Notes from Shoreline Council meeting December 9, 2019

Shoreline City Hall
Photo by Steven H. Robinson

Shoreline City Council Meeting 

December 9, 2019
Notes by Pam Cross

Mayor Hall called the meeting to order at 7:00pm 
All Councilmembers were present.

Report of the City Manager Debbie Tarry

The City hosted a free community viewing of the documentary film Motherload as part of its fostering of Shoreline as a bicycle friendly community. This is a documentary film about cargo bikes. (Cargo bikes are simply bikes that are specially made to carry more than just their rider. They can be used for carrying children or pets, running errands, and for business/pac.) 46 people attended with 8 people arriving on bikes.

Solstice Stroll at Kruckeberg Botanic Garden 4:30-8:30pm Fridays through Sundays Dec 13-15 and 20-22. See the garden aglow with lights during the darkest nights of the year. Parking is available at the Richmond Beach Congregational church with a free shuttle. Admission is free but a $10 donation is encouraged. The garden will be closed during regular hours on the dates of this event.

Dec 14 from 5 to 8pm at Shoreline City Hall. Celebrate the Art Opening of Lucy Garnett: “Notations.” This solo exhibition presents themes of migration, music, health and family.

Join Volunteer Work Parties at Twin Ponds and Hamlin Parks Saturdays Dec 14 and 21. Check the City’s online calendar for times, meeting places and additional information.

Public Reminders

The Planning Commission will meet on Thursday, December 19 and Thursday January 2 at 7:00pm in the Council Chamber.

This is the last meeting before the Council’s winter recess. The next Council meeting will take place on Monday, Jan 6, 2020.

Holiday Closures

Spartan Rec Center and Shoreline Pool will close at noon on Dec 24 and Dec 31.
Shoreline City Hall, Spartan Rec Center and Shoreline Pool will be closed Dec 25 and Jan 1.

The Shoreline City Council and City staff wish everyone Happy Holidays!

Shoreline School District Gay Straight Alliance (GSA) members were introduced: Bella, Laureen, Esther, Hayley, Caden, Eliana, and Sam. They are representing Kellogg and Einstein Middle Schools, and Shorecrest and Shorewood High Schools. Sue Mautz is their advisor.

Last year they met with representatives of the City to state their concerns for the safety of members of LGBTQ youth. There is no community meeting place in Shoreline. Lambert House (1818 - 15th Ave, Seattle) which empowers lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning youth through the development of leadership, social, and life skills.) is an hour bus ride from Shoreline. These young people need something closer. They made and sold necklaces resulting in $827.87 presented to the City. They want to partner with the City and youth and teen development programs to facilitate one community resource night at City Hall to offer area families the opportunity to learn and grow and to partner for the third annual Pride Prom in June.

Council gave the speakers a standing ovation.

Council Reports

Deputy Mayor McConnell attended the monthly Seashore Transportation Forum. They received a report from the Puget Sound Clean Air Electrification-Transportation Board. Although Shoreline is way ahead of the regional curve, we still have a long way to go. Electrical vehicles was the focus of the meeting. There was a map showing where the charging stations are and which ones provide faster charging. The range of electric vehicles continues to increase (200 to 300 miles on a single charge). Upfront costs are mostly handled through federal tax incentives. We need to look at more options to get us off of diesel and gas dependencies.

Councilmember Chang attended the KingCo Regional Transit Committee special meeting. They have adopted the mobility framework that Metro has been working on for the past year. It was put together by a 23 member equity cabinet addressing people who come from historically underrepresented populations (people of color, low income, immigrants, refugees and the disabled). These are guidelines for how Metro is going to incorporate innovation, how it’s going to develop its workforce, and what its priorities are for service. As Metro works on long range guidelines, equity will be a big part of Metro’s decisions.

Mayor Hall announced that the city Council had their annual dinner meeting with the Council of Neighbors, with representatives of all 14 neighborhoods attending. It was a great meeting.

Note: At this time Councilmember Chang left the Chamber because, as she indicated last week, she is recusing herself from the Action Item. 

Action item: Land use designation

Public Comment regarding Amendment #1 Change the land use designation from medium density residential to mixed-use 2 and change the Zoning from Residential, 8 units/acre (R-8) to Community Business (CB) of Two Parcels at 1510 and 1517 NE 170th Street,

And/or #3 Amend Comprehensive Plan Policy LU2 to allow for professional offices in the R- 8 and R-12 zones.

Speakers opposed

Tom Poitras, Shoreline
Brian Ellsworth, Shoreline
John McCoy, Shoreline
Mark Rettmann, Save Shoreline Neighborhoods
Yoshiko Saheki, Shoreline

Speakers in support

Duana Kolouskova, Attorney for IronsBC
Joseph Irons, Shoreline
Venetia Irons, Shoreline
Melissa Irons, Shoreline

Speakers in support of Amendment #2, Update Natural Environment Goal V by limiting greenhouse gas emissions to 1.5° C of global warming above pre-industrial levels.

Lee Keim, Shoreline
Bill Dwyer, Shoreline

Other subjects

Kathleen Russell, Shoreline. Opposed to cutting down 133 mature trees along Dayton Ave and N 155th and 160th as City requires for the move of the Dept of Ecology to the DOT location.

Kristi McGee, Shoreline. Shoreline is a tree city. Even our city logo has trees in it. Why are these trees being cut down?

The following speakers do not approve of Shoreline Community College demolishing the building where the Dental Hygiene Program is located without a viable plan to relocate the program. Demolition of this building planned for January 2020 will be devastating to the students and the 2,500 patients/year, many without dental insurance, who rely on the students for their care. SCC offers one of the most respected dental hygiene programs in the state with jobs in Shoreline available to graduates.

• Dr. Eric Hamako, Shoreline resident, professor at Shoreline Community College, president of the faculty’s union
• Nikki Honey, Bothell resident who has worked for SCC for 19 years.
• Katie Fleming, Lynnwood Dental Hygienist, Senior Lead professor at SCC
• Dental hygiene students: Leah Royal, Edmonds, President of dental hygiene class of 2021, and Deana VP of dental hygiene class of 2021 who currently lives in Sea-Tac

The agenda was approved unanimously. 6-0
The Consent Calendar was adopted, without discussion, unanimously. 6-0

ACTION ITEM

Action Item 8(a) Adoption of Ordinance No. 881 – 2019 Comprehensive Plan Annual Docket Amendments to the Shoreline Comprehensive Plan and Concurrent Rezone

Steven Szafran, AICP, Senior Planner provided the staff report

This is a continuation of the Dec 2 meeting where Council asked for some clarification of Amendments 1 and 3 and asked staff to prepare two potential motions.

Amendment #1

The first clarification had to do with setbacks and the attainable heights at 1510 and 1517 NE 170TH ST. Staff believes the highest potential height on each of the properties would be 50’.

Amendment #3 CUP (Conditional Use Permit). 

Questions included process (this amendment will follow the same procedure as any other Development Code Amendment), revocation (a CUP can be revoked for failure to comply with the conditions set forth in the approval), indexed criteria (any business that meets the SMC20.20.040 definition and any index criteria related to it may be approved as a Conditional Use in the R-8/R-12 zone), allowed uses (possible businesses could include a legal office, tax accountant, engineering firm or any other business consisting of licensed technical, scientific or academic professionals), and transfer of CUP (Washington Courts have recognized that land use permits are not personal, rather, they run with the land. However, looking at other cities/counties in Washington, while some do simply state CUPs run with land, others allow determination by the Hearing Examiner or City Council).

Any questions/Discussion:

Motion and 2nd to adopt Ordinance 881. Current Ordinance 881 includes
Amendment #2 (per Planning Commission recommendation).

Thanks to staff and the planning commission for all of the work over the past year - a tremendous amount of work was involved including additional meetings for this volunteer commission.

Amendment # 2 Update Natural Environment Goal V by limiting greenhouse gas emissions to 1.5° C of global warming above pre-industrial levels.

This will mean a lot of work for staff and the City as we plan, as we must do, to control greenhouse gasses. The leading causes in Shoreline are transportation and buildings. We need to be leaders and do our part, making some sacrifices along the way. We need to either sacrifice now or leave it all to our kids and grandkids. We are going to be working with a lot of partners across the region and across the state.

This is an easy Amendment to pass but it will be hard to implement over the next few years. There will be tough decisions. We will need to balance the existing tree canopy with development and get people out of their cars. And fix the pool’s boiler to control the massive amount of hydrocarbons that are emitted every time the boiler comes on.

Move and second to add amendment #1 as prepared by staff:

I move to modify the Planning Commission’s recommendation and approve Amendment #1 changing the Comprehensive Land Use Designation and zoning of two parcels at 1510 and 1517 NE 170th Street from Medium Density Residential to Mixed-Use 2 and concurrently rezoning from R-8 to Community Business.

It is important to note the owners were out of compliance with current zoning, but the City told them what to do to correct it and they have done it. This discussion is the result. Shoreline’s economic goals include growing small business. The change does go with the Comprehensive Plan. There is existing land use conflict between the businesses along 15th and the residences behind them. The property that backs up against the 7-11 would be a tough place to live. But the solution is not to just move the problem further east. While we are interested in bringing in business, we need to consider neighborhood response. The CB (community zoning) component is a big jump.

Council is not allowed to weigh the importance of the IronsBC (the property owner) to the community, or to weigh how much we like or dislike IronsBC as individuals or a company, but to consider potential uses this change might create. When they move, in say 10 years when they’ve outgrown this spot, the Council existing at that time will be faced with the problems created by CB - community zoning..

Certainly things can be built that people in the neighborhood don’t like. For example every single residential lot could have a 3-story skinny house. There are a lot of things we can imagine if somebody wants to do something awful. Council must keep in perspective that we are talking about moving a boundary only 70’.

As an aside, one of tonight’s speakers referred to “secret meetings” with Councilmembers regarding this issue. Anyone can talk to Councilmembers. And Councilmembers can discuss issues, but cannot promise anything to anyone.

Vote supporting Amendment #1 fails by a vote of 2 to 4 (With Councilmembers Robertson, Scully, Roberts and Deputy Mayor McConnell dissenting).

Motion and second to amend #3 as prepared by staff

I move to modify the Planning Commission’s recommendation and approve Amendment #3 adding Professional Offices to the Comprehensive Plan Land Use Policy LU2.

We are talking about a professional office. If you look at the current use table, professional office is less invasive than an eating and drinking establishment and more consistent with broader goals.

There doesn’t appear to be a huge difference between what is already allowed and professional offices. Can Conditional Use Permits be revoked? Yes, but we may need to look at cleaning up the some of the code.

We want to provide a plan that is binding and that property owners have to follow for people who want to operate a certain type of commercial business in a residential area. Right now, you can have a bar but not a doctor’s office. No lawyers' offices but a counseling office is ok. There are wineries run out of a garage that are allowed as a home based business. This is illogical It makes sense to have professional offices included.

This is how laws are changed. An issue presents itself and comes before Council. Council obtains a staff report of current law, listens to everybody’s opinion, and tries to can come up with a compromise. We do not always support the decision of the planning commission that is made up of  qualified volunteers but is not an elected position.

Motion passes by a vote of 4-2 with Deputy Mayor McConnell and Councilmember Robertson dissenting.

Ordinance 881 as amended passes by unanimous vote of 6-0.

Meeting adjourned at 8:18pm

12-15-19 minor edits made to story