As the Edmonds City Council moves closer to changing zoning and development standards for the two-mile stretch of Highway 99 that runs through Edmonds, citizens had a chance to weigh in with their concerns during two meetings Tuesday night.

Among the comments: Providing permanent affordable housing needs to be a priority, and the council should pay more attention to the potential impacts of future multi-family developments on existing single-family homes.

The first meeting of the night was an open house on the draft Environmental Impact Statement issued for the Highway 99 project plan, with about a dozen people visiting City Hall’s Brackett Room to review EIS highlights and receive a plan overview. Among those attending were advocates of developing more affordable housing in Edmonds, an issue that drew a crowd to a recent forum at the Edmonds Library.

During a discussion following the presentation, Edmonds resident Sue Nicholls asked what would happen to the stock of current affordable housing — such as mobile home parks and low-priced motels — if Highway 99 were redeveloped.

The city’s Highway 99 consultant John Fregonese replied that under the proposal, the city is hoping to get a partner to develop a subsidized housing demonstration project. However, Nicholls questioned whether such an effort would serve the low-income population currently living in mobile homes and motels.

“I’m not sure what the answer is,” Nicholls said, “but when we talk about the so-called affordable housing, it’s not really affordable.

“You’re giving away a huge public benefit of a tax break or a fee break if a developer just has 20 percent affordable units,” Nicholls said. And, she added, if affordable housing is defined as 80 percent of market rate, that means a $2,000 apartment would still be $1,600, which a low-income person couldn’t afford.

“I’m concerned about pushing out the people who are in mobile home and trailer parks,” Nicholls said. “They may not be attractive to a lot of people; however, it’s a lifeline, it’s a stable place with a roof and heat.”

Development Director Shane Hope noted that “the challenge is, the city doesn’t own these properties. We can provide some incentive to the developer but if we require something that they aren’t going to do — because they can’t make it work financially —  nothing wlll happen,” she said.

“So the hope is to be able to find more housing that a greater number of people can live in — including people that are working but not making a lot of money — and at the same time try to work with some low-income housing agencies that can provide a more complete subsidy and partner with them,” Hope added.

Many of those attending the open house then walked across the street to the City Council Chambers, where the council held a public hearing on rezoning and development changes included in the draft Highway 99 subarea plan.

Among the proposed changes:

· Consolidating most of the zoning categories for the Highway 99 Corridor into one designation: CG (General Commercial) instead of CG and CG2 and multifamily;

· Updating both parking and pedestrian standards for the area to be more consistent with current and future needs, including for mixed use; and

· Adding new design standards to ensure a more pedestrian- and transit-friendly environment, with additional consideration for adjacent single-family zones.

Concerns over whether single-family homes are adequately protected through the plan were raised by Councilmember Neil Tibbot, who asked Fregonese and Hope to address how the city will handle multi-family residences that could be located across the street from a single-family home.

“The possibility exists of a 75-foot (building) directly across the street from a single family,” Tibbott said. “I’d be open to options like a general parking buffer or reduced heights or perhaps a stepback after a certain amount. It doesn’t seem like we’ve made any headway on how to address that.”

Edmonds resident Bruce Witenberg, who lives in a single-family neighborhood near Highway 99, said during public testimony that while the plan works well for the highway frontage, more attention needs to be paid to the transition zones between commercial and residential.

“I would suggest that instead of using the phrase ‘adjacent,” you use the phrase ‘adjacent and neighboring residential zones’ since doing so would clarify that it’s taking into consideration not only residences next to, but across the street from, CG zones,” Witenberg said.

In addition, he said, the minimum street and side and rear setbacks of 10 and 15 feet “might be more adequately sensitive to the neighboring residential zones if each was increased by a minimum of 10 feet.” Stepbacks next to residential family zones should be referred to as “both adjacent to and across the street from RS zones,” rather than simply adjacent, and they should be increased “to greater than 10 and 20 feet respectively,” he added.

Councilmember Mike Nelson addressed the challenge presented by incorporating public space amenities into Highway 99’s car dealerships, which by design predominantly consist of concrete and vehicles. Nelson suggested that proposed Highway 99 plan facilitate the ability of car dealers to pool their individual public spaces, which would allow them, for example, to “collectively make a park.”

The public is invited to comment through July 3 on the draft EIS. The council will take up the Highway 99 plan again at its July 18 meeting, with plan approval set for Aug. 15.

In other business Tuesday night, the council:

– Heard a proclamation for Parks and Recreation Month.

– Heard an update from the Edmonds Planning Board.

– Discussed a proposal by staff to eliminate time restrictions for noise generated by city street construction, repair projects or utility work. Staff also asked for permission to make it easier for private projects to get a variance for such work to go beyond existing time requirements. Councilmembers directed Public Works Director Phil Williams to work with the City Attorney to refine the language in the proposal to better reflect the intent of the measure. It is expected to come back before the council next week. You can read more background on this proposal from our committee meeting report last week.

– Discussed and approved by a 5-1 vote (Councilmember Kristiana Johnson opposed and Councilmember Diane Buckshnis absent) the council’s committee structure and procedures.

– Received a report on Edmonds’ policies and procedures related to solicitors. (We’ll have more on this in a later story.)

– Approved the hiring of a temporary administrative assistant in Public Works Department to fill in for someone on maternity leave.

And approved the following as part of the council consent agenda: the March 2017 Quarterly Financial Report, the Six-Year Transportation Improvement Program, authorization for the Mayor to sign a supplemental agreement with HWA GeoSciences to oversee additional work necessary for the Edmonds Fishing Pier Rehabilitation Project and the Traffic Impact Fee Annual Report.

— Story and photo by Teresa Wippel