The public is invited to an in-person open house on Monday, Oct. 28 to review and comment on the City of Edmonds draft environmental impact statement and the draft Comprehensive Plan. The open house will run from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. in the third-floor Brackett Room at Edmonds City Hall, 121 5th Ave. N.
Edmonds is in the process of updating its Comprehensive Plan, which is the city’s primary policy document that outlines a long-term vision and provides direction for future growth and development over the next 20 years. The update is due to the state at the end of 2024.
The draft Comprehensive Plan includes goals and policies for several elements, including Land Use, Housing, Transportation, Economic Development, Community Design, Climate, Capital Facilities and Utilities. The draft plan includes a no-action alternative and two action alternatives that describe the city’s approach to accommodate the predicted growth and its long-term goals and policies that align with the city’s vision.
The city has also prepared a draft environmental impact statement (DEIS) to evaluate potential effects of the actions being considered as part of updating the comprehensive plan.
The DEIS considers potential impacts of three alternative growth strategies on water resources, plants and animals, population-employment-housing, land use, transportation, public services and utilities. It also identifies mitigation measures for probable impacts and summarizes whether there are significant unavoidable adverse impacts.
RSVPs are not required for the open house but are encouraged for logistics and planning. You can RSVP online here.
You can view the DEIS and draft Comprehensive Plan, leave a comment online and view more information about the Comprehensive Plan process here.
I sure hope City Administration and City Council acknowledge that this draft Environmental Impact Statement is woefully inadequate in providing analyses on the LEAST impactful housing density proposals.
Just the fact that this DEIS concludes there would be no significant environmental impacts from increased development in the Perrinville Creek Watershed, the Deer Creek Drinking Water Aquifer, and the Shell Creek Watershed is a GLARING EXAMPLE of how incomplete and faulty the document is. We all KNOW there are significant adverse issues in these watersheds caused by inadequate infrastructure to protect the environment and this DEIS doesn’t even acknowledge that fact, let alone analyze how additional development might confound the problems and increase the environmental impacts.
State law requires that development should not harm the function and value of these critical areas – yet there is no analysis of this in the DEIS including development outside the critical area lines on a map – such development also may cause irreparable harm.
The public knows well that the City now doesn’t have the money or the time (with the December 31st deadline) to make the EIS a ‘usable’ decision document – – so why is the public being asked to comment, if such comments will likely not result in additional environmental analyses that were supposed to be in the DEIS at the outset?
Thank you, Joe Scordino. Many others also hope “City Administration and City Council acknowledge that this draft Environmental Impact Statement is woefully inadequate in providing analyses on the LEAST impactful housing density proposals.”
Many online commenters say the DEIS is “inadequate” and does little to address residents’ concerns about how each of their neighborhoods will be affected. Here is a link to the 10-15 to 10-22 online comments:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/10gExMTp3u8uzbbX6izakMWcggxZP6n45/view
Links to all three weeks of comments can be viewed at https://www.edmondswa.gov/cms/one.aspx?pageid=20318423&portalid=16495016 , scroll all the way to the bottom.
I encourage everyone who has concerns to comment online, and directly to Council@edmondswa.gov. I will be requesting Council extend the deadline for review of the DEIS, given how inadequate the document is. Better yet, send it back to Herrera Environmental Consultants, Inc. and ask for a free re-do.
My impression is that this city administration is using the same playbook the previous one did. Kick the can, waste time and then say that “there isn’t enough time and Edmonds must follow the legislation”.
It prompts questioning the process’ transparency, ethics, and even whether there are shady deals behind the stage going on.
It’s about time to honestly put the “Environment” back into the State Environmental Protection Act and the Growth Management Act that now seem to be on a collision course with the new state laws that usurp the Cities zoning authority by putting housing just anywhere and everywhere it can possibly be shoe horned in. There is lots of pretty language in these old laws that claims to protect our water sheds, forests. salt and fresh water assets and farm lands but in reality there are loop holes in all of them you could drive a bulldozer thru. Indeed that is just what is happening. With crap, politically inspired documents like this current DEIS and Comp Plan; what we really have is a lawyer’s dream come true and a true environmentalist’s worse nightmare.