conceptual stage. He noted that, with the information provided, the Performance
Standard has been met.
Transportation
• Performance Measure. Number of linear feet of sidewalk renovated or added to the City's sidewalk network
Mr. Shipley reported that in 2016, 600 linear feet of sidewalk was added on the south side of 85th Avenue, 250 linear
feet was added on Maple Street between 6"' and 8th Avenues, 500 linear feet was added on 238"h from 76th Avenue to
80th Avenue as part of the 228th Street Corridor Improvement Project, and 1,200 linear feet was added on 238th
Street SW from 100th to 104th Avenues. He concluded that, with the information provided, this performance
measure has been met.
Chair Rubenkonig asked Mr. Shipley to share background information about how the performance measures and
implementation actions came to be. Mr. Shipley answered that the performance measures and implementation actions were
incorporated into the Comprehensive Plan when it was updated in 2015. They are intended to help the City track how well
the Comprehensive Plan is being implemented. The metrics in the performance measures were suggested by the departments
and a few came from the Growth Management Act (housing and jobs). The goal is for staff to report the City's progress to
the Planning Board and City Council on a regular basis.
Chair Rubenkonig asked if the Strategic Action Plan also influenced the performance measures. Mr. Chave responded that
the performance measures are geared towards the Comprehensive Plan over a longer period of time, and the Strategic Action
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Plan is for a much more focused period. Chair Rubenkonig pointed out that the dialogue pertaining to the two documents has
often been very similar. Mr. Chave agreed but said the performance measures have a different scope and timeline.
Board Member Cloutier pointed out that the performance measure for utilities does not include any specific goal or context.
For example, he suggested it could include a goal of a certain amount of replaced or renovated mains each year. He
commented that simply reporting what was accomplished does not seem like a very aggressive goal. The numbers would
mean more if the performance measure identified the City's goal over the next five years. Mr. Shipley explained that the
intent was to keep track of how many of the mains were being replaced, but it did not include a specific goal. Board Member
Cloutier again said it would be good to have some context for the numbers provided in the report. For example, how many
linear feet of water main is there, how many of them are over 50 years old, and how many are reaching the end of their
lifespan. He suggested that the report should provide this information in graphic format. Mr. Chave agreed that would be
helpful information. However, he explained that this year was intended to give staff experience in pulling the numbers
together. The performance measure could be expanded at some point to include additional context, since the Engineering
Department has information about how many mains need to be replaced each year on average.
Board Member Cloutier pointed out that the Hazard Mitigation Plan talks about how the City might start addressing climate
change, but there is no mentation of the Edmonds Climate Protection Committee or the Climate Action Plan that has been in
place since 2009. Rather than rewrite the actions that need to be taken, the actions identified in the Climate Action Plan
could be integrated into the Hazard Mitigation Plan.
Board Member Cloutier pointed out that, although a lot of numbers were provided in the report relative to electricity
consumption, the report does not address natural gas consumption, which is one of the largest contributors to global warming.
He said he understands that the information is available for inclusion in the report. In addition, the Public Utility District
(PUD) can inform the City on the amount of solar power that is generated each year. Mr. Shipley clarified that the solar
power generated was subtracted from the numbers provided for electricity.
Vice Chair Monroe agreed with Board Member Cloutier that it would be nice to know how many linear feet of water and
sewer main needs to be replaced or renovated each year. Without that information, it is impossible to know if the City is on
target or not.
Vice Chair Monroe asked if duplexes are allowed in Edmonds, and Mr. Chave answered that they are allowed and considered
to be multi -family residential development. There is not a specific duplex zone. Vice Chair Monroe suggested it would
make sense to add another column to the table provided in the report to track affordable housing. Mr. Shipley explained that
the current measure was taken directly from the Growth Management Act. The five columns provided in the report show
where the additional housing units are coming from, but the performance measure only requires the City to report on the total
number of new units. Measuring affordable housing should probably be a separate metric, since this particular measure is
intended to track the Growth Management Act requirement. Mr. Chave suggested this is something to keep in mind when
updating the Housing Strategy later in the year since it requires a different type of analysis. He noted that the Housing
Alliance of Snohomish County tracks this information and they presented a report to the Board last year. As the Board
discusses the Housing Strategy in the coming months, they could consider a potential performance measure for tracking its
success.
Chair Rubenkonig summarized that the current performance measure relative to housing is tied to the Growth Management
Act. She suggested that this should be made clear in the report and in the Comprehensive Plan. Mr. Chave explained that the
Comprehensive Plan and the Growth Management Act are two separate documents that are not necessarily tied together. As
the Housing Strategy is updated, it is likely that the implementation actions will need to be updated. However, performance
measures are different than implementation actions in that they need to be done on a long-term basis. Housing is just one
example where information needs to be tracked over a decade because projections will change over time. It is hoped they can
expand the number of things that are tracked to provide more elaborate information to tie back to the goals in the plan. This
is just the initial effort to track and assemble information.
Chair Rubenkonig commented that, as the Board works on the Housing Strategy throughout the year, one thing to consider is
the addition of a performance measure for affordable housing. Mr. Chave agreed that is something that could be decided
during the review process. He added that the Board could also address the need to amend the existing performance measures
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to provide more information as the City moves forward with updates to other plans. The intent of the performance measure
data is to inform future updates. He commended Mr. Shipley for doing a great job of assembling the report, which is a good
first step but also a work in progress.
Vice Chair Monroe asked why the Transportation Improvement Plan (TIP) does include a performance measure that
identifies the number of linear miles of roadway that have been paved or rehabilitated. Mr. Shipley answered that the current
performance measure focuses on walkability. However, he recognized that an additional measure could be added for
roadways, too. He commented that the report takes a great deal of time to assemble, and it is important to focus on the high-
level items that will help guide the City in the future. Mr. Chave added that the Board could raise this question when the
Capital Facilities or Capital Improvement Plans are presented to the Board later in the year.
Board Member Robles asked if the City's goals and metrics would change as the Federal Government changes its funding
priorities for disaster relief, climate impacts, etc. Mr. Shipley explained that because the Hazard Mitigation Plan Update has
been completed, it will no longer be identified as an implementation action that needs to be measured. However, other
implementation actions may be added the next time the Comprehensive Plan is updated. Mr. Chave commented that there
will be additional steps coming later relative to climate impacts, but the implementation action was simply to update the
disaster plan. He reminded the Board that the City is also working with students from Western Washington University to
identify impacts related to sea -level rise, which was also called out as a high priority in the Comprehensive Plan. A lot of the
exploration of impacts of climate change will be ongoing.
Mr. Chave explained that the Hazard Mitigation Plan is an important requirement of FEMA as an attempt to reduce exposure
to disaster response reimbursements. They want communities to analyze their hazards and risks and be proactive in reducing
the risks over time. That is the purpose of this exercise. The Hazard Mitigation Plan is a set of plans going forward to
continually analyze the City's risks. It is a relatively new requirement, but cities must have one in place or run the risk of not
getting full FEMA compensation if a disaster were to occur.
Board Member Robles recalled that the Board has discussed branding affordable housing in Edmonds as the ability to "age in
place," which means retaining residents as they age, etc.
Board Member Robles asked if the decline in energy use is related to technology changes or weather impacts. Mr. Shipley
said the representative from the PUD did not have too much to say on the issue, but he did mention lower wattage bulbs and
energy -efficient appliances. Solar generation is also a small contributor. Mr. Chave commented that as older appliances are
replaced with more energy -efficient appliances, there will be a consistent pattern of energy use decline.
Board Member Robles recalled Mr. Shipley's earlier statement that multi -family development is responsible for most of the
growth in new housing units. He asked if this is because the Economic Development Commission is promoting multi -family
housing or is there an effort to promote affordable housing, as well. Mr. Chave explained that the City is faced with an infill
situation. There is a limited number of single-family lots available for development or redevelopment relative to
opportunities for multi -family development. When a single-family lot is redeveloped, the home is simply replaced with a
new home and there is no gain in the number of units. Many multi -family lots are underutilized, meaning that substantially
more units can be added to take full advantage of the density allowed if redevelopment occurs. There are also opportunities
for multi -family housing in mixed -use zones.
Board Member Robles asked if existing single-family property owners have been given the opportunity to recognize the
economic advantage associated with accessory dwelling units (ADUs). Mr. Chave agreed that is an important issue to
discuss as part of the Housing Strategy update. This could include a discussion about market conditions, as well as potential
code amendments to accommodate ADUs and how to communicate to citizens that ADUs are an option.
Board Member Robles noted that no water lines were rehabilitated in either 2015 or 2016. Because rehabilitation is typically
a less costly approach, he questioned if the numbers will be modified in future years to include more rehabilitation. Mr.
Chave said that is a good question for the Board to direct to the Engineering Department.
Board Member Cloutier reminded the Board that the City already has a goal relative to reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
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Student Representative Clark voiced concern about the City's approach for providing affordable housing. She understands
that Westgate is intended to be the location for a large number of multi -family units. She said she does not want to see
housing popping up all over the place. Mr. Shipley reminded the Board that Edmonds is primarily built out, and the majority
of new multi -family development will occur along the major corridors where there are already good public transportation
opportunities. Student Representative Clark said she does not want affordable housing goals to take precedence over
protecting the environment.
Chair Rubenkonig commented that the numbers provided in the Economic Development Report do not add up to her, and Mr.
Shipley agreed to double check the math. Chair Rubenkonig commented that some very good years are needed in order to
make up for the years that were slow. Mr. Shipley agreed that the numbers are below the bar, but it is important to
understand that it is a long-range goal and there may be some very good years in the future.
REVIEW OF EXTENDED AGENDA
Chair Rubenkonig reviewed the extended agenda, which was recently updated. She noted that the Parks and Recreation
Quarterly Report was postponed to the May lOd' meeting so that staff can introduce the Highway 99 Development
Regulations on March 22" d. A retreat is tentatively scheduled for April 12"'.
PLANNING BOARD CHAIR COMMENTS
Chair Rubenkonig reported that representatives from the Bartell Family, the current developers at Westgate, have agreed to
attend the Board's retreat to share their thoughts and answer questions.
Chair Rubenkonig reminded the Board that detailed information about development permits is available via the City's
website (www.edmondswa.goy). At her request, Mr. Chave demonstrated how to access the information.
PLANNING BOARD MEMBER COMMENTS
Vice Chair Monroe reported that, at a recent Economic Development Commission (EDC) meeting, he was asked what the
EDC could provide to the Planning Board to make the process better. He asked that the Board provide feedback as he
prepares to respond. He reviewed that the EDC has been involved in the sign code, civic field, and a number of other issues.
Chair Rubenkonig recalled that the previous EDC presented periodic reports to the Planning Board, and a member of their
Commission attended the Board Meetings as a liaison. Although the new EDC has submitted letters for the Board's
consideration, they have not appointed a liaison to attend their meetings. Vice Chair Monroe agreed to make that request.
Board Member Robles reminded the Board that they will be tackling the Housing Strategy later in the year, and it would be
appropriate for the EDC to share insight on how to promote ADUs so that individual property owners have the same
advantage as developers when the message is delivered. It would be helpful for the EDC to adjudicate relative to the sign
code, as well.
Mr. Chave cautioned that the EDC and Planning Board operate in slightly different spheres. While there is some overlap, the
EDC does not work on code amendments to the same degree as the Board, and the Board does not get into the big picture
economic outlook that the EDC does. He agreed with Chair Rubenkonig that it would be helpful for each body to provide a
liaison to communicate and keep in touch. Chair Rubenkonig recalled that the previous EDC requested a joint meeting with
the Board, but she has not received a similar request from the new EDC.
Vice Chair Monroe commented that the Highway 99 and Five Corners Subarea Plans are pressing agenda items for the EDC.
Mr. Chave reviewed that the Highway 99 Subarea Plan is close to being approved by the City Council, and the next step is
for the Board to review possible code amendments to implement the plan. He presumes the EDC will be interested in
working with property owners to kick start the plan's implementation. He said that a joint Planning Board/EDC meeting
might be appropriate for this purpose.
ADJOURNMENT
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The Board meeting was adjourned at 8:10 p.m.
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