1 00:00:00,160 --> 00:00:08,639 for why we're interested in parking reform, why it's important and valuable 2 00:00:05,440 --> 00:00:13,599 um to the city of Bellingham and then a little bit of background and timeline 3 00:00:10,400 --> 00:00:18,240 just on some of the actions um over the last couple years related to parking for 4 00:00:15,599 --> 00:00:23,840 reform and how we got here, some of those critical milestones. 5 00:00:21,359 --> 00:00:28,960 Um then I'll just talk about yeah kind of the why behind why we're talking 6 00:00:26,000 --> 00:00:32,160 about permanent regulations today as well as summarize what is in the 7 00:00:30,800 --> 00:00:37,760 ordinance and what some of those proposed proposed changes are um to car 8 00:00:35,520 --> 00:00:41,280 and bike parking and then we'll conclude with our staff 9 00:00:39,760 --> 00:00:46,000 recommendation. Um then look forward to hearing from any 10 00:00:43,360 --> 00:00:51,000 comments from the public as well as um continue discussion and feedback from 11 00:00:47,760 --> 00:00:51,000 the commissioners. 12 00:00:51,200 --> 00:00:58,559 So just to start off again might be a refresher but um just important to set 13 00:00:56,640 --> 00:01:05,199 the stage of why we care about this part why we care about this topic of parking. 14 00:01:01,280 --> 00:01:10,080 Um so as you may know a lot of the time parking requirements are often pretty 15 00:01:06,960 --> 00:01:15,360 arbitrary as well as outdated um and have led to a gross overupp of parking 16 00:01:13,040 --> 00:01:21,360 stalls in this country. Um and we know that removing parking can 17 00:01:18,240 --> 00:01:26,159 also or removing the um requirement to have a minimum number of parking stalls 18 00:01:23,280 --> 00:01:32,079 can remove a barrier to housing as well as provide other benefits specifically 19 00:01:29,600 --> 00:01:37,119 um meeting our climate objectives, our housing goals, um our environmental 20 00:01:34,960 --> 00:01:43,920 goals, especially the cost and availability of housing as well. Um, we 21 00:01:41,200 --> 00:01:48,720 know that eliminating um, parking minimums can lead to a market driven 22 00:01:45,759 --> 00:01:54,880 approach in which developers and others can rightsize the amount of parking they 23 00:01:50,799 --> 00:01:58,640 provide rather than relying on mandatory city regulations. 24 00:01:56,960 --> 00:02:05,280 And we've seen this happen across the country, across the world actually. Um, 25 00:02:01,119 --> 00:02:10,640 so a lot of other cities have um also been engaged in parking reform efforts 26 00:02:07,200 --> 00:02:15,680 and these um you can find out more information about that on the parking 27 00:02:12,080 --> 00:02:19,280 reform network. That's a great resource. Um as well as just looking back at some 28 00:02:17,440 --> 00:02:23,440 of the other council presentations. Um there's a lot of information um in those 29 00:02:21,760 --> 00:02:27,920 if you want more background on parking reform theory. 30 00:02:25,440 --> 00:02:32,239 For now, we'll move on to talk about what city of Belling City of Bellingham 31 00:02:30,000 --> 00:02:39,040 has done with this regard. So, this kind of all kick started with um Mayor Kim 32 00:02:36,000 --> 00:02:44,720 Lun's executive order in November 2024 in which she called for an interimm 33 00:02:41,440 --> 00:02:50,160 ordinance removing um or eliminating the minimum number of parking stalls across 34 00:02:47,280 --> 00:02:53,920 the city. And so, that was implemented in January 2025. 35 00:02:52,560 --> 00:02:59,519 That's when the interim parking ordinance was first approved. So, it's 36 00:02:56,400 --> 00:03:05,440 been in effect more than a year. And what happened um before it expired, we 37 00:03:02,640 --> 00:03:10,959 went back to council in November 2025 and asked for an extension um for that 38 00:03:08,159 --> 00:03:15,280 interim parking ordinance um with an adopted work plan. So, the reason for 39 00:03:13,440 --> 00:03:20,800 that extension was that we wanted to have more time to evaluate the impacts 40 00:03:18,080 --> 00:03:27,040 of eliminating parking minimums. We wanted additional time to see um what 41 00:03:24,800 --> 00:03:33,040 commerce was going to recommend as far as guidance um on implementing and being 42 00:03:31,440 --> 00:03:38,720 consistent with state legislation related to parking. And we wanted time 43 00:03:35,440 --> 00:03:42,560 to develop the permanent regulations um as well as look at some parking 44 00:03:41,120 --> 00:03:47,440 management strategies which were outlined in the adopted work plan. 45 00:03:45,599 --> 00:03:55,280 So we had that time over the last six months to do that and that brings us to 46 00:03:50,319 --> 00:04:00,239 today. Um as you may remember um in April we came back to planning 47 00:03:57,760 --> 00:04:04,560 commission to give an overview of parking reform work. Um and we talked 48 00:04:02,799 --> 00:04:11,040 about some options for moving forward and we did receive direction um to move 49 00:04:07,840 --> 00:04:15,360 forward with the permanent regulations. Before we can do that as a next step, 50 00:04:13,360 --> 00:04:19,120 actually we need another extension for the interimm ordinance because we did 51 00:04:17,120 --> 00:04:24,560 the math and looked at the timeline for the type six process 52 00:04:21,440 --> 00:04:28,639 um and having that be really tight. We will need some additional time to move 53 00:04:26,479 --> 00:04:32,880 through the public review process. So that's not just planning commission but 54 00:04:30,240 --> 00:04:36,639 taking this forward to city council. So we're proposing a second extension of 55 00:04:34,800 --> 00:04:42,400 the interim ordinance just to get us through this type six process. Um the 56 00:04:39,360 --> 00:04:47,199 new end date would be January 2027. So that gives us up to six months, but the 57 00:04:44,560 --> 00:04:51,360 intention is not to utilize the full six months. We'll probably just need another 58 00:04:49,600 --> 00:04:56,720 um month or two. And that all depends on how the conversations go um and the 59 00:04:54,000 --> 00:05:03,360 direction we receive. So then yeah, that brings us to today's 60 00:05:00,880 --> 00:05:07,120 public hearing, which is all about consideration of that permit, those 61 00:05:05,040 --> 00:05:14,160 permit regulations. So that kickstarts that type six process 62 00:05:10,880 --> 00:05:18,320 for the proposed code amendments. Um and just a little bit more background 63 00:05:16,400 --> 00:05:22,800 on why we're now talking about the permit regulations. So again, we 64 00:05:20,400 --> 00:05:29,919 recognize all the many benefits of parking reform. Um that I summarized um 65 00:05:28,320 --> 00:05:33,520 we got that direction from planning commission. And we've also gotten 66 00:05:31,199 --> 00:05:38,320 support from city leadership for all those good reasons um to move forward 67 00:05:35,840 --> 00:05:45,360 with making what's in the interim regulations making that permanent code. 68 00:05:42,080 --> 00:05:49,759 Um then we also know so state legislation has changed a lot in the 69 00:05:47,919 --> 00:05:54,639 last couple years. So concurrent with Bellingham's parking reform work um a 70 00:05:53,039 --> 00:05:59,520 number of significant pieces of state legislation were passed that relate to 71 00:05:56,400 --> 00:06:04,160 parking. that's um significant limit how much parking we can provide regardless 72 00:06:02,000 --> 00:06:08,960 of kind of that interim ordinance that we had in effect. Um so I'll talk a 73 00:06:06,479 --> 00:06:15,199 little bit more about that um and the implications of the legislation. 74 00:06:12,560 --> 00:06:20,240 Um and clearly city of Bellingham has shown a interest in going going above 75 00:06:17,600 --> 00:06:25,919 and beyond state requirements towards a market driven approach um where we've 76 00:06:23,520 --> 00:06:31,520 seen developers continue to provide parking um to various extent. So whether 77 00:06:29,919 --> 00:06:36,240 um they're providing the same amount of parking as they did pre-interm ordinance 78 00:06:34,479 --> 00:06:40,880 um or they're providing a little less, it's typically not less than what we 79 00:06:38,240 --> 00:06:45,600 would have seen with a parking waiver. And it's pretty rare that we've seen any 80 00:06:42,720 --> 00:06:49,360 projects um proposed with no parking at all, although of course that is a 81 00:06:47,280 --> 00:06:54,479 possibility. So there's a whole mix of scenarios. Um but one of the main 82 00:06:52,800 --> 00:07:01,919 positive impacts we've heard from our current planners is that not having a u 83 00:06:58,000 --> 00:07:05,680 minimum parking requirements has um made it just so much easier to administer. 84 00:07:04,000 --> 00:07:10,479 It's really allowed for an efficient and streamlined review process. 85 00:07:08,080 --> 00:07:16,240 So, we've seen those benefits. Um, and we also know that we want to continue to 86 00:07:13,840 --> 00:07:20,960 prioritize parking management work. So, that's existing and ongoing work across 87 00:07:18,720 --> 00:07:26,000 the city. So, it's kind of a one city approach um to marking parking 88 00:07:23,440 --> 00:07:32,240 management. And we know that we want to continue to do that in order to support 89 00:07:28,319 --> 00:07:37,639 our MOHFI goals um and really make efficient use of the parking that we 90 00:07:33,919 --> 00:07:37,639 have within the city. 91 00:07:40,240 --> 00:07:46,880 Okay. So, just a little bit more on the legislation. Um, so like I said, 92 00:07:45,360 --> 00:07:51,599 concurrent with the work that we were doing as a city on parking reform, um, 93 00:07:49,680 --> 00:07:56,319 there are a significant there's a significant amount of legislation that 94 00:07:53,599 --> 00:08:00,720 was passed, um, related to how much parking jurisdictions across the state 95 00:07:58,240 --> 00:08:05,520 can require. Um, and that's based on construction methods or standards, 96 00:08:02,800 --> 00:08:09,919 specific building uses, um, and building characteristics or location. So, I won't 97 00:08:08,240 --> 00:08:15,120 go through all through all of these pieces of legislation. Um, but I will 98 00:08:12,720 --> 00:08:19,120 highlight that there was also some changes to design requirements or 99 00:08:17,440 --> 00:08:23,919 improvement standards specifically related to parking stall size. Um, and 100 00:08:22,160 --> 00:08:28,319 those were integrated into our code updates as well to ensure compliance 101 00:08:26,560 --> 00:08:31,319 with any of those state legislative changes. 102 00:08:31,599 --> 00:08:39,760 Um, and then what I will touch on a little bit more is SB 5184, which is 103 00:08:37,360 --> 00:08:44,399 known as the parking reform and modernization act. And this really has 104 00:08:42,880 --> 00:08:49,600 some of the biggest wide-reaching implications across the state for 105 00:08:46,720 --> 00:08:55,120 parking. Um, it has to be implemented by jurisdictions. 106 00:08:51,200 --> 00:08:59,600 um like Bellingham bigger than 50,000 um with with a population greater than 107 00:08:57,440 --> 00:09:05,760 50,000 it has to be implemented by January 27th uh 2027 108 00:09:03,839 --> 00:09:10,399 and what this legislation does is it really limits how much parking can be 109 00:09:07,519 --> 00:09:18,399 required for multifamily single family uses um and residential units under 110 00:09:14,000 --> 00:09:22,959 certain size also um yeah known as dwelling units 111 00:09:20,320 --> 00:09:26,959 Um it also limits parking for commercial spaces 112 00:09:24,640 --> 00:09:32,560 and certain uses such as affordable housing, senior housing, child care, and 113 00:09:30,160 --> 00:09:37,760 then those ground level non-residential spaces and mixeduse buildings. 114 00:09:35,360 --> 00:09:45,160 Um so this is just to highlight how much is changing uh statewide in addition to 115 00:09:40,959 --> 00:09:45,160 what city of Bellingham is proposing. 116 00:09:46,560 --> 00:09:53,160 And then just quickly to touch on um 117 00:09:54,480 --> 00:10:01,440 oh just to mention quickly also that commerce has um provided some draft 118 00:09:59,600 --> 00:10:05,360 guidance for how to implement and interpret this legislation. And so we 119 00:10:03,680 --> 00:10:09,600 were able to reference that as we were working on the code updates. Um it came 120 00:10:07,600 --> 00:10:14,720 out in April. It was draft guidance so it's going to be changed. um and uh 121 00:10:12,880 --> 00:10:20,640 based on feedback that was received and hopefully finalized in the summer. Um so 122 00:10:18,399 --> 00:10:26,000 that was really helpful in um some of the questions we had of how to write the 123 00:10:22,720 --> 00:10:31,519 permanent regulations. All right. So now to touch on the work 124 00:10:27,680 --> 00:10:35,519 plan um just to say that this was an important part of our parking reform 125 00:10:33,360 --> 00:10:39,680 work um in the last six months just exploring the feasibility and capacity 126 00:10:38,240 --> 00:10:44,560 of various parking management approaches. So these were the five 127 00:10:41,920 --> 00:10:49,200 different categories we looked at. Um and our conclusion is that there is a 128 00:10:47,360 --> 00:10:54,640 lot of important work that can be done and continue to be done um across the 129 00:10:52,640 --> 00:10:58,560 city by different departments and we want to continue exploring and applying 130 00:10:56,399 --> 00:11:04,160 these strategies as needed to really make effective use of existing parking, 131 00:11:01,040 --> 00:11:11,079 support our mode shift um and just recognize this importance alongside the 132 00:11:07,040 --> 00:11:11,079 adoption of permanent regulations. 133 00:11:12,800 --> 00:11:20,800 So now I'll review at a high level the proposed changes in the ordinance. Um I 134 00:11:19,360 --> 00:11:25,200 will note that the ordinance is pretty lengthy. Uh and this is based on the 135 00:11:23,200 --> 00:11:29,760 fact that parking is really addressed in many different code sections. So because 136 00:11:27,279 --> 00:11:36,160 it pertains to so many different uses um you'll find it all across um BMC title 137 00:11:33,360 --> 00:11:40,640 20 as well as some other um titles in the code. 138 00:11:38,079 --> 00:11:46,399 But uh the bulk of that is really a lot of consolidation 139 00:11:42,320 --> 00:11:52,000 um removing redundancy bringing the code um to as much as possible one central 140 00:11:48,959 --> 00:11:56,800 location. So it doesn't mean the length of the ordinance reflects the extent of 141 00:11:54,560 --> 00:12:01,519 changes. It just speaks to how many different sections of code needed to be 142 00:11:58,959 --> 00:12:08,320 edited in this process. Um so just to kind of yeah summarize 143 00:12:05,839 --> 00:12:13,519 those main changes I those can be categorized as follows. So there's the 144 00:12:10,639 --> 00:12:19,600 focus on making sure the code is updated to um eliminate any mention of those 145 00:12:16,560 --> 00:12:24,880 minimum automobile um parking requirements. Um and that's specifically 146 00:12:22,240 --> 00:12:31,760 number of parking stalls not design standards. Um it's updating our bicycle 147 00:12:27,680 --> 00:12:37,680 parking requirements. Um other summary of changes looking at ADA parking and 148 00:12:34,720 --> 00:12:40,680 then evaluating as well our EV charging requirements. 149 00:12:41,920 --> 00:12:48,160 Um and I will just walk through each of these main categories 150 00:12:46,320 --> 00:12:53,680 um and talk about some of those changes in each of them. So we'll begin with the 151 00:12:51,519 --> 00:12:59,920 elimination of automobile parking minimums. Um, so like I said, this is 152 00:12:58,240 --> 00:13:05,040 throughout the code. So, a lot of different um code sections to edit. Um, 153 00:13:02,639 --> 00:13:10,959 the main place you'll find the the automobile parking requirements is in 154 00:13:07,360 --> 00:13:14,800 BNC 20121. So, we really tried to centralize all 155 00:13:12,800 --> 00:13:19,680 the requirements to this code section, remove redundancies like I mentioned. 156 00:13:18,000 --> 00:13:23,600 Um, and the important thing that we're 157 00:13:21,279 --> 00:13:28,800 retaining is general provisions, design provisions, and improvement standards. 158 00:13:26,480 --> 00:13:34,160 These are all those requirements for parking that still apply if you are 159 00:13:31,120 --> 00:13:39,120 voluntarily providing parking or in the um rare cases where parking would still 160 00:13:36,480 --> 00:13:43,440 be required. So the elimination of automobile parking 161 00:13:41,200 --> 00:13:47,519 minimums does apply citywide but we are proposing a few exceptions and that 162 00:13:45,680 --> 00:13:53,200 would be for our existing development agreements. So that includes waterfront 163 00:13:51,120 --> 00:13:58,720 um as well as Barkley and then we have any existing um planned 164 00:13:56,079 --> 00:14:03,920 unit developments um and that an example of that would be Cordata master plan as 165 00:14:01,920 --> 00:14:11,360 well as accepting our institutional master plans. So we have a few of those 166 00:14:06,480 --> 00:14:17,440 and those for major institutions um uh our colleges that are local to us and 167 00:14:14,399 --> 00:14:22,000 that's related to the fact that we know that those larger campus environments 168 00:14:19,600 --> 00:14:25,440 have unique and specific parking needs and have a greater potential to push 169 00:14:23,920 --> 00:14:31,199 parking demand into the surrounding areas. So we have an interest in 170 00:14:27,839 --> 00:14:35,920 preserving parking um in those IMPPS until we have the opportunity to do some 171 00:14:33,279 --> 00:14:42,000 further analysis and consideration and collaboration with those institutions 172 00:14:38,560 --> 00:14:48,480 um for any other revisions. Um and then 173 00:14:44,560 --> 00:14:52,720 yeah as I mentioned um yeah trying to centralize those 174 00:14:50,240 --> 00:14:58,079 requirements and then also permitting the conversion of parking. Um, so when 175 00:14:55,920 --> 00:15:01,040 you have existing parking lots or especially when you have an over supply 176 00:14:59,440 --> 00:15:04,880 of parking, allowing that to be repurposed. 177 00:15:02,639 --> 00:15:09,279 And the other thing worth noting is um that the removal of parking minimums 178 00:15:06,880 --> 00:15:14,399 also implicates the need to repeal the Fair Haven Parking District since the 179 00:15:11,920 --> 00:15:20,800 parking requirements um are no longer applicable there. 180 00:15:17,199 --> 00:15:25,279 Um yeah, and consistency with state law. Again, there's just some minor tweaks um 181 00:15:23,199 --> 00:15:29,279 to like parking stall size, improvement standards, things like that for when 182 00:15:26,880 --> 00:15:33,720 parking is provided. So, you'll also find that in the amendments. 183 00:15:34,000 --> 00:15:40,959 Okay. Now, I'm going to talk a little bit more about updating our bicycle 184 00:15:37,120 --> 00:15:46,079 parking requirements. Um since this is a little bit um 185 00:15:43,760 --> 00:15:52,240 yeah, this has more changes that weren't necessarily considered in the interim 186 00:15:47,839 --> 00:15:58,800 ordinance. Um so for some background um our current bicycle parking standards 187 00:15:55,440 --> 00:16:02,959 are fairly outdated. Um they were based on they were written more than 10 years 188 00:16:00,399 --> 00:16:07,920 ago and they were largely based on current uh standards that Portland 189 00:16:05,279 --> 00:16:12,160 Oregon had at that time. Um and this was before Portland updated their code in 190 00:16:10,000 --> 00:16:18,160 2019. Um and at that time the bicycle parking 191 00:16:15,920 --> 00:16:22,240 was only applicable to the downtown and then it slowly expanded to urban 192 00:16:19,759 --> 00:16:27,440 villages with our interim parking ordinance. Um we did make those bicycle 193 00:16:24,720 --> 00:16:31,360 parking standards applicable citywide but we didn't take any look at 194 00:16:29,360 --> 00:16:37,600 modernizing that code or making any other changes. Um so we saw this as an 195 00:16:34,160 --> 00:16:42,560 opportunity to propose um some changes to that code. 196 00:16:39,920 --> 00:16:47,600 Um and other important thing to note is that this is largely supported by um 197 00:16:45,199 --> 00:16:53,040 multiple city documents that have goals, policies, and actions um to support 198 00:16:50,800 --> 00:16:59,600 things like modernizing the bicycle parking requirements um due to our mode 199 00:16:56,000 --> 00:17:03,519 shift goals, due to our um interest in reducing admiss emissions and increasing 200 00:17:01,920 --> 00:17:09,039 safety. focusing on accessibility and secure 201 00:17:06,079 --> 00:17:14,160 bike parking um meeting needs of larger bikes and just in general reducing 202 00:17:11,760 --> 00:17:20,559 vehicle parking exchange for more um bike parking. So both the or the 203 00:17:17,679 --> 00:17:25,839 Bellingham plan adopted in 2025, the multimotal transportation plan from 2025 204 00:17:23,839 --> 00:17:32,480 as well as the bicycle master plan from 2024 all speak to um goals and policies 205 00:17:29,919 --> 00:17:39,760 that relate to um making some changes and improvements to our um bicycle 206 00:17:35,919 --> 00:17:47,280 parking code. And we do have a 7% MOCH shift goal for the next 10 years and a 207 00:17:42,480 --> 00:17:52,720 um 10% MOHIF goal for the next 20 years. So that's a big driver for why we're 208 00:17:49,760 --> 00:17:57,039 looking at some of these changes. And what's being proposed is a new code 209 00:17:55,120 --> 00:18:03,200 section which would distinguish the bike parking from the um car parking 210 00:17:59,919 --> 00:18:07,760 requirements um and be codified in 201215. 211 00:18:05,520 --> 00:18:15,360 Um, this would modify what we have in our interim um, parking regulations 212 00:18:13,120 --> 00:18:20,480 and like I said would apply citywide, not just urban villages. 213 00:18:17,919 --> 00:18:24,880 It intends to specify the circumstances under which bike parking applies and 214 00:18:22,960 --> 00:18:30,000 allows for an administrative waiver process 215 00:18:26,480 --> 00:18:34,799 um, for extenduating circumstances. The goal was also to expand some of the 216 00:18:32,160 --> 00:18:40,559 bike parking categories or land use categories and update update the 217 00:18:37,200 --> 00:18:46,000 required ratios. Um and those are that's based on research that was done into um 218 00:18:43,120 --> 00:18:51,679 best practices um recommendations for bike parking as well as other codes. Um 219 00:18:49,039 --> 00:18:56,559 Seattle and Portland were um two codes that I looked at specifically. 220 00:18:54,799 --> 00:19:02,080 And then there's some minor facility design changes that relate to safety, 221 00:18:59,440 --> 00:19:06,799 accessibility, and convenience of bike parking. Um, and I won't go into all of 222 00:19:04,559 --> 00:19:11,799 those specifics. Um, but I'm happy to talk about those more if there's 223 00:19:08,080 --> 00:19:11,799 questions that come up. 224 00:19:12,400 --> 00:19:19,679 All right. So, moving on to ADA parking. Um, it's important to 225 00:19:18,000 --> 00:19:25,200 know that there are some modifications from what was in the interim ordinance 226 00:19:22,640 --> 00:19:29,440 that previously the ordinance we had required at least one accessible stall 227 00:19:27,600 --> 00:19:35,039 for all new construction regardless of whether or not parking is provided. 228 00:19:32,160 --> 00:19:39,360 Um, however, in looking into the state legislation and the guidance from 229 00:19:37,039 --> 00:19:44,160 commerce, we've learned that requiring additional ads ADA stalls when no 230 00:19:41,600 --> 00:19:49,760 parking is provided would require a variance from the state law. Um so what 231 00:19:47,280 --> 00:19:55,360 we're proposing is consistent with what commerce has advised us to do um unless 232 00:19:53,039 --> 00:20:01,440 we were to require variance which is to provide um or require ADA parking 233 00:19:58,640 --> 00:20:06,799 consistent with those 2010 ADA standards and ratios. Um and the trigger for this 234 00:20:04,480 --> 00:20:12,080 would be when parking is voluntarily provided on a site has to be in 235 00:20:08,960 --> 00:20:17,440 compliance with what the ADA ratios and design requirements are. Um, and it 236 00:20:14,960 --> 00:20:21,840 should be noted that there there's a possibility that they might be updating 237 00:20:19,840 --> 00:20:25,840 the building code related to requirements for accessible parking 238 00:20:23,600 --> 00:20:30,080 spaces. So, that's just something to monitor moving forward and see if we 239 00:20:28,080 --> 00:20:35,679 will need to make any changes based on that. Um, so for now, this is what's 240 00:20:33,280 --> 00:20:40,799 proposed. And then finally, EV EV for EV charging. 241 00:20:39,200 --> 00:20:47,440 There's actually no specific changes in the ordinance. Um but this is just to 242 00:20:44,400 --> 00:20:51,520 acknowledge that EVA EV charging will be required as before where it's really 243 00:20:49,600 --> 00:20:57,200 contingent upon how much parking is provided. So kind of similar to ADA um 244 00:20:55,440 --> 00:21:03,760 the requirements would apply when parking is voluntarily provided and we 245 00:20:59,520 --> 00:21:07,159 can't go above beyond that um for the EV charging infrastructure. 246 00:21:08,159 --> 00:21:15,520 Okay. Then I wanted to conclude with just highlighting a few um topics for 247 00:21:13,679 --> 00:21:21,120 future discussion and just monitoring and tracking over time. So one of the 248 00:21:18,240 --> 00:21:26,400 things that um the state legislation does allow us to do is to 249 00:21:24,000 --> 00:21:30,960 require um temporary and timerestricted parking. So that would be things like 250 00:21:28,960 --> 00:21:37,600 zones, drop off spaces, things like that. um that piece of legislation um 251 00:21:35,120 --> 00:21:41,840 parking reform and modernization act allows us to do that. And so that might 252 00:21:40,240 --> 00:21:46,559 just be something we want to monitor over time and potentially make changes 253 00:21:44,240 --> 00:21:51,760 to um what's what's in our code right now for loading 254 00:21:48,480 --> 00:21:56,080 spaces and um drop off zones and things like that. 255 00:21:54,000 --> 00:22:00,720 Then the other topic would be kind of the tracking potential need for parking 256 00:21:58,159 --> 00:22:06,480 maximums. So, this would involve establishing upper limits on parking to 257 00:22:02,880 --> 00:22:10,799 prevent over supply and in some cases um could help reduce vehicle trips or help 258 00:22:08,480 --> 00:22:14,000 with our MOHFI goals. So, that's something to keep in mind that we're not 259 00:22:12,159 --> 00:22:19,520 proposing at this time, but could be future consideration. 260 00:22:16,640 --> 00:22:23,360 Um, and then again, ADA parking since it's a little bit up in the air what the 261 00:22:21,280 --> 00:22:29,600 building code might um look at in the future. Um, we should also just track 262 00:22:26,960 --> 00:22:34,720 the supply and demand of ADA parking uh for both off- streetet and on street 263 00:22:32,000 --> 00:22:41,720 parking context um and make sure that we have sufficient ADA parking in both um 264 00:22:37,520 --> 00:22:41,720 the public and private contexts. 265 00:22:42,880 --> 00:22:50,000 And that brings me to our staff recommendation um and just 266 00:22:46,960 --> 00:22:54,159 acknowledgement of yeah the receipt of a combination of questions and comments 267 00:22:51,600 --> 00:22:58,080 that were submitted from one person. um in advance of tonight's meeting um and 268 00:22:56,559 --> 00:23:02,880 those should have been forwarded to the commission as well. These were mainly 269 00:23:01,039 --> 00:23:06,880 clarification questions about some of the content of the ordinance and those 270 00:23:04,880 --> 00:23:10,720 proposed changes as well as some specific comments about the implications 271 00:23:08,640 --> 00:23:16,799 of the bike parking ratios for certain uses um with some concern that they 272 00:23:13,360 --> 00:23:21,280 might not be adequate. And then to acknowledge 273 00:23:19,280 --> 00:23:26,720 um that park yeah the parking ordinance is a welcome permanent continuation of 274 00:23:24,240 --> 00:23:31,919 much of the intent and and content as well of our interimm ordinance. Our goal 275 00:23:29,360 --> 00:23:37,280 was to ensure that um the ordinance establishes consistency with the state 276 00:23:34,080 --> 00:23:42,240 law um also consistent with the goals and policies in the Bellingham plan that 277 00:23:39,600 --> 00:23:46,720 was recently adopted. And therefore, we recommend that the planning commission 278 00:23:44,640 --> 00:23:51,280 uh vote to approve the propos proposed amendments to the Bellingham Municipal 279 00:23:48,400 --> 00:23:55,919 Code related to um automobile and bicycle parking. 280 00:23:53,679 --> 00:24:00,720 And with that, I look forward to hearing um additional comments from the public 281 00:23:57,919 --> 00:24:04,720 and discussion and feedback from the commissioners. 282 00:24:02,320 --> 00:24:08,640 Thank you. >> Thank you. 283 00:24:06,640 --> 00:24:12,480 Okay. Right now, I will take a public comment. So, if anyone came here to 284 00:24:10,320 --> 00:24:17,279 speak on this topic, you can come on down and you'll have three minutes to 285 00:24:15,120 --> 00:24:22,640 speak your case and please state your name for the record. 286 00:24:20,880 --> 00:24:27,360 » Commission, my name is Jam Aosti. I am the one person Anya referred to um who 287 00:24:25,520 --> 00:24:30,880 had some clarification questions and I just want to thank Steph and Anya and 288 00:24:28,960 --> 00:24:35,200 Kurt for all their thoughtful work on a very detailed um important project here. 289 00:24:33,200 --> 00:24:37,520 There's always a point in every public comment that I've ever watched where I'm 290 00:24:36,240 --> 00:24:41,039 like, "Wow, people care a lot about really weird stuff and this is now my 291 00:24:39,440 --> 00:24:46,320 turn to be the person that cares a lot about something very detailed." Um, I 292 00:24:43,840 --> 00:24:50,559 first met I had coffee with Kurt uh three years ago about this topic um a 293 00:24:49,120 --> 00:24:53,760 month before my son was born and my son's now two and a half and like speaks 294 00:24:52,159 --> 00:24:58,799 full sentences to me. So, I'm very excited that we are implementing a 295 00:24:55,520 --> 00:25:03,279 permanent ordinance. Um, I do think um adjusting ADA ratios is really important 296 00:25:00,799 --> 00:25:07,360 for this project. If the city if private developers are going to be uh providing 297 00:25:05,360 --> 00:25:12,960 less parking which is an intended outcome and hope hopeful outcome for 298 00:25:09,440 --> 00:25:17,360 this ordinance um many other peer cities have implemented higher than federal 299 00:25:15,039 --> 00:25:22,000 minimum ratios for ADA parking and I think that's something that's important 300 00:25:18,400 --> 00:25:24,960 to consider um for this ordinance um on the parking reform. I do just want to 301 00:25:23,600 --> 00:25:28,960 say that this it's great it should happen. It's time. Um the sky has not 302 00:25:26,960 --> 00:25:32,640 fallen in the last year since we've had two interim ordinances and now 303 00:25:30,960 --> 00:25:37,279 conveniently it's required by state law that we do it. Um on bike parking I do 304 00:25:35,679 --> 00:25:41,360 have concerns with some of the ratios. I want to give some examples of what these 305 00:25:39,760 --> 00:25:45,679 uh staff proposed ratios would look like. Um for the multi- family 306 00:25:43,360 --> 00:25:52,159 short-term parking a 50bedroom building would require two URAKs 307 00:25:48,559 --> 00:25:57,039 for a in theory up to 100 residents. a 120 bedroomedroom multif family building 308 00:25:54,320 --> 00:26:02,640 would require three URAKs. Um those are not sufficient by five years ago 309 00:25:59,679 --> 00:26:05,760 standards and and I personally and based on our comp plan and our multimotal 310 00:26:04,080 --> 00:26:09,919 plans don't think that's sufficient for 20 30 or 40 years out into the future 311 00:26:07,600 --> 00:26:15,039 which is the expected lif span for these buildings. Um, on retail eating 312 00:26:12,720 --> 00:26:19,679 establishments, a 300 person restaurant like Texas Roadhouse, which was just 313 00:26:16,640 --> 00:26:25,279 constructed with uh 8,000 square feet of dining space would require two long-term 314 00:26:22,000 --> 00:26:28,960 spaces and two U racks for 300 seats in a restaurant. Those are really low 315 00:26:26,640 --> 00:26:34,240 ratios, and I think those deserve a little more um thought. Um, the last 316 00:26:32,480 --> 00:26:41,039 example I'll give is the Boardmill Block Hotel. Uh, 106bedroom hotel with 60,000 317 00:26:37,840 --> 00:26:47,760 square ft would require three U racks for a 106 per bed 106 room hotel room. 318 00:26:45,600 --> 00:26:52,559 Um, uh, the we came in on many of these, as 319 00:26:51,120 --> 00:26:55,520 you'll see in the staff memo, about the middle of the range between the 320 00:26:53,840 --> 00:26:59,760 precedent between some of the studies in Seattle and Portland. Um, I think we've 321 00:26:57,919 --> 00:27:03,440 set really lofty goals for Bellingham in our multimotal plans and in our comp 322 00:27:01,279 --> 00:27:08,159 plan. We've set 7% mode shift goals and 10% mode shift goals several years out. 323 00:27:05,919 --> 00:27:13,440 Those are ambitious and I don't think I think it we should be setting ratios 324 00:27:10,480 --> 00:27:18,080 that match what we think are what we are aiming for for our mode shift goals and 325 00:27:15,679 --> 00:27:23,520 not limiting ourselves to what Seattle has now, what Portland set seven years 326 00:27:19,840 --> 00:27:28,559 ago and what some nationwide metrics um suggest and really looking at where we 327 00:27:25,760 --> 00:27:33,600 should land on our mode shift goals. And um if you look at those ratios, even if 328 00:27:31,520 --> 00:27:40,720 you're not getting 7% of, you know, if you were to look at u uh the restaurant, 329 00:27:37,200 --> 00:27:45,440 uh seven 10% of of the seats at Texas Roadhouse would be 30 or would be 30 330 00:27:42,880 --> 00:27:49,679 bike racks. 15 bike racks that have two spaces each. I'm not even suggesting a 331 00:27:47,760 --> 00:27:55,279 ratio that high, but more than three bike racks seems appropriate for a 300 332 00:27:52,080 --> 00:27:59,120 seat restaurant. Um uh and the last thing I'll say is that 333 00:27:57,039 --> 00:28:02,960 in community surveys in Bellingham, the lack of secure bike parking is the 334 00:28:00,799 --> 00:28:06,320 number one issue that folks raise when asked what 335 00:28:04,640 --> 00:28:10,840 prevents them from traveling by bike more often. Thank you. 336 00:28:20,640 --> 00:28:29,440 Alex Mlan. um in Happy Valley. Um 337 00:28:26,399 --> 00:28:35,039 so uh when these proposals to to uh do parking reform 338 00:28:32,320 --> 00:28:39,279 first arose, I was concerned because I was the uh previous president of Happy 339 00:28:37,200 --> 00:28:44,880 Valley Neighborhood Association for 8 years. And one of the key things that uh 340 00:28:42,640 --> 00:28:52,720 we were working on was trying to get trails and multimodal infrastructure and 341 00:28:48,640 --> 00:28:57,840 uh sidewalks. Uh, Happy Valley is one of the largest neighborhoods in Bellingham. 342 00:28:55,679 --> 00:29:02,559 It's uh, one of the densest. Uh, you can, you guys probably know the metrics 343 00:29:00,000 --> 00:29:08,080 better than anybody. You've got that awesome uh, tool on the uh, planning 344 00:29:06,320 --> 00:29:12,159 page now where you can actually scroll across and see how the population of 345 00:29:10,159 --> 00:29:19,520 neighborhoods and how many uh, multifamily units etc. But we are also a 346 00:29:16,159 --> 00:29:24,960 neighborhood that is notoriously uh underserved for infrastructure. Um 347 00:29:22,880 --> 00:29:32,000 public works has acknowledged that we have the largest number of missing uh 348 00:29:29,039 --> 00:29:37,120 pieces of sidewalk and crosswalks and you know hawk lights and um trail 349 00:29:34,960 --> 00:29:45,520 connections etc. And uh beyond that uh Happy Valley is a 350 00:29:41,520 --> 00:29:49,760 prime target for um kind of low entry density. There's a lot of college 351 00:29:47,760 --> 00:29:54,399 students. There's not, you know, any historical landmarks. There's no areas 352 00:29:52,720 --> 00:30:00,000 where developers are like, "Oh, you know, it's going to be a pain to to do 353 00:29:56,640 --> 00:30:05,520 stuff here." So, we have seen proposals um 354 00:30:01,600 --> 00:30:11,600 kind of dive in. And uh I was kind of disappointed because uh both staff and 355 00:30:08,720 --> 00:30:16,880 uh the Watcom Housing Alliance had said, "Well, you know, developers will never 356 00:30:14,240 --> 00:30:21,600 propose anything with zero parking spaces." Like that's that's going to 357 00:30:19,440 --> 00:30:28,159 screw them up. It's going to screw their renters up. And we have had two 358 00:30:24,960 --> 00:30:34,159 proposals with exactly zero parking spaces provided off street. We have a 359 00:30:31,520 --> 00:30:41,679 third uh project. So those both of those are 20. One's 20 units and the other's 360 00:30:36,880 --> 00:30:45,440 25. Uh then there's a 45 unit proposal that is providing seven off- streetet 361 00:30:43,760 --> 00:30:51,039 spots. Happy Valley doesn't have sidewalks. We 362 00:30:48,159 --> 00:30:56,480 do not have ways for people to scoot around and get to retail and to get to 363 00:30:53,440 --> 00:31:01,120 the college and to do uh you know easy commutes by bike. We need the 364 00:30:58,720 --> 00:31:05,919 infrastructure first if we're going to get more density. And in this 365 00:31:03,600 --> 00:31:10,640 neighborhood where uh you know, we have tried mightily. The two trail 366 00:31:08,640 --> 00:31:15,840 connections that have occurred in the last 10 years have been because citizens 367 00:31:13,760 --> 00:31:20,880 have built them. I actually had to sign a maintenance contract in order to get 368 00:31:18,559 --> 00:31:26,880 public works to agree to allow us to build these trails. Um it's ridiculous. 369 00:31:24,399 --> 00:31:33,919 I mean, the the communication, the amount of unnecessary conflict to 370 00:31:30,640 --> 00:31:41,600 get really simple projects done in Happy Valley has been super frustrating. Um, 371 00:31:37,760 --> 00:31:47,360 and yeah, I mean, little things like uh you're mentioning with the bike racks. 372 00:31:44,240 --> 00:31:52,240 I'm not agnostic about bike racks, but you know, you can put 50 bike racks on a 373 00:31:49,840 --> 00:31:57,600 building and if nobody can ride to get where they want to go, it's not going to 374 00:31:54,080 --> 00:32:04,559 do any good. I mean, I I built nine bike racks for downtown. And uh even though I 375 00:32:02,720 --> 00:32:09,919 have a really fancy bike, I don't ride it very much. And there's a reason for 376 00:32:06,880 --> 00:32:14,399 that. So, I I would prefer if we had some guard rails up where it's like, 377 00:32:12,399 --> 00:32:18,080 look at these neighborhoods. Are we getting more density in neighborhoods 378 00:32:16,000 --> 00:32:21,600 that are already underserved? Maybe you pump the brakes on that 379 00:32:20,080 --> 00:32:27,120 because those permits are going to sit there until the economy turns around and 380 00:32:24,799 --> 00:32:31,919 then we're going to still have the same underlying issue and it's going to get 381 00:32:29,519 --> 00:32:36,440 dangerous. So, thank you. Thank you for your time. 382 00:32:33,200 --> 00:32:36,440 » Thank you. 383 00:32:37,679 --> 00:32:41,880 Is there anyone on Zoom? 384 00:32:45,279 --> 00:32:52,880 » Hello. Um, my name is Miles and I'm comment I'm a resident of the Cordata 385 00:32:50,559 --> 00:33:00,399 neighborhood. I would like to first state my strong support for the for the 386 00:32:57,200 --> 00:33:07,840 repeal of parking minimums for cars. Um the I live near the guide and um there's 387 00:33:05,600 --> 00:33:11,200 too many parking spaces around around there. There don't need to be that many 388 00:33:09,200 --> 00:33:15,760 parking spaces. So I'm it's good to see that changing and especially because 389 00:33:13,360 --> 00:33:25,679 that makes housing easier to build which we need right now. Um inclined to agree 390 00:33:20,159 --> 00:33:29,679 with Jamon on the short-term requirements. Consider increasing those 391 00:33:28,240 --> 00:33:36,799 in Um because um again hopefully these 392 00:33:34,000 --> 00:33:41,600 regulations will remain intact for decades. Um when I first saw the 393 00:33:38,880 --> 00:33:45,440 long-term bike parking minimums, they seemed a bit high to me, but then I 394 00:33:43,200 --> 00:33:49,600 thought about it. If public works does their job, they won't seem so high 20 395 00:33:47,679 --> 00:33:55,200 years from now. So strongly support those. Um, in line with the previous 396 00:33:52,159 --> 00:34:00,320 commenter, um, I will say removing parking minimums does mean this means 397 00:33:57,919 --> 00:34:04,799 that public works needs to make sure that they are being ambitious in 398 00:34:02,240 --> 00:34:10,159 supporting safe streets projects to make sure people have these alternatives to 399 00:34:06,559 --> 00:34:15,359 driving because um because this supports a move to that and 400 00:34:12,720 --> 00:34:20,079 we need coordination on that. But yes, support I support this. Let's move 401 00:34:17,520 --> 00:34:24,399 forward on this. Let's make that housing easier to build. Let's streamline the 402 00:34:22,240 --> 00:34:27,639 municipal code. Let's make this happen. Thank you. 403 00:34:32,800 --> 00:34:40,240 » Hi, my name is Jordan Sharer. I'm actually currently looking for a house 404 00:34:37,359 --> 00:34:46,560 in Bellingham. I don't live here yet, but um I would like to state my emphatic 405 00:34:43,119 --> 00:34:51,760 support for reducing or eliminating parking minimums altogether and also for 406 00:34:49,679 --> 00:34:59,280 increasing bike infrastructure as that came up too. Um I don't like driving. 407 00:34:56,879 --> 00:35:06,240 That's and I would like a cheaper house and with fewer parking minimums, houses 408 00:35:02,079 --> 00:35:09,200 are cheaper. That's it. >> Thank you. 409 00:35:19,680 --> 00:35:26,240 All right, I think that's it for the public comments. 410 00:35:24,000 --> 00:35:30,760 Guess we can switch over to our discussion of the item. 411 00:35:31,119 --> 00:35:34,760 What's everybody thinking? 412 00:35:38,400 --> 00:35:46,800 Um, I can kick things off. Um, I particularly like so long-term bike 413 00:35:43,280 --> 00:35:51,520 storage is like for residents like in inside the building like a locking door. 414 00:35:49,440 --> 00:35:55,680 I think I like the security language around 415 00:35:53,119 --> 00:35:58,160 that like the language around security and lighting and distance from the door 416 00:35:57,119 --> 00:36:04,000 and all that. I think it's really important. Um, I have had numerous 417 00:36:01,760 --> 00:36:07,760 multiple bikes stolen from long-term bike storage in downtown Bellingham. Um, 418 00:36:06,160 --> 00:36:14,320 and the security is really, really important. Um, on the short-term 419 00:36:11,680 --> 00:36:19,040 storage, I'm curious what the difference is between like the city putting in two 420 00:36:16,800 --> 00:36:24,480 URAKs in front of a building in urban village or downtown, which I believe we 421 00:36:21,359 --> 00:36:29,920 kind of proactively do. And so if you have a new multif family residential 422 00:36:27,280 --> 00:36:36,079 building going in on a block downtown, is the aim of the short-term bike 423 00:36:32,480 --> 00:36:41,680 parking requirement to like have the developer pay for those two 424 00:36:38,000 --> 00:36:47,280 URAs, three URx, whatever. Um, and then is that basic does that become a public 425 00:36:44,240 --> 00:36:53,359 amenity? And because I'm wondering like who fixes it when it gets damaged? 426 00:36:50,800 --> 00:36:57,760 Uh, like if the city puts in two U-Racks and a delivery truck backs over one of 427 00:36:55,119 --> 00:37:01,520 them, does it get replaced? If the prop building owner puts it in, like does it 428 00:36:59,760 --> 00:37:04,000 become a city-maintained bike rack or is it just something that's going to get 429 00:37:02,560 --> 00:37:07,000 knock could get knocked over and disappear? 430 00:37:09,839 --> 00:37:16,800 Um I believe my understanding is that if it's required as part of a development, 431 00:37:14,240 --> 00:37:22,800 it's the responsibility of the um developer to install and I would also 432 00:37:18,960 --> 00:37:28,320 assume maintain. But um we also have yeah separate um program um that we 433 00:37:26,160 --> 00:37:33,839 definitely want to promote more uh which is if you know business um doesn't have 434 00:37:31,920 --> 00:37:38,480 adequate short-term bike parking, they can make a request to the city to 435 00:37:35,280 --> 00:37:42,560 install that. Um, but I don't think there's anything that would preclude, 436 00:37:40,480 --> 00:37:46,640 you know, a multif family buildings, short-term spaces that are in front of 437 00:37:44,640 --> 00:37:51,599 that building in an urban village to be used by anyone. But the intention is 438 00:37:49,440 --> 00:37:58,560 just that they're ensuring that based on the um number of bedrooms um or studios 439 00:37:55,280 --> 00:38:03,839 that they are providing an adequate um number of racks or stalls for bikes to 440 00:38:01,680 --> 00:38:07,520 begin with. Do you anticipate a lot of needing that 441 00:38:06,240 --> 00:38:12,400 requirement happening in the public rightway? I guess I'm hoping we don't 442 00:38:10,480 --> 00:38:17,680 create like if someone wanted to build a a theater downtown or new residential 443 00:38:15,280 --> 00:38:21,280 multif family downtown, can they accomplish the rack 444 00:38:19,280 --> 00:38:26,079 requirements in the public rightway or do they need to do a setback 445 00:38:24,000 --> 00:38:33,599 to get it, you know, near the front door in the public in the in the lot of their 446 00:38:30,720 --> 00:38:37,760 development? Um, I believe it can be provided in the 447 00:38:35,680 --> 00:38:46,599 public right away. Um, I don't think it's I'm just looking at the specific 448 00:38:40,240 --> 00:38:46,599 code. Um, how it was written before. 449 00:38:46,960 --> 00:38:52,480 I can tell you just from past experience with the projects and stuff like that in 450 00:38:50,720 --> 00:38:57,040 the downtown and other areas that those the bike racks are put in the rightway. 451 00:38:55,280 --> 00:39:02,560 Um, because most buildings are built in the in those urban or those urban 452 00:39:00,400 --> 00:39:07,839 settings. Most buildings are built to property lines. Um, and we have required 453 00:39:05,200 --> 00:39:12,320 them to be in the public rightway. They just are reviewed to ensure that they're 454 00:39:09,920 --> 00:39:17,520 u meeting ADA safety standards and such. And so there's adequacy for walking and 455 00:39:14,480 --> 00:39:23,200 and things like that. >> Yeah. And that's specified in the 456 00:39:18,880 --> 00:39:26,880 ordinance on lines 453 and 454 that it can be located within the public 457 00:39:24,800 --> 00:39:34,040 rightway provided the location designer subject to public works department 458 00:39:28,480 --> 00:39:34,040 approval. So that's been in our code. 459 00:39:39,520 --> 00:39:48,079 » I had a question about parking. Uh we're talking a lot about new um projects and 460 00:39:46,400 --> 00:39:53,520 that we don't have any requirements for parking for new buildings. Um but we 461 00:39:51,520 --> 00:39:59,119 have a lot of existing buildings and existing parking lots. And if you have 462 00:39:56,560 --> 00:40:06,000 someone who owns a building and has a parking lot, are these owners uh able to 463 00:40:03,599 --> 00:40:12,079 say, "I want to remove my parking now because there is no requirement." 464 00:40:09,359 --> 00:40:16,160 That was our intention um in the code is to make it clear that um because 465 00:40:15,012 --> 00:40:21,680 [clears throat] there's no parking minimums that we would authorize removal 466 00:40:19,280 --> 00:40:26,640 or modification of existing parking so long as it's still um complies with all 467 00:40:25,040 --> 00:40:31,680 those design and accessibility standards. Um 468 00:40:29,440 --> 00:40:37,200 so yeah, there's no variances, conditional use permits or um anything 469 00:40:34,240 --> 00:40:41,280 like that required. Um it just would depend if there's some sort of specific 470 00:40:39,920 --> 00:40:47,599 agreement like I mentioned the development agreements or the IMPPS 471 00:40:44,560 --> 00:40:51,640 um or plan unit developments that are a bit of an exception to this. 472 00:40:51,680 --> 00:40:57,440 I think one of the things that I'd add to that is that this is this is where 473 00:40:54,720 --> 00:41:01,440 we've had this historic over supply of parking and you have so much of this 474 00:40:59,359 --> 00:41:05,680 underutilized land out there and trying to make sure that we um efficiently use 475 00:41:04,079 --> 00:41:09,920 our remaining land that that's one of the reasons that we we came forward with 476 00:41:07,440 --> 00:41:13,680 this is and when we did a presentation in front of city council, one of the 477 00:41:11,280 --> 00:41:18,880 pictures that we we like to show is the mall. The mall parking lot is massive. 478 00:41:16,480 --> 00:41:24,400 There's so much parking out there. um you know maybe one or two days during 479 00:41:21,760 --> 00:41:28,560 the year around Christmas time you see the relatively full but the rest of it 480 00:41:26,800 --> 00:41:33,760 it's s it's empty and so it's it's that underutilized space um and so we really 481 00:41:31,440 --> 00:41:38,800 wanted to make it clear that if you've got existing parking there and you want 482 00:41:36,720 --> 00:41:42,720 to put a new unit in there you want to put an ADU you want to put something 483 00:41:40,160 --> 00:41:46,400 else in there redevelop that this is a perfect opportunity to do that and you 484 00:41:44,480 --> 00:41:49,599 don't have to maintain that parking that was required from long ago 485 00:41:51,280 --> 00:41:59,440 question. So, just to understand the ADA part of it because it's kind of tricky. 486 00:41:56,160 --> 00:42:04,880 Are we saying that if a developer voluntarily 487 00:42:01,520 --> 00:42:11,839 uh puts in parking that triggers the ADA? Uh but if there is no parking, no 488 00:42:08,960 --> 00:42:15,960 ADA spots are required. >> Yeah, that's correct. 489 00:42:12,960 --> 00:42:15,960 » Okay. 490 00:42:18,319 --> 00:42:24,160 And just to clarify that that's what existing code is now, right? So the way 491 00:42:22,560 --> 00:42:31,079 that the building code is set up is it's based on the number that is provided, 492 00:42:26,560 --> 00:42:31,079 not just an automatic number. 493 00:42:32,560 --> 00:42:41,280 » And and maybe this is mostly anecdotal, but can you um speak to sort of the 494 00:42:38,000 --> 00:42:46,880 comment that Alex McClean had where like what kind of projects how many projects 495 00:42:44,160 --> 00:42:51,599 are we seeing that we would consider underparked or not providing any 496 00:42:49,200 --> 00:42:57,520 parking? Um just trying to get a sense of um 497 00:42:53,760 --> 00:43:05,000 how many developers are um maybe under imagining 498 00:43:01,119 --> 00:43:05,000 what the need will be. 499 00:43:05,200 --> 00:43:12,400 » Um yeah, I asked the current planners as as they're the ones who are reviewing 500 00:43:09,280 --> 00:43:18,160 projects um and going um taking projects through pre-application discussion. Um 501 00:43:15,520 --> 00:43:22,960 there have been a few outliers where there's no parking proposed. Um but we 502 00:43:21,200 --> 00:43:28,240 haven't seen any actually go through the full permitting process or be developed. 503 00:43:25,839 --> 00:43:34,079 So it's a little hard to know at that early stage is this just conceptual or 504 00:43:30,880 --> 00:43:39,040 is this going to come to fruition. Um and obviously it really depends on the 505 00:43:36,240 --> 00:43:42,400 context and location of where that those projects are being proposed. So, it's it 506 00:43:40,960 --> 00:43:45,760 would look really different if you're in an area that's really walkable and 507 00:43:44,000 --> 00:43:50,800 accessible to amenities or public transit versus if you're in in an area 508 00:43:48,960 --> 00:43:56,319 where there's very little on street parking and you expect people to bring 509 00:43:52,960 --> 00:44:03,240 cars. Um, so we have kind of yet to see the fruition of some of those proposals, 510 00:43:59,440 --> 00:44:03,240 but that's my understanding. 511 00:44:03,280 --> 00:44:09,839 I might have I believe I mentioned the last time we were here when we were kind 512 00:44:06,640 --> 00:44:16,640 of introducing the the parking um our code currently allows for folks to ask 513 00:44:13,440 --> 00:44:21,680 or seek waivers um for parking and that ranges between like 20 and 30% you can 514 00:44:19,280 --> 00:44:25,760 seek a waiver and so the majority of the projects that we were seeing we had 515 00:44:23,599 --> 00:44:32,480 waivers people were asking for waivers right um and that adds uncertainty to a 516 00:44:30,800 --> 00:44:34,880 project when you're trying to design and develop hope they don't know if they're 517 00:44:33,599 --> 00:44:41,359 going to get the approval for the waiver. Um, but what I've also when we 518 00:44:38,880 --> 00:44:46,240 were kind of doing this research, we um reached out to some of the um the land 519 00:44:44,480 --> 00:44:49,920 use consultants and and the developers and said, you know, hey, if we're going 520 00:44:47,839 --> 00:44:54,000 to do this, what what do you what do you think you're going to do from a parking 521 00:44:51,280 --> 00:45:00,240 perspective? And what we're seeing and what they said is no long they no longer 522 00:44:57,040 --> 00:45:04,000 are having to seek that waiver and they're putting in about that about the 523 00:45:02,000 --> 00:45:09,040 same amount. So what you know they were they were getting a waiver for 25% 524 00:45:07,119 --> 00:45:14,800 um and that's about what they're putting in in most projects now. So but like 525 00:45:12,079 --> 00:45:20,000 Anya said a lot of these things haven't been built yet. So we're not really sure 526 00:45:17,359 --> 00:45:23,119 but we can anecdotally tell you what we've heard. 527 00:45:24,000 --> 00:45:33,119 When you you say you seek the advice of commerce, who exactly is that? 528 00:45:30,960 --> 00:45:36,319 » Uh so the department of commerce had been tasked with putting out some 529 00:45:34,640 --> 00:45:43,520 guidance for interpreting and implementing um Senate Bill 5184 that 530 00:45:40,319 --> 00:45:51,520 parking reform modern modernization act. Um so through my participation on um 531 00:45:47,440 --> 00:45:56,560 sort of a task force um of various um people from different cities we had a 532 00:45:54,240 --> 00:46:01,760 lot of conversations about um putting this guidance together and when they put 533 00:45:58,400 --> 00:46:07,040 out the draft recommendations um we had the opportunity to comment and 534 00:46:04,800 --> 00:46:10,720 ask questions and so I had a specific contact at the department of commerce 535 00:46:08,720 --> 00:46:18,000 who was spearheading this specific guidance project. Um, so she was helping 536 00:46:14,079 --> 00:46:21,680 with the interpretation of that um of the ADA parking was one of the questions 537 00:46:20,000 --> 00:46:25,920 that I had. >> And then uh when we talked about 538 00:46:23,760 --> 00:46:29,599 switching gears for bicycle parking and shortterm 539 00:46:27,440 --> 00:46:34,640 uh and the the U's, we're talking about the upside down U's, is that when you 540 00:46:32,000 --> 00:46:39,040 say one spot, is that one U that could accommodate two bikes, two different 541 00:46:37,119 --> 00:46:42,880 bikes, >> right? Yeah, that would be two stalls 542 00:46:41,280 --> 00:46:47,960 with a U rack. >> One U rack equals two two bicycle stalls 543 00:46:55,359 --> 00:47:01,440 » and I didn't mention this in the presentation but one of the um intents 544 00:46:58,960 --> 00:47:07,667 of the updates was also to have some more specific guidance um on dimensions 545 00:47:04,640 --> 00:47:12,079 for bicycle parking spaces. So there's [clears throat] some there's a table of 546 00:47:09,760 --> 00:47:19,040 minimum dimensions based on the configuration of the bicycle parking um 547 00:47:15,680 --> 00:47:25,040 as well as some diagrams um that would show kind of the spacing 548 00:47:21,520 --> 00:47:28,880 and hopefully help developers um understand 549 00:47:27,119 --> 00:47:33,440 yeah making sure ex that the bike parking is also adequate to actually fit 550 00:47:31,119 --> 00:47:33,440 the bikes. 551 00:47:39,520 --> 00:47:48,240 Did you find when you were talking about the long-term bike um storage, is there 552 00:47:46,000 --> 00:47:55,280 a specific verbiage that you found somewhere that said lighting and 553 00:47:52,160 --> 00:47:59,680 » it's in there? Okay. >> Yeah. I was wondering about the long 554 00:47:57,040 --> 00:48:03,119 term because it's a little bit more I don't know. It's it's covered. So, 555 00:48:01,200 --> 00:48:08,240 you've got that aspect of it. And it I believe it doesn't say that it's allowed 556 00:48:04,560 --> 00:48:13,280 to be in the ride ofway. Um, for those projects, I mean, in in a lot 557 00:48:11,040 --> 00:48:18,480 of cases, you might just have like two parking spaces or it's not a huge number 558 00:48:15,920 --> 00:48:22,160 in a lot of circumstances, but those would already be required in our urban 559 00:48:20,400 --> 00:48:28,880 villages. Correct. Is that kind of where we've got that in our current zoning? 560 00:48:26,480 --> 00:48:33,839 Yeah, we've had um bicycle parking requirements for short-term and 561 00:48:30,559 --> 00:48:38,800 long-term bicycle parking and those have been um applicable to all urban 562 00:48:36,480 --> 00:48:43,200 villages, but with the interim parking ordinance that then became applicable 563 00:48:41,599 --> 00:48:46,880 citywide. >> So, I'm wondering for the long-term bike 564 00:48:45,440 --> 00:48:51,280 storage, what are you seeing as like some of the typical solutions for that 565 00:48:49,280 --> 00:48:56,640 since it does have to be more secure, more better lit, have cover? Um what's 566 00:48:54,480 --> 00:48:59,839 kind of you know like do you know of of projects that you know let's just 567 00:48:58,240 --> 00:49:03,760 suppose you've got two parking spaces are you seeing like just overhangs of 568 00:49:01,760 --> 00:49:08,960 the roof or is it typically more of like a a standalone structure or is it just 569 00:49:06,160 --> 00:49:15,680 really kind of run the gamut? >> Um I think it's typically been a wide 570 00:49:11,119 --> 00:49:19,440 variety. Um what the change the ch one of the changes I was proposing in the 571 00:49:17,119 --> 00:49:26,720 code has to do with um making sure that the space is restricted access lockable 572 00:49:23,119 --> 00:49:31,359 um or an enclosure. Previously we had um it was a lighter touch. That was what 573 00:49:29,119 --> 00:49:37,440 Portland's code had read that you could have an attendant or a security camera 574 00:49:33,599 --> 00:49:42,559 for example. Um it has always required been required to be um protected from 575 00:49:40,800 --> 00:49:48,400 the elements, protected from weather. So it has to be covered. But this change 576 00:49:46,079 --> 00:49:55,520 would ensure just that there's some you know secure access and not just um a 577 00:49:51,680 --> 00:50:01,440 cover with some monitoring. >> Yeah. So from the ordinance, it looks 578 00:49:58,720 --> 00:50:06,800 like that the long-term is like if it's not residential, it's probably more 579 00:50:03,599 --> 00:50:10,720 intended for people who work at the at the building, 580 00:50:08,319 --> 00:50:15,920 » right? Yeah. The um purpose statement in the ordinance talks about the purpose of 581 00:50:12,800 --> 00:50:20,559 long-term biking um or long-term bicycle parking being for employees, residents, 582 00:50:18,319 --> 00:50:26,880 commuters, and others who stay at a site for longer than several hours. Um, so it 583 00:50:23,839 --> 00:50:31,280 doesn't necessarily have to be um, yeah, residence. It could be. 584 00:50:28,720 --> 00:50:36,319 » Yeah. I guess with the secure aspect of it, I'm wondering if you're not like 585 00:50:34,319 --> 00:50:40,400 somehow like working there or something like it just seems like you it needs to 586 00:50:38,800 --> 00:50:45,760 be secure. So it's not just you can't just go put your bike there. So I don't 587 00:50:43,119 --> 00:50:48,480 really understand what would be, you know, typical process if you're like, 588 00:50:47,200 --> 00:50:51,760 "Oh, I'm going to the library. I'm going to be here for six hours." You know, 589 00:50:49,839 --> 00:50:55,280 like I need the secure parking. like what's what's that look like? How do we 590 00:50:53,599 --> 00:50:59,920 keep it from being just like restricted and not used um by the people who who 591 00:50:58,240 --> 00:51:04,960 might need it? Because it is going to be controlled, I would think, by the people 592 00:51:02,000 --> 00:51:08,400 who who manage the buildings. >> For a typical residential, it's the 593 00:51:06,720 --> 00:51:12,559 residence and there's a key like I've seen it. It's like a room in the parking 594 00:51:10,240 --> 00:51:14,880 garage with the locking door. And for residents, it makes sense. You have a 595 00:51:13,760 --> 00:51:19,599 key, it's the only people who live there. as you get into like a medical 596 00:51:17,040 --> 00:51:24,079 office or theater, I guess it would only really benefit the employees and they 597 00:51:22,559 --> 00:51:27,760 they would have a key or some other secure access. 598 00:51:25,680 --> 00:51:30,800 » Um, and then the, you know, a guest of that business would be using the 599 00:51:29,760 --> 00:51:33,760 short-term parking. >> Yeah, that's kind of what it seemed like 600 00:51:31,920 --> 00:51:36,880 to me. I wasn't sure if there was some, you know, because of how it is written, 601 00:51:35,440 --> 00:51:40,720 it just seemed like it's kind of written in such a way that it it almost sounds 602 00:51:38,800 --> 00:51:45,760 like, you know, I'm going to be here for a while, so I need cover for my nice 603 00:51:43,040 --> 00:51:49,920 bicycle. Um I mean I think the the the secure access means there's a key or a 604 00:51:48,000 --> 00:51:53,520 code or some other you know secure access. So it sort of implies a 605 00:51:51,440 --> 00:51:58,720 long-term relationship like employee or resident. 606 00:51:55,520 --> 00:52:03,520 » So the terminology like long-term short-term maybe doesn't 607 00:52:00,480 --> 00:52:06,240 » declinate it easily. >> Yeah I think that's generally correct. 608 00:52:05,119 --> 00:52:10,880 It's, you know, kind of the distinguishing between visitors and 609 00:52:08,400 --> 00:52:18,119 people who are um, you know, more established like employees or commuters 610 00:52:13,520 --> 00:52:18,119 or residents at at a location. 611 00:52:27,520 --> 00:52:36,880 So, um, with parking in areas like Cordata and the mall and places like 612 00:52:33,599 --> 00:52:40,880 that, there's ample parking, you know, like you said, there's there's lots of 613 00:52:38,240 --> 00:52:45,839 spaces and stuff, but um, how is this going to affect areas like, let's say, 614 00:52:42,559 --> 00:52:51,520 Fair Haven where it's super congested and everything already, and I see a lot 615 00:52:47,920 --> 00:52:55,920 of growth happening there. Um, how is it going to affect that? And has there been 616 00:52:53,040 --> 00:52:59,680 any thought put into possibly doing like maybe another parking garage or 617 00:52:58,319 --> 00:53:06,800 something somewhere similar to what they did on Mount Vernon that has um it's got 618 00:53:02,960 --> 00:53:12,079 like 70 EV spots in it and some I think it's got like nine uh bike charging 619 00:53:09,440 --> 00:53:16,960 stations. Um has there been any thought of something like that in areas that are 620 00:53:13,920 --> 00:53:21,680 already congested? So we don't have any proposal for a new 621 00:53:19,040 --> 00:53:27,599 infrastructure at this time to support um parking. It is all um yeah very 622 00:53:25,440 --> 00:53:30,800 unique and elaborate science parking management and our public works 623 00:53:29,040 --> 00:53:38,640 department does an excellent job kind of monitoring um through data parking usage 624 00:53:34,880 --> 00:53:44,800 um utilization times of times of day um parking rate cost. So all of that um 625 00:53:42,240 --> 00:53:51,200 kind of science goes into figuring out how to manage the public parking. Um as 626 00:53:48,000 --> 00:53:55,280 far as the private parking um and kind of spill over, you know, we have some 627 00:53:52,960 --> 00:54:00,640 residential parking zones. So those are adjacent to Western Washington 628 00:53:57,520 --> 00:54:06,240 University. Um so that's one parking management tool. There's also our 629 00:54:03,440 --> 00:54:11,040 parking management um parking management zones which are right 630 00:54:08,240 --> 00:54:17,440 now just Fair Haven and downtown. Um gives the city authority to um either 631 00:54:13,760 --> 00:54:22,000 provide timerestricted parking um limits on paid parking, parking garages, all of 632 00:54:20,079 --> 00:54:28,480 that happens within those parking management zones. um and potentially 633 00:54:26,000 --> 00:54:33,839 expanding those to other urban villages. Um and always kind of managing um yeah, 634 00:54:31,839 --> 00:54:38,480 what our parking looks like over time as part of that parking management approach 635 00:54:36,640 --> 00:54:43,760 that we currently do and will continue to do. Um 636 00:54:41,280 --> 00:54:49,680 as well as with um kind of enforcement of parking residential areas that also 637 00:54:47,359 --> 00:54:55,359 happens. Um so we have a lot of different tools to do that citywide. 638 00:54:53,359 --> 00:54:59,440 I'll just add on a little bit to that. Um Blake Lion, director of planning 639 00:54:57,440 --> 00:55:04,720 community development. The city did expand the paid parking areas in Fair 640 00:55:02,640 --> 00:55:09,440 Haven to do exactly what Anya was talking about which to manage a slightly 641 00:55:06,800 --> 00:55:14,720 broader perspective. But it also speaks a little bit to those mode shift goals, 642 00:55:12,240 --> 00:55:19,200 you know, and trying to think about um opportunities and and 643 00:55:17,200 --> 00:55:22,559 you know, if if there is a constrain resource, then maybe maybe somebody 644 00:55:21,040 --> 00:55:28,440 makes an intentional choice to do something other than that. And so it 645 00:55:24,160 --> 00:55:28,440 serves that purpose as well. 646 00:55:32,640 --> 00:55:39,920 » I have a question. Anya, at the beginning of your presentation, 647 00:55:36,800 --> 00:55:44,079 um, you brought up another six-month extension to study the parking. I 648 00:55:42,559 --> 00:55:51,200 thought at the last meeting we had a motion and a second not to extend. 649 00:55:48,319 --> 00:55:54,799 » Yeah, we talked about um moving. Yes, we talked about the goal of not extending 650 00:55:52,880 --> 00:55:58,880 the interim parking ordinance and moving forward with the permanent regulations. 651 00:55:56,880 --> 00:56:03,200 Um, and like I was mentioning in the presentation, the only reason we're 652 00:56:00,640 --> 00:56:09,839 requesting an extension is to just allow for adequate time for this public review 653 00:56:06,079 --> 00:56:13,680 process since the type six process um requires multiple public hearings with 654 00:56:12,000 --> 00:56:19,040 planning commission as well as city council. if you were to have an 655 00:56:15,680 --> 00:56:22,880 additional work session, if city council wanted, you know, several um 656 00:56:21,803 --> 00:56:27,200 [clears throat] opportunities to talk about this topic further and wasn't 657 00:56:24,400 --> 00:56:31,599 ready to vote. Um the time constraints are just pretty significant, too, with 658 00:56:29,520 --> 00:56:38,240 how far out we have to notice some of those hearings. Um, so we just realized 659 00:56:34,960 --> 00:56:44,079 in order to do um the process justice and not um yeah, rush through and make 660 00:56:42,000 --> 00:56:47,680 sure we are checking off all the boxes, that's why we're asking for the 661 00:56:45,760 --> 00:56:53,760 extension. But we don't expect it to take an additional six months. It's just 662 00:56:50,480 --> 00:56:58,960 that's the standard um timeline for extending an interim ordinance. So it 663 00:56:56,079 --> 00:57:05,760 gives us flexibility between when the interim expires at the end of July um 664 00:57:02,400 --> 00:57:11,200 and when um yeah when we finalize those permanent 665 00:57:08,079 --> 00:57:15,440 regulations so that there's not a basically like a gap where we have to 666 00:57:13,040 --> 00:57:19,760 revert back to what was previously in code. that would have been more 667 00:57:17,839 --> 00:57:27,040 challenging is to have the interim expire, have to go back to what was 668 00:57:23,839 --> 00:57:30,079 previously in place and Anya mentioned a number of the state laws. So, we can't 669 00:57:28,480 --> 00:57:36,799 really go all the way back to where it was and then to have this consideration. 670 00:57:33,200 --> 00:57:41,599 So, extending that interim one more time gives us the bridge we need to get to 671 00:57:39,280 --> 00:57:44,960 the permanent ordinance. So, we're not going to tow the full six months, but we 672 00:57:43,359 --> 00:57:48,400 just needed that so it doesn't not bouncing all over the place. 673 00:57:46,720 --> 00:57:52,720 Given where you're at right now, you think it's a few month 674 00:57:51,200 --> 00:57:57,119 deadline, not a six month? >> As as Anya mentioned, I mean, this is 675 00:57:54,880 --> 00:58:03,520 this is the start of the type six process. We've got the council timeline 676 00:58:01,440 --> 00:58:09,359 already laid out, but we don't want to paint you or the council into a corner. 677 00:58:06,000 --> 00:58:12,960 If you want time to talk more uh extensively about those things, we 678 00:58:11,040 --> 00:58:17,000 wanted to make sure we had that opportunity for you to do that. 679 00:58:20,240 --> 00:58:30,480 I think I was wondering just about ebikes and I see that we're putting like 680 00:58:25,520 --> 00:58:35,920 5% of the spaces that are in the larger projects where you'd have 20 long-term 681 00:58:32,319 --> 00:58:41,040 bicycle parking spaces uh for electric sockets there. And 682 00:58:39,280 --> 00:58:45,920 I'm just wondering like, you know, that seems like a kind of just a a number 683 00:58:44,000 --> 00:58:51,839 that we just kind of pick out of a hat potentially. And you know, to me it 684 00:58:49,200 --> 00:58:56,000 seems like that's getting pretty common, which then makes me wonder if you have a 685 00:58:54,000 --> 00:59:03,599 development, you got 20 spaces, you got 5% of those 20 spaces for electrical, 686 00:59:01,200 --> 00:59:07,359 then it I don't know, in in some ways it just seems almost like an inconvenience 687 00:59:05,280 --> 00:59:11,920 to even have to provide any because you're only providing such a small 688 00:59:09,280 --> 00:59:15,440 number. Um I don't know. I have a hard time with these things that are kind of 689 00:59:13,200 --> 00:59:19,119 like we're providing just a little bit, but we're not really providing enough 690 00:59:16,880 --> 00:59:24,480 for it to be more than just like one or two people. Um, by then increasing kind 691 00:59:22,640 --> 00:59:29,680 of the complexity of any project of saying, "Oh, now I have to have one 692 00:59:27,040 --> 00:59:36,079 giant parking space for a huge bike with a, you know, a a carrier in the front 693 00:59:33,440 --> 00:59:39,920 and some electrical to this location that maybe I wasn't planning on putting 694 00:59:38,160 --> 00:59:43,040 electrical." I know it's just like you can plan for stuff. you can design for 695 00:59:41,440 --> 00:59:46,319 it. So, it's not like you can't make this work. But then I also kind of 696 00:59:44,400 --> 00:59:49,839 wonder it's like what if you have two people with these big bikes, you know, 697 00:59:47,839 --> 00:59:53,760 do they arm wrestle? Like how how does this work? So, I I have a hard time 698 00:59:52,079 --> 00:59:59,040 sometimes with adding complexity to projects where I don't know that it's 699 00:59:55,119 --> 01:00:03,319 really serving enough people. Um, so I I just curious what your thoughts are on 700 01:00:00,319 --> 01:00:03,319 that. 701 01:00:04,160 --> 01:00:12,799 » Um, yeah. Yeah. Well, the main impetus for this code change was um and this was 702 01:00:09,280 --> 01:00:18,960 taken from um what Portland has in their code. Uh so good inspiration for how 703 01:00:16,000 --> 01:00:23,119 they changed their code since 2019 um because of the acknowledgement of the 704 01:00:20,720 --> 01:00:29,119 increased use of ebikes, cargo bikes, large bikes, things like that. So 705 01:00:27,200 --> 01:00:33,359 um I mean this would only apply when you have at least 20 long-term bicycle 706 01:00:31,040 --> 01:00:39,359 parking spaces. So I would also assume that the project is pretty um large that 707 01:00:37,119 --> 01:00:43,839 it could accommodate some electrical that it's not um that it wouldn't be too 708 01:00:41,839 --> 01:00:47,440 c too cumbersome because it wouldn't apply for some you know [snorts] a 709 01:00:45,280 --> 01:00:51,520 project that had five stalls required but um 710 01:00:50,079 --> 01:00:55,599 I think you know there's a lot to be seen for how 711 01:00:53,920 --> 01:01:01,599 things move forward with the usage of cargo bikes ebikes and um things like 712 01:00:58,960 --> 01:01:08,720 that but some consideration of it I think makes for a more accessible 713 01:01:05,280 --> 01:01:13,839 um parking stall that or bicycle parking stall that accommodates more people and 714 01:01:11,040 --> 01:01:17,920 of all abilities and ages and things like that too. So I think that's the 715 01:01:16,000 --> 01:01:21,760 importance of it. Yeah, for me I just see it as kind of 716 01:01:19,599 --> 01:01:26,319 being challenging to like feel like that it's not just like you got one person in 717 01:01:24,559 --> 01:01:29,520 their hog in the one space, you know? It's like, dang it, Bill's always got 718 01:01:28,079 --> 01:01:33,520 his bicycle there, you know, and I really need to charge and it just lives 719 01:01:31,520 --> 01:01:37,280 there all the time. And it's like it's like, is it enough? You know, like in 720 01:01:35,839 --> 01:01:41,280 some ways I feel like it might maybe should be more or not at all, you know? 721 01:01:39,599 --> 01:01:46,079 It's like I don't know. It just seem it seems like kind of with the way that 722 01:01:43,359 --> 01:01:50,799 we're going with that technology, it's it kind of seems low. 723 01:01:47,119 --> 01:01:57,040 » I kind of akin it to um van stall spaces for ADA. So you right. 724 01:01:54,400 --> 01:02:01,760 So so you have certain number of ADA spaces that have to have the additional 725 01:01:59,760 --> 01:02:06,559 room to get out of those, but not all ADA spaces have to be. So we had to 726 01:02:04,720 --> 01:02:11,680 start somewhere with this idea. We know that ebikes, we know that cargo bikes 727 01:02:08,799 --> 01:02:15,119 and some of these largers are a smaller percentage of the bike fleet that's out 728 01:02:13,599 --> 01:02:20,480 there. So, we felt like we wanted to take an attempt at accommodating those. 729 01:02:18,079 --> 01:02:26,000 If the need grows and changes, we can certainly, you know, try to be adaptive. 730 01:02:22,880 --> 01:02:30,720 But the idea was to accommodate what we anticipate right now and then monitor it 731 01:02:28,400 --> 01:02:35,839 and see if we need to adjust moving forward. 732 01:02:33,359 --> 01:02:41,359 on that point of monitoring like what is there a plan in place to monitor I think 733 01:02:38,240 --> 01:02:47,040 both in terms of um parking in general um to see land use is slow and these 734 01:02:44,400 --> 01:02:52,079 things take a long time um to see the impacts but is there a monitoring plan 735 01:02:50,160 --> 01:02:56,839 in place so that we can evaluate the effectiveness of of the code changes 736 01:03:00,160 --> 01:03:07,200 » um well as I mentioned with the parking management approaches that we looked at. 737 01:03:04,559 --> 01:03:12,799 Um we've been in conversation citywide with other departments with leadership 738 01:03:09,520 --> 01:03:17,839 about the importance of um continuing to implement those. So I think those um 739 01:03:16,000 --> 01:03:21,520 parking management strategies really go handinhand with the permanent 740 01:03:19,119 --> 01:03:26,400 regulations. But I do think it is important that we have future discussion 741 01:03:23,760 --> 01:03:32,880 on not only the topics that I mentioned but also on um the impacts that we're 742 01:03:29,280 --> 01:03:38,160 seeing uh with um vehicle parking with bicycle parking. We know that we have um 743 01:03:35,920 --> 01:03:44,480 obviously a lot more code updates to do and especially as we consolidate um and 744 01:03:41,760 --> 01:03:52,240 kind of restructure our code too. I'm sure there'll be future opportunities um 745 01:03:48,079 --> 01:03:55,760 to make changes to um the proposed amendments that we have outlined today, 746 01:03:54,240 --> 01:04:01,359 especially as some of the terminology even changes with, you know, our use of 747 01:03:58,400 --> 01:04:07,200 single family or infill housing and all of what we tried to do was a code 748 01:04:03,839 --> 01:04:10,640 cleanup without um kind of overhauling the whole code right now just to make 749 01:04:08,880 --> 01:04:15,839 sure that we can get the permanent standards in place. Um, but I would say 750 01:04:13,599 --> 01:04:22,319 that's kind of the next um the next step is making changes as 751 01:04:18,799 --> 01:04:25,680 needed to the code and continuing to um implement all those parking management 752 01:04:24,079 --> 01:04:30,960 approaches. >> I [clears throat] was thinking about the 753 01:04:27,039 --> 01:04:34,799 um like the initial ADU codes and it was like after 200 units we're going to 754 01:04:33,039 --> 01:04:41,280 re-evaluate and then that happened like way faster than we expected. Um, and 755 01:04:37,440 --> 01:04:46,640 then like uh MFTTE is one where there was it was like evaluate as needed and 756 01:04:43,920 --> 01:04:51,920 then it never got evaluated again. Um, so I'm wondering if there's any 757 01:04:50,400 --> 01:04:56,720 any [clears throat] metrics to put in place that would make sense in terms of 758 01:04:53,680 --> 01:05:02,000 like um to sort of ensure that monitoring is happening and that there's 759 01:04:58,319 --> 01:05:08,000 a report that comes out so that it's um less just anecdotal people saying 760 01:05:04,079 --> 01:05:14,240 like there's never any parking or um or my bike never fits in a spot. Um, so 761 01:05:10,960 --> 01:05:18,839 just like curious if there's like anything we might explore in that area. 762 01:05:18,880 --> 01:05:24,079 » I go back to what Anya said and what we've we've talked about this whole um 763 01:05:22,640 --> 01:05:28,559 kind of process. It's a two-step process, right? And we want to get the 764 01:05:25,599 --> 01:05:34,400 the minimums out there first and we need time to evaluate it. um we need projects 765 01:05:31,359 --> 01:05:38,960 to go out there. And so that's always been our thought is let's not have this 766 01:05:37,359 --> 01:05:41,520 two-year check-in because we don't know what's going to happen in two years. Are 767 01:05:40,319 --> 01:05:45,280 we going to get enough development to actually be able to determine that or 768 01:05:43,280 --> 01:05:50,559 you know is it should it be a one-year report? Well, we don't really know. So, 769 01:05:47,680 --> 01:05:54,799 um I think knowing that parking management strategies is that next phase 770 01:05:52,799 --> 01:06:03,119 and it's something that works handinhand with this. Um, I do believe that as more 771 01:05:59,760 --> 01:06:08,000 projects are developed, um, and if they choose to put less parking in it, we're 772 01:06:05,599 --> 01:06:12,799 going to hear about it, right? And so the people will be calling us if they 773 01:06:10,400 --> 01:06:17,520 don't have parking. I mean, we still we get calls right now, I can't park in 774 01:06:15,280 --> 01:06:23,599 front of my house. Um, [laughter] so, um, I I think that knowing that this 775 01:06:21,440 --> 01:06:29,920 is a two-step phase, knowing that we need to have examples in place and in 776 01:06:27,440 --> 01:06:34,640 the construction climate right now, um, things are slowing down a little bit, 777 01:06:31,760 --> 01:06:38,880 right? Um, it's it may take more than two years. It may take three or five 778 01:06:36,079 --> 01:06:43,440 years for us to have enough data to be able to see what the true impacts are. 779 01:06:41,440 --> 01:06:50,319 Um, but it's something that I think we're committed to. Um, and codes are 780 01:06:47,760 --> 01:06:56,160 they're dynamic. They don't have to be um they're forever. They take a little 781 01:06:52,400 --> 01:07:01,359 they take a long time to change, but um they can change. I think it's also 782 01:06:58,720 --> 01:07:06,640 important to allow for some level setting on some of 783 01:07:03,359 --> 01:07:11,760 this stuff where you know you have a people uh inherently are creatures of 784 01:07:09,440 --> 01:07:18,480 habit and we have our things that we like and a new project may come online 785 01:07:15,359 --> 01:07:24,559 and disrupt that pattern or that behavior and all of a sudden you have to 786 01:07:21,359 --> 01:07:29,599 establish a new normal. And so we we don't want to be so reactionary that 787 01:07:27,280 --> 01:07:32,799 we're always trying to chase our tail around some of this stuff, but we do 788 01:07:31,039 --> 01:07:36,000 want to we want to be responsive. We want to understand that kind of stuff. 789 01:07:34,480 --> 01:07:40,319 Um, you know, some of us that have worked in other jurisdictions, myself 790 01:07:37,680 --> 01:07:44,640 included, you know, have gone through big pendulum swings when it comes to 791 01:07:42,480 --> 01:07:47,920 some of this parking stuff. And I think, you know, giving our ch ourselves the 792 01:07:46,559 --> 01:07:51,839 chance to kind of think through what those are, see new projects come online, 793 01:07:50,000 --> 01:07:56,160 let things normalize a little bit, hopefully continue to encourage that 794 01:07:53,760 --> 01:08:00,400 mode shift and drive some of those, you know, kind of alternative choices and 795 01:07:57,760 --> 01:08:07,200 behaviors will help us give a much more comprehensive look at the the issue. 796 01:08:04,480 --> 01:08:12,720 Well, personally, it would be great to have 797 01:08:09,520 --> 01:08:18,000 some data on like what is working and what is not. Um, so like if you're going 798 01:08:15,039 --> 01:08:22,000 into a project and in a certain, you know, that's very neighborhood 799 01:08:19,279 --> 01:08:27,552 dependent, but is how do I make sure our home buyers don't 800 01:08:24,960 --> 01:08:32,319 have fist fights in the parking lot? [laughter] 801 01:08:28,640 --> 01:08:37,359 Um and and I think the like parking management strategies is like a key 802 01:08:34,719 --> 01:08:44,400 piece to that obviously. Um, but also like right sizing and um if developers 803 01:08:42,319 --> 01:08:48,319 you we I like to think that they're all so smart that they're going to do the 804 01:08:46,000 --> 01:08:56,000 right thing and do it perfectly, but like um how how can the city help to um 805 01:08:52,640 --> 01:09:01,080 provide that the data resource for projects to to try and right size? 806 01:09:04,080 --> 01:09:10,319 Well, as Ana mentioned, we we do do it for downtown and for Fair Haven. So, we 807 01:09:08,799 --> 01:09:13,520 definitely have, you know, we're going back in and we're checking that. So, 808 01:09:11,679 --> 01:09:19,359 from those perspectives, we do have data that can show um what our parking usage 809 01:09:16,319 --> 01:09:23,040 is down there. Um and we have expanded our paid parking areas and our time 810 01:09:21,359 --> 01:09:28,080 limited parking in response to those studies. So, there is information out on 811 01:09:25,279 --> 01:09:31,120 those two areas. Um maybe >> there's conversation with our public 812 01:09:29,520 --> 01:09:35,279 works department as Ana was alluding to looking at that extending out to the 813 01:09:33,199 --> 01:09:39,839 different urban villages um and understanding. So I think we're building 814 01:09:37,120 --> 01:09:46,239 that level of matrix that you're looking for um if there's areas of key concern. 815 01:09:43,279 --> 01:09:49,759 I mean that was part of why uh we we took the direction of with the 816 01:09:47,920 --> 01:09:55,600 institutional master plans because we knew those campuses had a more acute uh 817 01:09:53,359 --> 01:09:59,920 demand for that. And so the thought was okay instead of just abolishing it 818 01:09:57,280 --> 01:10:03,120 entirely, let's let that process when we go in and amend those institutional 819 01:10:01,600 --> 01:10:08,400 plans, we can talk very intentionally and very specifically about those 820 01:10:05,360 --> 01:10:11,679 particular topics. And so it's just be I I personally believe it's about being 821 01:10:10,080 --> 01:10:15,679 intentional about some of this. It's helping people understand and create new 822 01:10:13,520 --> 01:10:19,440 habits and then being intentional when we get to the point where we're doing 823 01:10:17,040 --> 01:10:22,440 our analysis and driving it off real data. 824 01:10:26,080 --> 01:10:34,199 What did you mean in your presentation when you said uh when it said repealing 825 01:10:29,920 --> 01:10:34,199 the Fair Haven Parking District? 826 01:10:34,880 --> 01:10:42,480 Um, so Kirk can probably talk about this a little bit more, but the Fair Haven 827 01:10:38,960 --> 01:10:48,800 Parking District um is codified in um the Fair Haven urban 828 01:10:47,040 --> 01:10:52,880 village code section, which I don't know off the top of my head, but there's a 829 01:10:50,239 --> 01:11:00,880 map um and basically talks about the resolution that established that parking 830 01:10:54,880 --> 01:11:07,520 district in which um people um yeah, funds were pulled um in order to help 831 01:11:04,640 --> 01:11:12,560 support the creation of parking. But now that we no longer have any parking 832 01:11:09,679 --> 01:11:18,480 requirements in Fair Haven um or minimum number of parking stalls um that 833 01:11:15,760 --> 01:11:24,040 wouldn't be relevant anymore. Um so the intent is to repeal that with this 834 01:11:21,040 --> 01:11:24,040 ordinance. 835 01:11:33,520 --> 01:11:41,280 just from a functional way it works if and I you guys don't live in the code 836 01:11:38,800 --> 01:11:46,400 the way we do but um you can go throughout our Bellingham municipal code 837 01:11:44,080 --> 01:11:51,600 and you will see sections in there and it still has the numerical and then next 838 01:11:48,719 --> 01:11:56,880 to it it says repealed. So this is not an uncommon practice as as these codes 839 01:11:54,640 --> 01:12:01,360 evolve over the course of time. There are sections that when originally 840 01:11:59,120 --> 01:12:05,120 written are no longer relevant and so we pull back on that stuff quite quickly. 841 01:12:03,920 --> 01:12:10,000 » Yeah. I just didn't know there were funds collected for a special fair haven 842 01:12:07,840 --> 01:12:13,840 parking district. >> Yeah. So, back in the early 90s is when 843 01:12:12,000 --> 01:12:18,880 the first district was created, and it was um it was essentially the the 844 01:12:16,080 --> 01:12:26,480 business owners getting together and um pooling some funds to pay for parking 845 01:12:21,920 --> 01:12:30,560 upfront. Um and then when those property owners that had paid into that fund to 846 01:12:28,480 --> 01:12:34,719 create that early parking, they received the benefit of not having to pay to 847 01:12:32,800 --> 01:12:39,760 provide parking for their commercial developments. Um and so the our code has 848 01:12:37,920 --> 01:12:43,360 allowed the creation of parking districts ever since then and the only 849 01:12:41,760 --> 01:12:49,520 two that we really have been in Fair Haven. Um and the first one was really 850 01:12:46,640 --> 01:12:53,520 to try and stimulate extra on street parking the creation of it. And the 851 01:12:51,679 --> 01:12:56,880 business owners took it upon themselves to go ahead and do that. And the 852 01:12:54,960 --> 01:13:00,159 trade-off was if you're going to create that extra parking, we're not going to 853 01:12:58,800 --> 01:13:02,239 we're not going to make you put more parking in again. 854 01:13:01,679 --> 01:13:07,840 » Yeah, >> that makes sense. Overall, this is just 855 01:13:05,360 --> 01:13:14,400 a comment. I like you guys are taking the progressive approach um with parking 856 01:13:11,679 --> 01:13:18,159 and it's all in direction of the the major goal which is more affordable 857 01:13:16,400 --> 01:13:24,239 housing. And I realized that by adopting this, 858 01:13:21,199 --> 01:13:30,239 it's not a one-sizefits-all. the guy that came uh Alex from uh Happy 859 01:13:27,199 --> 01:13:35,120 Valley. I mean, when this gets adopted and those 860 01:13:32,960 --> 01:13:41,040 developments get approved and it's most likely student housing and more people, 861 01:13:38,000 --> 01:13:47,760 more cars on the street and Happy Valley has narrow streets and um ditches, no 862 01:13:44,400 --> 01:13:52,320 sidewalks, it's going to be a mess. So, I'm sensitive to that that, you know, 863 01:13:50,239 --> 01:13:58,239 it's it's for the good of the community and and to be able to push to uh provide 864 01:13:56,400 --> 01:14:03,120 more affordable housing for people because that's what everybody's saying 865 01:14:00,159 --> 01:14:06,640 they want, but it's going to negatively affect the neighborhoods. 866 01:14:05,600 --> 01:14:10,400 One of the things we haven't really talked about extensively this evening, 867 01:14:08,400 --> 01:14:16,159 but when you talk about the infill and and the middle housing approach, 868 01:14:13,120 --> 01:14:21,280 um much of the frontage improvements are triggered as a result of that new 869 01:14:18,239 --> 01:14:26,320 development. And so we've been spending uh what seems like an exhaustive amount 870 01:14:23,679 --> 01:14:31,520 of time talking about those different requirements for uh improving that 871 01:14:29,440 --> 01:14:34,480 frontage, making that walkability, making that connection. So, you're 872 01:14:32,800 --> 01:14:40,480 right. There are certain neighborhoods throughout the city where there's a 873 01:14:38,239 --> 01:14:46,400 little more work to be done. Uh, the roadside ditches are probably the most 874 01:14:42,800 --> 01:14:49,440 um impactful piece for Happy Valley because you can't, you know, you're 875 01:14:48,159 --> 01:14:53,520 going to have to think through storm water. You're going to have to think 876 01:14:50,960 --> 01:14:58,400 through uh sidewalk creation. So, there's a maybe a bigger swing of the 877 01:14:55,679 --> 01:15:02,640 pendulum that needs to occur there. But that's a conversation that we continue 878 01:15:00,159 --> 01:15:07,120 to have very routinely with our public works folks f folks and with uh 879 01:15:05,199 --> 01:15:12,560 developers as new projects come on board. Part of what's going into 880 01:15:08,960 --> 01:15:16,640 consideration is um you know right now as it sits is there's a requirement to 881 01:15:14,480 --> 01:15:22,880 do your own frontage in front of your particular project. Um as infill occurs 882 01:15:20,560 --> 01:15:26,880 it's often a patchwork quilt. You know it's like here and there and a little 883 01:15:24,560 --> 01:15:30,800 bit of all over the place. And so there's a discussion about what what 884 01:15:28,800 --> 01:15:34,640 does that take to connect those pieces and not just end up with little 885 01:15:32,400 --> 01:15:38,560 segments. And some of that may be public works projects. Some of that may be just 886 01:15:36,719 --> 01:15:43,520 looking at stuff a little closer, but it's being intentional about and we were 887 01:15:41,360 --> 01:15:46,880 just recently adopting the pros plan and looking at trail connections and all 888 01:15:45,120 --> 01:15:50,719 these kind of different corridors. So it's really kind of a yes and approach 889 01:15:48,719 --> 01:15:55,520 where we have to look at a lot of things and start to weave that all together. 890 01:15:53,280 --> 01:15:59,600 Parking is one of those. uh and certainly helps facilitate that growth 891 01:15:57,760 --> 01:16:03,600 and that growth will then result in more sidewalks and more walkability and 892 01:16:01,600 --> 01:16:07,520 additional trails. And so it hopefully will all, you know, we're in that kind 893 01:16:05,600 --> 01:16:11,679 of we always talk about it in that kind of early teen phase where we're feeling 894 01:16:09,440 --> 01:16:14,880 a little awkward in our own skin, you know, and we've got to get a little bit 895 01:16:13,199 --> 01:16:18,480 more critical mass and get a few of those connections really pulled 896 01:16:16,400 --> 01:16:24,239 together, but that comes with the course time. Is there conversation uh in 897 01:16:21,120 --> 01:16:28,239 planning? If a developer uh was looking and say he is development took up a 898 01:16:26,320 --> 01:16:33,760 quarter block and he was responsible for improving his own frontage, would you 899 01:16:30,560 --> 01:16:38,800 require then uh to say well you need to put sidewalks in all the way around the 900 01:16:35,360 --> 01:16:42,560 block? Is it past the development property? 901 01:16:39,840 --> 01:16:48,080 » Um it is the frontage for that particular property. there is a uh 902 01:16:46,000 --> 01:16:52,239 discussion where if there is some environmental analysis, some sea 903 01:16:50,000 --> 01:16:57,120 analysis that goes along with that, there's an opportunity to talk about 904 01:16:54,320 --> 01:17:03,440 whether or not there's a need, but we have to have what's considered um a 905 01:17:00,719 --> 01:17:06,640 nexus to ask for it. And we also have to have what's called rough 906 01:17:04,400 --> 01:17:10,320 proportionality, which means it has to be commensurate with the size of the 907 01:17:08,239 --> 01:17:14,159 project. I can't come in and say, "Hey, you're building an 8-unit project. I 908 01:17:12,000 --> 01:17:16,000 need you to rebuild the I-5 interchange. Yeah. 909 01:17:14,400 --> 01:17:21,760 » You know, so there has to be that kind of nexus where you're you're making sure 910 01:17:19,040 --> 01:17:25,920 that it's corresponding to what the scope and the scale of the project is. 911 01:17:23,920 --> 01:17:29,760 So yes, there are opportunities to do that. I don't want to mislead you. It's 912 01:17:27,920 --> 01:17:33,440 not on every project. It's on certain projects that have impacts that we have 913 01:17:31,920 --> 01:17:37,159 to look at a little bit. >> That's good. Thank you. 914 01:17:37,360 --> 01:17:45,440 » I guess just a quick comment. I feel like um when we discussed this and I 915 01:17:43,440 --> 01:17:51,600 don't know when was that May when we talked about this um previously answered 916 01:17:48,640 --> 01:17:55,440 most of my questions. So um I think I just wanted to express support 917 01:17:53,440 --> 01:18:01,360 for for this moving forward and appreciation for for all the work that 918 01:17:57,760 --> 01:18:05,760 you've done. I don't know what the amendment process looks like. I wasn't 919 01:18:04,239 --> 01:18:11,199 going to say this at all, but then actually um your comments about um code 920 01:18:09,600 --> 01:18:18,239 taking a long time to change made me think, oh, maybe I should say this now. 921 01:18:13,280 --> 01:18:22,800 Um but I I do think um that the the retail and the eating and drinking 922 01:18:20,480 --> 01:18:27,679 establishments, the short-term biking requirements are a little low. like I 923 01:18:24,719 --> 01:18:32,880 feel like I I bike everywhere and then I do already struggle to find places to 924 01:18:30,640 --> 01:18:38,239 lock up, you know, outside of a brewery or in other locations now. So, if we are 925 01:18:35,760 --> 01:18:44,320 expecting the the mode shift, that piece does feel a little low to me in ways 926 01:18:40,159 --> 01:18:48,159 that maybe the other ones don't. Um, and I wasn't going to say anything cuz I 927 01:18:46,400 --> 01:18:54,560 largely support all this moving forward expeditiously and that feels rather 928 01:18:50,560 --> 01:18:58,480 small, but um, I'm not sure if we wanted to revisit the specific numbers and 929 01:18:56,800 --> 01:19:03,840 taking it into consideration public comment and stuff. Does that derail us 930 01:19:01,199 --> 01:19:08,080 taking this to city council and like what does those small tweaks kind of 931 01:19:06,800 --> 01:19:11,679 process look like? >> Well, the commission has the ability to 932 01:19:09,520 --> 01:19:16,800 make amendments to the codes tonight. So you could make a motion to amend and 933 01:19:14,480 --> 01:19:21,440 give a spec specific number and then if the commission, you know, had a second 934 01:19:18,880 --> 01:19:24,880 and then chose to amend that, then that would just go forward. So you have the 935 01:19:23,520 --> 01:19:29,600 ability to make a motions and make changes as we move it forward instead of 936 01:19:28,000 --> 01:19:32,760 coming back at a later time. You can do it tonight. 937 01:19:33,280 --> 01:19:40,960 that amendment to up the I mean it's a pretty cheap requirement 938 01:19:38,640 --> 01:19:46,719 to require a few extra use for short-term bicycle parking 939 01:19:44,880 --> 01:19:53,360 » just to provide a little more comment on that. So, um, for context, we previously 940 01:19:49,840 --> 01:19:58,480 had retail sales and service as one category. Um, and so the proposal is to 941 01:19:56,320 --> 01:20:03,040 now separate eating and drinking establishments, which includes grocery, 942 01:20:01,199 --> 01:20:07,840 to split that off from retail, sales, and service because in my um research of 943 01:20:06,159 --> 01:20:15,199 what other jurisdictions have done and other best practices, those are often 944 01:20:10,800 --> 01:20:20,960 separated. Um, in order to also increase eating and drinking establishments and 945 01:20:17,600 --> 01:20:26,400 grocery, um, we recommend a one per 2,000 square foot ratio rather than a 946 01:20:23,120 --> 01:20:33,600 one per 5,000 which it was previously um, which was consistent with yeah some 947 01:20:30,239 --> 01:20:40,000 of the the guide um, the APBP and the BSA guide um, and change lab. So kind of 948 01:20:38,080 --> 01:20:45,360 it seems like the numbers that I found hovered between like 1 and 2,000. Um so 949 01:20:43,520 --> 01:20:50,800 that could obviously be increased if that was the desire. And the retail 950 01:20:47,679 --> 01:20:57,840 sales didn't propose a change there because um because of the numbers being 951 01:20:54,719 --> 01:21:04,400 pretty in line with the range um but also the range I found was like one 952 01:21:00,640 --> 01:21:07,400 stall for 2,000 to 5,000. So, um 953 01:21:07,920 --> 01:21:13,920 » I would just offer like you could make a motion to amend with concrete numbers 954 01:21:12,159 --> 01:21:19,440 tonight or you could make a motion to like have staff research increasing 955 01:21:16,640 --> 01:21:24,159 these and then they could bring that new direction to the city level 956 01:21:22,320 --> 01:21:26,400 if you didn't have like exact figures in mind. 957 01:21:24,560 --> 01:21:30,800 » You knew my next concern. Oh, no. I didn't count the number. [laughter] 958 01:21:28,159 --> 01:21:34,880 No, Anna, super helpful how you laid this out showing what Seattle and 959 01:21:32,719 --> 01:21:39,679 Portland's and then some of the national guides recommendations are for for 960 01:21:36,960 --> 01:21:43,760 grounding and and context. So, um I think you've clearly done a lot of 961 01:21:41,840 --> 01:21:48,800 research of of what is comparable and why did you arrive at um at these 962 01:21:46,960 --> 01:21:52,320 numbers. I think maybe if I were to propose something, it would just be 963 01:21:49,920 --> 01:21:58,000 going to the, you know, closer to Seattle or Portland's, which seem to be 964 01:21:55,199 --> 01:22:01,520 a little um more dense. I'm sorry, I'm not thinking 965 01:21:59,440 --> 01:22:07,120 of the right word, but more bikes per per square foot um or storage than the 966 01:22:04,320 --> 01:22:10,960 than the national guides. Um so, I think maybe if I were to propose a motion 967 01:22:09,760 --> 01:22:14,826 tonight, it would it would just be adopting one of those. That doesn't seem 968 01:22:13,040 --> 01:22:17,840 that far. I don't know. Should I [laughter] 969 01:22:15,199 --> 01:22:24,080 » should we do this? Um, so then would that just be for the 970 01:22:20,239 --> 01:22:31,280 two for the retail sales and the eating and and drinking establishments? 971 01:22:27,520 --> 01:22:36,800 What do what do others think? >> Retail's currently at one per 5,000 and 972 01:22:34,560 --> 01:22:40,639 eating and drinking is one per 2,000 square feet. 973 01:22:39,040 --> 01:22:42,400 » Or a minimum of two. Yeah. >> Yeah. 974 01:22:40,960 --> 01:22:47,360 » And you were just talking about short term, was that correct? 975 01:22:43,920 --> 01:22:53,600 » Yeah. per our conversation earlier, I feel like maybe the the long term is in 976 01:22:50,639 --> 01:22:57,520 line with what the the other and the guides are saying is appropriate for 977 01:22:55,760 --> 01:23:02,320 kind of the and they've obviously done way more analysis than I have on the 978 01:23:00,159 --> 01:23:06,000 employee consideration. So, yeah, thinking more on the short term. If 979 01:23:04,159 --> 01:23:08,719 people want to eat and drink at those establishments, they're, you know, 980 01:23:07,280 --> 01:23:14,159 rolling up on their bike for a couple hours, 981 01:23:11,280 --> 01:23:17,440 I think. Yeah. Um, 982 01:23:15,920 --> 01:23:20,080 does anyone else have anything to say while I think about this for a second? 983 01:23:19,040 --> 01:23:26,800 » No, I support it [clears throat] though. I think make the motion. 984 01:23:23,520 --> 01:23:32,800 » Okay. So then if I were to do um to take Seattle's so then 985 01:23:30,719 --> 01:23:38,080 that would for the eating and drinking establishments and grocery 986 01:23:35,520 --> 01:23:44,400 that would move from the recommended one per 2,000 square foot to one per 1,000 987 01:23:42,400 --> 01:23:48,480 square foot. And then the 988 01:23:46,800 --> 01:23:54,880 um the retail sales 989 01:23:51,600 --> 01:24:02,159 um would move um from one per 5,000 square foot to one 990 01:23:58,719 --> 01:24:06,719 per 2,000 square foot if we took Seattle's 991 01:24:03,679 --> 01:24:13,760 for both of those two categories. So I guess yeah. Okay. is a motion to 992 01:24:10,719 --> 01:24:21,199 amend the retail sales and service and the eating and drinking establishments 993 01:24:15,679 --> 01:24:25,719 and grocery to adopt um the Seattle's um short-term spaces 994 01:24:25,920 --> 01:24:31,360 numbers. [laughter] >> Would you like that citywide or just 995 01:24:29,520 --> 01:24:35,239 urban villages or what's your do you have any thoughts on that? 996 01:24:36,080 --> 01:24:39,080 question 997 01:24:39,840 --> 01:24:43,600 weigh you have a thought >> I guess 998 01:24:42,000 --> 01:24:49,120 » no I just wanted to make I I'm just thinking about our levels of density and 999 01:24:46,560 --> 01:24:54,239 urbanity are still different than Seattle's at this point and so I wasn't 1000 01:24:51,760 --> 01:24:58,000 sure if that was my question for clarification if you were particularly 1001 01:24:55,840 --> 01:25:05,520 thinking about you know downtown waterfront urban villages um where you 1002 01:25:01,280 --> 01:25:12,159 have that higher uh walkability context or you know um because it may not be as 1003 01:25:10,560 --> 01:25:19,280 broadly applicable if you're talking about you know uh let's say sunset uh 1004 01:25:15,760 --> 01:25:23,440 square out you know out that way but >> this is the exact issue that I've been 1005 01:25:21,600 --> 01:25:30,960 struggling with in my head thinking about this is I love the idea of very 1006 01:25:26,639 --> 01:25:36,639 universal like one city and at the same and also like build it and they will 1007 01:25:33,679 --> 01:25:41,154 come attitude ude. Uh, and then at the same time, 1008 01:25:38,560 --> 01:25:44,000 I know there are areas where biking [clears throat] is very unfriendly and 1009 01:25:42,560 --> 01:25:48,080 people aren't going to do it. And if you put in those racks, they're just going 1010 01:25:45,600 --> 01:25:55,199 to sit there. It's not because there aren't bike racks that people aren't 1011 01:25:49,679 --> 01:26:00,120 biking. Um, so I'm I struggle with that with the context that it goes in. 1012 01:26:00,320 --> 01:26:07,120 I mean, the conversation of um Texas Roadhouse, you know, it's kind of like 1013 01:26:04,400 --> 01:26:10,159 it's it's a great idea to have lots of parking, bike parking out there, but is 1014 01:26:08,639 --> 01:26:14,960 that a spot where people are actually riding bikes? And so that, you know, 1015 01:26:12,719 --> 01:26:20,000 kind of gets into like our our biggest demand and largest some of our largest 1016 01:26:16,880 --> 01:26:24,800 spaces are going to be in locations where there's maybe less cyclists. But 1017 01:26:23,199 --> 01:26:29,440 at the same time, I feel like that we are, you know, we've got ebikes, we've 1018 01:26:27,120 --> 01:26:33,360 got all these things that are making biking even easier for more people to 1019 01:26:31,760 --> 01:26:37,679 get around and use that as a mode of transportation. That makes me kind of 1020 01:26:35,280 --> 01:26:42,480 want to shift towards like being outward looking and saying, "Well, if we do it, 1021 01:26:39,920 --> 01:26:46,800 then maybe we're on the cusp of kind of a a broader change and more people could 1022 01:26:44,880 --> 01:26:50,320 do it. If it it's kind of like if they build it, will they come?" Um, and it's 1023 01:26:49,199 --> 01:26:55,679 like, yeah, a lot of us probably wouldn't do it because we, you know, we 1024 01:26:53,120 --> 01:27:00,000 just don't think it's an option in some ways. So, it's like I I probably support 1025 01:26:58,639 --> 01:27:04,719 something that's pushing a little bit further because I don't I mean, I draw 1026 01:27:02,239 --> 01:27:07,520 these things and and you know, that's like part of what I do is like try to 1027 01:27:06,239 --> 01:27:11,679 figure out where to put these things on a project and it's like if you know 1028 01:27:09,520 --> 01:27:16,159 upfront and it's not a huge cost, it's not that big of a deal. Um, and it's 1029 01:27:13,679 --> 01:27:19,440 just spy rack, you know? It's like it's you can probably you can probably figure 1030 01:27:17,600 --> 01:27:24,719 it out. It's not going to like ruin the project. Um I I'll after this I'll 1031 01:27:23,520 --> 01:27:28,719 probably get into something that where I'm trying to get rid of something on 1032 01:27:26,239 --> 01:27:33,040 there, you know, but um for that I feel like it's kind of an easy lift. 1033 01:27:30,880 --> 01:27:36,639 » So for Texas Roadhouse there's like a 100 spare parking spots you could turn 1034 01:27:34,960 --> 01:27:41,840 into bike racks and there's no limiting factor there. My worry is again that the 1035 01:27:39,120 --> 01:27:46,320 downtown zero lot line and I just looked up on city IQ if my math is right. You 1036 01:27:44,320 --> 01:27:51,760 take like the new Limelight or Red Light or the Grand A right there on that 1037 01:27:49,440 --> 01:27:57,840 street. They're about 6,000 square feet buildings, usually one story. 1038 01:27:54,800 --> 01:28:02,320 The new proposal would be six bike racks at a drinking eating establishment. 1039 01:28:00,000 --> 01:28:08,400 6,000 square feet. You could probably fit that on the sidewalk. 1040 01:28:05,840 --> 01:28:11,679 Is it six bikes and three racks? Okay. I've been [laughter] 1041 01:28:09,840 --> 01:28:13,679 » You could also fit it where a parkless is. You could fit it in one parking 1042 01:28:13,360 --> 01:28:16,000 spot. >> Well, three U rack seems great, 1043 01:28:15,040 --> 01:28:21,760 actually. So, >> I will I will 1044 01:28:18,159 --> 01:28:27,120 I did try to install a U bike rack into a parking spot and uh it doesn't stay 1045 01:28:25,120 --> 01:28:32,080 like people can just He-Man it right out of the out of the asphalt. Turns out, 1046 01:28:30,400 --> 01:28:33,760 didn't know that was possible, but it's true. 1047 01:28:32,400 --> 01:28:35,520 » They probably [laughter] bumped into it. It's 1048 01:28:34,719 --> 01:28:39,360 » no >> and this is not a universal statement, 1049 01:28:37,520 --> 01:28:45,360 but I would, you know, uh if you can envision in your mind the Mount Baker 1050 01:28:42,000 --> 01:28:49,120 Theater, right? And uh you've got the building that's all the way to the back 1051 01:28:46,800 --> 01:28:55,440 of sidewalk. You've got sidewalk. There are street lights. Often times the bike 1052 01:28:52,239 --> 01:29:00,719 racks can go in line with the street lights and other, you know, you know, 1053 01:28:58,960 --> 01:29:05,760 street trees and other things that are there. so you're not disrupting the kind 1054 01:29:03,280 --> 01:29:10,320 of pedestrian walkway experience and you can find opportunities. Um, oftentimes 1055 01:29:08,560 --> 01:29:15,120 there's parking meters in those areas and things like that. So, yes, there is 1056 01:29:12,239 --> 01:29:20,800 a competition for space, but if you think about the way that those racks are 1057 01:29:18,080 --> 01:29:25,280 installed and at, you know, at what position, you can often times get them 1058 01:29:23,440 --> 01:29:28,960 kind of in line with some of that other street furniture, if you will. 1059 01:29:27,440 --> 01:29:32,320 uh you know again still going to be competing for space but but there's 1060 01:29:30,639 --> 01:29:35,120 plenty of opportunities to do that in a kind of down in the downtown 1061 01:29:33,440 --> 01:29:38,800 environment. >> I guess in light of this conversation 1062 01:29:37,040 --> 01:29:43,920 and kind of the build it and they'll come mentality in addition to maybe 1063 01:29:41,520 --> 01:29:50,000 reducing administrative complexity since all of these others apply everywhere. Um 1064 01:29:47,440 --> 01:29:54,800 and given the low cost of installing this infrastructure, I guess I would say 1065 01:29:52,639 --> 01:29:56,080 to your question like um like a universal 1066 01:29:55,600 --> 01:30:01,760 » city >> citywide application 1067 01:29:58,719 --> 01:30:06,639 » and in large part our grocery stores are not as concentrated in urban villages. 1068 01:30:04,320 --> 01:30:11,280 So I mean you think about trying to ride to Trader Joe's as an example or one of 1069 01:30:09,199 --> 01:30:15,040 the you know the co-op that's out in Cordata, 1070 01:30:12,960 --> 01:30:20,480 you know that this would align with that line of thinking. 1071 01:30:17,920 --> 01:30:24,960 Just for clarification, I think we had a motion, but did we do we have a second? 1072 01:30:23,360 --> 01:30:29,600 » I second it for Okay, >> there's a motion for city one. 1073 01:30:27,120 --> 01:30:34,159 » Okay, we have a motion, a second. And do you all feel good about recording this 1074 01:30:32,400 --> 01:30:38,560 for what we've actually put out there? Okay. Okay. I guess uh yeah, let's take 1075 01:30:36,800 --> 01:30:45,440 a vote. Um so all >> I'm going to just re restate it. 1076 01:30:42,560 --> 01:30:51,520 » Let me that way I think we understand it. So there's uh the motion was to 1077 01:30:48,800 --> 01:30:58,400 change the retail sales and service uh category to one per two one per 2,000 1078 01:30:56,480 --> 01:31:05,760 square ft and the eating and drinking establishment and groceries all to one 1079 01:31:01,760 --> 01:31:10,880 per 1,000 square feet citywide. Those were the two categories and those 1080 01:31:08,239 --> 01:31:14,400 that's both based off of these Seattle numbers that 1081 01:31:11,920 --> 01:31:17,760 » are provided on page 10. >> Yep. Exhibit B. 1082 01:31:15,840 --> 01:31:21,960 » Okay. So, we have a motion and a second. Is there any further discussion? 1083 01:31:22,480 --> 01:31:30,239 » Is there any facility for a variance if a weird situation comes up that this is 1084 01:31:28,000 --> 01:31:34,480 impeding some part of the feasibility of the plan? We've had that for parking 1085 01:31:33,040 --> 01:31:38,080 requirements for a long time. We're sort of getting rid of parking requirements 1086 01:31:36,320 --> 01:31:42,960 and suddenly upping the the bike requirements. If we find ourselves 1087 01:31:40,239 --> 01:31:50,239 stuck, do you have the power to grant a variance? Um we did build that into the 1088 01:31:46,239 --> 01:31:55,040 code an administrative waiver um based on physical site constraints which would 1089 01:31:53,520 --> 01:31:59,199 prevent full compliance with the standards if there's no feasible 1090 01:31:56,960 --> 01:32:04,880 alternative location um within a reasonable walking distance or if um 1091 01:32:03,280 --> 01:32:09,280 alternative short-term or long-term biccope parking can be provided within a 1092 01:32:07,840 --> 01:32:15,679 reasonable walking distance that provides sufficient capacity um to meet 1093 01:32:11,920 --> 01:32:21,600 the demand generated by the use. Um, so there is that flexibility um for the 1094 01:32:18,080 --> 01:32:26,159 director to make some modifications. And I guess it should also just be noted 1095 01:32:24,080 --> 01:32:30,320 that the in thinking about the applicability of the bike parking, we 1096 01:32:28,000 --> 01:32:35,840 did want to be mindful of like change of use situations for existing buildings. 1097 01:32:33,440 --> 01:32:40,400 So, we tried to limit the bike parking applying for new construction or if 1098 01:32:38,639 --> 01:32:45,600 there's an addition to an existing building that's more than 25% of the 1099 01:32:42,880 --> 01:32:50,320 gross floor area, if you're c creating new dwelling units. Um, or if there's a 1100 01:32:48,719 --> 01:32:56,239 change of use that would result in increased bike parking demand of more 1101 01:32:52,480 --> 01:33:00,639 than 50%. Um so just trying to be mindful except especially for our urban 1102 01:32:58,400 --> 01:33:07,840 villages where things are really tight and um you know it's harder to in yeah 1103 01:33:05,920 --> 01:33:12,880 provide all that bike parking if it's already well established and a building 1104 01:33:10,080 --> 01:33:16,800 is constructed. That makes me really a lot more 1105 01:33:14,239 --> 01:33:19,679 comfortable with this change. >> I feel like we're moving in the right 1106 01:33:18,320 --> 01:33:22,960 direction. We're taking away the need for parking waiverss and implementing 1107 01:33:21,600 --> 01:33:24,960 bike wavers. [laughter] All 1108 01:33:25,554 --> 01:33:27,574 » [snorts] 1109 01:33:27,760 --> 01:33:33,520 » right, everybody ready to vote? Okay, if you're in favor, I 1110 01:33:33,040 --> 01:33:37,960 » I >> I 1111 01:33:34,000 --> 01:33:37,960 » I. Anyone opposed? 1112 01:33:39,920 --> 01:33:44,400 » All right. Thanks. Motion >> for one other thought just on the line 1113 01:33:43,199 --> 01:33:52,320 of what you were saying. I wanted you to vote first, but um the city also is 1114 01:33:48,400 --> 01:33:57,520 looking at reducing the speed tables across the city too. So that's going to 1115 01:33:55,440 --> 01:34:02,880 by default help to not only I mean I know the the 1116 01:34:00,800 --> 01:34:06,800 one question that comes up oftentimes is well how effective is that going to be 1117 01:34:04,320 --> 01:34:12,400 if you don't have enforcement tools but what it also does is it allows u the 1118 01:34:09,760 --> 01:34:17,520 city traffic engineering staff to think about roadway designs to design for 1119 01:34:15,040 --> 01:34:22,239 slower speeds too. So hopefully all of this again that you know duplicative 1120 01:34:20,000 --> 01:34:26,480 approach allows for people to feel more comfortable, more confident in riding in 1121 01:34:24,800 --> 01:34:31,360 more parts of the city especially when they don't feel like they're up against 1122 01:34:29,120 --> 01:34:36,679 the conflict of a speeding vehicle. in that regards all moving in the right 1123 01:34:33,679 --> 01:34:36,679 direction. 1124 01:34:40,800 --> 01:34:47,840 » I'm wanting to talk I guess a little bit about the large bikes and partially it's 1125 01:34:45,679 --> 01:34:53,760 I'm just trying to understand really where you're like what are the projects 1126 01:34:50,239 --> 01:34:57,840 that are going to have enough parking that are like that we would potentially 1127 01:34:56,239 --> 01:35:01,440 see on the horizon that would trigger that. And so I was just like looking 1128 01:34:59,280 --> 01:35:05,920 through all the lists of what we have here and it's like I know we're not 1129 01:35:03,280 --> 01:35:10,400 getting like a bunch of giant factories coming into Bellingham, but maybe maybe 1130 01:35:07,920 --> 01:35:14,880 we will. Um so then I'm like thinking like okay industrial might be one of 1131 01:35:12,080 --> 01:35:20,400 those where you know you get a a pretty large factory and all of a sudden you've 1132 01:35:16,480 --> 01:35:24,239 got long-term large bike parking. And so I'm like wondering is is that 1133 01:35:21,760 --> 01:35:27,040 applicable? I mean multif family seems like the one that's probably going to 1134 01:35:25,360 --> 01:35:30,320 trigger it the most. I mean, that's going to be kind of like that's the main 1135 01:35:28,480 --> 01:35:34,080 one. And I think that kind of makes sense, you know, and I guess Rose, you 1136 01:35:32,480 --> 01:35:38,159 probably deal with more multif family than most people. So, it's like I'd be 1137 01:35:36,639 --> 01:35:42,639 curious if you have any thoughts on like, you know, like I honestly don't 1138 01:35:40,960 --> 01:35:47,280 know a lot about these large bikes. So, I feel kind of like, you know, how 1139 01:35:44,320 --> 01:35:52,440 important are they for our our people um to to have long-term parking for them? 1140 01:35:55,440 --> 01:36:05,920 Well, I think it's I I think it's interesting and uh that we are shifting 1141 01:36:02,880 --> 01:36:10,719 from deregulating parking to regulating bike parking and yet we're trying to say 1142 01:36:08,880 --> 01:36:17,280 like developers are going to do the what's right for the market, 1143 01:36:13,760 --> 01:36:22,320 but bike parking they're probably not. And and and I think to some degree like 1144 01:36:20,320 --> 01:36:26,480 some of this has to happen over the course of time and we I you know like we 1145 01:36:24,719 --> 01:36:30,239 identify where the challenges are and that's part of that monitoring and like 1146 01:36:28,320 --> 01:36:38,800 coming up with best practices and being able to um evaluate over time if 1147 01:36:36,239 --> 01:36:43,199 people show up into their multifamily rental and they all have big bikes and 1148 01:36:41,280 --> 01:36:50,639 they you know trailers and the things and I mean they're they're very fancy 1149 01:36:46,239 --> 01:36:56,639 and they do very cool things and uh people will have to adjust what their 1150 01:36:52,639 --> 01:37:01,600 expectations are um both developers and and residents. 1151 01:37:00,080 --> 01:37:05,692 So I guess I'm saying let's not overthink it. 1152 01:37:03,672 --> 01:37:05,692 [laughter] 1153 01:37:06,560 --> 01:37:15,840 Do does anyone here feel like that there's a need to have large this is 1154 01:37:11,920 --> 01:37:21,360 long-term parking spaces for large bikes in anything other than multif family 1155 01:37:19,600 --> 01:37:26,480 because I like I don't know I think if you're working at a factory like ride 1156 01:37:24,400 --> 01:37:30,800 something else. I don't know that's just me. But 1157 01:37:27,360 --> 01:37:35,760 » a big warehouse like can't you just like store it on the shop floor? But we're 1158 01:37:32,800 --> 01:37:40,239 talking about a designated long-term bike space. I don't I mean I I guess I I 1159 01:37:38,960 --> 01:37:43,040 don't know. I think they have to have you have to meet all the criteria. It's 1160 01:37:41,840 --> 01:37:45,760 like >> um 1161 01:37:44,159 --> 01:37:52,560 » I guess I feel like I'm still supportive of it for employees because larger 1162 01:37:49,199 --> 01:37:56,800 bikes, cargo bikes, etc. make it so much more likely that somebody's actually 1163 01:37:54,159 --> 01:38:03,840 going to commute to that place of employment. Um, so I think yeah, I 1164 01:38:01,040 --> 01:38:09,119 second what Rose said of and earlier of just it's a place to start and then it 1165 01:38:06,400 --> 01:38:13,840 can be adapted later. So I feel like I'm fine with it as it is and then we'll 1166 01:38:11,520 --> 01:38:19,040 kind of see how it goes. But I I hear your points. Yeah, I guess I mean like 1167 01:38:16,400 --> 01:38:23,440 like a theater, a museum, you know, like with these different cases that you may 1168 01:38:21,040 --> 01:38:27,600 just have large square footage and now all of a sudden you've got to create a 1169 01:38:24,880 --> 01:38:32,960 secure space for one large bike. Like I don't know, seems 1170 01:38:31,119 --> 01:38:37,119 odd to me. I'm not going to push for it if people are kind of like h we're we're 1171 01:38:35,600 --> 01:38:40,719 good with it. I just look at it as being an annoyance when I'm doing a project 1172 01:38:38,719 --> 01:38:47,199 and being kind of like was it worth it? you know, and and maybe it was, but um 1173 01:38:43,840 --> 01:38:51,159 but I'm sure I'll I'll be, you know, angry about this in a year. [laughter] 1174 01:38:51,920 --> 01:38:59,199 » I will say that I have seen more large bikes that actually are designed for 1175 01:38:56,960 --> 01:39:04,480 children, you know, so you can have the children in the front. Oh, yeah, it's 1176 01:39:02,239 --> 01:39:10,639 on. So that the children can be like in the front and bicycle rather than having 1177 01:39:07,280 --> 01:39:15,119 the toe behind. So that could be where the multif family comes in because there 1178 01:39:12,560 --> 01:39:23,239 are a lot of large ones that are meant for transporting children, sometimes two 1179 01:39:19,040 --> 01:39:23,239 on a bike. So 1180 01:39:23,679 --> 01:39:27,480 » all right, I'm done. Thanks. 1181 01:39:32,719 --> 01:39:39,840 I'll just take this time to remind everybody thanks to Bellingham there's a 1182 01:39:36,719 --> 01:39:43,040 beautiful bicycle valet during downtown Sounds 1183 01:39:41,600 --> 01:39:46,760 » if you if you haven't ever checked it out it's really nice. 1184 01:39:53,520 --> 01:40:01,920 How about just regarding any other tweaks or adjustments to this ordinance 1185 01:39:58,000 --> 01:40:10,840 other than the one that we've passed? Okay. So, does anyone want to make a 1186 01:40:04,320 --> 01:40:10,840 motion to push it forward as amended? 1187 01:40:12,000 --> 01:40:19,360 I'll move to accept staff's recommendation for uh approval of the 1188 01:40:17,520 --> 01:40:23,520 draft ordinance with modification with the one one amendment tonight and 1189 01:40:21,199 --> 01:40:26,719 forward the draft findings and facts conclusions and recommendations to city 1190 01:40:25,199 --> 01:40:30,920 council. >> Any any discussion? 1191 01:40:32,080 --> 01:40:42,719 Okay. All in favor uh please say I. I. >> I. Any opposed? 1192 01:40:40,159 --> 01:40:46,960 All right, motion passes. Congrats, Jamon. 1193 01:40:45,064 --> 01:40:49,960 [laughter] >> Um, 1194 01:40:52,880 --> 01:41:01,199 » so one item that came up that um I know there's the shoreline committee. I 1195 01:40:59,679 --> 01:41:07,159 didn't know if this is this a good time to address that. Um, 1196 01:41:07,520 --> 01:41:15,280 » yes. who wants to be on it. >> I mean, I guess it it probably is. Um 1197 01:41:12,560 --> 01:41:18,239 because previous people who were on it, I mean, who who was on that? Um Heather, 1198 01:41:17,600 --> 01:41:24,420 do you know? >> It's Steve Krooks and Olly Taiishi and 1199 01:41:21,440 --> 01:41:24,420 Mike [laughter] 1200 01:41:27,280 --> 01:41:33,040 the M. So, we changed the I did a few shoreline committees when I was first on 1201 01:41:31,040 --> 01:41:38,560 the plank commission. At some point we changed it a few years ago to make it 1202 01:41:35,440 --> 01:41:44,480 much much less frequent and only if a project deemed by the chair is 1203 01:41:42,239 --> 01:41:48,960 of significant public enough interest to hold a shoreline community. Almost all 1204 01:41:46,800 --> 01:41:53,600 shoreline permits are like the port adding storm water to 1205 01:41:52,320 --> 01:41:58,480 like some part of their property and it's like very well done paperwork. Not 1206 01:41:56,719 --> 01:42:01,920 really worth the time. Occasionally something might come up of a major 1207 01:42:00,080 --> 01:42:05,600 private project where it be interesting and worthwhile to hold a shoreline 1208 01:42:03,520 --> 01:42:10,080 committee, but we need to have three people selected so that committee could 1209 01:42:07,840 --> 01:42:14,000 meet in the event that an email comes in. And currently I have to read all the 1210 01:42:12,639 --> 01:42:18,080 emails and I want Jed to read the emails. So [laughter] 1211 01:42:16,159 --> 01:42:23,760 what we should do tonight is Jed should appoint ideally himself and two others. 1212 01:42:21,760 --> 01:42:26,400 I don't believe we have to vote on this. It's just sort of the chair's 1213 01:42:25,520 --> 01:42:30,639 appointment. >> Yep. the chair gets to a point. So you 1214 01:42:28,159 --> 01:42:35,520 can raise your hand and say you'd like to and he can say yes or he can just 1215 01:42:33,040 --> 01:42:37,199 draw names out of hat >> and appoint you. 1216 01:42:36,639 --> 01:42:42,311 » Boy, >> I know the p the one power that you have 1217 01:42:39,840 --> 01:42:44,331 solely as the chair. [laughter] 1218 01:42:45,280 --> 01:42:50,800 » You get to work with Steve. He's the best. 1219 01:42:49,280 --> 01:42:54,320 » So >> do we have any 1220 01:42:51,920 --> 01:42:56,880 » No, I have so many committees. I have so many committees. I like the last thing I 1221 01:42:56,400 --> 01:42:59,360 need is >> you could put it on your resume and it 1222 01:42:58,080 --> 01:43:05,891 probably wouldn't even [laughter] meet. >> No, there's so many committees. 1223 01:43:03,360 --> 01:43:08,880 » So, who has the least committees? [laughter] 1224 01:43:06,400 --> 01:43:10,480 » Committees. >> Okay, 1225 01:43:09,360 --> 01:43:14,800 » I'll do it. >> Oh, you guys are the best. 1226 01:43:12,159 --> 01:43:18,239 » All right. Does this have to come up as a formal kind of motion or anything like 1227 01:43:16,800 --> 01:43:20,639 that? >> Okay. 1228 01:43:19,040 --> 01:43:24,400 » And you're appointing yourself as the chair. 1229 01:43:20,960 --> 01:43:27,679 » Oh, yeah. I'll appoint myself as chair. So just so everyone's for everyone 1230 01:43:26,000 --> 01:43:32,480 else's visibility occasionally a couple times a year an email will come to the 1231 01:43:29,119 --> 01:43:36,320 chair that's like is this project of enough public interest to hold a special 1232 01:43:34,880 --> 01:43:38,080 » planning comm mission meeting. It happens very 1233 01:43:37,520 --> 01:43:41,520 » so >> holding that meeting happens very rarely 1234 01:43:39,840 --> 01:43:44,400 but it is something that the chair does kind of behind the scenes 1235 01:43:42,480 --> 01:43:48,000 » something I mean I just heads up I'll I'll have a project that I'm working on 1236 01:43:46,239 --> 01:43:54,719 that'll probably come up as an email in the next couple weeks or month or so. So 1237 01:43:52,480 --> 01:43:58,080 like you know I I on occasion I may have to recuse myself from from that and 1238 01:43:56,719 --> 01:43:59,920 it'll have to go to one of one of you guys I would assume. 1239 01:43:58,880 --> 01:44:03,520 » Short thing. >> Yeah. 1240 01:44:00,480 --> 01:44:08,826 » Okay. Wow. >> Well as as vice chair Mike and Phil 1241 01:44:05,679 --> 01:44:08,826 unfort. [laughter] 1242 01:44:12,639 --> 01:44:20,239 » Okay. So do we have any uh anything else on the agenda? Director's report. 1243 01:44:18,000 --> 01:44:24,639 » No. Just to let you know that um coming up at your next meeting uh you may 1244 01:44:22,400 --> 01:44:28,960 recall a couple meetings back you uh we introduced the landmark tree ordinance. 1245 01:44:26,800 --> 01:44:33,760 Uh we'll be bringing that to you kind of as the first step in the overall 1246 01:44:31,840 --> 01:44:38,400 approval process. So you'll get a chance to see that in the coming days in terms 1247 01:44:36,320 --> 01:44:45,040 of advanced information in the packet and then we'll be in front of you on uh 1248 01:44:41,040 --> 01:44:50,880 the 18th. Um, and then just one little general plug. If you have not seen or 1249 01:44:48,400 --> 01:44:55,280 are not aware of the various different uh watch parties that are going on 1250 01:44:52,639 --> 01:44:58,960 around the World Cup, the city is sponsoring a number of those that are 1251 01:44:57,199 --> 01:45:04,159 being put on by many of the different businesses throughout the city. So, you 1252 01:45:00,719 --> 01:45:08,639 can go to bellingham.org org uh which is kind of the tourism portion of the 1253 01:45:06,159 --> 01:45:13,119 website and then uh the fan zone portion and there's a a wide range of different 1254 01:45:10,639 --> 01:45:16,960 opportunities to take in a number of the games and other things like that going 1255 01:45:14,719 --> 01:45:19,960 on during the six weeks of the World Cup. 1256 01:45:20,000 --> 01:45:27,199 » All right, thanks a lot. So I guess uh if there's nothing else we can adjourn 1257 01:45:25,040 --> 01:45:30,360 and everybody have a good evening. >> Thank you.