CITY OF SHORELINE
SHORELINE CITY COUNCIL
Annual Strategic Planning Workshop
Friday, March 10 and Saturday, March 11, 2023
The Lodge at St. Edward State Park, 14477 Juanita Drive NE, Kenmore, WA 98028
And Via Zoom
March 10, 2023 – 8:30 a.m.
PRESENT: Mayor Keith Scully, Deputy Mayor Betsy Robertson, and Councilmembers Doris McConnell, Laura Mork, Eben Pobee, John Ramsdell, and Chris Roberts
ABSENT: None
STAFF: Bristol Ellington, City Manager; John Norris, Assistant City Manager; Tricia Juhnke, Public Works Director; Margaret King, City Attorney; Melissa Muir, Human Resources and Organizational Development Director; Rachael Markle, Planning and Community Development Director; Sara Lane, Administrative Services Director; Colleen Kelley, Recreation, Cultural and Community Services Director; Kelly Park, Shoreline Police Chief; Nate Daum, Economic Development Program Manager; Jim Hammond, Intergovernmental Programs Manager; Pollie McCloskey, City Council Executive Assistant; Christina Arcidy, City Manager’s Office Management Analyst; Kendra Dedinsky, City Traffic Engineer; Bethany Wolbrecht-Dunn, Community Services Manager; Cameron Reed, Environmental Services Program Manager; and Kerry Freeman, Housing and Human Services Coordinator
GUESTS: Allegra Calder, Principal, BERK Consulting, Workshop Facilitator
At 8:32 a.m., the Special Meeting was called to order by Mayor Scully. Mayor Scully welcomed everyone to the Strategic Planning Workshop and stated that he was excited to be with both the Council and the City’s Leadership Team. The Mayor then turned over the meeting to Allegra Calder, the workshop facilitator, to review the agenda, ground rules, some meeting logistics, and to conduct introductions. Ms. Calder then led the participants through an introductory exercise, which was to answer the question, “What keeps you working at or serving the City of Shoreline?”
Staff and Council then walked through the City’s 2022 accomplishments. Assistant City Manager John Norris highlighted some of the City’s and the Council’s significant accomplishments for 2022, and asked participants what accomplishments from last year were particularly meaningful to them, if any accomplishments were missed from the list staff put together, and if any accomplishments required explanation. Staff began by highlighting some significant accomplishments and Council also provided their thoughts on significant accomplishments to them throughout last year.
The Council then began discussing their Council Goal Work Plan. City Manager Bristol Ellington began by providing an overview of the City’s progress on accomplishing the Council’s current 2022-2024 Goals and highlighted that many Action Steps under the Goals are still ongoing.
Assistant City Manager John Norris then reviewed the staff-proposed 2023-2025 Council Goals and Action Steps and highlighted the proposed edits to the Goal language and the proposed edits to the Action Steps for Council’s consideration and discussion. Councilmembers provided feedback and proposed edits on some of the staff-proposed changes to the Work Plan and also asked questions about the proposals.
Under Council Goal #1, Mayor Scully suggested that an equity component be added to the Goal, but it was later discussed by Council that maybe this should be added into the beginning of the Work Plan itself, so that it references all Council Goals. Mayor Scully supported this idea. Deputy Mayor Robertson suggested adding in the element or concept of safety to the third Action Step under Council Goal #1, as safety and security are important elements of business retention and expansion. Other Councilmember asked questions about community and economic development in relation to Council Goal #1, and Council in general felt that the staff-proposed Action Steps covered their thoughts. Councilmember Roberts finally suggested an amendment to the description under Council Goal #1 to make sure it supported residents at all income levels, and Council supported this addition.
Under Council Goal #2, Councilmember McConnell asked about replacement of the closed Shoreline Pool, and staff responded that the proposed Goals and Action Steps continue to include proposed Action Step #5, which is to continue to explore strategies for pool and recreation center replacement. Councilmember Mork suggested that Action Step #6 under Council Goal #2 be amended to make the Action Step more general and not call out specific partner organization working on urban forestry in Shoreline. Staff agreed with this proposed edit and stated they would incorporate it into the next version of the Work Plan. Finally, Councilmember Pobee requested that staff provide a report on the health of Shoreline’s infrastructure at a future Council meeting, but that he did not feel that a new Action Step was needed to schedule this discussion. Staff stated that they could definitely provide an infrastructure and asset management update at a future Council meeting.
Under Council Goal #3, Councilmember Mork asked about the proposed removal of the Action Step related to funding the 185th Corridor Strategy. Staff responded that this work had become operational and staff felt that a specific Action Step calling this out was no longer recommended. Staff also responded however that they could include language in the Council Goal #3 description that spoke to multimodal connections to the Light Rail Stations, including along 185th Street. Council was supportive of this proposed addition in response to the removal of this Action Step.
The Council was supportive of staff’s proposed amendments to Council Goal #4 and its Action Steps and did not have any other proposed amendments. Councilmember Roberts and Councilmember Pobee specifically thanked staff for their work on this Council Goal and said they support the proposed changes.
Finally, under Council Goal #5, Mayor Scully proposed a new Action Step to achieve full staffing for the Shoreline Police. Council discussed and supported this proposed new Action Step. Mayor Scully also asked about the proposed removal of Action Steps #5 and #6, and staff responded that these Action Steps had also become operational. Mayor Scully and Councilmember Mork, along with the support of other Councilmembers, felt that keeping an Action Step related to coordination and collaboration with the King County District Court was important, especially with the work of community court and other ways the City works with partners to provide community safety and support services. Staff stated that they would work to draft a new Action Step along these lines for future Council consideration. Following this discussion, Councilmembers thanked staff for their work on the proposed Council Goals and Action Steps and stated that they look forward to continuing to discuss their Work Plan at a future Council meeting.
The Council then discussed Traffic Enforcement Cameras, which began with a short staff overview of the topic. Staff asked Council if they would like staff to perform a traffic enforcement camera study, which would be required prior to begin implementing cameras in the community.
Deputy Mayor Robertson began the discussion by stating that she was aware of previous Council concerns with traffic enforcement cameras, but that she is supportive of additional study. Mayor Scully stated that he was opposed to moving forward with the study for multiple reasons, but his primary concern is the disproportionality of impacts on low-income residents. He also stated that if the majority of Council did want to move forward, he would be more supportive of school zone cameras rather than red light cameras. Councilmember Ramsdell asked why the cities of Redmond and Burien rescinded their programs, and staff responded as best they understood those cities’ circumstances and issues. Councilmember Pobee asked about a cost-benefit analysis of a program like this and what the court costs may be. Staff responded that a financial analysis would be conducted as a next step if Council provided direction to move forward with additional study. Councilmember Roberts felt that a traffic enforcement camera program likely would not make sense from a cost benefit analysis perspective and was not supportive of moving forward with additional study at this time. Councilmember Mork asked a question about other traffic enforcement and engineering alternatives to the use of cameras, and staff explained what the City is currently doing and is planning to do to decrease serious injury collisions. Staff also commented on what it would take to perform a study and that Council could give direction on just one type of camera. Councilmember Pobee stated that he is in favor of studying enforcement cameras for school zones, but not for traffic light intersections. Councilmember Ramsdell stated that he is in favor of moving forward with the study, and Councilmember Roberts reiterated his opposition at this time. Councilmember Mork stated that given the enforcement alternatives that were discussed, she also does not want to move forward with a study at this time. Councilmember McConnell also stated that she is not in favor of moving forward additional study at this time. Staff provided a recap of the discussion and stated that at this time, there is not Council support to move forward with additional study of traffic enforcement cameras. However, Councilmember Roberts asked whether staff could include additional information about where enforcement cameras may work or could be considered in a future annual Traffic Report, and staff responded that they could include this information going forward.
Following a break for lunch, the Council then discussed the topic of Climate Action Plan (CAP) Implementation. Staff presented an overview of the proposed implementation plan that staff generated and some options to move forward with additional implementation components if additional funding were to be provided during the mid-biennium budget review process.
Councilmembers asked questions about the proposed implementation plan, the home electrification program, various tree planting program actions, and a Styrofoam/single use plastic ban. Councilmember Mork stated her support for the City providing additional community gardens and a community solar program, even though the latter would not likely achieve any measurable decrease in greenhouse gas emissions. Councilmember Roberts asked about reducing community-wide driving and whether this is realistic. Staff pointed to the eight implementation steps in the Plan related to reducing emissions caused by driving and stated that these will likely be longer term steps.
Deputy Mayor Robertson asked about home electrification and communicating with the public about this. This generated additional discussion and questions by Council regarding the cost of a heat pump and how a home electrification program could be started. Councilmember Mork also stated support for attracting car share providers through incentives, and Mayor Scully stated he would support incentives to reduce the number of gas-powered mowers and leaf blowers in the community.
Following additional discussion on the overall CAP Implementation Plan, Council was generally supportive of staff’s recommended implementation plan priorities. Council was also very supportive of communicating all the successes of the CAP and future implementation steps. Finally, Council seemed to support the Mayor’s suggestion of moving up the exploration of leaf blower or other gas-powered tool regulations. Staff stated they would add this to the work plan to further investigate.
The final topic of the Workshop on Friday was a discussion of Deeply Affordable Housing development. Staff presented an overview of the topic and sought Council’s direction on the options included in the briefing memo.
Councilmembers asked questions about community land trusts, potentially joining A Regional Coalition for Housing (ARCH), and a fee in lieu program for deeply affordable housing. Councilmembers also discussed various pathways for affordable home ownership potential, and partnering with community land trusts and organizations like Habitat for Humanity. Council also asked about additional partnership with the King County Housing Authority, and staff stated that they were working to schedule their Executive Director for a future Council workshop dinner meeting.
Additional discussion surrounded the possibility of using a fee in lieu to help develop deeply affordable housing for both rental and for-sale housing units, and exploring lowering the affordability threshold for required affordable housing units in the Multi-Family Tax Exemption (MFTE) and Mandatory Affordable Housing programs. Council also discussed the risk of lowering affordability thresholds and how that may impact development.
Following the discussion, Council was supportive of staff continuing to work on exploring opportunities for affordable home ownership development through partnership with housing providers and developing funding options for deeply affordable housing development, including exploration of requiring mandatory affordable home ownership units in the MUR 45 and MUR 70 zones to contribute a fee in lieu instead of requiring those units to be built. Some Councilmembers stated that they were possibly interested in looking at a fee in lieu program for required affordable rental units, which must currently be built on site. Council also provided direction that they are not interested in the City approaching ARCH at this time for possible membership.
At 4:00 p.m., the Councilmembers and staff reflected on the first day of the Workshop, and the special meeting was adjourned at 4:10 p.m.
March 11, 2023 – 8:30 a.m.
PRESENT: Mayor Keith Scully, Deputy Mayor Betsy Robertson, and Councilmembers Doris McConnell, Laura Mork, Eben Pobee, John Ramsdell, and Chris Roberts
ABSENT: None
STAFF: Bristol Ellington, City Manager; John Norris, Assistant City Manager; Jim Hammond, Intergovernmental Programs Manager
GUESTS: Allegra Calder, Principal, BERK Consulting, Workshop Facilitator
Mayor Scully called to order the Special Meeting at 8:30 a.m. to continue with the second day of the Workshop. Mr. Calder began with a quick recap of the agenda, and led the group through a warm-up introductory exercise. The Council then reviewed the Council Goals and Action Steps that were discussed the preceding day and reconfirmed the proposed edits to the Goals and Action Steps that they would like staff to make. Staff reconfirmed that the proposed Council Goals and Action Steps would return to Council for another review at a forthcoming regular Council meeting in early April.
The Council then discussed the Council policy issues listed on the agenda, and the City Manager and Assistant City Manager provided overviews of each topic. The first topic was the issue of requiring ground floor commercial uses in mixed use buildings in the City’s commercial zones. Currently, ground floor commercial is only required in the Ridgecrest and North City neighborhoods. Deputy Mayor Robertson stated her support for moving forward with these regulations citywide. Councilmember Pobee also stated his support for this and that these regulations should be prioritized. Mayor Scully, Councilmember Ramsdell and Councilmember Roberts also stated their support for these regulations. Councilmember Mork asked staff to look at the regulations in the City of Mountlake Terrace. Councilmember Roberts responded that he believed the City of Mountlake Terrace required ground floor commercial uses in their commercial zones. Given that response, Councilmember Mork also voiced her support for the City exploring the implementation of these regulations citywide. Councilmember McConnell stated that while she is interested in exploring regulations, she wonders if regulations should be somewhat targeted and suggested that staff get developer input as regulations are developed.
Given the unanimous direction to further explore expanding these regulations in all commercial zones in the City, staff stated that they would work to add this to the Planning Department’s work plan. Staff did state that the City may want to explore whether this made sense or not in the MUR-35 zone, and Council concurred that all commercial zones should be studied even though it might not make sense in some zones.
Intergovernmental Programs Manager Jim Hammond then joined the meeting remotely and he provided an overview of the electric utility service provision topic. Councilmember Mork stated that she asked this item to be included on the agenda and stated that it would not be feasible to change electric utility service providers from Seattle City Light (SCL) to Snohomish County Public Utility District. She did however ask if there are other ways the City could receive better and more timely customer service and capital facility programming from SCL. Staff mentioned the other SCL Franchise jurisdictions who have collaborated together on the development of franchise agreements with SCL. Deputy Mayor Robertson stated her support for an ongoing coalition of other franchise cities to meet regularly to discuss issues of better support from SCL. Other Councilmembers shared support for that idea and staff stated that they could approach the other cities about this. Councilmember Roberts stated that he would like to make sure in the next SCL franchise agreement that system reliability is a priority.
Mr. Hammond then provided an overview of the renter protection regulations agenda item. Councilmember Pobee stated that he suggested this topic and would like Council to move this forward. Councilmember Roberts stated that if Council decided to move forward with exploring renter protection regulations, the regulations should be enforced by the City, as he felt not everyone has true access to the legal system for enforcement through private rights of action. He also felt that, if rental protections are enacted, the City should develop a rental registration program and add staff to manage this and other regulations. Deputy Mayor Robertson stated her support for enacting regulations and is supportive of enforcement through a private right of action. Mayor Scully was also supportive of the use of private right of action, and was comfortable moving forward. He also noted that the first six protections identified in the staff memo have already been adopted at the State level, and that City regulations could just mirror what is already in State law. Councilmember McConnell stated her concern with these regulations and does not want Council to proceed. Deputy Mayor Robertson stated that exploring regulations further at the local level would also provide the City the opportunity to potentially make tweaks to State law. Councilmember Ramsdell stated that he is supportive of further exploration of regulations but did not want to add staffing to enforce regulations as he is comfortable with the private right of action. Councilmember Mork stated that she would like to hear from landlords on potential renter regulations but is not concerned with further exploration and study of this topic. She also brought up the idea of tenant protection regulations for utility expenses, but other Councilmembers pointed out that because utility costs are typically based on utility consumption, regulations are more difficult than for housing. Given that the majority of Council is supportive of moving forward with the exploration of renter protection regulations, Mayor Scully suggested that staff come back with a recommended package of potential regulations for Council consideration and include cost information if any of the regulations would have a potential cost or staffing impact. Councilmember McConnell asked if landlord perspectives could be included in the staff report for the follow up Council discussion, and staff responded that they would work to include their perspective.
Following a short break in the Workshop, the Council then discussed the Communication Program Goals. Councilmember Roberts stated that he suggested this topic because he feels the City should enhance communications, and said he likes the options presented by staff. Deputy Mayor Robertson also stated her support for expanded communications and wants to understand the issues that may drive the need for more communications. Mayor Scully also stated his support for this if it is financially feasible. Staff stated that they would explore whether a funding proposal could be put together for Council consideration for either the mid-biennium budget process or the next biennial budget.
The Council then discussed the options presented for enhanced tree planting on private and public property. Mayor Scully stated that he suggested this topic, appreciates what the City is already doing and is supportive of the staff recommendation to possibly expand the existing programs and work to plant more trees. He proposed that this be reviewed in the next budget cycle or at the mid-biennium budget review process. Deputy Mayor Robertson also supported enhancing tree planting if possible. Councilmember Roberts expressed his support specifically for expansion of the Trees for Shoreline Program, and Councilmember Mork stated that she would like to do as much as possible to plant more trees. She also asked if seasonal staff could be hired to support this work as opposed to regular ongoing staff, and staff responded that this is something that could be explored. Other Councilmembers also expressed general support for expansion of these programs if financially feasible.
The Council then had a very short discussion on composting requirements for commercial and multifamily residential properties. The Council was unanimously supportive of moving forward with the staff recommendation as outlined in the staff memo supporting this Workshop topic.
The final Workshop topic discussed by the Council was Age Friendly Community Initiatives. Staff began by providing an overview of the planning work that the City is doing to support an age friendly community, including the City’s work on Cottage Housing and the major update to the City’s Comprehensive Plan. Councilmember Ramsdell stated that he suggested this topic and wanted to discuss more operational issues around an age friendly community in addition to the planning efforts underway. He asked if Shoreline Police are aware of and utilizing the Sound Generation Geriatric Regional Assessment Team (GRAT) resource for seniors. Staff responded that they would follow up with Shoreline Police on whether GRAT is being utilized. He also asked about potentially joining the AARP Age Friendly Community Network. Staff also stated that we could follow up on what that entails and look into ongoing membership. Councilmember Roberts asked about reviewing the City’s Development Code regulations generally for compliance with age friendly goals, and Councilmember Ramsdell asked about coordinating with and supporting the King County Housing Authority, given the number of their housing units in Shoreline focused on seniors. Staff stated that they would look into Development Code regulations after the Comprehensive Plan update is complete, and into joining the AARP Age Friendly Community Network. Staff could also explore other operational and programmatic ways to support aging in place and being a more age friendly community.
The Council then broke for lunch around 11:45 am. Facilitator Allegra Calder walked the Council through Workshop reflections and Councilmembers thanked the staff and Allegra Calder for their work on the content and support during the Workshop.
The Special Meeting was adjourned at 12:10 p.m.
/s/ Jessica Simulcik Smith, City Clerk