Edmonds City Council President Strom Peterson said Tuesday morning that he is planning to remove from tonight’s Council agenda the discussion and possible action on a proposal to to exclude offices from ground floor retail spaces in the core business zones downtown.
That item — originally defeated in August by the council on a 3-2 vote with two members absent — was originally going to be reconsidered last Tuesday, but was pulled from the agenda due to Councilmember Michael Plunkett’s absence.
The reason for the latest removal? “Staff and members of the EDC (Economic Development Commission) are trying to contact as many downtown property owners for their input (as requested by council and citizens),” Peterson said in an email. “I feel that it is important to have a more complete discussion on the topic.”
In addition, Peterson noted that the Haines Wharf project will not be discussed tonight, per the item in our earlier story, but will be on the agenda for Oct. 18. We heard from another source that one possible focus for tonight’s executive session is related to the departure of Kim Coles, Mayor Mike Cooper’s executive assistant, who resigned last week.
I wish they would concentrate on actually getting businesses in the spaces instead of what could possibly go in there. Vacancy is less attractive looking than someone plugging away at a computer.