CITY OF SHORELINE
SHORELINE CITY COUNCIL
Monday, April 1, 2019 Council Chambers - Shoreline City Hall
7:00 p.m. 17500 Midvale Avenue North
PRESENT: Mayor Hall, Councilmembers McGlashan, Scully, Chang, and Roberts
ABSENT: Deputy Mayor McConnell and Councilmember Robertson
1. CALL TO ORDER
At 7:00 p.m., the meeting was called to order by Mayor Hall who presided.
2. FLAG SALUTE/ROLL CALL
Mayor Hall led the flag salute. Upon roll call by the City Clerk, all Councilmembers, with the exception of Deputy Mayor McConnell and Councilmember Robertson, were present.
Councilmember Scully moved to excuse Deputy Mayor McConnell and Councilmember Robertson for personal reasons. The motion was seconded by Councilmember Chang and passed unanimously, 5-0.
(a) Proclaiming Music4Life
Mayor Hall read a proclamation recognizing the month of May as Shoreline Schools Music4 Life Month. The proclamation was accepted by David Endicott, Co-Founder and President of the organization. Mr. Endicott explained that the month of May is targeted for instrument donation to assure instrument availability for the following year and said that Music4Life supplies used instruments free of charge to nine school districts in the greater Seattle area.
3. REPORT OF CITY MANAGER
Debbie Tarry, City Manager, provided reports and updates on various City meetings, projects and events.
4. COUNCIL REPORTS
Councilmember Scully said he would be participating in a retreat for the Continuum of Care Council. He said he supports the idea of a central authority to coordinate all regional efforts towards homelessness support and encouraged people to contribute their opinions on how the City should structure its response to homelessness.
Councilmember Roberts reported that the Puget Sound Regional Council Executive Board recommended a budget and adopted amendments that will allow for closed captioning of its meetings. In addition, Councilmember Roberts said he testified before the Senate Transportation Committee about funding for the 148th Street bridge project.
Mayor Hall said that he met with Debora Juarez, Seattle City Councilmember, and they discussed funding for the 145th Street Corridor and that he requested Seattle to provide a letter of support for Shoreline’s grant application. Additionally, he said he attended an event kicking off the Green Shoreline Partnership, an organization that is helping to provide funding for tree canopy and urban forest management.
5. PUBLIC COMMENT
Mark Rettmann, Shoreline resident, speaking on behalf of the Save Shoreline Neighborhoods group, said they oppose the rezone at 1510 and 1517 Northeast 170th Street. He described the history of the business activity and City interactions at these properties and asked the City to reject the proposed rezone and enforce existing laws and codes.
Kristi Rettmann, Shoreline resident, described the impact on neighborhood life by Irons Brothers Construction. She shared stories of negative interactions with the business and asked Council to reject further consideration of the proposed rezone at 1510 and 1517 Northeast 170th Street.
Allison Sakounthong, Shoreline resident, said she opposes the proposed rezone at 1510 and 1517 Northeast 170th Street because of the changes it will bring to her neighborhood. She asked Council to reject consideration of the proposed rezone.
Ginny Scantlebury, Shoreline resident, said she is concerned with the legality of the proposed Recology/Cleanscapes contract amendment to inspect waste and fine customers.
6. APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA
Councilmember Scully moved to approve the agenda. The motion was seconded by Councilmember Roberts.
Councilmember Chang moved to change Item 8(b) to a discussion item and to remove item 8(c) until a later date. The motion was seconded by Councilmember McGlashan, and carried 3-2, with Councilmembers Scully and Roberts voting no.
The motion to approve the agenda, as amended, passed unanimously 5-0.
7. CONSENT CALENDAR
Upon motion by Councilmember Roberts, seconded by Councilmember McGlashan and unanimously carried 5-0, the following Consent Calendar items were approved:
(a) Approving Minutes of Regular Meeting of February 4, 2019
(b) Adopting Ordinance No. 857 – Permanent Regulations for Plat Alterations
(c) Authorizing the City Manager to Execute a Contract with the King County Directors Association in the Amount of $638,540.21 for the Purchase and Installation of Playground Equipment for Shoreview and Twin Ponds Parks
8. ACTION ITEMS
(a) Public Hearing and Discussing Resolution No. 434 – The Transportation Improvement Plan
Nytasha Walters, Transportation Services Manager, and Tricia Juhnke, City Engineer, delivered the staff presentation. Ms. Walters reviewed the purpose of the Transportation Improvement Plan (TIP), explaining that it is a requirement of State Law, identifies transportation projects for the next six years, is not financially constrained, helps identify and define priorities, and informs the Capital Improvement Plan. She added that grant applications often require that a project be listed in the TIP. She shared a diagram that showed both what informs development of the TIP and how it is used in directing the City’s investment decisions, highlighted the project summary sheets, displayed a map highlighting the location and funding status of the 2020-2025 TIP projects, and listed the projects scheduled for completion in 2019.
Ms. Walters informed Council that no projects had been removed from this update of the TIP from the prior year, and noted that the Curb Ramp, Gutter, and Sidewalk Program has been replaced with the Sidewalk Rehabilitation Program. She then listed the new projects added to the TIP and informed Council of the funding that has been secured for several projects. She displayed a list of the TIP priorities for the next six years and enumerated the identified top priorities for grants. She explained that the pedestrian improvement project on Meridian Avenue North is partially funded and responded to public comment, stating the community would be given an opportunity to provide input during the planning process.
Mayor Hall opened the Public Hearing.
Tom Poitras, Shoreline resident, stated that he opposes the 148th Street non-motorized pedestrian/bicycle bridge since the limited benefit does not justify the expense, and the non-motorized bridge at 145th Street will make the 148th bridge unnecessary. He said he believes the City has overestimated the number of potential train riders in the area.
Ginny Scantlebury, Shoreline resident, said that she opposes the rechannelization of Meridian Avenue North. She described the current usage of the road and commented on the impact the proposed changes would have on the residents on and near Meridian. She said there needs to be more public involvement earlier on in the decision-making process.
Mayor Hall closed the Public Hearing.
Councilmember Roberts said that within the 145th Street Corridor there is an opportunity to connect the Interurban and Burke-Gilman Trails. He asked if there was ability to expand the scope of this project to include non-motorized access near 145th Street. Ms. Walters said that consideration for this project is being included as part of the broader 145th Corridor improvements and shared that the preferred design concept does include a connection between the trails.
Councilmember Roberts requested that a Safe Routes to School project be added to the TIP as an unfunded project for the area around Cascade K-8 (Aldercrest Campus) School.
There was a question about liability if a child is injured on the way to school in one of the designated Safe Routes to Schools areas, and Julie Ainsworth-Taylor, Assistant City Attorney, said she would research a situation as described.
Council asked to review and update the description of the 145th Corridor improvements to accurately communicate the planned bicycle improvements. When asked for clarification on the WSDOT project connection and funding the 185th Street bridge, Ms. Juhnke said there will be coordination between the City and WSDOT for funding of the west side of the bridge, and that Sound Transit would be working in conjunction with WSDOT on the connection on the east side of the bridge. She added that ultimately the City would continue to plan long-term improvements as part of the Trail Along the Rail project.
Mayor Hall expressed concern over the potential loss of parking on Meridian Avenue North, and said he hopes the City will look at options for roadway enhancement that preserve parking, and continue to evaluate safety on the road. It was mentioned that Meridian is already one lane in each direction, and adding a center turn lane would improve the traffic flow.
Mayor Hall reopened the General Public Comment Period.
Heather Trim, Seattle resident and representative of Zero Waste Washington, said she is in favor of proposed Ordinance No. 858, and that she supports increased education, outreach and infrastructure to reduce waste. She said the rate increase is necessary to move towards waste reduction in Shoreline.
(b) Adopting Ordinance No. 839 – Amending the Development Code to Expand the Deep Green Incentive Program
Miranda Redinger, Senior Planner, described the amendments to the Development Code that would be needed to expand the Deep Green Incentive Program. She reviewed the background of the 2015 Green Building mandate for Mixed-Use Residential zones in the 185th Street Station Subarea Plan and described the Deep Green Incentive Program adopted in 2017. She shared a timeline of the Planning Commission’s discussion on green building mandates versus incentives.
In reviewing the questions submitted by Council, Ms. Redinger described the two categories of incentives for the Deep Green program, shared data on car ownership statistics for various income brackets, and cited the current regulations for parking requirements for residential units. Mayor Hall said he would like to see local data on car ownership for residents of apartment buildings. Ms. Redinger displayed a graph of household distribution by Regional Growth Centers and said there is a correlation between proximity to Regional Growth Centers and the number of vehicles in each household.
Ms. Redinger said that staff did not find a demonstrated connection between affordable housing and reduced vehicle ownership to justify making parking reductions for affordable housing cumulative with other options, unless the reduction is specific to extremely low-income housing. She said that supporting creation of affordable housing by reducing parking requirements, and therefore the cost to develop such units, may be a reasonable incentive to encourage local affordability. Finally, she offered that there is a link between proximity to transit and common green building amenities.
Ms. Redinger stated that the Planning Commission recommends three components to be added as expansions to the Deep Green Incentive Program and reviewed the specifics. She reminded Council of the options outlined in the Staff Report for establishing parking reductions by adopting or modifying the Planning Commission recommendation. The current Planning Commission recommendation involves creating a 4th tier of incentives with a 5% parking reduction and the alternative option of the Deep Green Incentive Program would increase parking reductions.
Councilmember Roberts moved adoption of Ordinance No. 839. The motion was seconded by Councilmember Scully.
Generally, Council expressed support for the Planning Commission’s recommendation. Councilmember Roberts stated that Ordinance No. 839 would contribute to the City’s commitment to addressing climate change issues and limit global warming. Councilmember Scully said he agrees with the staff conclusion and added that he does not want to decrease parking any further because it does not encourage deep green construction or reduce car ownership. Councilmember McGlashan agreed that he does not want to create any more parking reductions.
Ms. Redinger explained how parking would be calculated for buildings with both retail and residential components. Mayor Hall reminded Councilmembers that developers have a powerful financial incentive to include as much parking as they anticipate needing to attract investors. He stated that his review of the data provided by staff revealed that households above 60% AMI have almost twice as many vehicles as those below 60% AMI. He said having data from Light Rail Subarea neighborhoods would be helpful for future analysis and suggested a future amendment to broaden the spread of the incentives between tiers.
Councilmember Chang expressed concern about reducing parking as the City densifies and said she prefers focusing the parking incentive in the areas closest to the Light Rail stations.
Ms. Redinger explained that one issue to resolve is whether reductions should be awarded cumulatively or determined by highest level of availability.
Councilmember Roberts commented that parking availability is difficult because it is a very visible issue, and parking constraints are more noticeable from an outsider perspective. He said that as design choices are made in Station areas, Council will have the opportunity to maximize access to available parking. He recognized that developers consider parking availability a major selling point for many potential residents.
Councilmember Scully moved (2bi) to modify the Planning Commission recommendation to SMC 20.50.400(F) to unstrike “E”, so “B” would be the only item removed from this regulation and unstrike SMC 20.50.400(G) in its entirety, so no changes would be made to the regulation. The motion was seconded by Councilmember Chang.
Councilmember Scully clarified that the motion would reduce the amount of cumulative parking reductions in the MUR zones and for the Deep Green incentives. Councilmember Chang agreed that the hope would be to meet the need without creating the potential of not having enough parking in those areas. She said Option 2bi is a good compromise as the neighborhoods adjust to new zoning.
Mayor Hall said he does not support the amendment and commented that, since local data indicates 30% of all households in regional growth centers currently do not own any vehicles, he is comfortable with cumulative parking reductions.
Councilmember McGlashan shared his concern over creating parking reductions before the City has a good grasp on the effect they will have and said he will be supporting the amendment.
The amendment carried, 3-2, with Mayor Hall and Councilmember Roberts voting no.
Council discussed whether the 5% parking reduction incentive for Tier 4 Deep Green Incentives is the preference, or if the percentage should be higher. When asked for rationale behind the 50% reduction for Tier 1, Ms. Redinger shared that this percentage had been reduced several times. It was reiterated that the incentives are not cumulative, and it was asked if Councilmembers would be comfortable with incentives for greater than 50% of parking reduction. The general response was no. Councilmember Roberts said if the goal is to incentivize green building without using cumulative awards there should be greater benefit between tiers.
The main motion to adopt Ordinance No. 839, as amended, passed unanimously 5-0.
9. STUDY ITEM
(a) Discussion of Amendment #1 to the City’s 2017-2027 Comprehensive Garbage, Recyclables and Compostables Collection Contract with Recology CleanScapes Inc.
Randy Witt, Public Works Director, delivered the staff report and was joined by Kevin Kelly, General Manager of Recology Cleanscapes. Mr. Witt explained that this presentation would answer questions and provide additional information as Council had requested. He reminded Council of the contamination challenges with recycling, shared results of recent recycling audits in Shoreline, described the audit process, and displayed information on the top contaminants. He explained the amendment goals of reducing contamination levels and supporting the maximum cost-effective recovery. Mr. Kelly informed Council that the current contamination rate in Shoreline is 12-15%.
Mr. Witt addressed the approach to contamination reduction at the customer level. He described the process of Recology’s visual audits for compost and recycling and the methods of educating customers and communicating contamination issues. He clarified that the first two times contamination is identified with any customer, the cart/container would be collected as garbage at no additional cost to the customer. On the third and every subsequent audit, the receptacle would be tagged and rejected, and the cart/container would be collected as garbage with a contamination fee applied. It was established that the goal is to audit each neighborhood twice a year, but if contamination is identified at a residence, there would be additional monitoring. Mr. Witt said that as a final consequence for continued contamination, the recycling and/or compost bins will be removed. It was asked if there was an appeal process to contest audit results, and Mr. Kelly said Recology/Cleanscapes’ conversations with customers in violation would not be punitive but be focused on education and improvement.
Mr. Witt displayed the rates and fees associated with the program. It was stated that profits in the industry are decreasing because of the status of the international market, and the proposed fee increase would offset the education component and some of the growing expenses associated with recycling. He said the contract includes language that would allow for re-evaluation if the market changed.
Councilmember Scully said that he believes that the low level of auditing described by staff will not produce the needed results and asked why the practice could not be changed to include more regular inspections. Mr. Kelly described the current pickup process and said if drivers were to inspect every bin it would slow down pickup to the extent that additional trucks would need to be purchased and more employees would need to be hired. He described the process of the visual audit and frequency of auditing after offence. He reviewed the current process of tagging bins with ‘Oops’ tags and listed the follow up communication to the customers.
Mr. Kelly shared successes in other communities and said the education and outreach component of the program is robust. He said that multi-family properties have a higher incidence of contamination and described the positive results of the Recology/CleanScapes Waste Wise education program for these properties. He reviewed the many levels of education that would be put in place prior to fines being imposed, and he highlighted the Golden Dumpster Award program which recognizes and incentivizes businesses that have made significant achievements in the areas of resource conservation and recycling best practices. He said there are plans to expand a recognition program to residential customers. Mr. Witt indicated that the details of the plan are outlined in the staff report and Mr. Kelly described the efforts being made to educate households who need alternate language support. Some Councilmembers expressed concern that non-English speakers would be disadvantaged.
Councilmember McGlashan said in general, recycling habits need improvement. He asked if having distinct bins for each type of recyclable would make a difference. Mr. Kelly described the inefficiencies and hazards of that approach. Councilmember McGlashan said he struggles with the fees attached to contamination violations.
Several Councilmembers commented that a concentrated education program should be implemented and evaluated before inspections and fees are imposed. Councilmember Scully said that he feels Recology/Cleanscapes pickup processes make it difficult to manage contamination and recommended they continue improvements on the Materials Recovery Facility side. He also said he supports a rate increase to fund the education program.
Councilmember Roberts said that face-to face interaction and education beyond the proposed scope is very important and suggested that additional data on contamination rates should be collected to establish a starting point. He also suggested the use of Currents to educate residents on best recycling practices.
Mayor Hall reminded Council that the City used to have recycling bins with no lids, and said therefore he is comfortable with the possibility of sanitation workers lifting the lid of a bin to audit it. He reminded Council that there are no fines being proposed, but rather a contamination fee for repeat violators, which will only be imposed after one-on-one education efforts are exhausted. He emphasized that we need to get better at recycling and this program focuses on changing the behavior of the people who are having trouble.
Councilmember Scully said he would like another opportunity to discuss the terms of the contract and would like to see an option for a rate increase for the education program without instituting fees for violations.
10. ADJOURNMENT
At 9:35 p.m., Mayor Hall declared the meeting adjourned.
/s/Jessica Simulcik Smith, City Clerk