The current Draft Housing Strategy for the City of Edmonds has been the subject of great interest and debate within our community. Some people want the city to do a lot more to meet housing needs. Some want the city to do nothing. And some people are in-between. We greatly value all the public input that has been expressed. As we review the various perspectives, we are taking a pause to thoughtfully reflect on what people have said and to develop a revised draft strategy for consideration.
Development of the Draft Housing Strategy has been underway since 2017. Its purpose is to identify things the city could do to provide opportunities for more housing choices, recognizing different needs and income levels and being even more environmentally-friendly.
What will be different about a revised strategy? Most importantly, it will be informed by the feedback we have heard from the community. In addition, a revised strategy will recognize lessons learned from other cities’ experiences. We don’t want to repeat unsuccessful initiatives that have already been tried in other cities.
So far, we have heard opinions and suggestions from many individual residents, as well as a task force (comprised mainly of housing professionals in our area), the Planning Board (comprised entirely of Edmonds citizens), and others. Feedback has come partly through community meetings, such as an open house, a workshop, and a public hearing by the Planning Board, and also through a variety of written and oral comments.
Questions have arisen too. What is a housing strategy and why are we doing it? Do we have enough types of housing in Edmonds for today’s diverse needs? What is the City’s role in housing issues? Should we encourage or discourage housing that serves middle or low income people? What, if any, taxpayer cost would come from housing changes? We are aware that, while some people support and others oppose the current Draft Housing Strategy, there is also confusion about what the draft strategy actually says and does. As much as possible, questions should not be left hanging. Public knowledge and involvement is critical.
As we work to incorporate the feedback that has come forward, we will also be preparing a schedule to gather even more public input on a revised strategy. All of this information will be publicly shared and also posted on the city website at: https://www.edmondshousingstrategy.org. Our goal is to develop a new draft and hear what local people think about it during the remainder of 2018. After that, other adjustments can be made based on that input and the newest draft can be brought forward in the first quarter of 2019 for review by the City Council and more public input.
It’s important to note that completion or adoption of a housing strategy is not the end of the story. Nothing in any version of a housing strategy would happen automatically. Once adopted, the Housing Strategy will be just that, a strategy-not mandates. Implementation of such a strategy will still require consideration and enactment of specific measures, each of which is subject to further analysis, public review, and city council action. For example, one of the draft recommendations so far, has been to allow more options for accessory dwellings (such as a small cottage in the backyard of a larger home). But even adopting a strategy with this recommendation would not mean that such dwellings can immediately start getting built. A separate code amendment process, with public input, would need to occur. Code amendments involve months of work, including developing draft requirements for size, design, and parking, then having multiple public meetings by both the planning board and the city council. Ultimately, any decision about amending the code is still up to the council, which is mindful of community needs and concerns.
The most recent draft housing strategy-still to be revised-is from July. It is on the city website, along with a summary of the most recent workshop (from Aug.27) and other information. More items will be added. At this time, we are in a “re-set” mode, recognizing that more work is needed. Anyone who wants to be on our housing email list can sign up by emailing to: diane.cunningham@edmondswa.gov.
We look forward to working with the citizens of our community to plan for the next two decades and help ensure Edmonds remains a great place to live.
By Shane Hope
City of Edmonds Development Services Director
Please don’t subsidize low barrier housing for hard drug addicts and felons. This will ruin Edmonds. Much of the push back on the strategy is simply terror that Edmonds will recruit dangerous people to come live in Edmonds – bringing burglaries, car prowls, and needles and public defecation with them.
Thank you, Ms. Hope, for your contribution to “My Edmonds News”. I read it carefully and would like to offer a few comments and one call for action:
In the very first paragraph, it is disingenuous to say that “some people want the city to do a lot more to meet housing needs, some want the city to do nothing. Some people are in-between.” The way that sentence is written leads one to believe that there is somewhere near an even split in opinion about the plans found in the housing strategy. In point of fact, opinions expressed at the various venues where citizens have even BEEN ALLOWED to discuss the issue are running about 10 to 1 against the housing strategy.
I also found Ms. Hope’s question “What, if any, taxpayer cost would from the housing changes”. The words “if any” are very misleading. THERE WILL BE TAXPAYER COSTS. Please, I urge everyone to look closely at the housing strategy and its appendices. There are numerous references for how we will pay for the various housing alternatives, from increased property and sales taxes, taking money directly from the city budget, and picking up infrastructure costs that developers were allowed to forego. We as a city must decide how much we can bear. Are we putting our own residents in financial straits to pay for others to come and live here?
Ms. Hope’s credentials are impressive, including degrees from the U.W. and Evergreen State College. However, I have been concerned about the way she has been spearheading the affordable housing initiative. She has allowed meetings to happen, meetings touted as “public outreach” WHERE THERE WAS NO WORKING MICROPHONE for a room full of people. Also, I have personally heard her and Brad Shipley, an associate urban planner working with Shane Hope, make the comment that the city can move forward with the housing strategy once she (Ms. Hope) and her staff have “educated us”. That sounds like something right out of George Orwell’s “1984”.
I like the idea of a slowed-down process. However, Edmonds residents should remember that the ideas proposed in the strategy could change the way Edmonds looks and feels FOREVER. I urge everyone to continue to monitor the Housing Task Force work by attending meetings and joining “Save Edmonds”.
Finally, I would like to call for the addition of 3 “ordinary” Edmonds citizens to the Housing Strategy Taskforce, including at least two who would look carefully at the strategy and offer some criticism as needed. As it stands now it is composed entirely of people who either have a vested interested in low barrier housing or who stand to gain FINANCIALLY from so-called “affordable housing” projects. There is no downside to allowing Edmonds’ citizens to sit on the Housing Strategy Task Force, despite the fact that they are late additions.
Lynne Chelius
I see no mention of whether this will be put to a vote of the people? Or is the plan just to ram this through despite nobody other than the SJW zealots like Mike ‘Comrade’ Nelson wanting this?
Thank you Lynne, lots of “food for thought” in your comment. I would be interested in the exact definition of “low barrier” housing. I have heard it described in different ways. I assumed “low barrier” meant that it was including ADA (American Disabilities Act) criteria. But I now think it means something entirely different, but for some reason the real words that describe this very catchy two words “low barrier” are omitted, thereby leaving “low barrier” to be continually up for debate, as to what it actually means. How could this not fall on the shoulders of the taxpayers? “Revised draft strategy”……. does this mean more costs? “Ultimately, any decision about amending the code is still up to the council, which is mindful of community needs and concerns”. So those of us who have “needs and concerns”, need to make the city council “mindful” of them. To find out more information: The suggestion of contacting saveedmonds@gmail.com is a good one.