CITY OF SHORELINE
SHORELINE CITY COUNCIL
Monday, November 23, 2020 Held Remotely via Zoom
7:00 p.m.
PRESENT: Mayor Hall, Deputy Mayor Scully, Councilmembers McConnell, McGlashan, Chang, Robertson, and Roberts
ABSENT: None.
1. CALL TO ORDER
At 7:00 p.m., the meeting was called to order by Mayor Hall who presided.
2. ROLL CALL
Upon roll call by the City Clerk, all Councilmembers were present.
3. REPORT OF CITY MANAGER
Debbie Tarry, City Manager, provided an update on COVID-19 and newly instituted State restrictions and shared reports and updates on various City meetings, projects and events.
4. COUNCIL REPORTS
Councilmember McGlashan said at the recent Tri-Regional Transportation Forum meeting the 148th Street Nonmotorized Bridge was included on the Legislative Agenda.
Councilmember Roberts said he and Councilmember McConnell attended the National League of Cities Virtual City Summit. He shared the Board election results and said the sessions were informative. Councilmember McConnell said she attended the Asian Pacific Municipal Organization Group and the Transportation Forum. She said she is hopeful that funding mechanisms will open up in 2021.
Deputy Mayor Scully said he attended the WRIA-8 Salmon Recovery Council meeting and heard updates on efforts toward salmon recovery. He said at the All Home Coordination Board meeting they selected and seated the Advisory Council.
Councilmember McConnell reflected on her comments during last week’s discussion of Resolution No. 467 and said although it was not her intent to liken the systemic and personal racism Black people have endured for centuries to others who are White, it was the impact. She apologized for the missed intent and hurt it caused. She praised the work of the youth members of Black Lives Matter and the change they are leading. She said there is significant systemic racism toward African Americans and the BIPOC community and recognized how much words do matter.
Mayor Hall said next week is the annual meeting of the Sound Cities Association (SCA) General Membership and shared details of the meeting agenda, which includes amendments to the bylaws. He said an additional amendment to the bylaws may been needed to ensure a consistent, inclusive, and transparent process. He recapped a recent situation that raised serious concerns when the SCA President sent a letter to the Governor regarding COVID restrictions without first vetting it through the membership. Mayor Hall found the broad policy statements in the letter troubling since they did not go through the Public Issues Committee (PIC) process. He and the City Manager have followed up by communicating with the SCA and submitting a letter to the Governor’s office expressing support for the efforts to keep the community safe and assuring him that the SCA letter did not represent all King County cities.
Mayor Hall continued that he and Councilmember Roberts met with the City Manager about the possibility for submitting an amendment to the bylaws. He suggested asking SCA to add language to the bylaws that says “Prior to acting on any policy position that was not recommended to the Board by the Public Issues Committee, the Board shall notify all SCA members of its intent to consider the policy position and provide an opportunity to object, and any objections shall be recorded in the Board minutes.” He asked for Council feedback.
Deputy Mayor Scully and Councilmembers Roberts, Chang, McGlashan, and McConnell expressed support for the proposal. Deputy Mayor Scully said he was concerned by SCA’s action and agreed that he would not want other cities or persons speaking for Shoreline unless the message had been vetted. There was general discussion on if it would be worthwhile to include time parameters in the proposed language, and the Council generally concluded that it would be best not to. The Council agreed to move forward with presenting the amendment language to SCA for consideration by the members.
5. PUBLIC COMMENT
Jackie Kurle, Shoreline resident, said she is not averse to supporting the homeless cause but feels there may be a better, different, fit for an Enhanced Shelter and emphasized the impact it will have on the surrounding neighbors.
Nancy Morris, Shoreline resident, shared her observations on the impacts of the Enhanced Shelter.
Nancy Pfeil, Shoreline resident, spoke regarding the Enhanced Shelter and questioned the City’s ability to enforce the threshold for emergency calls and the comparability of the data being used to establish it. She asked if the Shelter operators would accept responsibility for the actions of the fringe population the Shelter may attract.
6. APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA
The agenda was approved by unanimous consent.
7. CONSENT CALENDAR
Upon motion by Deputy Mayor Scully and seconded by Councilmember Robertson and unanimously carried, 7-0, the following Consent Calendar items were approved:
(a) Approving Minutes of Regular Meeting of November 9, 2020
(b) Approving Expenses and Payroll as of November 6, 2020 in the Amount of $1,873,601.72
|
*Payroll and Benefits: |
||||||
|
Payroll Period |
Payment Date |
EFT Numbers (EF) |
Payroll Checks (PR) |
Benefit Checks (AP) |
Amount Paid |
|
|
10/4/20-10/17/20 |
10/23/2020 |
93849-94053 |
17138-17146 |
80940-80947 |
$911,467.76 |
|
|
Q3 2020 L&I |
80948 |
$52,866.11 |
||||
|
Q3 2020 ESD |
80949 |
$18,520.95 |
||||
|
$982,854.82 |
||||||
|
*Accounts Payable Claims: |
||||||
|
Expense Register Dated |
Check Number (Begin) |
Check Number (End) |
Amount Paid |
|||
|
10/27/2020 |
80892 |
80892 |
$10,000.00 |
|||
|
10/27/2020 |
80893 |
80911 |
$187,341.48 |
|||
|
10/27/2020 |
80912 |
80919 |
$32,660.89 |
|||
|
10/27/2020 |
80920 |
80939 |
$235,214.48 |
|||
|
11/1/2020 |
80950 |
80961 |
$121,935.38 |
|||
|
11/1/2020 |
80962 |
80973 |
$62,945.87 |
|||
|
11/1/2020 |
80974 |
80974 |
$9,000.00 |
|||
|
11/1/2020 |
80975 |
80978 |
$222,080.77 |
|||
|
11/1/2020 |
80979 |
80986 |
$9,568.03 |
|||
|
$890,746.90 |
||||||
(c) Adoption of Ordinance No. 915 - Amending Shoreline Municipal Code Chapter 3.35 Funds to Change the Name of the Agency Fund
8. ACTION ITEMS
(a) Authorizing the City Manager to Sign the Memorandum of Agreement for the Operation of an Enhanced Shelter Within the City of Shoreline with King County and Lake City Partners
Colleen Kelly, Recreation, Cultural, and Community Services Director, delivered the staff presentation. Ms. Kelly reviewed the prior actions leading up to this proposed Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) including the adoption of Ordinance No. 906, which established Enhanced Shelter Use in R-48 Zones and compliance criteria for Enhanced Shelters. Ms. Kelly said the original requirement for an Interlocal Agreement (ILA) was amended by Ordinance No. 913, which changed the requirement from an ILA to a three-party MOA, amended the introductory language, and removed requirement for payment for excess 911 calls. She described the process for the development of the MOA in coordination with the project partners. She stated that the final MOA addresses each of the items on the Council’s suggested list, includes insurance and indemnification provisions, and establishes the terms of the Agreement. She concluded that staff recommended authorizing the City Manager to sign the MOA.
Deputy Mayor Scully moved to authorize the City Manager to sign the MOA as proposed by staff. The motion was seconded by Councilmember McGlashan.
Councilmember Chang said she was happy to see the Nuisance Code associated with the MOA and asked if an Enhanced Shelter falls clearly in the multi-family designation. Ms. Kelly said the multi-family provision would be used as a guideline and Councilmember Chang asked if this should be clarified in the Agreement language. Margaret King, City Attorney, confirmed that the project meets the multifamily definition, so no clarification is necessary.
Councilmember Chang asked how the MOA addresses concerns about the impacts of any fringe population the Shelter may attract. Ms. Kelly said it does not speak to those concerns but described the ways in which they would be addressed. She said it is difficult to expect any given entity to take responsibility for a community level problem, but that all partners have the clear understanding that it is in the best interests for everyone that the impacts to the community be mitigated as much as possible by the facility. Councilmember Chang said she read the MOA with the perspective of trying to find loopholes, and while there are aspects she wishes could be pinned down more, she does feel that it establishes guardrails.
Councilmember Robertson thanked Councilmember Chang for her attention to detail in this process. She said she was happy to see the ‘Good Neighbor’ Plan and urged members of the community to tour the Shelter before it opens to gain more insight into the program. She emphasized the City’s commitment to protecting the community and expressed support for the MOA.
Councilmember Roberts asked if there are plans or policies in place for when someone leaves the facility, either voluntarily or by expulsion. Ms. Kelly said it is a voluntary facility, so people can leave if they choose to, but if people are asked to leave, Lake City Partners has committed to try to help establish a plan for them. Councilmember Roberts confirmed that Lake City Partners initially drafted the base document of the Good Neighbor Plan and asked for an explanation of how the bullet point, “all staff will regularly monitor areas surrounding the facility and schedule walks through local neighborhood and parks to notice congregating and littering”, came about. Ms. Kelly replied that other communities that have had the same concerns, so the Shelter operators have committed to having staff out in the community to be aware of what is going on, and she listed benefits of this. Councilmember Roberts asked if this would include evening and nighttime monitoring of the areas. Ms. Kelly said the Shelter operators would not be solely responsible for the actions of people who do not live at the Shelter, but this would be a citywide team effort. Councilmember Roberts confirmed that in their walk throughs, the Shelter staff will share information with nonresidents about resources but would not take the lead in addressing the systemic issues. Councilmember Roberts said there are good elements to the MOA and while it is a fine interim agreement, there is work to be done to strengthen The Good Neighbor Plan.
Deputy Mayor Scully said he does not expect Shelter staff to be taking the place of police or outreach employees since their responsibility is within the confines of the Enhanced Shelter. He added that the Council will be discussing the additional needs of homelessness support at their upcoming retreat.
Mayor Hall voiced the Council’s appreciation for the staff and community input throughout this process. He said the MOA provides more protection than he had expected.
The motion passed unanimously, 7-0.
(b) Adopting Ordinance No. 909 – 2020 Comprehensive Plan Annual Docket Amendments to the Shoreline Comprehensive Plan
Steve Szafran, Senior Planner, delivered the staff presentation. Mr. Szafran summarized the process leading up to drafting proposed Ordinance No. 909 and said the two amendments under consideration would change the acreage of the Point Wells Subarea Plan from gross to net acres, which would result in a lower potential yield of dwelling units and is coordinated with the Town of Woodway; and would put in place limiting traffic restrictions on Richmond Beach Drive and the Richmond Beach Road Corridor. He said the Planning Commission recommends approval of Ordinance No. 909, and staff recommends approval of the Planning Commission recommendation with the additional amended language presented tonight.
Councilmember Robertson moved adoption of Ordinance No. 909, the 2020 Comprehensive Plan Annual Docket Amendments to the Shoreline Comprehensive Plan. The motion was seconded by Councilmember Chang.
Councilmember Robertson moved to modify the Planning Commission’s recommendation amending Land Use Policy #1 to change “44 units per gross acre” to “44 units per net acre”. The motion was seconded by Councilmember McConnell.
Councilmember Robertson said even though there are no foreseeable plans to develop the Point Wells Subarea, this amendment right sizes the expectations for the number of units that could potentially be built there.
The motion passed unanimously, 7-0.
Councilmember Robertson moved to modify the Planning Commission’s recommendation by amending Transportation Policy #3 to read, “Development within Point Wells shall comply with the following traffic restrictions: 1) Richmond Beach Drive shall be limited to 4,000 average daily trips; and 2) The Richmond Beach Road Corridor shall not exceed a level of service (LOS) D with 0.9 volume-to-capacity (V/C) ratio”. The motion was seconded by Councilmember Chang.
Councilmember Robertson said this amendment falls in line with what was discussed with the Town of Woodway and puts appropriate expectations on future transportation.
The motion passed unanimously, 7-0.
Mayor Hall expressed appreciation for Woodway and Shoreline staff and all of the community input to create a framework to prevent development at Point Wells from overwhelming the character of the area.
The motion to adopt Ordinance No. 909, adopting the 2020 Comprehensive Plan Annual Docket Amendments #1 and #2, as amended, passed unanimously, 7-0.
9. STUDY ITEMS
Steve Szafran, Senior Planner, delivered the staff presentation. Mr. Szafran reviewed the process for compiling amendments throughout the year and said the proposed amendments fall in the categories of administrative corrections, clarifications, and new policy direction. The Amendments were grouped by topic and discussed:
· Amendments 1 and 7 add definitions and additional criteria to Emergency Temporary Shelters.
Councilmember Roberts asked the purpose for including ‘such as’ language in the definition. Mr. Szafran said the intent was not to limit the reasons for implementation, but to serve as an example. Councilmember Roberts said this wording may be confusing.
· Amendments 2, 3, 12, and 13 change the process of approving a Final Plat from a Quasi-Judicial Type C Action to an administrative review and approval if the Preliminary Formal Plat was reviewed by the Planning Commission, Hearing Examiner, or City Council.
· Amendments 3 and 11 add site-specific Comprehensive Plan Map amendments to the Type C Table and add procedures for review and approval, facilitating greater public involvement.
· Amendment 4 restricts the proposal of any development application if there has been an issuance of a Notice and Order to correct a Land Use violation on the property and Amendment 5 increases the number of extensions of time that may be granted for the resubmittal of application.
· Amendments 6, 8, 9, and 10 update decision criteria language from “shall” to “may” for certain discretionary decisions by the Director.
· Amendments 14 and 15 update dimensional requirements by increasing hardscape for schools and reduce setbacks for development adjacent to high-capacity transit.
· Amendment 16, privately initiated, seeks to add density to larger single family lots and allow parking reductions if within one half mile of a light rail station.
Upon request for clarification, Mr. Szafran emphasized that because of the impact this amendment would cause, staff and the Planning Commission recommend that this topic be studied as part of the Housing Action Plan and not added to the Development Code amendments at this time. Nora Gierloff, Planning Manager, reiterated this recommendation and added that this should be considered in the context of the other options in the housing toolkit. Mayor Hall reminded Council that there has been a history of debate in the community about density bonuses in single family neighborhoods, so he is hoping that as the housing toolkit is evaluated, any density bonuses would require careful design and community amenity. He said his opinion is that allowing a second house on every large lot may actually decrease housing diversity.
· Amendment 17 proposes a new section establishing a threshold for building design improvements, 18 modifies tree replacement and site restoration requirements, and 19 moves the electric vehicle parking standards to a new parking table.
Deputy Mayor Scully said that he is concerned that Amendment 18 offers an unbridled alternative to the Director if replacement trees cannot be placed on site and questioned the fairness of this, saying he is inclined to remove the option for a reduction. Mr. Szafran said he will bring an explanation back to Council. Councilmember Roberts agreed with Deputy Mayor Scully’s observation and suggested changing the language from ‘or’ to ‘and’ to address the concern. Councilmember Roberts asked what the relationship is between this amendment and some of the amendments proposed by Save Shoreline Trees. Mr. Szafran said the amendments being proposed by Save Shoreline Trees will come to the Planning Commission and Council in 2021, so they have not been analyzed yet. Councilmember Roberts asked staff to provide a preliminary comparison of the proposed amendments and what is recommended by the Planning Commission as specifically related to this Amendment.
Councilmember Roberts and Mayor Hall expressed appreciation over the inclusion of electric vehicle charging standards.
· Amendment 20 provides a mechanism to require a ‘mid-block’ pedestrian connection when new development is fronting on two parallel rights-of-way.
Mayor Hall said he is excited about the possibilities this amendment will provide.
· Amendment 21 will exempt existing previously permitted stabilization measures from the City’s Critical Area code.
Additional clarifying information was requested regarding evaluation and permitting requirements for steep slopes. Mr. Szafran said he would involve a subject area expert to provide additional information prior to this Ordinance returning to Council.
Mr. Szafran said Ordinance No. 907 is scheduled for potential adoption on December 7, 2020.
Mayor Hall said this package of amendments includes a lot of good improvements and expressed appreciation for the work done by the Planning Commission and staff.
(b) Discussing Ordinance No. 912 - Authorizing the Assumption of the Ronald Wastewater District and Authorizing the City Manager to Sign the Joint Petition of Dissolution of the District
John Norris, Assistant City Manager, delivered the staff presentation. Mr. Norris reviewed the timeline of the assumption since the original Interlocal Operating Agreement was signed in 2002. He described the rationale for delaying assumption and said with the culmination of litigation regarding the service area, staff proposes to move forward with the full assumption. Mr. Norris said Ordinance No. 912 sets the formal assumption date of April 30, 2021, confers upon the City Manager the authority to jointly file with Ronald Wastewater District a petition for dissolution of the District, and directs a continued, orderly transition of governance. He reviewed the next steps toward assumption should the Ordinance be adopted, as staff recommends.
Mayor Hall said this assumption has been a long time coming and expressed appreciation for the work Councilmembers McConnell and Roberts did as members of the coordination committee. Gratitude to the Ronald Wastewater Board of Commissioners was expressed and ways to commemorate the merger were discussed.
Councilmember McConnell thanked Mr. Norris and staff for all the work they did to support the Councilmembers on the coordination committee and asked if the Commissioners would have the option to be involved at some level. Mr. Norris reflected on the experience and input the City has gained from the Board of Commissioners while operating the Utility for the past several years, and said the transition plan includes the formation of a Wastewater Utility Advisory Committee, should the Commissioners be interested in continued involvement.
It was agreed that Ordinance No. 912 would return as a Consent Item.
10. ADJOURNMENT
At 9:01 p.m., Mayor Hall declared the meeting adjourned.
/s/Jessica Simulcik Smith, City Clerk