SUMMARY MINUTES OF REGULAR MEETING

Monday, March 22, 2021 Held Remotely via Zoom

7:00 p.m.

PRESENT: Mayor Hall, Deputy Mayor Scully, Councilmembers McConnell, Chang, Robertson, and Roberts

ABSENT: Councilmember McGlashan

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 with the exception of Councilmember McGlashan.

By unanimous consent, Council excused Councilmember McGlashan for personal reasons.

Mayor Hall conveyed a statement from the Council condemning all acts of hate crimes, standing in solidarity with Asians, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders against all forms of racism and discrimination, expressing sorrow for the recent murders of Asian people in Georgia, and emphasizing the commitment to upholding antiracist values in the community.

3. APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA

The agenda was approved by unanimous consent.

4. REPORT OF CITY MANAGER

John Norris, Assistant City Manager, provided an update on the COVID-19 pandemic and reported on various City meetings, projects and events.

5. COUNCIL REPORTS

Councilmember Chang reported that the recent King County Regional Transit Committee meeting included continued conversations about Metro’s service guidelines, and the Puget Sound Regional Council Transit Oriented Development Committee decided to restructure the current committee format to an Advisory Board.

6. PUBLIC COMMENT

Jackie Kurle, Shoreline resident, said that she supports the cause of helping the homeless, but feels that additional specificity and monitoring of the Enhance Shelter will be beneficial and necessary for the safety of residents and surrounding community.

7. CONSENT CALENDAR

Upon motion by Deputy Mayor Scully and seconded by Councilmember Robertson and unanimously carried, 6-0, the following Consent Calendar items were approved:

(a) Approval of Expenses and Payroll as of March 5, 2021 in the Amount of $2,648,378.89

*Payroll and Benefits:
	Payroll Period	Payment Date	EFT Numbers (EF)	Payroll Checks (PR)	Benefit Checks (AP)	Amount Paid
	01/24/21-02/06/21	2/12/2021	95461-95665	17220-17228	81819-81824	$715,719.90
	02/07/21-02/20/21	2/26/2021	95666-95871	17229-17237	81910-81917	$952,347.22
						$1,668,067.12
*Wire Transfers:
			Expense Register Dated	Wire Transfer Number		Amount Paid
			2/1/2029	1173		$2,755.37
						$2,755.37
*Accounts Payable Claims:
			Expense Register Dated	Check Number (Begin)	Check Number (End)	Amount Paid
			2/9/2021	81753	81757	$87,000.31
			2/9/2021	81758	81759	$5,141.62
			2/9/2021	81760	81776	$144,491.37
			2/9/2021	81777	81787	$22,182.97
			2/9/2021	81788	81788	$835.40
			2/17/2021	81789	81790	$129,269.66
			2/17/2021	81791	81791	$20.00
			2/17/2021	81792	81807	$74,941.07
			2/17/2021	81808	81817	$53,327.68
			2/17/2021	81818	81818	$39,811.58
			2/23/2021	81825	81838	$80,317.06
			2/23/2021	81839	81860	$66,353.17
			2/23/2021	81861	81861	$4,276.95
			2/23/2021	81862	81862	$3,010.00
			2/28/2021	81863	81865	$6,918.67
			2/28/2021	81866	81866	$35.00
			2/28/2021	81867	81887	$189,667.56
			2/28/2021	81888	81894	$35,015.67
			2/28/2021	81895	81909	$34,990.66
			2/28/2021	81744	81744	($50.00)
						$977,556.40

8. ACTION ITEMS

(a) Appointment of Parks, Recreation and Cultural Services (PRCS)/Tree Board Members

Colleen Kelly, Recreation, Cultural, and Community Services Director, delivered the staff presentation. Ms. Kelly reviewed the selection process for the upcoming four vacancies on the Parks, Recreation and Cultural Services (PRCS)/Tree Board and stated that the Council subcommittee recommends the appointment of Genevieve Arrendando, Jean Hilde, Dustin McIntyre, and Noah Weil.

Councilmember Robertson moved to appoint Genevieve Arrendando, Jean Hilde, Dustin McIntyre, and Noah Weil to the PRCS/Tree Board. The motion was seconded by Councilmember Chang.

The subcommittee members reflected on the selection process. Councilmember Robertson said she was delighted in the interest level for participation, shared some of the community involvement of the nominees, and said she is excited to see what contributions they will bring to the PRCS/Tree Board. Councilmember Roberts said it was a tough decision and he learned a lot from the interviewees and gained new ideas for connecting with the community. He added that the subcommittee is recommending a change in the Municipal Code to transition this Board from a three-term to a two-term limit. Councilmember Chang expressed her appreciation for the depth and breadth of community volunteerism by the applicants.

Mayor Hall and Councilmember McConnell expressed support for the recommendation. Mayor Hall said he was impressed with the quality and community involvement of the applicants.

The motion passed unanimously, 6-0.

9. STUDY ITEMS

(a) Discussion of the Housing Action Plan

Nora Gierloff, Planning Manager, delivered the staff presentation. She said the goals of this grant-funded year-long project involve identifying how much, what types, and where housing is needed in Shoreline; understanding what housing types the market will provide, and what households are experiencing housing challenges; exploring where and how additional housing can fit in Shoreline; reviewing existing housing strategies, identifying gaps, and finding opportunities for improvement; and discovering new ideas to meet Shoreline’s specific needs.

Ms. Gierloff said the components of the Housing Action Plan include a housing needs assessment, regulatory review, and a Housing Toolkit and Action Plan. She listed the questions considered as part of the housing needs assessment and shared highlights of the statistics gathered, including that much of the new housing stock is rental-based.

In describing the outreach done for the project, Ms. Gierloff explained accommodations had to be made in consideration of the pandemic and one of the main information-gathering tools was an Online Open House, and she shared the Action Plan priorities that were identified through this avenue. She highlighted responses to the question of what types of “missing middle’ housing types were desirable, with Cottage Housing leading as a strong choice, and she stated that 75 percent of renters reported always or sometimes having difficulty paying for their housing, while only 20 percent of homeowners reported similar challenges.

Ms. Gierloff said the information gathered from the outreach was compiled into the Housing Toolkit, and said the questions asked were whether the current policies and incentives are working, how to fill the gaps identified in the Needs Assessment, and what other tools are available. Then the Planning Commission was asked to do a prioritization exercise which included considering the amount of cost and effort each item would require. She displayed the list of the Planning Commission’s targeted priorities, elaborating with details on each one.

Ms. Gierloff said once Countywide Planning Policies have been updated, staff will resume updating the Comprehensive Plan’s Housing element, and the Housing Action Plan will act as a background report. She said following Council discussion and edits, adoption of the Housing Action Plan in June would fulfill the grant requirements.

Conversation regarding the “missing middle” of area housing began with Deputy Mayor Scully asking for additional details on how these needs are being addressed in the Toolkit. Ms. Gierloff said options include identifying other housing typologies, which requires a deep dive into the code in order to implement. Councilmember Chang asked if the MUR-35’ and MUR-45’ zones in the station areas would be considered as work towards adding to part of the missing middle.

Councilmember Chang said there has been the thought of preserving a single family feel in Shoreline and shared her concerns with some of the options suggested. Councilmember Roberts expressed the opinion that some of the identified challenges may not be as big as anticipated and stated that based on good work that has been done regionally and nationally, there are examples and policies for the City to study.

Discussion of Cottage Housing included Councilmember Robertson recognizing that there was a history behind Cottage Housing in the City and sharing reasons why she likes them. Councilmember McConnell observed that the market has changed since the last time the option was discussed, and it may be more appealing now. Mayor Hall says he feels comfortable moving forward with Cottage Housing. He reflected on the prior discussions on Cottage Housing before it was repealed, and said most of the issues had been addressed but the final version of code never got adopted. Deputy Mayor Scully added that he would support Cottage Housing, but it does not solve the housing crisis, and he would like to get some sense of how much new development would be created by incorporating innovative design options before the flood gates are opened up to ADUs and Cottage Housing.

Councilmember Roberts said he does not understand why Cottage Housing and duplexes are seen as separate items when they both serve similar purposes. He commented that the missing middle is a wide range of options, many of which would help preserve a single-family feel. Councilmember Chang said one of the main differences between Cottage Housing and Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) are the height allowances and wondered if Cottage Housing is more affordable. Mayor Hall asked if allowing innovative forms of housing, like duplexes and triplexes on corner lots, would result in lower cost housing than townhomes. Ms. Gierloff said there are a lot of variables, and in order to keep the new construction fitting within the context of the neighborhood, limiting size would be important. Mayor Hall said he does not feel comfortable allowing new housing types that are not single family, on single family zoned lots.

In consideration of the report itself, Councilmember Roberts said it provides a lot of good things to think about. He suggested that the prioritizations follow the text of the report for ease of readability. Councilmember Chang clarified that adoption of the Housing Action Plan would specify a list of priorities for Council to consider but not necessarily mean all priorities were being moved forward. Mayor Hall shared that he is impressed with the data and analysis in the report but shares concern with other Councilmembers about some of the action steps, noting that it appears Council would be approving all of them if they approve the Plan. He asked if the Housing Action Plan could be adopted without including the Action Steps, which could evolve later. Ms. Gierloff said the report should support the Council's priorities and could prioritize short, medium, and long term Action Steps, with resource constraints. She stated that the goal of the Toolkit was to display all options; with the understanding that not all of them are right for Shoreline. Ms. Gierloff said it sounds like evaluating the prioritization list is a next step. Mayor Hall agreed that it would be helpful to narrow the list of items identified as Action Steps and separate out the near and long-term priorities. Deputy Mayor Scully would like the Housing Action Plan to include information on how much additional housing would be anticipated by any one of the ideas listed in the Toolkit.

Councilmember Robertson said she likes the identified high implementation priorities and looks forward to continued discussion. She appreciates the deep green incentive; low income and affordable housing; and the missing middle priorities. She suggested that design standards could be reviewed at the same time zoning and regulations are considered.

In thinking about incentives available for new construction, Councilmember Robertson asked if the current incentives available are not well marketed, or if they are not desirable. Ms. Gierloff said it would be beneficial to share information on City and other programs available all in one place. Deputy Mayor Scully said he would much rather take a fresh look at existing programs and regulations than spend time creating other regulations that never get used. He asked if some mandates need to change if incentives are not working. Councilmember Roberts said some of the deep green incentive programs raise the cost of housing, so it needs to be recognized that some regulations are good long-term, but may not be great in the short term in some ways. Mayor Hall agreed that regulations affect the cost of housing, which has been identified as an issue in the MUR-70 zone.

Councilmember McConnell said she would like to see the percentage of properties occupied by owners as high as possible because it provides stability to a neighborhood. She said aging in place is going to be a big issue and exploring options to make this affordable is important. She thinks ADUs are a good idea and supports the priorities identified by the Planning Commission. Councilmember Robertson said that while now is not the time, there should be future conversation on short term rental policies, and Mayor Hall agreed stating vacation rentals take long-term housing off the market, decreasing supply and driving the cost up. In reflecting on ownership versus rental in Shoreline, Mayor Hall observed that there is not a lot of opportunity to downsize housing in Shoreline and the condo market still needs time to mature.

In thinking about affordability, Deputy Mayor Scully said the missing middle means that there aren't a lot of places to find first or last homes. He is concerned that the new construction is predominately very high-priced townhomes and very small apartments and wants to look for places that non-wealthy people can buy or rent in a variety of sizes. Councilmember Chang asked about affordable housing in station areas, and Ms. Gierloff said there are some remnant parcels that have been sold by Sound Transit to developers. Mayor Hall said it needs to be recognized that anyone building a brand-new building will not be willing to rent or sell it as affordable housing, so part of the issue is preserving the existing affordable housing stock.

To identify next steps for discussion, Ms. Gierloff said she heard that the prioritization list is a concern for Councilmembers, and that the Council would like to target short-term priorities. She said thoughts about the few targeted items would be helpful feedback. Mayor Hall said he is fine with adopting the Action Plan as long as it is understood that the priorities are Planning Commission recommendations, but if the goal is to define City Council priorities, there will need to be a structured conversation to identify them. Ms. Gierloff said that there is the option of keeping it as a background planning document that ends at a Planning Commission recommendation and the Council could use it as a reference document, or it could be taken further and establish short term Council priorities. Councilmember Roberts said there is a natural break in the report before the Toolkit starts, and if the Council does not want to go into prioritization now, leaving the Toolkit part out makes sense. Deputy Mayor Scully agreed, and said he feels this should be an advisory document at this time, since the land use changes are serious undertakings. He reiterated his wish for detailed data on the prospective affordable housing increases before he would consider any priority beyond Cottage Housing. He said he would prefer to leave the Toolkit in as ‘options to consider going forward’, and revisit it regularly. He would like to come up with some serious fundamental changes.

Mayor Hall emphasized that if the Council is going to adopt a document that identifies high priorities for near-term implementation, they should either delete anything from the list that they are not comfortable with listing as a priority or turn the entire Toolkit into options. He recognized that there was consensus on cottage housing and the deep incentives program and suggested pulling anything off the list of priorities that there is not consensus on. Councilmember Roberts said that should be the central question next time they talk about this. It was agreed that an upcoming discussion will focus on the value of a shorter prioritized list and Ms. Gierloff shared some ideas she would work on for reframing the report.

10. ADJOURNMENT

At 8:27 p.m., Mayor Hall declared the meeting adjourned.

/s/Jessica Simulcik Smith, City Clerk