CITY OF SHORELINE
SHORELINE CITY COUNCIL
Monday, July 22, 2019 Conference Room 303 - Shoreline City Hall
5:45 p.m. 17500 Midvale Avenue North
PRESENT: Mayor Hall, Deputy Mayor McConnell, Councilmembers Chang, McGlashan, Robertson, and Scully
ABSENT: Councilmember Roberts
STAFF: Debbie Tarry, City Manager; John Norris, Assistant City Manager; and Allison Taylor, Deputy City Clerk
GUESTS: Stephen Norman, King County Housing Authority Executive Director
Dan Watson, King County Housing Authority Deputy Director for Development
At 5:51 p.m., the meeting was called to order by Mayor Hall. He welcomed Stephen Norman and Dan Watson from the King County Housing Authority (KCHA).
Mr. Norman outlined the housing affordability needs in Shoreline and explained the challenges seen by low-income renters, describing the gap between need and supply as enormous. He recapped KCHA’s impact in Shoreline and summarized the housing support options of federally subsidized homes, workforce homes, and housing choice vouchers. He detailed the affordable housing inventory and explained that the needs of seniors have increased, and he distributed a handout describing how the ‘age wave’ in King County continues to max out affordable housing. He explained that the vast majority of Shoreline’s federally subsidized households are either senior or disabled residents. He shared data on student homelessness and described it as a big issue for the long term future of the region. He listed ways KCHA provides support while recognizing the need for growing the housing voucher supply to remedy this problem.
Mr. Norman noted that the upzoning of neighborhoods has reduced the availability of affordable housing, with upscaling being a problem in many suburban areas. It was recognized that there is not incentive to developers to provide low income housing, since it is not profitable. He said that the private market is not producing housing for families earning 0-80 percent of the Area Median Income and added that without creating new affordable housing the gap will never be closed.
Mr. Norman gave information on the locations and types of subsidized housing in Shoreline and described the ways KCHA targets acquisitions, as well as the methods used to establish rents and preserve affordability. He shared data on the Shoreline locations at which KCHA supports non-profit housing initiatives and opened the conversation to partnership opportunities.
There was general conversation around the efforts of KCHA and the ways in which Shoreline could support the growth of affordable housing. The advantages of rezoning the Light Rail Station areas to higher density were mentioned.
It was stated that the A Regional Coalition for Housing (ARCH) model of partnership is effective and that KCHA is the biggest contributor to the program. KCHA proposed the idea of piloting an incentive driven rental housing assistance program in Shoreline. Mayor Hall said that there is a major zoning review coming up and that would be the appropriate time to revisit the incentives Shoreline offers developers.
The possibilities of uses for the land likely to be surplused from the Fircrest Campus were discussed. Debbie Tarry, City Manager, established that the City has maintained an ongoing partnership with KCHA regarding the potential uses of the land. Mayor Hall communicated the importance of serving the community well with any development and shared the ideas of possible uses, with affordable housing and creating open spaces being priorities. Mr. Watson offered KCHA’s technical support in the design conversations and master planning and emphasized that looking at the site in its entirety while planning will ensure the best use of funds.
Mayor Hall thanked the guests for their time and efforts.
At 6:51 p.m. the meeting adjourned.
/s/Allison Taylor, Deputy City Clerk
CITY OF SHORELINE
SHORELINE CITY COUNCIL
Monday, July 22, 2019 Council Chambers - Shoreline City Hall
7:00 p.m. 17500 Midvale Avenue North
PRESENT: Mayor Hall, Deputy Mayor McConnell, Councilmembers McGlashan, Scully, Chang, and Robertson
ABSENT: Councilmember Roberts
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 were present with the exception of Councilmember Roberts. Mayor Hall stated Councilmember Roberts was away for personal reasons. Councilmember Robertson moved to excuse Councilmember Roberts. The motion was seconded by Councilmember Chang and passed unanimously.
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 attended the WRIA-8 Board meeting and reported that the numbers for Chinook salmon are dramatically down.
5. PUBLIC COMMENT
Mallory Van Abbema, Shoreline resident and policy and advocacy manager from the Housing Development Consortium, commended the Council for their leadership on equitable housing. She shared information about House Bill 1406 and urged Councilmembers to consider adoption of it.
Tom McCormick, Shoreline resident, said the Council should focus on multimodal traffic, not just cars, when considering the preferred option for the 185th Street Corridor. He recommended the Council include bike lanes from the Puget Sound to the 185th Street Station.
Ginny Scantlebury, Shoreline resident, said she was surprised to learn underground wiring was being considered for the 185th Street Corridor project and listed her concerns for the project.
6. APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA
The agenda was approved by unanimous consent.
7. CONSENT CALENDAR
Upon motion by Deputy Mayor McConnell and seconded by Councilmember McGlashan and unanimously carried, 6-0, the following Consent Calendar items were approved:
(a) Approving Expenses and Payroll as of July 5, 2019 in the Amount of $7,427,737.91
|
*Payroll and Benefits: |
||||||
|
Payroll Period |
Payment Date |
EFT Numbers (EF) |
Payroll Checks (PR) |
Benefit Checks (AP) |
Amount Paid |
|
|
Prior period check voided/reissued |
16304/16346 |
$0.00 |
||||
|
5/19/19-6/1/19 |
6/7/2019 |
85135-85401 |
16347-16368 |
74705-74710 |
$711,283.75 |
|
|
6/2/19-6/15/19 |
6/21/2019 |
85402-85679 |
16369-16400 |
74917-74924 |
$932,295.64 |
|
|
$1,643,579.39 |
||||||
|
*Wire Transfers: |
||||||
|
Expense Register Dated |
Wire Transfer Number |
|
Amount Paid |
|||
|
6/25/2019 |
1147 |
$16,857.57 |
||||
|
$16,857.57 |
||||||
|
*Accounts Payable Claims: |
||||||
|
Expense Register Dated |
Check Number (Begin) |
Check Number (End) |
Amount Paid |
|||
|
6/12/2019 |
74589 |
74607 |
$82,501.57 |
|||
|
6/12/2019 |
74608 |
74688 |
$20,168.46 |
|||
|
6/12/2019 |
74689 |
74704 |
$101,875.25 |
|||
|
6/19/2019 |
74711 |
74741 |
$3,825.32 |
|||
|
6/19/2019 |
74742 |
74743 |
$97,610.00 |
|||
|
6/19/2019 |
74744 |
74744 |
$7,500.38 |
|||
|
6/20/2019 |
74745 |
74766 |
$73,990.86 |
|||
|
6/20/2019 |
74767 |
74797 |
$4,696,746.06 |
|||
|
6/26/2019 |
74798 |
74835 |
$354,700.67 |
|||
|
6/26/2019 |
74836 |
74871 |
$78,508.68 |
|||
|
6/26/2019 |
74872 |
74909 |
$1,665.86 |
|||
|
6/26/2019 |
74910 |
74916 |
$1,740.49 |
|||
|
7/2/2019 |
74925 |
74944 |
$150,801.44 |
|||
|
7/2/2019 |
74945 |
74954 |
$19,052.31 |
|||
|
7/2/2019 |
74955 |
74977 |
$72,452.93 |
|||
|
7/2/2019 |
74978 |
74987 |
$4,190.67 |
|||
|
7/3/2019 |
74966 |
74966 |
($390.00) |
|||
|
7/3/2019 |
74988 |
74988 |
$360.00 |
|||
|
$5,767,300.95 |
||||||
(b) Adopting Ordinance No. 863: Minor Amendments to the Aurora Square Community Renewal Area Planned Action Ordinance
(c) Authorizing the City Manager to Execute a Professional Services Contract with Cascadia Consulting Group in the Amount of $79,992 for the Climate Impacts and Resiliency Study
(d) Adopting Resolution No. 440 – Declaring Certain City-Owned Vehicles Surplus and Authorizing Their Sale as Provided in Shoreline Municipal Code, Chapter 3.50
(e) Authorizing the City Manager to Execute the Revised Temporary Construction Easements for Ridgecrest and Ronald Bog Parks and the Revised Ridgecrest Park Memorandum of Possession and Use Agreement and Administrative Possession and Use Agreement with Sound Transit
8. STUDY ITEMS
(a) Discussing and Selecting the Preferred Option for the 185th Corridor
Nora Daley-Peng, Senior Transportation Planner, delivered the staff presentation and was joined by Miranda Redinger, Senior Planner. Ms. Daley-Peng explained that the goal of the study is to create a vision for the Corridor that is future focused and supports the needs of all users. She described the scope of the project and said the intent is to better connect the Aurora Corridor, the future 185th Street Light Rail Station, and the North City Business District. She described the long-range transit planning being done by Community Transit and King County Metro Transit to maximize service.
Ms. Daley-Peng reviewed the study process to-date and remaining scheduled components of the study. She shared data on the Spring 2019 outreach efforts and results of the community preference survey and displayed a labelled graphic of the roadway segments of the study. She said staff used the survey results and technical analysis to help develop the recommended option. She explained that the team drafted several options for each individual segment. For Segment A, she said the project team did not propose lane configuration changes but believes pedestrian and bicycle improvements are needed and will plan to manage them through updates to the Transportation Master Plan. She noted that the team is also not proposing changes to Segment C with the assumption that Sound Transit’s planned project improvements will stay in place.
She listed the next steps for the project before it will return to Council for consideration and said that tonight staff is looking for Council feedback on the options presented. She asked for Council’s input on the policy issue of setting vehicle Levels of Service (LOS) and possibly moving from a vehicle to a multi-modal LOS standard of measurement, as well as including underground power and communication facilities in the development of the preferred option.
Ms. Daley-Peng described the recommended options of each segment of the Corridor and pointed out the key intersections. When asked for clarification on the design of Segment B, Ms. Redinger explained that the additional space needed beyond the existing right-of-way was identified as part of the subarea plan and a 15’ setback was established to prohibit buildings from creeping up on roadway that might be needed in the future. In response to Councilmember McConnell’s concern for LOS levels in this segment, Ms. Daley-Peng explained that the projected LOS is very high, but that is assuming that no updates are made between now and then, so with the suggested roadway upgrades the LOS will improve.
Ms. Daley-Peng was asked to provide information on the parking and bike options of the staff recommended option. In response, she mentioned that staff considered parking protected bike lanes and explained why they were determined to not be a preferred option for the improvements. When asked for details on improvements to 10th Avenue beyond the section identified in Segment D, she said this study has been a great tool for updating streets in the subarea, and through this process staff have become aware of the need to extend the improvements beyond the borders of the segment. She described the possibility of customizing portions of the road north and south of the segment and explained the process through which that would happen. When asked why the City is not proposing roadway changes to complete the bicycle network, Ms. Daley-Peng recognized the need for improved facilities within the apron of the right-of-way in the gap areas and said the improvements could be made as part of adjustments to the Street Matrix of the Engineering Design Manual. She offered to return to Council with that information.
In defining a multi-modal LOS, Ms. Daley-Peng explained that traditionally corridors are rated on how well they are serving the capacity and flow of automobiles. She said staff are gathering information on the value of establishing a standard that would account for the ways a roadway moves people by foot, bike, and transit; as well as by individual car. She said the challenge is that establishing a multimodal standard might mean accepting lowering the amount of throughput for automobiles in order to provide safe transit for the other forms. Mayor Hall added that this switch has been talked about for a long time, and what needs to be defined is if the purpose of a right-of-way is to move vehicles or to move people. He said that while right now we measure by number of vehicles, perhaps measuring by number of people would give more valuable information. Deputy Mayor McConnell said that a multimodal concept is important for ease of access to the Light Rail Station.
Ms. Daley-Peng was asked if using a multimodal matrix would change the LOS counts considerably, to which she offered the example that Swift projects ridership to and from the 185th Light Rail Station at 4,600 riders daily. Sound Transit is estimating 6,600 riders at the station each day, so two-thirds of those riders will be getting to the station using a bus. She said that the goal is to provide a higher level of comfort and safety for cyclists, and the recommended option does so by moving the bike lanes off the street and behind the amenity zones. She added that bringing the sidewalks up to City standards will make transit easier for pedestrians. Mayor Hall said that with the ease of access to downtown provided by the Light Rail there is likely to be an increased number of people who choose modes of transportation beyond personal cars. He said that this is a motivator to explore tracking trip generation in a way that will monitor the actual modes of transportation throughout the corridor.
Ms. Redinger added that the LOS must be tracked because of concurrency. She said it is part of the Growth Management Act that during development, all the systems need to come up concurrently. In describing the projected usage of the corridor, she said there is not really a way to build a wide enough road if the only thing we are basing it on is vehicular traffic. She added that because of the importance of balancing all the needs and users of this road, it is appropriate to rate roads by taking into consideration the City’s growth plan, accounting for multimodal transit.
In discussion of the pros and cons of underground utilities, Ms. Daley-Peng explained that Shoreline has a policy intent to underground power for capital projects, so staff would like direction on whether they should be considering undergrounding power for this project. When asked for cost estimates, Ms. Daley-Peng said she would follow up to provide some per mile rough estimates. Ms. Redinger described the estimation process as full of complicated considerations and said staff’s intent was to open conversations by making it clear that the recommendation for Segment B does involve undergrounding on the south side. Mayor Hall added that by eliminating power lines, it allows trees to reach their natural height. He said when it comes to long corridors, if undergrounding does not happen at the time of development, it is unlikely to happen later so it is worth considering. Ms. Redinger clarified that this project does not have funding to be a capital project, but that the goal of this work is to have the standards in place for developers. She reminded the Council that since undergrounding is not something that can be done piecemeal, bigger questions will arise, and more conversations will need to happen moving forward. Deputy Mayor McConnell said the underground wiring made a huge aesthetic difference on Aurora in Shoreline, but she also recognizes that the cost can be prohibitive. All Councilmembers in attendance agreed staff should continue to research the option of undergrounding utilities.
Councilmember McGlashan said the City needs to work on the bicycle connections from the Puget Sound to the Station. He described the challenges of the crossing at 185th and Midvale as part of the Interurban Trail and said it needs improvement, and that continuing the bike lane down to Dayton is important. He said if we do not make it easy for transit to get to the station, neighborhoods will be greatly impacted with parked vehicles.
Councilmember Robertson said she is pleased that some parking will remain on 10th Avenue Northeast.
Mayor Hall said he supports moving to a LOS that measures moving people through the corridor, saying it will help the City measure how successful we are with projects such as this. He said he recognizes the defined scope of this project, and that trying to connect the gaps in the long term is important. He suggested an interim solution of building a multi-use path using the City-owned amenity space on the southwest side of Aurora and 185th.
Councilmember Scully said he recognizes the necessity of improving Segment A as a separate project. He is pleased the trees are being protected and said that he supports undergrounding as a City initiative. He said he shares Councilmember Roberts’ concerns for pedestrian crossings and does not see a design solution that is safe for midblock crossings. He said he hopes enough protected crossings are created so pedestrians are not tempted to cross midblock.
Mayor Hall summarized that generally the Council is supportive of the staff-recommended option; has an interest in seeing what improvements can be done in Segment A; would like to consider extending the improvements on 10th Avenue north and south of the Segment; and has an interest in undergrounding utilities with sensitivity to the costs and the upcoming corridor improvements.
(b) Discussing City Programs Funded by the Vehicle License Fee and I-976
Randy Witt, Public Works Director, delivered the staff presentation, and was joined by Tricia Juhnke, City Engineer. Mr. Witt described the components of Initiative I-976, saying that the key elements for the City are that it would repeal the local Transportation Benefit District (TBD) fees and limit the annual license fees for cars; at a potential loss of $1,660,000 per year. He explained that if the initiative passes it would significantly disrupt funding of roadway and sidewalk preservation projects and reduce funds for new transportation projects. He displayed a list of the ways I-976 would impact Shoreline and described how it would trickle down and impact other City projects. He clarified that the transportation funds not impacted are the Transportation Impact Fees (TIF), which are tied to specific projects, and the voter approved Sales and Use Tax for construction of new sidewalks.
Mr. Witt shared information on the ordinances adopted in Shoreline that impose license fees in order to provide revenue to support pavement management and sidewalk maintenance. He displayed data from the Real Estate Excise Taxes (REET), the TIF, and the Vehicle License Fees (VLF) reflecting the historical income and projections for future revenue, and listed the funding sources and dollar amounts for annual road surface maintenance costs. He explained that the VLF is the primary source of revenue for the sidewalk rehabilitation program. He described ways in which the Vehicle License Fee supports the City’s Financial Sustainability Plan, the policy to preserve existing infrastructure before building new facilities, and the associated Council Goals on management of the City infrastructure. He listed the financial impact to both the State and to Sound Transit, which indirectly would also impact Shoreline.
He shared the staff recommendation that Council consider adopting a resolution in opposition of the initiative and shared the next steps and timeline should Council decide to do so.
It was unanimously agreed that taking a position in opposition of the measure would be appropriate due to the direct impact it would have on the community. Council requested staff bring forward a resolution for review.
9. ADJOURNMENT
At 8:32 p.m., Mayor Hall declared the meeting adjourned.
/s/Jessica Simulcik Smith, City Clerk