2019-10-16 Economic Development Commission Packet'11c. 189,J
AGENDA
Edmonds Economic DevelonmentCommission
Edmonds City Hall
Brackett Meeting Room, 121 5th Ave N
Wednesday, October 16, 2019
6-8PM
6:00 P.M. - CALL TO ORDER
Call to Order
1. Approval of Agenda
2. Roll Call and recognition of approved absences
3. Approval of September 18, 2019 Meeting Summary
10 min. 4. Audience Comments (3 minutes per person)
20 min. 5. Old Business:
SAP memo update.
10 min. 6. New Business:
50 min. 7. Work -group updates —Leads to identify next goals work groups will undertake:
Development Feasibility
Arts/Tourism
Business Attraction
20 min. 8. Liaison Updates (3 minutes per person)
10 min. 9. Roundtable Discussion (Council, Commissioners, City, Liaisons, 3 minutes per
person)
10. Adj ourn
Next regular meeting: November 20, 2019, 6 PM
DRAFT
CITY OF EDMONDS
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION MEETING
September 18, 2019
COMMISSIONERS PRESENT
Mary Monroe, Chair
Scott Merrick
Jamie Reece
Kimberly Koenig
Margaret Safford
Nicole Hughes Jay Hoag
Neil Tibbott, Councilmember, ex officio
Greg Urban, Edmonds Chamber, ex officio
COMMISSIONERS ABSENT:
Darrol Haug (excused)
Kevin Harris, Vice Chair (excused)
Bruce Faires, Port Commissioner, ex-officio
Nathan Monroe, Planning Board, ex-officio
Guests:
Bob McChesney, Executive Director Port of
Edmonds
Roger Pence, Planning Board
STAFF PRESENT:
Cindi Cruz, Program Coordinator
Economic Development Commission meeting called to order by Mary Monroe at 6:00 p.m.
1. Approval of Agenda: Jamie moved to approve agenda, Margaret seconded, motion passed.
2. Roll Call and recognition of absences: Darrol was approved for vacation beyond two weeks and
Kevin was excused because of work.
3. Approval of 7/24/19 EDC Minutes: Jamie moved to approve minutes, Scott seconded, motion
passed.
4. Audience Comments: None
5. Old Business:
SAP draft memo review — Darrol is still working on this and will bring before Commission at the
October meeting.
6. New Business:
Review and discussion of memorandum recommending a code change to allow lodging/hotels on
the waterfront. Proposal to send memo to Planning for review by Planning Board with
recommendation of a code change. This is a result in some interest in redeveloping an existing
building to a "boutique" hotel on the waterfront. Bob McChesney stated the Port would support
this proposal. After discussion it was agreed to have Mary sign the memo and have staff forward
to the Planning Division. Kimberly moved to approve memo, Jamie seconded, motion passed
unanimously
The recent approval by the Council stating a Native American land acknowledgement recognizing
the native lands before the Council meetings was discussed. Rather than reading before the
meetings it was decided to place the statement on all meeting agendas.
7. Work -group updates — Leads to provide goals and work steps to achieve them:
Development Feasibility: Nicole summarized progress: survey being conducted by
Development Services Department of either developers or property owners, approximately
150 to receive survey, expect process to take approximately 2 months with report probably
DRAFT Meeting Summary
Economic Development Commission
September 18, 2019
Page 1
DRAFT
Dec or Jan meetings. Questions include what are barriers to development and what are
experiences while developing. Other project involves write-ups on business districts for
website reviewing and updating to attract businesses.
Arts/Tourism: Kimberly updated on ferry line audio project stating the signs should be up
with working url audio by Monday. Trolley project was proposed in the budget and LTAC
has pledged $20,000in support and BID has pledged $10,000. Support was expressed that
trolley will be included in the 2020 budget for purchase and operations. Some anecdotal
statistics was provided by Kimberly and Nicole to support the rider numbers.
Business Attraction: Scott updated on work being done — looking at coworking space
within Edmonds. Opportunities of public private partnership. Looking at Port for support
of partnership. Greg discussed a meeting he had with Port but the space they had available
has been leased and no longer available. Continuing to work on possibilities. There was
some discussion regarding coworking space at Westgate at new Bartell's corporation
development.
8. Liaison Updates (3 minutes per person):
Chamber: Taste Edmonds was successful ran out of wine, rain for the car show but it was
reasonably successful as the weather cleared, candidate forum Oct 7 with public submitting
questions, Halloween and Tree Lighting coming up.
Planning Board: Roger Pence attended for Nathan. Curious about Perrinville building on sw corner
and if there was potential for redevelopment of the property.
Council: Neil handed out a chart on sales tax with details on top five revenue producing categories
in the City. Discussion about the trends and how it reflects the economy and growth in areas.
Potentially Hwy 99 developments could positively affect the sales tax revenue. Population growth
and resulting density could impact future data. This includes 2018 statistics and will make sure
2019 numbers are provided when available.
Port: no report
9. Roundtable Discussion (Council, Commissioners, City Liaisons, 3 minutes per person):
Mary summarized Darrol's statement which included items he thinks should be discussed and
worked on in the future by the EDC.
Scott: updated on the progress of Creative District Advisory Committee. The Committee will be
meeting every other month now. Working on business categorization which defines the businesses
within the district and what creative categories they fall into. Classifications should be done by
meeting in November. Also working on branding project for Creative District. Logo and tag line
will be created to provide an identity for the District. Two more cities have been designated creative
districts: Chewelah and Olympia.
Mary encouraged subcommittees to meet and there will be an opportunity to consider new things.
9. Adjourn at 7:02 p.m.
Next regular meeting: October 16, 2019, 6 PM.
DRAFT Minutes
Economic Development Commission
September 18, 2019
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DRAFT
From: Haug, Darrol (Econ. Dev. Comm.) <Darrol.Haug@edmondswa.gov>
Sent: Monday, September 16, 2019 4:49 PM
Subject: Items for the Sept EDC meeting
I do not have an update for the SAP material ready I will try to compete it for our Oct. Meeting.
Please feel free to read the following information to the EDC as my input for various topics that will be on
the agenda for Wed. For those item below not on the agenda if you could read into the record my
comments as part of Commissioner Round Table I would appreciate it.
If we discuss the Native American Statement, I would like to make a suggestion. Here is that statement:
"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. "
In the highlighted words it is clear the City is acknowledging the commitment to fishing land and water. It would
be my suggestion that the EDC spend some time on the idea of returning some land to the Tulalip Tribes that can
support their commitments. The City could give back the Marsh Area and we would urge the state to give back the
Unical Property. Both are part of the traditional lands and will be dealing with increasing the value of these lands
for fish production. The Tulalips are more equipped to make a difference in protecting and using these lands.
The EDC could take some time to explore the economic benefit to Edmonds for such a land transfer. Actual transfer
of land would do more for achieving our commitment than the reading of an Acknowledgement. We could examine
how such a transfer would enhance the economic development for Edmonds.
The EDC played an important role in working on issues relating to Civic Park. Two council members have
related that the Boys and Girls Club will not be rebuilding on their current sight. We know the water
table issues may be part of their decision as that increases the cost of construction and their share of the
on sight water treatments may also add to the cost that make rebuilding cost prohibitive. As the Clubs
decision becomes more public it will raise the question of the potential use of either the land or the
building. The EDC should take another look at crafting potential uses for the building and/or the site.
Two ideas immediately come to mind that could help with the Economic Development of Edmonds:
1. We could evaluate the potential use of the building or the site as a location for a year around public
market.
2. We could evaluate the use of the property for adding down town parking, either for the public or for City
of Edmonds staff during the work week and public in the evenings and weekends.
Other Parking Updates:
After the open house and parking survey and the Council decision to not add funding for the complete
2019 parking study a number of things have been happening. There were 40 plus folks at the open
house and more than 700 responses to the on line survey. The analysis by staff is almost complete but
after ready all 700 surveys a few items pop out. I made a report as a private citizen to the parking team
and I can share that with the full EDC at the next meeting as a topic we may wish to revisit with some
short term work to move the parking study process along. Here are so summary items that pop out.
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Economic Development Commission
September 18, 2019
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1. People love Tick Marks, the city has ordered the tape required to make more tick marks around the DT
area. We do not know the extent of the new work but we can find that out.
2. People are very willing to walk 2-3 blocks to get to their destination.
3. Support of a DT parking garage is split and few mentioned cost or source of funds to pay.
4. Residential folks feel they have a right to park by their property and a few commented it was unfair to
have to pay.
5. Employees were quite vocal. Several said they do not use permits but just either park outside the 3
hours zones or move their cars during the day. Several businesses in DT do not provide permits for their
employees adding to the DT parking issues.
6. Remote lots with shuttle service was mentioned several times.
7. Parking issues are not all day long but at peak times but no hard data on what is peak time.
8. Beyond major events like the Taste, or 4t", Edmonds is always attracting visitors that need more then 3
hours to park. Rick Steves, Businesses with long client meetings, and the emerging demands for Civic
Park will push this issue.
9. Ferry riders using Edmonds streets for 72 hours of parking are putting pressure on the neighborhoods.
Several recommendations were made that will add information needed to help us craft new strategies.
1. Have city do some data collection via the drone. This is being planned.
2. Survey all residential permit holders to learn more about their needs.
3. Survey ALL DT businesses (permit holders and non -permit holders) to understand their needs and
willingness to work for common solutions.
4. Identify current and future off street parking areas in the DT area, to evaluate how we may gain
permission to use these areas on off times of the day. The city for example has 4 areas it could use for
public parking but have not studied how best to accomplish it.
5. More pubic engagement with added survey questions. Several surveys could be crafted the public and
publish the results to help educate people on the issues and opportunities.
Depending on what the city will announce in the next several weeks the EDC could take up some of this
work in the future.
Darrol Haug
DRAFT Minutes
Economic Development Commission
September 18, 2019
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