By Diane Hettrick
Shoreline City Council meeting, March 23, 2015
In a unanimous vote on a motion by Councilmember Jesse Salomon, the Shoreline City Council voted to delay the rezoning of the 145th subarea until the transportation corridor study is complete.
In public comment which was extended to an hour and a half to accommodate the 26 people who wanted to speak, every speaker spoke to the need to have all the information before making zoning decisions. Other common themes questioned why the rezone was so large, and why it was being pushed through so fast.
A Parkwood resident said "You are making decisions for imaginary future citizens of Shoreline but we are sitting in front of you and saying 'wait'."
Other concerns spoke to the lack of communication to people in the rezone and greater Shoreline, Thornton Creek Watershed concerns, and whether surface water issues were being addressed. Several referenced Vision 2029 and how the current process violated the work done there. Many urged the council to heed the recommendations of their own appointed Planning Commission.
In the council discussion, Councilmember Chris Eggen assured the audience that the 185th rezone did include provisions for parks and open space and the council was committed to this.
Councilmember Keith McGlashan worried that without a preferred zoning, it would be difficult to make decisions when the corridor study did come in. Staff said that having a zoning preference would make for a more precise study.
Councilmember Will Hall said that even though they are mad and upset, the public is involved and he worried that with a delay of 9 or 10 months, public interest would fall off. (At this point the audience shouted at him "Oh no, we'll be back!")
Hall also acknowledged that communication with the residents had not been good and outlined a few ways that it might be improved, including targeted mailings, and a Town Hall, where there could be a back and forth exchange with the public.
He also expressed his support for pedestrian and bicycle-friendly routes, as well as concern for the watershed. He mentioned the daylighting of Thornton Creek at Northgate and said that Shoreline has 1500 feet of Thornton Creek in a culvert.
Salomon, Eggen, and McConnell disclosed that they all own homes in the rezone area (McConnell's is now a rental), but they felt that they could make a decision for the good of the whole community.
Hall spoke to the public concerns about pushing the rezones through now when light rail will not be here until 2023. He said that construction will begin in two-three years and that many other cities did their planning and rezones much earlier than we are - Kent's was done in 2011 for a station in 2023. Central Issaquah rezoned 1100 acres to MUR 68, 85, and higher so they could build bridges. Bellevue is starting to plan now.
In the discussion on the amendment of council goals, Goal #1 was revised to include language to strengthen the economic base to maintain city provided public services that citizens expect.
There was discussion about how to word the need for pedestrian and bicycle friendly bridges across I-5 for all abilities. 185th is still in discussion with Sound Transit, but it could simply be enlarged. All agreed that the 145th bridge was very unsafe for pedestrians and bicyclists.
The meeting was adjourned at 9:17pm
Riddle me this Councilmember Hall, Are Kent, Issaquah, and Bellevue going from 99% Single Family Residences to what they have upzoned for? Maybe you can ask Brian Derdowski and get back to us on that fun fact before you blather on about what other cities have done. If we wanted to live in Kent, Issaquah, or Bellevue, we'd be there already!
ReplyDeleteDiane, I really appreciate your quick posting of the summary of the Council meeting.
ReplyDeleteOne public comment mentioned the concurrency requirement, and wondered what Shoreline was doing to be concurrent with Seattle. What wasn't mentioned is that Seattle hasn't even begun the process of considering any rezoning on their side of 145th St.
ReplyDeleteThis is important, because unless Shoreline works concurrently with Seattle, the result could be a colossal disaster. Now, Seattle has some time to start their work.
Interesting that Mr. Salomon chose to lead the charge. This rezone is blocks from his home. Last week when it involved 185th which has no road plan either, Mr Salomon couldn't be bothered to even read his emails from the voters in my neighborhood until 3 days after the vote or find the time to talk to anyone who lives here. I guess he must be worried about hauling his boat and new trailer up the on ramp at 145th for his fishing trips.
ReplyDeleteGreat job everyone, and by this I mean the citizens of Shoreline...who have spent many uncompensated hours protecting our city from the massive over reach. .....! A temporary reprieve.
ReplyDeleteNow we have to make sure the wobbly one(s) do not get re-elected....nothing is for sure unless replacement occurs.
I do not think the fact that Jesse's late strategic political move works for him. He was bound to lose either way. It looks like he has bias no matter how many times he says it is a "different" situation. It is not so different.....moving forward despite no plan is not different. You either believe in the philosophy you used to transform and create uncertainty in your city in order to bolster your unwavering beliefs or you do not.....
Sorry folks, you are a wolves in sheep's clothing with political ambitions that supercedes all.
Councilmember Hall, rebutting calls to slow down the rezoning process,
ReplyDeletestated that various cities are already well along in planning for
coming light rail station areas. He specifically mentioned that the
cities of Kent and Issaquah have each passed station-area plans even
though their light rail stations are not scheduled for completion
until 2023 or beyond. Councilmember Hall cited these cases to support
the notion that Shoreline should act with haste to rezone the areas around
the forthcoming light rail stations.
Both of those cases are very different from either the 145th or 185th
subareas. Kent's Midway Subarea covers, essentially, a narrow strip
along Pacific Highway South (Highway 99.) The Central Issaquah Plan
Area covers (surprise!) the central area of Issaquah around Interstate
90. In both of these cases, the areas in question were already
mostly, if not totally, zoned for commercial use. The areas covered
in both of these cases contained very little preexisting single-family
housing.
In other words, both of these cases were more about adjusting and
formalizing plans for their cities' (already existing) commercial core
areas. (In this sense, they are analogous to Shoreline's Aurora
Corridor Project.) As far as they have to do with light rail, both of
these plans were passed so far in advance of light rail construction
in order to influence the selection of station locations by Sound
Transit.
By way of contrast, as you know, Shoreline's 145th Street and 185th
Street subareas cover regions which are currently zoned predominantly
for single-family residential use. The rezoning under consideration
(or already passed) by the city will drastically change the nature of
rather large areas of the city in ways that can not be undone. It
affects thousands of residents who currently live in those areas. The
locations of the light rail stations at the centers of these areas
have already --- for all intents and purposes --- been set, so the
reasons behind the early actions taken by the cities of Kent and
Issaquah do not apply here.
You think we're mad now! Wait until we get to vote you out of office Will Hall. The only thing keeping you and your batch of buddies in official is how complicated the recall process is in this state.
ReplyDeleteMcGlashan and Hall's reasoning made no sense. I know my couch can't support a 5 ton elephant, I don't need to put the elephant on my couch to study that fact.
ReplyDeleteHow about we just put in the light rail and wait and see about rezoning...?
ReplyDeleteThe only thing that made sense out of ALL this is to make sure Seattle AND Shoreline are on the same page at the same time RE: 145th and the future.
ReplyDeleteIMO, this mess was largely due to poor planning. The city has co-owned 145th for almost 145th (King County, WSDOT, and Seattle), and the others have been more than willing to offload the maintenance and servicing (e.g., handling accidents). Then, at least several years ago, we knew that Sound Transit wanted to push northward. Yet, when it came time to testify, our officials crafted a theme to dismiss all other locations (e.g., 175th has too much traffic, 155th is a quiet neighborhood street, 130th wasn't on the map the voter's saw). And, they keep peddling the story that folks from Woodinville will drive through Bothell Way's worsening traffic, then along 145th for one of the 500 parking spots!
ReplyDeleteLet's be straightforward, council. It's not surprising that three of you own property there, it's no wonder they wanted that street. Look for Aurora and its 3 miles to be complete in perhaps 1 year. The process started 18 years ago. From Greenwood to Lake City Way on 145th is about 5 miles, and we have 8 years. Face it: the street won't be reconstructed, and given our dwindling funding, it may never be.
Rezoning is popular amongst politicians and planners, for it allows them to cram all or most of the new residents that the Growth Management Act states they must take into a small part of the city vs. spreading the load around the city, as the latter irritates a larger population. But, more that just those in the immediate vicinity have to plow through the resultant traffic, which are both things that should have been thought of before the "full court press" began. We could easily see what has happened on 164th in Lynnwood (just west of I-5) happen in Shoreline.