Updated March 9 with change of location to Edmonds City Council Chambers
To kick off a major update of the City of Edmonds development code, the city will host a public open house Wednesday, March 11 between 5:30 and 7 p.m. It will be in the Edmonds City Council Chambers instead of the City Hall Brackett Room, as previously planned.
The development code deals with permitting, zoning, land use, public works, natural resources and other topics.
“Currently, we have a code with some good parts mixed with not-so-good parts,” said Shane Hope, the city’s Development Services Director. “Because it has been amended piecemeal over the years, some standards and processes are unclear or don’t meet today’s needs.”
The City Council directed that the code get a major update. “Edmonds is a great community, It’s really important that our code is updated to guide what happens here and that it is written in a way that’s user-friendly,” said Council President Adrienne Frailey-Monillas.
The open house will have displays and information about the coming development code update. Staff will be on hand to answer questions or hear input from attendees. A short oral presentation will be given at 6 p.m. People can also submit written comments at the event.
“Probably not all code issues can be dealt with this time around,” Hope said. “But we definitely want to get to the high priorities and have something drafted for City Council consideration, with plenty of opportunities for public input, before the end of the year. Then if other updates are needed, they can be handled in the next round.”
For more information, contact Shane Hope at 425-771-0220, Ext. 1216 or email shane.hope@edmondswa.gov.
I hope the citizens will get behind this effort and that many will attend the Open House.
This has been a major issue for years and I salute the current elected officials and Ms. Hope for making this a priority.
A little glimpse into the history of this effort helps explain why I believe citizens should strongly support this effort now:
October 25, 2005:
Councilmember Dawson asked what the $140,000 for the Zoning Code update included and why it was necessary to do it now. Development Services Director Bowman commented he had been describing the need to update the Zoning Code since he was hired in 2000. The update would be a 2-year process; the $140,000 would be used to hire a consultant to assist with developing the rewrite of the code. He noted even the simple Zoning Code amendments the City’s limited staff has developed recently have consumed a great deal of time; therefore it was necessary to have the update outsourced. He acknowledged there would need to be further discussion with the Council regarding policy before the rewrite began. The City’s code dated to the 1980s and piecemeal amendments make it difficult to use and administer.
Thank you to all for a major update. This is good for our city.