Notes from Shoreline Council meeting October 4, 2021

Pam Cross, reporter

Shoreline City Council Meeting

October 4, 2021

Notes by Pam Cross

Mayor Hall called the remote meeting to order at 7:00pm.

All councilmembers were present.

Mayor Hall was excused from last week’s meeting for personal reasons. Since he did not a have connection to WIFI last week, he was unable to participate in that meeting.

Proclamation
Mayor Hall, on behalf of the Shoreline City Council, proclaimed the month of October 2021 as Safe Shoreline Month and urged all citizens to implement emergency preparedness and crime prevention measures at home, at work, and in their vehicles and to participate with their neighbors in emergency preparedness and crime prevention activities.

Approval of the Agenda
Agenda adopted by unanimous consent.

Report of the City Manager, Debbie Tarry

COVID-19 UPDATE

While case rates continue to decline, we are still at a level of very high transmission during this fifth wave of COVID-19 infections.

SIDEWALKS

The first of the 2018 voter-approved sidewalk projects has been completed on 1st Ave NE from NE 192nd to NE 195th. Permeable concrete was used to promote infiltration and to reduce the impact of urban runoff.

Learn more about upcoming projects at shorelinewa.gov/sidewalks

UPCOMING EVENTS

The Planning Commission will hold a remote meeting on Thursday, October 7 at 7pm

Council Reports

Councilmember McGlashan attended the SeaShore Transportation Meeting. They discussed the KingCo Metro bus route changes that are now in effect to service the new light stations including Northgate. There have been over 20 reroutes, some deletions, some addition of new routes. He asked for a feedback report at the next meeting (in 30 days) about how the reroutes and light rail ridership is going.

There was one minor change made to the SeaShore Agreement. They added a Snohomish County member with limited voting rights. SeaShore has had only voting members from North King County cities.

Public Comment

Jackie Kurle, Shoreline
I continue to encourage oversight and transparency regarding the operations of the Enhanced Shelter as well as communication to the public about any activities surrounding the shelter or neighborhoods that may be impacted by the shelter. I hope it is successful in getting people off the streets and on a path to stable housing. Public needs and shelter needs have to be taken into account at the same time.

Approval of the Consent Calendar
Consent Calendar approved unanimously

Action Item 8(a) Action on Ordinance No. 944 – Amending Ordinance No. 776 and Ordinance No. 694 Amending Shoreline Municipal Code Chapter 3.27 for Property Tax Exemption Conditions Within the Light Rail Station Subareas and Within the Multifamily Tax Exemption Areas (MFTE)

Presented by Nathan Daum, Economic Development Manager

The Multifamily Property Tax Exemption (MFTE) program is the City’s main affordable housing program.

At their September 13 meeting, Council discussed proposed Ordinance No. 944 which would remove the December 31 sunset to the MFTE program in the light rail station areas, establish a 20-year MFTE program, and provide for a 12-year MFTE extension option.

Under current regulations, a project located in MUR-45 and MUR-70 zones may choose to participate in the City’s 12-year MFTE program incentive program if they provide a minimum of 20% of their units as affordable units. Unique to the station areas, projects within MUR-45 and MUR-70 zones must provide affordable units for 99 years even though the property-tax exemption available only lasts 12 years.

At the end of the 12-year period, the developer would still be required to maintain a minimum of 10% affordable units for 87 years without a property tax exemption.

Other revenues generated by this development are estimated to far exceed the total revenues generated prior to development, including one-time revenues of approximated $1.25M. Ongoing revenues of property taxes on improvements are estimated at over $800K over the 12 year period.

Will older buildings become more affordable as they age? Rents in older buildings aren’t going down and rents in new buildings are going up. Supply and demand fluctuations cannot be predicted with satisfying certainty.

Proposed Amendments resulting from Council comments at the September Council meeting

1. Expand MFTE station area to residential targeted areas (RTA) of the City to match the entirety of station area boundaries
2. Establish definition for high-capacity transit by clarifying the hours of operation
3. Application fee waiver to switch from 12 year to 20-year program (there are currently 5 projects that would qualify)
4. Clarify 20-year program eligibility criteria regarding scheduled frequency of high-capacity transit

DISCUSSION

Motion and 2nd to approve Ordinance 944

We should take advantage of this pilot program that the State set up for us. Unfortunately the 99-year affordability is in the State regulation so there is nothing we can do about that.

NOTE: For the wording of the individual amendments, please refer to the staff report.

Motion and 2nd to approve proposed amendment #1 briefly summarized above.

This matches the Comprehensive Plan zoning for the station areas so it makes sense. It will provide the ability for property owners and developers to make informed decisions in these investments.

VOTE Amendment #1
Passes unanimously 7 to 0.

Motion and 2nd to approve proposed amendment #2 briefly summarized above.

Where does definition of high capacity come from? Does it match the definition from other organizations?

• Reply: Yes it was originally copied directly from the State’s legislation but the City Attorney suggested clarification of core operating hours.

This makes sense since there are peak hour buses that run more frequently during commuter hours than the rest of the day. It avoids confusion.

VOTE Amendment #2
Passes unanimously 7 to 0.

Motion and 2nd to approve proposed amendment #3 briefly summarized above.
No additional discussion.

VOTE Amendment #3
Passes unanimously 7 to 0.

Motion and 2nd to approve proposed amendment #4 briefly summarized above.
No additional discussion.

VOTE Amendment #4
Passes unanimously 7 to 0.

VOTE ON MAIN MOTION AS AMENDED
Passes unanimously 7 to 0.

Thank you to staff for all of their work and their answers to our questions. If this makes the projects pencil out, then the City wins too.

Action Item 8(b) Action on Resolution No. 483 - Requiring Mandatory COVID-19 Vaccinations as a Qualification of Employment or Public Service with the City of Shoreline, as a Qualification for Providing Contracted Services at City Facilities, Authorizing the City Manager to Develop Additional Rules and Parameters for Implementing this Requirement, and Establishing a Deadline of Full Vaccination by December 1, 2021

Presented by John Norris, Assistant City Manager

As of September 22, 2021, the City of Shoreline has 221 employees (regular and extra-help) on payroll and 187, or 85%, of those employees have provided proof of being fully vaccinated. This does not include the Shoreline Police Department, as they are King County employees. The City’s workforce is supplemented by contractors who provide in-person services within City facilities, appointed members of City Boards and Commissions and elected City officials. The City, to date, has not collected proof of vaccination from these individuals.

COVID-19 transmission has significantly increased primarily due to the Delta variant and the number of unvaccinated people.

DISCUSSION.
Motion and 2nd to adopt resolution

It shows we care about our employees and the members of the public that they interact with, and that we follow the science to keep people safe.

No additional discussion.

VOTE
Passes 7-0 unanimously

Study Item 9(a) Discussion of Ordinance No. 941 - Repealing Shoreline Municipal Code Chapter 9.25 Retail Carryout Bag Regulations Due to State Preemption

Presented by Autumn Salamack, Environmental Services Coordinator

The 2020 Washington State Legislature passed ESSB 5323, now codified as Chapter 70A.530 Carryout Bags, enacting a statewide ban on single-use plastic bags. It contains language that expressly preempts implementation of a local carryout bag ordinance such as Shoreline Municipal Code (SMC) Chapter 9.25. Deleting the SMC ordinance eliminates any confusion by cleaning up the code.

The new statewide plastic bag ban Chapter 70A.530 RCW applies to:

• All retail, grocery, and convenience stores
• Any restaurant or establishment offering take-out or delivery food or goods
• Temporary stores or vendors
• Any event where food or goods are sold or distributed

For additional information on businesses go to

ecology.wa.gov/bag-ban

DISCUSSION

This makes sense since the State expressly prohibits Shoreline from enforcing its ordinance. There is no point in just amending our ordinance “just in case the state changes its mind”.

By prohibiting the use of single use plastic bags in Shoreline, we proved that banning them works and that it does not have an effect on business vitality.

Councilmembers agree for return on the consent calendar.

Study Item 9(b) Discussion on Joining the Race to Zero and the Local Governments for Sustainability - ICLEI150. (Pronounced IK-LEE)

Continuing with this presentation is Autumn Salamack, Environmental Services Coordinator

The City received an invitation from ICLEI to join the Cities Race to Zero through the ICLEI150 Commitment Form in July 2021 and we are currently a member.

The City Council adopted the City’s Climate Action Plan in September 2013, thereby committing to reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions 50% by 2030, and 80% by 2050 (below 2009 levels).

Reasons to Join

A 2019 evaluation of the City’s GHG emissions revealed that we are not on track to meet those targets.
It addresses the 2019 Comprehensive Plan Amendments regarding a 1.5° C limit on global warming.
It provides a clear framework for our Climate Action Plan update.

Benefits of Joining

We will receive

• Shoreline-specific, science-based 2030 GHG emissions reduction target to achieve our fair share of the Paris Climate goals
• Customized list of high-impact actions to achieve our 2030 target
• Technical assistance for implementation

The next steps are

• Complete the ICLEI150 Race to Zero commitment sign-on form
• Declare a climate emergency via resolution
• Take at least one high-impact action in 2021. Council action to prohibit fossil fuels – including natural gas – in new commercial construction, per the August 16th City Council discussion, would satisfy this requirement.

DISCUSSION

Where does the ICLEI acronym come from?

• Reply: It does not stand for anything at this point (laughter). Historically it came from the International Council of Local Environmental Initiatives. They intentionally abandoned that name but the acronym remained. It is no longer an acronym.

I support the concept and have no objections. I see that electrification is a high impact item. Can you mention a couple others?

• Reply: There are four areas: reducing vehicle miles in general; increasing the vehicle miles travelled by electric vehicles; increasing the energy efficiency of all buildings in our community to ensure they are as efficient and as conservation minded as possible; electrification of new buildings and looking at opportunities to transition existing buildings to electric. There would probably be some additional actions around waste management and composting.

This is a voluntary pledge, correct? No penalty if we don’t achieve our goals?

• Reply: Correct

Are these things that a city can realistically do with local government power? Are we going to be able to pass an ordinance, or fund a program, that is going to substantially achieve any one of those? I don’t have a problem with joining, but we’re not the State, we’re not Federal government. I’m not seeing a lot of local things we can do.

• Reply: it is a stretch for sure. I’ve had that conversation with our ICLEI contacts. They have designed this program specifically for local government. The actions and the strategies that they’re prepared to help support us with implementation are things that they believe can be done at the local government level. The more communities that join, the more of a regional approach to these issues, the more we can see enhanced change and exaggerated benefits beyond just doing it at our local level. It’s a good framework to tell the community what we’re doing and why.

Is the expectation that each city would do one high impact action each year?

• Reply: The expectation is that within a year of joining you will have identified what your actions are to help you meet the 2030 and 2050 goals. We would be doing that through the development of our Climate Action Plan. There is no annual requirement. But once you know what your key actions to implement are, you must achieve more actions per year so that by 2030 you hit your target. The timeline is your own.

I think the suggestion of bringing in and embracing other local leaders in business is something we should do, even if only symbolically.

I support this because we were planning to update our Climate Action Plan anyway and this gives us more expertise.

Councilmembers agreed for return on the consent calendar where, by resolution, they would be authorizing the city manager to do this work.

Autumn Salamack was thanked for all of her great work.

Meeting Adjourned