[0:02] This conference will not please start
the recording.
[0:06] Good evening. Tonight is uh what are we?
We're uh July 12th, 2026. And I'd like
[0:12] to call tonight's work session to order.
Or is this August? It is August. I'm
[0:18] already I'm way off in my date. Look at
that. August 12th, 2026. And I'd like to
[0:23] call tonight's uh work session to order.
Um, clerk, can I get a roll call vote on
[0:29] this?
[0:34] » Council member Ravaro
>> present.
[0:37] » Council member Casper.
>> Uh, Council Member Casper and Bole are
[0:41] both out of town, but we're going to be
calling in or trying to call in for the
[0:44] workshop. Uh, if not, they'll be in on
the council meeting.
[0:48] » Is he okay?
>> Yeah, sure. Um um
[0:51] » you just need a
>> council member Bole
[0:56] » present.
[1:00] » Oh, he muted.
>> Council member Bole, can you hear us?
[1:04] » Yep, I can hear you guys. Okay. Can you
hear me?
[1:07] » Perfect.
>> Wonderful.
[1:09] » We're in the middle of a roll call.
Council member.
[1:11] » Yep. Present.
>> Council member France.
[1:16] » Present.
>> Council member Cerviny. present.
[1:25] » Mayor, Mayor Tom.
>> Yeah, I'm here.
[1:27] » Thank you, clerk.
>> All right. Tonight, we do have a
[1:30] presentation. This is a comprehensive
plan elements prior to final adoption.
[1:34] Uh, we do have WSP presenting. Do we
know who who from WSP is presenting? Is
[1:39] it Marty? It is. Marty, are you with us
tonight?
[1:43] » Yes. Can you hear me?
>> I can. How are you?
[1:46] » Okay, good. How about you guys?
>> Great. Great.
[1:49] » Good. I also have Alec Agarola joining
me. We're going to tag team the uh slide
[1:55] deck that we've got teed up for the work
session.
[1:59] » Perfect. All the way from New York.
>> He's from New York. Yes. And I'm from
[2:03] downtown Vancouver.
>> Hard to get away this afternoon.
[2:07] » Sounds good. All right. Well, the mic is
yours.
[2:10] » All right. Great. Um, I'm gonna have
somebody get to this slide deck and I'll
[2:15] probably one of us are gonna be we're
going to be saying next slide, please.
[2:20] Um, so next slide, please.
[2:25] So, we just wanted to brief the the
mayor, city council, and planning
[2:29] commission on the cl the comp plan
update that we've been working on for
[2:34] before my time at WSP, which has been
about a year and a half. Alex been
[2:39] through uh this plan update since its
inception. Uh we want to review the
[2:44] community engagement and vision portion
of the uh effort. Uh kind of call your
[2:51] attention to some of the plan elements,
specifically the new plan elements and
[2:56] some sticking points to a few of them.
Uh we have made some uh code amendments
[3:03] to implement
[3:09] to implement your comp plan and uh want
to touch a bit on the preferred land use
[3:16] alternative which has been around and
around and around uh with uh Clark
[3:21] County and other folks. So,
um, I'll jump down to the next slide and
[3:27] I think Alex's going to do a little bit
of, uh, a refresher on all the community
[3:32] engagement and outreach that he's been a
part of since the beginning.
[3:39] » Thanks, Marty. Um, I'm assuming everyone
can hear me. Okay. Um, thanks for having
[3:45] us again. Um, it's been a minute since
I've uh, been virtually or in person in
[3:50] the center, so happy to be here. Um but
want to touch base on community
[3:55] engagement for the comp plan. Um from
the inception of this comp plan um
[4:00] there's a public particip participation
plan that was drafted um with city staff
[4:05] and vetted through the planning
commission and city council back in
[4:09] 2023. And this plan set the framework
for all the events and um public
[4:15] engagement methods as shown here. Um as
you can see there's been two open
[4:20] houses. um one in March of 2024 and then
another in January 2025. A handful of
[4:26] tableabling sessions um at various uh
city events like uh our days and um the
[4:33] farmers market at the listener church
and then um the city's website had a
[4:39] dedicated web page for the comprehensive
plan update um just giving you the who,
[4:44] what, how, and why for the comprehensive
plan. And then um we also had several
[4:50] fact sheets, physical printouts that
were handed out at community events. Um
[4:55] I believe there's a stack at one point
at the front desk there at city hall um
[4:59] to provide details about the comp plan
with a QR code to the web page. And then
[5:05] um as several of the planning commission
members and the city council members
[5:09] know, a lot of workshops were held with
um this whole planning process with the
[5:15] various elements, the land use
alternative and so forth. Um and so um
[5:21] we're finally getting to the horizon of
this project. Um and all this engagement
[5:26] was used to establish the vision for the
cent's future and inform and update the
[5:31] various comp plan policies and the
preferred land use alternative which
[5:34] we'll be going over here briefly. So
I'll go on to the next slide and hand it
[5:39] back to Marty.
Yeah, very quickly to the um just the
[5:44] the highest level uh primer on this is
we're updating this plan
[5:50] because it's a periodic update required
under the law and Clark County kind of
[5:56] drives the plan update um
calendar, if you will, with first
[6:03] starting out with a 20-year growth
allocation of population and employment
[6:09] and at a very high level. Um the county
allocated 20 years of growth to the year
[6:15] 2045.
Currently, Lent sits at about 4,200
[6:20] people and the growth allocation is to
um accommodate growth to about 8,800
[6:26] people and the jobs number you have
currently is between 800 and a,000 jobs
[6:32] and we're planning for roughly 2100 in
the year 2045. So,
[6:39] we're part of the region that updates
all of the cities of are updating uh
[6:43] plans along with Clark County. Uh two um
critical pieces I wanted to mention.
[6:50] There are new affordable housing
requirements under the law. So, the
[6:54] housing element has some treatments um
and provisions that that I'll kind of
[7:00] speak to on this next slide. Uh there's
also a new climate resiliency chapter
[7:07] that um all of the cities are uh
required to to adopt. Uh because the
[7:15] center doesn't meet the threshold of I
think it's 6,000 people. Um the climate
[7:19] element speaks to climate resiliency
only and not greenhouse gas and vehicle
[7:25] miles traveled reduction. So the climate
element that you have will be for
[7:30] climate resiliency.
Um this slide here kind of gives you a
[7:35] sense of what uh the housing piece looks
like. And the um
[7:43] the the requirement is to is to provide
a land supply for enough affordable
[7:50] housing in these various income bands.
And I kind of call I call this attention
[7:57] uh the commerce income bands that
they've called out in the in the
[8:02] guidance is
uh based on area median area median
[8:07] income AMI and it's 0 to 30, 30 to 50,
50 to 80, 80 to 120 and then over 120 of
[8:15] AMI. So, we're looking at uh housing
numbers that would um
[8:22] would t these income bands. Um so,
you had a uh a housing needs assessment
[8:30] and strategy u put together um that
informs the the housing element. So,
[8:37] um you'll see plan policies and some
directions in that that element that uh
[8:44] come out of these out of these reports
[8:51] and I'm going to have Alec pick the next
slide.
[8:57] Thanks, Marty. Um so, the first element
we're looking at is chapter one, the
[9:02] land use element. Um, this is probably
the most important and foundational
[9:07] element of the comp plan and it kind of
sets up the foundation to all the other
[9:12] elements of the comprehensive plan. Um,
and the land use element serves as the
[9:16] community's blueprint for how and where
future growth should occur in the
[9:19] center. And the element establishes land
use designations, de development
[9:23] policies, and strategies to accommodate
um projected population and employment
[9:28] growth in the center while also
maintaining the city's small town
[9:31] character. Um the land use element was
updated for the latest latest city
[9:36] demographics allocations as Marty
discussed for housing population and
[9:42] jobs and also the preferred land use
alternative.
[9:47] Um and then with the impact fees, um
there's or I should say I should preface
[9:54] um there's some development code related
elements to this um per state
[9:58] requirements or the growth management
act GMA. Um we updated impact fees in
[10:04] the code to allow deferral for for
multifamily housing so they can defer
[10:09] impact fees until later into like
building permits and so forth. um to
[10:15] just uh provide a mechanism for them to
develop and then um requiring short plat
[10:21] subdivisions to establish adequate
public facilities and update approval
[10:25] expiration periods. And then another
piece is uh providing clear and
[10:29] objective design standards. Um this is a
state requirement where any design
[10:34] standards have to be um concrete and not
subjective and loose to interpretation.
[10:41] And so we went through the code and
helped clean that up. And then next
[10:45] slide um is the preferred land use
alternative. Um and so this is the
[10:53] city's preferred land use alternative
that was reviewed and approved by the
[10:56] council some time ago. As Marty hinted
at, this has gone through a long process
[11:01] with Clark County. Um but thankfully and
gratefully Clark County uh recognized uh
[11:07] the city's preferred land use
alternative and it was adopted by the
[11:10] council um earlier this year for
assessment in their um final
[11:15] environmental impact statement for
growth management. Um and the county
[11:20] council recognized recognized the need
for urban growth expansion areas which
[11:25] I'll highlight here in a second. Um so
with all the input we got from the
[11:30] citizens and land owners and all the
visioning through the open houses and
[11:34] tableabling events while also um
engaging with the city council and
[11:39] planning commission and city staff. Um
we've landed here with the preferred
[11:42] land use alternative.
Um and also during this process the land
[11:48] use alternative recognized the sub area
planning effort we did with Tim Tim and
[11:53] Landing and downtown.
Um and then this has gone further
[11:57] environments between the county and city
staff. Um so to highlight some of the
[12:02] areas we have area one and two. Um those
two areas were are currently zoned um
[12:09] low density residential and they're
planned to be zoned as medium density
[12:13] residential to accommodate those lower
income bands. Um I I believe a few
[12:18] properties in area 2 have already been
reszoned recently um and approved by the
[12:23] city. Um area three, this is a couple
properties uh within the urban growth
[12:31] area but um not annexed into the city
yet. Um, and as we were massaging
[12:37] numbers, um, we just want to recognize
once that's annexed into the city, it
[12:42] will be low density residential, um,
just to, um, balance out our housing
[12:46] numbers. And then areas four and five,
um, these are some of our expansion
[12:53] areas. Uh, they would be expanded north
and south of the junction plan with the
[12:58] junction plan zoning, which is shown in
that beige there. And then as you go
[13:03] southwest across I5 is area six. And
this would be expansion area for
[13:09] employment or light industrial zoning.
[13:16] And then on to the next slide please. So
we move to chapter two the
[13:20] transportation element. Um this was
largely informed by the transportation
[13:25] capital facilities plan which the city
council recently adopted a few months
[13:30] ago. Um so again that informs this
element and this was using uh the CFP to
[13:38] update existing conditions for the trans
transportation network. So roadways uh
[13:44] trails
uh bike paths, transit and so forth. And
[13:49] then uh detailing the future conditions
and demand for these facilities as the
[13:54] city grows. and then establishing six
and 20 year capital improvement plans or
[14:00] current and potential funding sources.
Um and the projects that were identified
[14:05] included widening of the center road,
pedestrian roadway improvements along
[14:09] Pacific Highway and um the planned round
roundabouts throughout the city.
[14:15] And then some code related requirements.
Um, typically when a development comes
[14:20] in, they have to assess traffic impacts
on roadways and if those impacts cause a
[14:26] level of service to decrease to
substandard
[14:30] uh levels of service, then they have to
um develop mechanisms to offset those
[14:38] and develop like a roundabout or impact
fees or so forth. However, um per state
[14:44] law, there's exclusions to these and I5
is an exclusion to that. So, if a
[14:49] development a development will have to
um study I5 for impacts uh for
[14:54] transportation and level of service and
then um a big piece here is also
[15:01] electric vehicle infrastructure. I'm
just updating language allowing battery
[15:07] energy storage for electric vehicles and
charging stations um as needed and
[15:13] allowing these in the downtown
commercial and downtown mixed use zones.
[15:18] And then uh tandem parking and parking
standards. These are related to
[15:23] residential parking standards. Um just
allowing these for residential uses and
[15:28] up updating parking space dimensions per
state requirements.
[15:33] Next slide, please.
Um, and I'll be handing over to Marty.
[15:40] » So, the I mentioned earlier about the
the housing element. So, there are not
[15:45] only are there income bands that are
required, but there's types of housing
[15:50] that are required. Now, I can touch on
some of the code amendments. They
[15:54] include permanent permanent supportive
housing and transitional housing.
[16:00] that sometimes you'll hear that the
acronym PSH which stands for permanent
[16:04] supporting supportive housing. Um
included in this requirement again is
[16:10] the income bands that are you know less
than 30% 30 to 50 50 to 80 80 to 100 80
[16:19] 100 to 120 this based on area median
income and then over 120 uh 120 AMI.
[16:27] There are code amendments that are part
of this that that Alec can touch on
[16:31] because he's been working on the more of
the code amendment side.
[16:36] Thanks Marty. Um so for permanent
supportive housing PSH and transitional
[16:41] housing um these must be allowed in any
zone where residences and hotels are
[16:46] allowed. Um but uh these are being
conditionally allowed in the center with
[16:51] specific use requirements. So if these
are being permitted um they'll have to
[16:55] meet specific standards. Um, some
examples of permanent supportive housing
[17:00] include apartments with on-site case
management and behavioral health
[17:05] services and veteran supportive housing.
And then some examples of transitional
[17:10] housing include family transitional
housing facility and living apartments
[17:14] for homeless youth.
Um, and the second item here is
[17:19] emergency shelters and housing. Uh,
these have to be allowed in any zones in
[17:24] which hotels are allowed. And on the
center, this is just the junction plan
[17:27] zone. Again, um if these are cited on
the center, they'll be a conditional use
[17:33] and have to meet specific criteria once
if for citing those in the city. And
[17:38] then lastly, it's co-living housing. Um
this is housing uh where uh it's a
[17:45] shared living arrangement where each
person has their own room and like
[17:49] lockable room. Um but they share a
communal space. So usually the living
[17:53] area and kitchen. Um, and these have to
be allowed in zones where six units or
[17:58] more are permitted. So that's
essentially any zone that's not low
[18:02] density residential that allows other
residential uses. So your medium density
[18:06] residential, high density, and mixed
use.
[18:11] Next slide, please.
Chapter four is capital facilities and
[18:17] utilities. Um, this is pretty much
everything that keeps the city running.
[18:22] Um so the city met with various service
providers for future facility plans. Um
[18:27] this included service providers like uh
Clark Kelllets Fire and Rescue, Lester
[18:32] School District, Fort Vancouver
Libraries, CPU, the Clark County
[18:36] Sheriff's Office. Um so we're updating
various facility plans for sewer, water,
[18:42] storm water, schools, libraries, etc.
and updating the existing conditions of
[18:48] these facilities but also um updating
the future needs for these uh various
[18:56] providers and services as the city is
growing.
[19:01] And then uh code related again another
GMA state requirement is the central
[19:06] public facilities. Um these are
essentially uh
[19:11] facilities that are larger in nature and
more difficult to site just because the
[19:16] types of uses they are like airports,
state educational facilities and
[19:20] regional transportation facilities. Um
I'd like to highlight there's none of
[19:25] these existing in the center as you you
could imagine and there's none planned
[19:29] but the state requires us to have some
language in the code to support these if
[19:33] these are to be cited in the future.
Next slide. And uh looks like I'll hand
[19:40] it back to Marty.
>> So yeah, the economic development uh
[19:44] chapter or element. Um
key to this is the b the urban growth
[19:50] boundary expansion to the junction where
you have junction planning and mixed use
[19:55] in that area that would both accommodate
jobs allocation and housing for the
[20:02] affordable housing segment. Um, we we
also in this element recognize the the
[20:09] two sub area plans that were adopted a
year ago last summer and specifically
[20:14] the downtown sub area plan. Um the uh
the boundary expansion we I'll touch on
[20:22] a little bit later in next steps, but
it's been a big piece to the the work
[20:27] we've been doing with Clark County and
the city to
[20:32] kind of dial in the right numbers for
for jobs and and population because we
[20:36] have uh kind of a goal of hitting the
the allocation and not over capacity or
[20:41] under capacity.
So uh part of the the approach to is to
[20:46] again to recognize the sub area plans
that will um help on the job side as
[20:53] well as some of the affordable housing
side. So
[20:57] that's for that's chapter five.
Uh next slide please.
[21:03] um the parks open parks rack open space
chapter um really is just uh we're
[21:09] refreshing that based on the recently
updated 2024 uh parks plan. So we're
[21:16] incorporating
a lot of the goals and policies and the
[21:20] the capital facilities pieces of the
2024 parks plan into this element of the
[21:27] comp plan.
So, um, some of some of you will have
[21:32] seen this through the adoption of the
2024 parks plan.
[21:37] Next slide, please.
[21:43] We have a number of what we call minor
minor elements. They're not um, growth
[21:46] management has several mandatory
elements that you have to have as part
[21:51] of your comp plan, including like land
use and housing and transportation.
[21:57] Um some of these other chapters uh that
we've got here 7 through 10 include
[22:03] uh a historic uh historic archaeological
and cultural preservation uh element. We
[22:09] have an urban growth and annexation
element. the environment element. Uh
[22:14] Alec will touch a little bit on that
because it has to do with the uh city's
[22:19] requirements to protect identify and
protect critical areas ordinances like
[22:24] wetlands, steep slopes, habitat areas,
floodways, uh critical aquifer recharge
[22:31] areas and and the like. And then there's
a a government element that uh I think
[22:36] we touch on um uh the city's uh approach
to good governance and public
[22:44] participation and engagement. So those
are the um the minor elements that we we
[22:51] uh call out in this particular instance.
and then Alex's going to go through some
[22:57] of the uh critical areas uh ordinances
that are part of the environment
[23:03] chapter.
[23:08] » Thanks Marty. Um we can proceed to the
next slide please. Um so as Marty
[23:14] indicated uh I'll be going over the
critical areas ordinance or more simply
[23:18] put the CAO. Um this is chapter 18300 of
the city's code. Um critical areas as uh
[23:27] identified by the state are geologically
hazardous areas, critical aquifer
[23:31] recharge areas, fish and wildlife
habitat areas, wetlands and floodways.
[23:38] Um and so we updated and added several
definitions per new state definitions
[23:43] from um just state mandates but also
from various agencies that the state um
[23:50] elects to uh put out regulations for
these various critical areas. And then
[23:56] we also updated the designations or
buffers for uh various critical areas um
[24:02] including the caras or critical aquifer
recharge areas geohhazards organoid oaks
[24:07] and wetlands. Um and just noting in the
image on the right is an example of a
[24:12] critical area which is a wellhead
protection area. Um this is a pretty
[24:16] large one this bullseye and covering um
most of western the center. Going on to
[24:22] the next slide.
[24:25] Um a another piece of the critical areas
ordinance or the CAO is um if impacts
[24:33] are made to these critical areas um uh
the state law requires no net loss. So
[24:40] some sort of mitigation has to be put in
play. Um and so we've updated the
[24:45] mitigation requirements per guidance
from WDFW
[24:49] uh for Oregon white oaks and riparian
areas along streams and then for
[24:53] wetlands. Um this is per ecology
guidance and then also uh typically when
[24:59] a application comes through and they're
impacting some sort of critical area
[25:03] they have to provide a critical area
report for those critical areas that are
[25:08] impacted documenting um those impacts
and then how to mitigate to ensure no
[25:13] net loss. So we've updated those for a
slew of these critical areas. Um and
[25:20] then going on to the next slide,
this is the final chapter of the
[25:25] comprehensive plan which is the climate
resilience element. This is a brand new
[25:29] element per this periodic update. I
believe was introduced as a new state
[25:33] bill in 2022
or 20 I think it was 2022 for climate
[25:38] resilience. As Marty Marty noted, um the
center is not required to plan for
[25:44] greenhouse gas reductions um just
because it didn't meet the population
[25:48] threshold, but has to plan for climate
resiliency. Um and climate resiliency
[25:53] planning is about preparing today for
tomorrow's challenges. Helps communities
[25:57] anticipate climate related risks,
protect people and infrastructure, and
[26:00] build a safer, healthier, and more
resilient future for future generations
[26:04] in the center. Go on to the next slide.
Uh this covers uh updates we've done to
[26:12] implement this new chapter. Um so
starting um a couple years ago, the
[26:18] county had a consultant perform a
vulnerability and risk assessment for
[26:23] the county and and its cities. Um and so
this risk assessment identified specific
[26:29] natural hazards in the center and how
those would increase and impact the
[26:34] center. Um and the highest ranking of
these was extreme heat and extreme
[26:38] precipitation and storm. Um but due to
um
[26:44] public engagement and also a recent
wildfire a few years back um is
[26:48] wildfires was also determined just
locally as a higher risk as well just
[26:53] due to again the imminent risk of that
and a recent occurrence of it in the
[26:58] center. Um
and using uh and identifying this
[27:04] information for natural hazards in the
center helps us frame how to implement
[27:09] goals and policies to uh reduce these
risks and plan for um these to happen in
[27:16] the future. And then going on to the
next slide. Um the city has an overall
[27:21] climate resiliency goal which is the
center shall enhance community
[27:25] preparedness, response and recovery
efforts that build resilience to the
[27:29] impacts of wildfires, floods and other
hazards worsened by global climate
[27:33] change. And then you see 12 different
topic areas um related to climate and
[27:39] climate resiliency that we have within
the resiliency chapter of the
[27:44] comprehensive plan. And these touch on
various elements such as transportation,
[27:49] uh, hazard mitigation, economic
development.
[27:53] And I will hand it back to Marty. We can
go to the next slide.
[28:08] » Marty, I believe you're muted.
>> Yes. Sorry about that. Uh yeah, this
[28:14] this slide puts in context the the
city's plan update relative to Clark
[28:19] County's lead on the environmental
impact statement that was produced last
[28:26] year, October 1st. Um aside from the
city of Vancouver,
[28:32] all the other cities and Clark County
put together a joint
[28:38] draft environment draft environmental
impa impact statement.
[28:42] uh the cities coordinated with Clark
County and pro providing information to
[28:47] to release that that draft EIS.
There was a 60-day comment period that
[28:54] ended uh toward the end of November. Um,
from that, uh, the county went through
[29:02] an a protracted, uh, process to narrow
down a a preferred land use alternative.
[29:12] from that preferred land use alternative
which includes the city's urban growth
[29:16] boundary expansion to the junction and
west on the west side of I5.
[29:22] They uh they produced the final
environmental impact statement and that
[29:26] was recently published uh July 24,
2026.
[29:32] I will mention that intervening the
October 1st dead uh
[29:41] date of the draft EIS and the and the
final EIS of July 24. Clark County, they
[29:49] did undertake an agricultural resource
lands uh study. They got a very very
[29:55] late start. Um I think they started
putting some things together last
[30:02] Julyish.
Um they produced a report in November
[30:08] that informed um some of their efforts
through
[30:13] the uh final EIS. And as the mayor and
coun some council members are are aware
[30:20] that the county council held a number of
hearings on the preferred alternative um
[30:26] and whether or not the boundary
expansion was going to be part of that
[30:31] preferred alternative or not. Um in the
end a majority of the clar county
[30:37] council adopted a preferred alternative
that does include the boundary
[30:41] expansion.
Um so we put together our our ef our
[30:46] efforts relative to these you know
October 1st July 21st uh uh due dates.
[30:53] Um we have worked with Angie and your
staff in putting together a seed
[30:58] determination for the city's
comprehensive plan draft comprehensive
[31:02] plan. Um and it's going to be published
I believe the 14th. Angie knows the
[31:10] publication dates but it's it's
happening now. Um this sea determination
[31:14] is
is out or will be out. There's a 14-day
[31:18] comment period.
Um we also have
[31:23] um some commerce checklist. Next slide
please.
[31:31] These are the these are the next steps.
Um mentioned the you know final EIS from
[31:35] the county produced just you know really
a few weeks ago. Um we've been kind of
[31:42] toggling off that date to issue a city
to a city sea um which has been done. Um
[31:50] and then we have a commerce checklist
which has a 60-day runout um meaning
[31:57] that the the city cannot adopt a plan
until after the 60-day
[32:03] notice um and review period has been
exhausted through commerce. We'll be
[32:08] getting comments from them um as as
we've submitted the the checklist to
[32:14] there's a a checklist that that they
have us uh all of the cities do. So um
[32:20] we will be um scheduling with with work
with your staff. We'll be scheduling
[32:25] hearings with the planning commission
and hearings with the county uh the city
[32:29] council and uh we'll be adopting the
comp plan sometime in the middle part or
[32:36] latter part of October.
[32:42] And that's uh kind of the 30-minute run
through of of the plan update and where
[32:47] we sit today. and Alec and I will be
happy to answer questions that you might
[32:51] have or issues that you might want to
raise.
[32:56] » Real quick, Marty, um I received an
email today from the county and it was
[33:00] an update on the
I think it was an update on SEIPA
[33:04] addendum. Do you know anything about
that?
[33:06] » Oh, yeah.
>> Can you explain because I had through
[33:09] and I I didn't quite capture
>> Sure. They they they have um I didn't
[33:15] get into the the nitty-gritty weeds of
things, but they have what's called a
[33:20] vacant buildable lands model where they
run a land capacity analysis of you have
[33:27] x number of acres and those x number of
acres can hold y number of households.
[33:32] Um, I think that addendum had some
recalculations of of the housing counts
[33:41] from what they originally published and
it was like, oh, we need to make a
[33:45] correction here. I think I have that
same email. If I if I can find it here
[33:49] real quick.
Um,
[33:52] » I'll forward it over to you, Marty, just
so so you have it.
[33:56] » Um, I think I have it. Does it show?
>> It's It's coming to your inbox now.
[34:02] Okay.
Fortunately, we don't I don't see
[34:06] anything in Lenner that made that made
changes in the income bands.
[34:16] There are some others that that get hit
with uh changes to the to the um 80 to
[34:23] 100 and 100 to 120 and then the number
of emergency beds that are for example
[34:29] that are um planned for in this
Vancouver UG which would be not city
[34:36] limits but places like Hazel and Fida
and Salmon Creek that are part of the
[34:41] Vancouver UG.
>> Okay. I'll look at your I'll look at
[34:44] your email just to be sure I'm talking
about the same addendum.
[34:48] » I I believe you are actually.
>> Okay.
[34:53] Yeah. So, fortunately, you don't have a
yellow box.
[34:59] We have other we have other yellow boxes
to to just it's really an it's a it's
[35:03] probably as an addendum. It's it's a a
point of clarification to
[35:09] uh to make on these on these um
>> Okay.
[35:14] » on these income bands. So,
>> okay. Thank you, Marty. Uh any
[35:20] questions,
>> council commission?
[35:23] » Yes, I have a question.
um on this um this little synopsis you
[35:31] just gave us. Does that have to do with
the 1500 pages? Is this just a synopsis
[35:37] of that 1500 pages that the county just
pass or put together as of July 26th?
[35:44] » Yeah, the 1500 pages. I'm I'm sure
you're referencing maybe the final EIS
[35:49] that they published.
>> Yes, that's uh from now through 20 uh
[35:54] 45. Yeah. Right. Right.
>> And just just as a a bit of a
[36:02] maybe kind of coming back from the
beginning is um we did provide uh you
[36:09] with a a memo that it's not a deep dive.
It's kind of a like a shallow dive kind
[36:16] of um outlining some of the things that
are part of this plan. It's more than
[36:21] this slide deck, but it's less than the
comp plan itself because the comp plan
[36:25] and related documents hundreds of pages
more than likely. So,
[36:31] but yeah, the county the county is I'm
sure is voluminous and um it it also um
[36:37] they will capture all of the comments
that were submitted
[36:42] into the draft EIS and then and then as
they held their hearings on the
[36:48] preferred land use alternative, I'm sure
that they're capturing all of those
[36:51] comments from the public and from
others.
[36:55] » Yes, I attended some of those meeting
and I put in my comments
[36:59] um when I hear talking about affordable
housing, it was just a couple of weeks
[37:03] ago at a city council meeting
>> that I talked about and shared many many
[37:09] things that happen when a builder is
trying to build that adds on to the
[37:13] expense of the building. So, I don't
know, you know, like for instance, uh
[37:20] this one builder because they had the
white oak tree, they lost several lots
[37:25] and it cost them hundreds of thousands
of dollars. Um there's a whole list. I
[37:30] don't need to go through all this
because I just went through this list
[37:34] two weeks ago when I was at city
council. So, I I have concerns of what
[37:39] how can a builder build affordable
housing when there's all there's all
[37:43] kinds of delays or there's storm water
or there's the underground power. I
[37:48] mean, the list just goes on and on. That
adds to the project of the house. And in
[37:54] Washington state,
uh what's considered affordable housing
[37:58] is 30% of what you what your income is
for that year.
[38:03] So um it's a tough question.
>> It's a very tough it's a very tough
[38:09] issue and there are no simple solutions.
Um I I will say that you know land
[38:18] supply has something to do with it. If
you constrain land supply,
[38:24] land values and prices will go up. Um
that was one of the reasons you know the
[38:29] city was so intent on expanding the
boundary is to get a little bit more
[38:33] land in the in its capacity so that and
those lands that are served by public su
[38:39] uh sewer and water you can get more lots
on on on property. Um, there's also,
[38:46] Alec mentioned this. Um, it's it's
minor, but it's it's a step in the right
[38:52] direction when you pay impact fees.
As long as I've known impact fees, you
[38:57] pay them at the time you you you pay for
your building permit. Well, if it's a
[39:02] six-month build, you're paying carrying
costs on that six months, and you've
[39:07] just added costs because you had to pay
the impact fee. If you say, "Hey, we're
[39:12] not going to require the impact fee to
be paid until like occupancy,"
[39:17] then you're not adding additional
carrying costs onto onto that project.
[39:21] So, there are few there are some things
that can be done.
[39:26] Um, I know some other smaller cities are
are talking about whether or not a
[39:32] housing land trust is something that
would be considered in the future, which
[39:38] means I've seen this actually recently
where you basically buy the unit, but
[39:43] you don't buy the land. And as you build
equity in the unit, you can sell the
[39:48] unit and and pull equity out, but the
land stays with the trust.
[39:54] So yeah um it's my editorial comment is
I see the prices of homes
[40:05] precoid postcoid and it's shocking
absolutely shocking so um I think the
[40:12] other is that if you you know when you
have a development code that allows for
[40:16] accessory dwelling units small lots
um that helps as well you get more
[40:22] housing choice
and more housing units hopefully
[40:27] staves off massive uh
price increases.
[40:33] » That's kind of I've kind of
editorialized a bit, but I'll I'll
[40:37] finish with that.
>> I appreciate your comments. U my
[40:43] » question I guess is or statement is that
the key word there is the code has to
[40:49] allow for it. We still need to have a
seller, a buyer, a developer, and
[40:55] somebody else that actually wants to put
a project like that together. It's not
[40:59] mandatory that it happens. The code just
has to allow for it. Is that
[41:03] » correct? Correct.
>> Correct. Yeah.
[41:06] » And the other piece very quickly is if
you have a community that has good
[41:11] paying jobs, that helps on the
affordability side, too. I mean,
[41:15] affordability is not just a a one-sided
street. It's a two-sided street. You
[41:19] want to have jobs that pay well so that
people can afford. You know, younger
[41:24] people, they get into a, you know, a
rental situation first. They might have
[41:28] rent a duplex and eventually get into
home ownership. But the other equation
[41:33] is to have jobs local in your community.
And it helps with, you know, commuting.
[41:39] My, as a again editorial, my older son
moved out of my house and he lives
[41:45] downtown Vancouver because he works in
downtown Vancouver. And guess what?
[41:48] you're saving a lot of money in gas and
insurance. So, there's something to be
[41:54] said of trying to attract local
employment for your for your residents.
[42:00] » I know that I have worked on that and
I'm I think everybody on this council
[42:04] has worked on trying to get uh jobs
locally here.
[42:09] » Yes.
>> So that people don't have to travel even
[42:12] just traveling uh you know a half hour
drive to Vancouver or Portland. um this
[42:18] the gas and and the time because of the
traffic gets worse each year. So
[42:23] » yes
>> um there there's a lot a lot to consider
[42:26] and um when I saw this in in our packet
today I don't know if other people in
[42:33] the planning commission here uh there's
this title 18 development code which
[42:38] that what we're going to have to follow.
So I asked Peter to print off a copy of
[42:43] that because I wanted to study that.
What is it we have to that we have to do
[42:47] that has been already been passed?
[42:54] » Yeah. Yeah, please. Yeah. Do we have a
microphone for Lance? Yeah, you can sit
[42:58] over.
[43:06] » Clerks, can we can clerks? Can we get a
microphone over there? Thank you.
[43:11] » Okay. This is not a complaint, just an
observation more than anything else. Um,
[43:16] looking at the comp plan, I looked at
the 2100 houses we're supposed to be at
[43:21] at 2045 plus or right now. Um, it looks
like about 1131 of them or 53% are going
[43:28] to be in the um, uh, the the area medium
income of 80% or above. Um, and what
[43:38] that does is it breaks down to 311 homes
of 268 to 418,000
[43:45] the selling price. 400 homes of 418,000
to 522,
[43:52] 234, 627 and up. So when I looked at
that, it surprised me of how many town
[43:59] homes and multif family units we're
going to need to build based on the
[44:04] current estate based on the current
pricings of house houses. So just
[44:09] something to think about. Then the other
side of it is is you know Alec already
[44:14] talked about the you know UG and the the
the lower income and housing and etc
[44:20] those. So, just wanted to point out
there's going to be I was surprised that
[44:25] there were more
of the multi-medium density than there
[44:30] would be low density homes.
>> Why does that surprise you though?
[44:36] » Um
because of the the the raw number that
[44:41] we have to grow. I thought that there
would be more single family homes, but
[44:45] based on where they talked about on the
map and where they would be versus etc.,
[44:50] it looks like this proportionate
appropriately, but I just wanted to make
[44:54] sure that we're aware of that.
>> Right. And so during the process, we had
[44:59] different uh scenarios that we had to
pick out of
[45:02] » and that happens to be the scenario that
was chosen of it. So I I don't think
[45:06] anybody here is surprised by those
numbers, but Okay.
[45:09] » Yeah. And if you notice, we're trying to
keep a lot of those numbers on that side
[45:12] of the bridge as well, too.
>> Perfect.
[45:14] » Yeah.
>> Okay. All right. That's all I had.
[45:17] » Thank you. Uh, any other questions or
comments,
[45:22] planning commission? Anybody else?
Council.
[45:26] Okay. Uh, well, Marty, I think that's
good. I I appreciate the update tonight.
[45:31] Um, I look forward to hearing when this
is finalized and done because it's been
[45:34] a very long and tedious process the last
three years.
[45:38] » Yes. Yes. Uh, I'll I'll commend uh the
mayor and council and staff uh
[45:45] enduring um a plan update that is more
than a year past the due date of June
[45:52] 30, 2025.
Um it's been a trying
[45:58] uh collaboration I should say. Um and
the fortunate thing is that uh regarding
[46:05] the preferred land use alternative, you
know, mayor and council did a lot of
[46:10] yman's work convincing county council
that the boundary expansion is the the
[46:15] the right way to go for your your vision
and your your growth. So, I'm I was
[46:20] happy to see that. It was um touch and
go as the mayor would know for a while.
[46:27] And yeah, we'll uh we'll coordinate with
uh Tracy and Angie on um planning
[46:34] commission hearings leading to council
hearings in October. So,
[46:41] » it'll be nice to uh get this over the
goal line.
[46:45] » Well,
>> and then we wait and then we wait for
[46:46] the appeals.
>> I don't mean to laugh. I don't mean to
[46:50] laugh.
>> Let's not talk about appeals now.
[46:53] » I won't those alone. Let's get let's get
it over the goal line and and we'll go
[46:58] from there.
>> Oh, you do.
[47:00] » Uh to do to cover all these uh you know
preparedness, response, recovery
[47:05] efforts, build resilence, impact fires,
floods, all that whole list. Then are we
[47:11] going to hire more staff the city that
because that's a lot of work to put on
[47:15] Tracy and Angie? I'm It's just
>> She wears an S on her chest over there.
[47:20] Supergirl.
>> This is Supergirl. That's a lot of stuff
[47:26] to prepare. So,
>> extra staff and extra workshops or lots
[47:31] of things to prepare for that.
>> Yeah, agreed.
[47:36] » Um, all right. Well, thank you, Marty.
Thank you, Alec. Appreciate tonight
[47:40] » and we will be in touch and talk soon.
>> Okay. Have a great evening everyone.
[47:44] Thanks everyone. Have a great evening.
>> Thank you again. At 6:19, I would like
[47:49] to close the uh work session and adjourn
it. Thank you,
[47:56] » clerk. You can cancel the recording.
[48:02] » This conference will now be recorded.
[48:48] Clerk, please start the recording.
[48:59] » Are we good?
>> Okay, perfect. Today is Wednesday,
[49:02] August 12th, 2026, and I'd like to call
tonight's uh city council meeting to
[49:06] order. If we could all please rise for
the pledge of
[49:09] » allegiance
[49:13] to the flag of the United States of
America and to the republic for which it
[49:19] stands, one nation under God,
indivisible, with liberty and justice
[49:25] for all.
[49:30] Thank you, cler. Can I please have roll
call?
[49:35] » Council member Ravar,
>> present.
[49:37] » Council member Casper,
>> I'm here.
[49:39] » Council member Bole,
>> present.
[49:44] » Present.
>> Council member France,
[49:48] » present.
>> Council member Cerviny,
[49:51] » present.
>> And Mayor Strobin,
[49:53] » I am here. Thank you, clerk. Thank you,
everyone.
[49:57] Clerk, can we please call up any public
comments from the audience?
[50:01] » Alco,
[50:16] have you seen the Eagle come into town?
Yeah. Sitting there in the roundabout.
[50:23] Boy, have we got a lot of comments on
that on Facebook. Boy, but you know what
[50:29] I want to talk about is that, you know,
whether you look or think it's great or
[50:33] not great or whatever, you know, I I
personally have my opinion. You know, I
[50:38] you know, you know, it's an eagle. It's
looks pretty good. But I was up at the
[50:43] library and one of the girls there was
reading the reflector and everything and
[50:47] she turned around to me and looked and
said, "Wow, how much does this cost?"
[50:56] Well, you know, and so I asked around
and I don't know, you know, I mean, who
[51:03] decided to get an eagle? I mean, all
these decisions were made and where'
[51:08] this transparency go. You know, I you
know, like I say, how much did it cost?
[51:15] Nobody seems to know. And that that that
kind of bothers me a little bit. And so
[51:20] anyway, I'm bringing that down from just
started with a conversation in the
[51:23] library that he asking people. You know,
we're just not very transparent about
[51:28] that. Okay. Now that now on to something
that's near and dear to my heart. The
[51:33] other day I was looking on Facebook and
somebody had a for sale sign for hay and
[51:38] the city was pulling them up because it
didn't have the little sticker on them.
[51:45] Well, this if you if you walk up West
14th from the city limit sign, there's
[51:52] all kinds of signs there that don't have
the little sticker, you know, and you go
[51:57] down on the Pacific Highway, there's one
there with no sticker. And that's just a
[52:01] symptom of the west. You live on the
west side of town. You know, are we
[52:07] getting the public service or the police
protection that we need over there?
[52:11] Because you never see them folks over
there.
[52:14] And you know, I don't know. You know,
are we are we single? You know, what's
[52:19] what's on a sign? You know, I I know
that one sign's been there for at least
[52:23] a month and the other one has been there
longer than that. and they're pulling
[52:27] signs for some farmer trying to sell us
hay and you know leaving those alone out
[52:32] there. You know, we're just not getting
the service we need out there. Let's
[52:37] see. Oh, this one was brought up
yesterday just because
[52:42] there just after you
cross the crosswalk
[52:47] to to what is that? Oh,
what is that? Cedar.
[52:54] There's a drainage there along the side
and evidently it's marked out so it
[53:00] looks like you are going to fix it.
Well, somebody complained yesterday.
[53:03] Well, they ought to put something around
there because you know I hid it every
[53:06] time and would somebody please say
something at city council meeting. So
[53:11] anyway, that's that's that's for Eric,
you know, but I drove by there without
[53:15] getting a hump, but for some reason he
it's a pretty big drop there, but I'm
[53:19] sure because it's marked out that
they're going to eventually get to it.
[53:23] Well, there's a concerned citizen that
wants it fixed now. Thank you. God bless
[53:28] America.
[53:34] » No more comments from the audience.
>> Thank you, clerk. Any of those uh public
[53:39] comments from uh people calling in,
please press star six to unmute
[53:42] yourself. State your name and address
for the record.
[53:49] » Clerk, do we have any callers?
None. Looking like it.
[53:56] » Clerk, do we have any public comments to
be read?
[53:59] » Uh, no public comments to be read.
>> Perfect. Thank you, clerk. That brings
[54:04] us to the consent agenda. If there are
no requests for any items to be removed,
[54:07] can I have a motion?
>> Second.
[54:11] » It's been moved and seconded. All those
in favor?
[54:14] » I I
>> abstain.
[54:19] Motion passes. Thank you, council.
Okay, mayor's report. Tomorrow, August
[54:25] 13th, we'll be hosting our blood drive
at city hall. You can sign up to donate
[54:29] online at redcrossblood.org.
There are very few afternoon and evening
[54:34] time slots available. Donors will be
eligible to receive a $20 Amazon e gift
[54:38] card on behalf of the American Red
Cross. Our rescheduled National Night
[54:44] Out date is Tuesday, August 18th at
Holly Park from 4 to 6 PM. Stop by and
[54:48] visit with our local law enforcement,
first responders, and firefighters.
[54:52] There will be free hot dogs, drinks,
chips, root beer floats, and plenty of
[54:56] exciting activities. And I'd like to
extend a thank you to the PepsiCo and
[55:00] Roser for sponsoring the drinks and hot
dogs, as well as Free Delay and Lenter
[55:06] Lions for providing chips and root beer
floats.
[55:11] And if anybody would like to know the
cost of that, please give city hall a
[55:15] call and we'll get you that record. The
Lewis River Mobile Food Bank will be at
[55:19] the Wheel Club Community Center on the
4th Sunday of each month from 2 to 4
[55:23] p.m. The food bank is open to all. Their
next distribution date is Sunday, August
[55:28] 23rd.
And this coming Sunday, we do have the
[55:32] Lenter Farmers Market, which will be at
the Legacy Park. That's from uh 1:00
[55:36] p.m. to 5:00 pm and it'll be from this
Sunday through October 25th. All right.
[55:43] Please come down, check it out. Uh maybe
pick up some vegetables for the week.
[55:48] That's all I have. Uh next up is the
attorney's report. Beth, are you with
[55:52] us?
>> I'm with you. Hello everybody. I'll keep
[55:56] it short. I don't have anything to add.
I hope everyone is enjoying the rest of
[56:00] the summer weather. Please always feel
free to contact me if you have any
[56:03] questions.
Perfect. Thank you, Beth. Council, any
[56:06] questions for the attorney?
>> All right. Next up is council comments.
[56:11] Council member Varara.
>> Um, well, I'll mention that I was in
[56:17] Levvenworth uh for a couple of days
earlier.
[56:22] I think it was what day of the week is
this? It was last week and it was for a
[56:26] budget budget meeting put on by
association Washington cities. It's
[56:31] interesting to get together with people
from other cities and hear how they're
[56:36] approaching uh things. And I know we
have at least one person in the audience
[56:41] tonight that frequently reminds me that
the budget is one of the most important
[56:46] things I can pay attention to. So I was
grateful to be there.
[56:50] » That's it.
>> Perfect. Thank you, Council Member.
[56:53] Council member Casper.
>> Thank you. I don't have anything for the
[56:56] good of the order, so I'll pass my time
along. Thank you, Council Member Bole.
[57:03] » Uh, hello everyone. I don't know if you
can hear me well or not, but um I did an
[57:07] impromptu trip to Mount Reineer with the
kids. We're doing some camping, but I
[57:12] hope everybody's having a good night.
>> Thank you, Council Member France.
[57:19] » Well, July 13th, I attended the EMS um
District 2 board, which is the one of
[57:26] the committees that I'm on. I don't have
anything to report from that, but I like
[57:30] to bring that up. Um, also in reading
this book, Little by Little, uh, 13 Ways
[57:38] to Kill Your Community,
and the reason I'm reading is because so
[57:42] we can do the opposite of that. Uh, Doug
Griffith gave a fantastic talk at the
[57:48] um, AWC, Associated Washington Cities
training that I went to the end of June.
[57:55] And um one of the things that we this
city does, I'm so there's a lot of
[57:59] things this city does that I'm proud of
to as a matter of fact, but one of the
[58:04] things that they've started now is going
to be the junior city council. I think
[58:09] that's very important. This this book
talks about involving young people as
[58:13] well as uh involving older people in
your community. Um, the other thing that
[58:18] they talk about is that people don't
they just don't communicate anymore
[58:23] because they're just on their cell
phones all the time. And so, um, eight
[58:27] or nine days ago when I was invited to
an open house, I attended and a lot of
[58:31] people showed up for that. And I
thought, what a fun way to get your
[58:35] neighbors out and just come and sit
around and visit and and everybody
[58:39] brought some food and have some food.
Well, then um just last week I got a
[58:45] text from one of our citizens that said
uh come on over to our block party and
[58:50] I'm like, "Well, I'm not going to miss a
party." So, I went to that and it was
[58:54] awesome. I couldn't believe it. I
thought it was an HOA party. It wasn't.
[58:58] It's just a block party they have every
year. And there was tons of food and and
[59:04] desserts. And there was 42 people there
that were just sitting around. They've
[59:08] been doing this every year just having a
great time. This is all stuff that I
[59:13] want to foster that I think in our
communities where you get to know each
[59:16] other other than just texting or calling
each other. Um I w I was really really
[59:22] impressed. So I happened to bring my uh
city council cards and pass them around
[59:29] and I said if you have any questions or
complaints or uh anything positive too
[59:34] is always nice and email me at this
address because then I have can keep
[59:39] track of it. if you just call me then,
you know, I don't have any way to track
[59:43] it that, you know, this citizen
complained about this or was happy about
[59:47] that. And so, um, going around talking
those those 42 people, a huge huge issue
[59:55] is the electric bikes and the go-karts
and where they live. There's this trail
[1:00:00] behind their house and they just run
tear up and down that road. And I I
[1:00:05] walked out there and I could see you
could see the dirt bike um you know the
[1:00:10] the imprints and uh and one of them even
showed me some pictures. There were some
[1:00:15] impressive go-karts. Those things must
have cost a fortune. Either that or
[1:00:19] they're really good at building things.
And I actually printed the picture off
[1:00:23] and forgot to bring it with me tonight.
So, I will be showing that to you
[1:00:27] because um I don't know about having
go-karts that you know running up and
[1:00:33] down these streets and even the the dirt
trail where people are saying they're
[1:00:40] they're going out walking and they're
almost getting hit by either electric
[1:00:43] somebody on electric bike or by a on a
go-kart. So, I know that if I got run
[1:00:49] over by a go-kart
wouldn't be so good, but um cuz I've
[1:00:55] already had a couple car accidents that
that was bad enough. But I was excited
[1:00:59] that people are engaging and they're
telling me the stuff that's going on so
[1:01:04] that I can turn around and and report
it. Uh because I think it should be
[1:01:09] looked into or some ordinance is
created, which we're talking about
[1:01:13] doing. And um so I'm I'm glad about
that. I got a phone call yesterday,
[1:01:19] somebody with a complaint because the
code enforcement hadn't gotten back to
[1:01:23] them. So just things like this, our city
council wants to be involved and we want
[1:01:28] the city to be in the citizens to be
involved with us too. The other thing
[1:01:33] that I went to on uh this was a couple
weeks ago. I don't know if you reme
[1:01:39] remember a car Carol Landwear came here
and gave a talk about community court.
[1:01:46] Well, she had a community court at the
battleground uh municipal courthouse and
[1:01:53] she had all these people that have drug
and alcohol addictions. they graduated
[1:01:58] from their class and it was very
impressive to see these people and me
[1:02:03] being a retired jailer I love it when I
see people are being successful in their
[1:02:08] lives and getting either mental health
or uh addictions getting help with that
[1:02:12] and not have to keep coming back and
forth through the system getting
[1:02:16] arrested and in and out of jail all the
time. So, it was very impressive and um
[1:02:21] very thankful to get invited to
something like that and see something
[1:02:25] positive happening and I guess I can
quit talking now.
[1:02:31] But I just was excited about the things
that I had to share. And uh you know I
[1:02:36] just see really good things happening in
our city and also of these 42 people
[1:02:41] most of all all of them said really
positive things about our days and about
[1:02:46] the eagle and um really positive things
about the park and make my milk and some
[1:02:53] of them said what was that from and I
explained that and now we've had our
[1:02:57] third third cart coming in. a lot of
positive talk about that. Very happy
[1:03:02] because there's a couple negative things
on Facebook, but you know, people get
[1:03:06] really brave on Facebook. They just say
whatever they want,
[1:03:09] » but in person when they're telling
saying you all these positive things,
[1:03:12] it's pretty cool. So, that's it.
>> You sure?
[1:03:15] » Yeah. Well, I can talk longer, but
>> thank you, Counselor Cery.
[1:03:22] » I don't have anything to add.
You know, it's it's nice to hear about
[1:03:27] the the some of the positive. We get a
lot of negative uh sitting up here um
[1:03:32] from residents or people that walk in
and talk at the podium. Um and it gets
[1:03:38] it does wear on you. It wears on you,
you know, because the city, the staff,
[1:03:43] uh the volunteers, they're working their
rears off and it shows. And for those
[1:03:48] that just come up and just complain,
which we have the chronic people that do
[1:03:52] so, uh I hope for one day they open
their eyes and actually take a look
[1:03:56] around and see how beautiful this city
actually is and the people and the
[1:03:59] effort that goes into it because it's
tremendous.
[1:04:03] You know, our festivals are are growing
bigger and stronger and better each
[1:04:08] year. Um baseball is exploding. Uh uh
we've got new parks. Um, we've got a
[1:04:16] police force that does protect our city.
Uh, you know, whether people want to
[1:04:20] negate that or not, that's up to them.
Um, we've got counselors that are very
[1:04:24] involved in all aspects of city
government. We've got a city staff that
[1:04:28] puts in tirelessly amounts of work every
single day. You know, when you were
[1:04:34] saying that in our work session that uh
we're going to have to hire more people
[1:04:38] for all that. No, no. What we do is we
just keep putting these hats on and we
[1:04:42] keep going because, you know, I you
can't raise taxes enough to to hire the
[1:04:46] amount of people that it actually takes,
right? Or you're not going to have
[1:04:49] residents and you're going to have a
line of unhappy people. So, you know,
[1:04:53] hearing the the positive attributes that
you just gave uh to staff in the city
[1:04:59] itself, I I I got to thank you because
that's that's amazing. And I I wish more
[1:05:04] people would take a look at it. Sure,
we're going to have our faults. Every
[1:05:06] person has faults. We're human. Uh we're
not perfect. We try our best and and we
[1:05:11] keep going forward. But our city is
stunning and the overall responses that
[1:05:16] I see out there is people commending,
boy, I wish I could live in Le Center.
[1:05:23] So with that,
>> don't forget the music at Stern Wheeler
[1:05:26] Park. I know people that are coming from
Bonavville down to listen to that music.
[1:05:30] » Telling you, we live in a very fortunate
community
[1:05:34] and it's doing better every single day
and we're going to keep it that way.
[1:05:38] Okay, enough of my soap box. We do have
staff reports tonight. We have public
[1:05:43] works and community uh development staff
report. Uh Miss Tracy Coleman will be
[1:05:47] presenting. Tracy,
[1:05:52] » thank you, Mayor Council. Okay, so in
regards to uh public works operations,
[1:05:59] our rideway mower is back in service.
I'm so excited for that. So we can start
[1:06:03] getting caught up on our rideway mowing.
And if you notice, they're out there
[1:06:07] doing that now. So, I'm excited to say
that. We also ordered a new flailer and
[1:06:12] that will be coming in in the next week
or so. So, um we'll be able to play a
[1:06:16] little bit of catchup. Road striping, if
everybody noticed, has occurred this
[1:06:20] last week and we're going to have
continuing more some more road striping
[1:06:23] with our safety project, our horizontal
curve project. So, you'll see some more
[1:06:27] striping coming on in the city. The
construction of the new public workshop
[1:06:31] is nearing completion. We did a
walkthrough for the final punch list.
[1:06:35] So, we're working on that. Staff, as you
are aware, installed the 250th
[1:06:40] anniversary com commemorative eagle
statue, as everybody is aware. Um, we do
[1:06:46] have an approved budget every year and
that budget approval did include an art
[1:06:50] project in there. the art project. There
are multiple art projects in this budget
[1:06:55] and um the purpose of the statue was to
surprise the residents of Le Center with
[1:07:02] something to commemorate the 250th
anniversary of the celebration of
[1:07:06] independence. And so if you wanted to
see how much uh we can spend on art
[1:07:11] projects, that's in the approved budget
of 2025. And we have not exceeded that.
[1:07:15] In addition to the Eagle, we have other
art projects that are coming forward.
[1:07:20] Uh, one of the projects that you can see
is installed in Legacy Park and that is
[1:07:24] the redo of the story pole. So, that's
been done and then we have um grants
[1:07:29] that are coming in as well for our art
projects in the city. So, hopefully
[1:07:33] people will take a look at the budget
and see what we had budgeted for that.
[1:07:37] In regards to the legacy park, as you
know, we have two food trucks that are
[1:07:42] already open. They're bringing revenue
into the parks for us. We have another
[1:07:46] one scheduled to come in this Friday and
they will be in operation on the 17th.
[1:07:50] That is a Thai uh food truck which will
be good and a little bit more variety
[1:07:55] here within the city. Our bathroom
doors, we do realize uh they are metal
[1:08:00] doors and they do get hot when they're
facing the sun. So, we're looking at
[1:08:03] some alternative paint to put on those
to keep those from getting too hot. So,
[1:08:07] we're kind of working out some of the
quirks at the park right now and kind of
[1:08:10] getting everything finalized. So, kind
of bear with us as we go. If you notice
[1:08:15] over there right now, we installed a new
other piece of artwork on the top of the
[1:08:20] building. So, if you haven't seen that,
go over and look at that. I think it's a
[1:08:24] great commemor commemorative statement
as to the Makeine Milk building. We
[1:08:29] installed fans. Uh the fans are remote
controlled, so we're trying to get those
[1:08:34] wired up so you can flip them on with a
switch. Every time now you flip it off,
[1:08:38] you have to go and turn the fan back on.
So, we're working on that. We're also
[1:08:41] working on putting in, we've had a lot
of complaints about the park, so we're
[1:08:45] putting in a split rail fence next to
the playground so people maybe don't
[1:08:49] have to watch their children as much to
go out into the road. Uh we can help
[1:08:52] protect them from that. The um let's
see, the other things we're working on
[1:08:58] is uh a mop room for the food carts. We
do have one that's in the building
[1:09:03] itself that we're using temporarily. Um,
we're also working on installing a large
[1:09:08] propane tank so we don't have multiple
propane tanks out for the food vendors.
[1:09:12] And we um,
yeah, that's about it for for there on
[1:09:16] public works. In regards to storm water,
we applied for a grant for a storm water
[1:09:21] pipe uh, over there on the frontier. As
you know, we have the storm water pipe
[1:09:24] that has uh, failed and we've been
trying to get money for that. That's a
[1:09:28] about a $1.4 million project cost. We
applied for a grant. It's kind of a It's
[1:09:34] partial grant, partial loan. So, um
we're not sure if we're going to get it.
[1:09:38] We didn't get it last year, but I just
want you to know that we have applied
[1:09:42] for that and we're we're working towards
trying to get that fixed, but it's a
[1:09:45] it's a big cost in our budget, but we're
doing the best we can to try to move
[1:09:48] forward on that and hopefully hoping
that the good Lord stays with us and it
[1:09:52] doesn't fail in the interim. Uh swailes
and wetlands are being mowed as time
[1:09:57] allows as well because a lot of those
have to be weed eated. we can't use our
[1:10:01] rightway mower. In regards to the
wastewater treatment plant, we have also
[1:10:04] applied for two grants there to help
with some of the funding. They're very,
[1:10:08] very low interest rate loans. They're
about a half a percent. Uh public works
[1:10:12] trust fund and I think the Department of
Ecology are the two. So, we've applied
[1:10:16] for grants there. I think they're
totaling about $3 million. But all the
[1:10:20] plant parameters remains well within the
compliance of the NPDES permit. Our
[1:10:26] influent number two screen has been
disassembled and rebuilt. Our ultrasonic
[1:10:31] sensor level sensor failed and at pump
station number two. And so the new
[1:10:37] sensor has arrived and we'll replace it
this week. We're almost done with that.
[1:10:40] Utility water pump 2 has been
reinstalled and returned to service. I
[1:10:44] reported on that last month. And two
pumps from Riverside Lift Station and
[1:10:47] the process basin have been pulled and
being rebuilt.
[1:10:51] We have a follow-up replacement for our
variable frequency drive that's been
[1:10:56] installed in the ASSB blower and has now
returned to full operation. An
[1:11:01] engineering report has been submitted to
the Department of Ecology on July 22nd.
[1:11:05] They have 60 days to respond. The
deadline is September 26th. When they
[1:11:10] respond and they give us approval, we
can proceed with ordering the MBRS, the
[1:11:14] screw press, so on and so forth once we
have approval from them so we can move
[1:11:18] forward on the capital projects that
were approved in our general sewer plan.
[1:11:22] In regards to engineering, as you guys
know, Four Street project is ongoing.
[1:11:26] You you uh drive by it every day and you
get a little bit of delays in there, but
[1:11:30] we thank you for your patience as we uh
continue to work on that project. and
[1:11:36] also for the four street widening Breezy
Creek. Same thing. So, they used to be
[1:11:41] the same project, but now they've been
separated as you know. One's one's for
[1:11:44] the the um signal itself on Ivy and
Fourth and then the other one is actual
[1:11:50] widening including a new covert
replacement across the creek
[1:11:54] shared use path. Uh that is we are
interviewing engineers next week for
[1:12:01] wash dot so we can go out to bid. Once
we get the engineers and we select the
[1:12:06] engineer, we can actually go out to bid
on that project. We're still hoping to
[1:12:10] go out to bid later this month and have
an award at the September council
[1:12:14] meeting so we can start that project.
The safety grant is in going on right
[1:12:20] now in the city of Le Center. As you can
see, there's additional signs being
[1:12:24] added. There's additional guard rails
being added. We have increased
[1:12:28] reflectors um that are be going to be
going on in the roads. Uh L center road
[1:12:32] will have a nice uh it's not going to be
a torch down. It's um what's the name of
[1:12:38] it? If it's not torch down, somebody
help me out here. No, let me think here.
[1:12:43] It's uh same thing I did on my
crosswalks.
[1:12:47] Come on, you guys. I reported on this
>> 88.
[1:12:50] » Yeah. What is it?
>> The ADA?
[1:12:52] » No, I I'll come back to it. But I'll
remember it. I'm having a brain fart.
[1:12:56] Okay. And then also if you notice when
you're turning off of Le Center Road and
[1:12:59] you go on to Timmans Road, there is a
curb that is has been placed there. That
[1:13:03] was part of the safety project because
people are turning off of Lenter Road
[1:13:07] and turning wide on Timmans Road or
trucks are coming off of Timmans Road
[1:13:11] and turning wide on Lenter Road, cutting
traffic off. So we have a curb that's
[1:13:15] been placed in there. Uh let's see. The
tribe the roundabout design is on hold
[1:13:20] right now. We're waiting to hear back
from the tribe. They are looking at the
[1:13:23] their property whether they're going to
allow us to build a retaining wall or if
[1:13:26] we're going to slope back that property
which is where the make milk building
[1:13:30] used to be. Uh let's see downtown 2.0
the archaeological cultural resource
[1:13:36] study right now is out and uh DAP came
back. Everything was good with that.
[1:13:41] It's out with the tribal. There's four
different tribes it goes to. We should
[1:13:45] hear back from them in a couple weeks so
we can move forward on that. May I speak
[1:13:50] in regards to the groundbreaking? Okay.
So, we're going to have a groundbreaking
[1:13:53] ceremony on September 17th at what time,
Mayor?
[1:13:57] » It's going to be between 3:30 and 5.
>> Okay. Between 3:35. We'll give you
[1:14:01] another update this next month, but put
that on your calendar to be out there.
[1:14:05] In the building department, Steven
Hillside has 13 homes under
[1:14:08] construction. Lockwood Meadows has 10.
Urban Meadows has eight. Golden Grove
[1:14:12] has 11. And exit 16 Sips and Scoops is
in the final stages of completion. and
[1:14:18] Paradise Park Fairfield Hotel foundation
and pool concrete are completed for the
[1:14:23] first floor and flame flaming framing is
in progress. Make my milk building is
[1:14:29] completed. We actually have the roofing
done and like I said the art piece on
[1:14:35] top of there. You want to go out there
and take a look at that. And then we
[1:14:38] have um recognition coming for the arts
council that'll be installed this week.
[1:14:43] And then we have the gutters going down
next week going on the building next
[1:14:46] week. Code enforcement. There were 23
new cases opened. Of those 15 of outside
[1:14:52] of the 23 that were open, we had 15 that
we closed and there are currently 14
[1:14:56] open cases. In regards to the community
development, we have received new
[1:15:00] applications in June, changing the total
amount this year to 25 land
[1:15:05] applications. And we have in residential
a total of 37 this year in other 49 with
[1:15:12] a total of 115 to date. And just so you
know, the July numbers represent about
[1:15:17] 90% of on track compared to last year.
And we received a large subdivision
[1:15:22] application and three other applications
that will be in next month's reporting
[1:15:26] that should put us on target, if not
over budget for our revenue that we're
[1:15:30] expected to receive. That's all I got.
>> You sure?
[1:15:34] » I think so. I can keep going, but I only
read about a quarter of the report.
[1:15:39] » All right. Thank you, Tracy. Uh,
council, any questions or comments for
[1:15:42] Tracy? I remember you talking about that
application,
[1:15:48] but I cannot remember what it is either.
[1:15:54] » It'll come to me. I'll just blurt it
out. Just give me some time.
[1:15:57] » Well, let's hope you don't do it during
the WSP contract.
[1:16:01] All right. Any questions, comments,
concern for Tracy Council?
[1:16:06] » Just thank you, Tracy. I I really
appreciate all the work that you do.
[1:16:11] That park's looking amazing, isn't it?
>> Oh, man.
[1:16:13] » Yeah. Yeah. Did we get the uh plaque for
the museum? Yep.
[1:16:17] » Uh we have received it. We'll be
installing it this week. All right. Yep.
[1:16:20] We have two different things that we're
putting up there for the museum.
[1:16:23] » Okay.
Uh, oh, and just a reminder, if anybody
[1:16:27] sees the photos of the mayors on that
board at the Make Mind Milk building, if
[1:16:32] you guys know of anybody that has the
missing photos of those mayors, please
[1:16:36] contact city hall so we can get those
photos up there to give them the
[1:16:39] recognition they deserve. Okay, next up
we have the WSP contract amendment.
[1:16:44] Tracy Coleman will be presenting again.
Tracy,
[1:16:49] » thermoplastic.
Thermoplastic is what's being put on the
[1:16:53] roads, which is better than torch down
or paint. Look that up. Okay.
[1:16:58] » So, she did it right during the WSP
thing, like I said. Right.
[1:17:03] » All right. It was before, mayor. It was
before. So, this basically this is a
[1:17:09] contract amendment to WSP for the scope
of work on the comprehensive plan and
[1:17:13] development regulation periodic update.
Uh, I want to give big kudos out to
[1:17:17] Angie Morurell who has applied for a
second grant for us. H that has allowed
[1:17:23] us to pay for some of the contract costs
for WSP. The first one she got last year
[1:17:27] of 36 and this one she got this year was
$22,000. So that's and that's what this
[1:17:32] contract amendment is going to be paid
for if council approves it. So thank you
[1:17:36] Angie for doing that. The city signed a
professional service agreement with WSP
[1:17:40] in February of 2000 February 12th 2024
and it was for 241,498.
[1:17:47] The agreement was for them to provide
project management, community
[1:17:50] engagement, public involvement periodic
update, seer review, planning commission
[1:17:54] and city council coordination adoption
for that comprehensive plan. They
[1:17:57] represented tonight. So you can see the
update of the final comprehensive plan
[1:18:01] that we're hoping to adopt. The
amendment number one that we had for
[1:18:05] them due to delays because of the county
was in June 24th of 25 for an additional
[1:18:10] 89,917.
This totally came out of our our uh
[1:18:14] general funds and that made the new
contract total of 331415.
[1:18:20] They're asking for an additional
amendment as we're getting close to the
[1:18:23] dollar amounts being spent. the update
of the city of LA center comprehensive
[1:18:27] plan and development regulations to meet
the mandated update requirements which
[1:18:31] were required now by the department of
commerce. Additionally, there have been
[1:18:34] county delays still in adoption of the
comprehensive plan and with the land the
[1:18:39] preferred land use alternative vacant
biddable lands model that we're working
[1:18:43] with um for updates in GIS and envir and
an environmental impact statement which
[1:18:48] Clark County just sent out and is
currently in the comment period. So the
[1:18:52] county is more than a year behind which
has caused cost increases for all the
[1:18:55] cities not just us. So this additional
services that they're asking for uh to
[1:19:01] complete was in the paragraph that I
just read above. They're sk see seeking
[1:19:05] to increase their contract amount to the
maximum amount of what we received in
[1:19:10] the grant which is 22,219.
And that contract would then not exceed
[1:19:14] 353,634.
So we're nearing that home stretch and
[1:19:18] we're hoping that the county adopts us
by year end. But that's basically what
[1:19:22] this amendment is for. They wouldn't
exceed that and um the budget impact
[1:19:27] wouldn't be in in effect as far as we go
from the general funds because of
[1:19:32] Angie's grant that she obtained for us.
>> Thank you, Tracy. Thank you, Angie.
[1:19:38] Council, any questions, comments?
[1:19:44] » If not, I will entertain a motion. All
move to authorize approval of an
[1:19:49] increase in the WSP comprehensive plan
and development regulation periodic
[1:19:54] update contract not to exceed an
additional $22,219
[1:20:00] with contract contract maximum price of
$353,634
[1:20:08] contract expiration date to remain
December 31st 2026.
[1:20:16] I'll second.
>> It's been moved and seconded. All those
[1:20:19] in favor?
>> I I
[1:20:22] » I didn't hear council member Bo's vote.
[1:20:29] » He's going to say
>> council.
[1:20:31] » I I Okay, thank you. Uh opposed.
>> Abstain.
[1:20:36] Motion passes. Thank you, council. Thank
you, Angie, for going out for that
[1:20:40] grant. We appreciate it. We really do.
Uh, thank you again Tracy for the
[1:20:45] report. Hey, that moves us to
ordinances, resolutions, and public
[1:20:49] hearings. We do have a public hearing
ordinance 2026-10 MDR16 code update. Mr.
[1:20:56] Brian Cast will be presenting. Brian,
are you with us?
[1:21:00] » I am. Mr. Mayor, can you hear me?
>> I can.
[1:21:03] » We can hear you loud.
>> Mic is yours.
[1:21:05] » Very good.
Uh so before council this evening is a
[1:21:11] proposed code change to the city's MDR
code uh MDR16 code. Uh currently the
[1:21:16] code states that um in order to foster
an opportunity for the creation of a
[1:21:22] variety of housing products and to
promote housing affordability,
[1:21:26] architectural variety, and unique
neighborhood character. uh MDR projects
[1:21:30] which are over 10 acres or more um must
include uh 75 no more than 75% of one
[1:21:38] housing type. Um so for example, if you
have a 10acre project um you're trying
[1:21:43] to do a detached single family uh you
have to have at least 25% of either
[1:21:47] multifamily
uh like apartments or uh town homes like
[1:21:53] an attached product or something like
that. Um we've heard feedback from
[1:21:58] property owners, from developers um at
both the planning commission and city
[1:22:03] council meetings that um it can be a
challenge to meet this requirement on
[1:22:07] smaller projects sort of in that 10 to
20 acre size. Um you know for the most
[1:22:12] part they're trying to focus on one
product type for those size of
[1:22:15] developments and then you end up with
sort of this required 25% of just a few
[1:22:19] units of this other type which often
doesn't seem to really fit the
[1:22:23] neighborhood character. Um, also, you
know, we've heard from neighbors that,
[1:22:27] you know, they prefer to kind of just
see more of a uniform project, um,
[1:22:32] without, you know, sort of this mix of
product type. And also, um, we've heard
[1:22:35] from developers that, you know, these
sort of required few units, um, that are
[1:22:40] put in there can be difficult to market
and sell. Um so at um not last night's
[1:22:47] planning commission meeting but two uh
last month's planning commission meeting
[1:22:50] uh we also had some public testimony and
at that time planning commission asked
[1:22:54] that um some code uh revisions be
proposed. We brought those uh this
[1:22:59] proposed revision to the planning
commission last night and they voted
[1:23:03] unanimously to recommend to council to
uh approve this change and the change is
[1:23:09] really very simple. Uh the only change
to the code language is to change that
[1:23:13] uh number 10 for 10 gross acres to 20 uh
gross acres. And this change will, you
[1:23:20] know, allow basically um projects that
are required to meet this mix of housing
[1:23:25] types to have a little bit more units um
so that they can better integrate them
[1:23:30] into the neighborhood and um you know
have a a project that is more in line
[1:23:36] with what the city uh council and
planning commission would like to see.
[1:23:40] So with that, I'm happy to answer any
questions that the council may have u
[1:23:44] before uh opening the public hearing.
Thank you, Brian. Uh, council,
[1:23:51] » we got feedback. You got feedback.
>> Council,
[1:23:56] » I have a comment or two.
>> I think what's being proposed makes
[1:24:00] sense, but I have a couple of questions
regardless. I'm curious. Are there any
[1:24:05] pending projects currently being
contemplated
[1:24:10] that will likely go forward with this
change and perhaps would not if the
[1:24:14] change were not made?
Um we do have one project that's
[1:24:20] underway, but I believe that they um
this code change will not apply to them.
[1:24:24] They're already vested to the old code
and will be um you know it's a little
[1:24:28] bit larger project I believe. So they
will be uh providing that 25%. at
[1:24:33] planning commission uh last night. Uh
Angie, our planner, pulled up a map. And
[1:24:39] I think the other property that this uh
potentially could apply to that's
[1:24:43] currently zoned MDR16 is out there at
the Timman uh landing sub area. Um
[1:24:49] there's, you know, part of that that's
zoned, I believe, high density
[1:24:52] residential and a portion of it that's
zoned medium density residential and I
[1:24:57] believe that the medium density portion
is exceeds the 10 acre threshold. So, if
[1:25:01] this code change goes forward, that MDR
portion of the Timmans Landing uh sub
[1:25:06] area um you know wouldn't be required
then to have this mix of of product
[1:25:11] types. The other areas that are zoned
MDR16 are under the current 10acre
[1:25:16] threshold. So, this change wouldn't
really apply to those properties.
[1:25:22] » Okay. Thank you. U have one other
question. Uh
[1:25:27] the threshold going to 20 sounds fine to
me. Uh the the mixture of housing types.
[1:25:35] I'm wondering if there is some way
anyway that it makes sense that perhaps
[1:25:42] swaps could be done where one developer
might develop land that's extremely high
[1:25:46] density and another then would be freed
up to do more of what they want and not
[1:25:52] have as high a density.
um rather than having to put the same
[1:25:57] standard
against every
[1:26:02] project that comes in, would there be a
way that one project could help offset
[1:26:07] the requirement of another project?
>> I don't know if that even
[1:26:12] » Yeah, I mean I think there is a
potential to do that. Um you know, it
[1:26:15] requires some additional code revisions.
I think something else that was noted
[1:26:19] last night at the planning commission
meeting is, you know, up until very
[1:26:22] recently here, this MDR16 zone was
really the most dense zone in the city.
[1:26:28] And so, you know, the types of products
that you can put in that, you can put,
[1:26:31] you know, sort of smaller detached
homes. You can do, you know, attached
[1:26:35] town homes like a triplex or a duplex or
a quadplex or you can do apartments. Um
[1:26:41] however now the city also has a
highdensity residential zone which is
[1:26:44] you know intended for you know intended
for apartments and so you know we do
[1:26:50] have the ability and the zoning now for
some you know some more dense products
[1:26:55] um that previously would be you know
sort of fitting into this MDR16 zone.
[1:27:02] » Okay. Well thank you for your comments.
Appreciate it very much.
[1:27:05] » Yeah. Thank you.
>> Hey this is uh Council Member Bole. You
[1:27:09] guys hear me? All right.
>> Yes.
[1:27:14] » Um, so with this new zoning change, is
it going to be a requirement that there
[1:27:19] is a mixed
>> use of
[1:27:23] different styles of houses, town homes,
single family residences, or is it going
[1:27:30] to be just at their own discretion?
So the code already currently requires
[1:27:36] this mix um for projects that exceed 10
acres. So all all we're simply doing is
[1:27:41] changing that threshold where the mix of
product types applies to moving that
[1:27:46] from 10 to 20 acre um size 20 acre or
larger projects.
[1:27:54] » And just kind of shooting from the hip
here. I mean I feel like the spirit of
[1:27:58] the city is kind of less is more. We
want growth, but we want it to be
[1:28:05] consensual to what CIA's,
you know, our history is. And
[1:28:14] how is that going to affect
what we've been trying to do from years
[1:28:19] past?
>> Sure. Well, I I think some of the
[1:28:23] feedback that we've got from developers
is, you know, that they've developed
[1:28:26] under this current code language. um you
know so they have a you know a 10 to 15
[1:28:31] acre project they're putting in you know
generally um you know single family
[1:28:37] detached seems to be you know sort of
what the market is is demanding in L
[1:28:41] center so that they'll do the 75% of
that and then they have to do 25% of
[1:28:45] something else they're generally picking
in an attached like a duplex or triplex
[1:28:49] sort of project and they said they've
been getting a lot of comments you know
[1:28:52] from the public and even from you know
planning commission members of like how
[1:28:56] come you're putting this you know these
town homes here, you know, we'd rather
[1:28:59] just see it be um, you know, more, you
know, detached that sort of fit with the
[1:29:04] rest of the character of the
neighborhood. And, you know, their
[1:29:06] answer is, well, that's what the code
makes us do. Um, so, you know, it's sort
[1:29:10] of that kind of feedback that we've been
receiving that's prompted uh the
[1:29:15] proposals here uh this evening to to
change that threshold and raise it up to
[1:29:19] 20 acres.
Brian, I believe last night at the
[1:29:24] planning commission.
>> I'm sorry.
[1:29:28] » I was just going to say, so does this
kind of like meld us between the current
[1:29:32] MDR16 and the highdensity residential?
Yeah, I mean the probably the result of
[1:29:40] this code change will be that you know
that these you know projects that are
[1:29:44] below 20 acres you know I'm guessing
will be largely
[1:29:50] you know building only detached single
family so you know sort of like you know
[1:29:54] just we have the LDR code uh LDR 7.5 so
those are sort of your larger lots and
[1:29:59] your larger detached homes and then on
the MDR you know on these again 20 acres
[1:30:05] or smaller projects You'll probably see,
you know, smaller detached single family
[1:30:09] homes um as we, you know, continue to,
you know, have um lands come into the
[1:30:16] city in the future, you know, and
there's larger parcels, you know, that
[1:30:19] are over 20 acres, you know, that they
will be required to to continue to do
[1:30:22] this mix. Um and now again, we have that
um highdensity residential zone as well.
[1:30:28] So, um, you know, we'll see more sort of
the apartment sort of product that
[1:30:32] people, you know, had been putting into,
uh, this MDR zone. Um, you know, think
[1:30:37] like on the north side of town there.
Um, you know, that will probably be more
[1:30:41] focused in that high density zone that's
more out towards the junction.
[1:30:50] » Oh, yeah. Thank you.
>> Okay. Uh my question I last night at the
[1:30:56] uh planning commission meeting I believe
Dennis Seal brought up how many 10 to 20
[1:31:02] acre pots in the city limits do we have
that that would be affected by that
[1:31:08] » and I don't remember the answer.
>> Yeah. So I think you know we looked at
[1:31:13] that zoning map last night and I think
the the main area as the zoning map
[1:31:18] currently sits that this would apply to
is the the Timman Landing area.
[1:31:23] um with a portion of that that's zoned
MDR. There is, you know, there's another
[1:31:29] um parcel that's zoned MDR that's in
this size range, but I believe that
[1:31:33] already has a an approved proposal on
it. Um and so this code, you know, there
[1:31:37] wouldn't be vested to this code. They're
vested to the the current 10acre
[1:31:40] threshold and would be required to do
the mix. And then there's a a piece of
[1:31:45] property sort of south of the high
school that I believe it was under the
[1:31:48] current 10acre threshold as well. So
regardless of this code change, they
[1:31:52] would not be required to do a mix of
product types there.
[1:31:58] » Thank you. Thank you.
>> I think to me what this shows is that
[1:32:05] it's really not the city that's driving
the development, right? Somebody has an
[1:32:10] idea. Clearly, they have a piece of
property in mind. It's not the city that
[1:32:15] said, "Hey, there's this piece of
property that you could come and ask for
[1:32:20] a reasonzoning for. Somebody has an
idea." It's not the city that that gets
[1:32:26] to determine whether or not somebody
wants to sell property or or develop
[1:32:30] property. So, um, either way, we're
still going to get blamed for being in
[1:32:36] the developers pockets and looking for,
uh, you know, every every reason in the
[1:32:41] book to add more people to the city to
clog the roads and things like that. So,
[1:32:49] I I think we should just get on with it.
>> Well,
[1:32:53] » let's open the public hearing. And
before I do that, I just council also
[1:32:57] knew that this is stuff that you guys
have talked about in previous meetings,
[1:33:01] right? You guys wanted to do away with
having to have condos and apartments and
[1:33:06] and kind of get back to the single
family dwelling units and this opens
[1:33:10] that back up, right? They're not
required to put a mix small compact kind
[1:33:17] of like the man meadows area.
>> So, this this opens those doors. So,
[1:33:23] » I think this counts as being more
business friendly,
[1:33:27] » doesn't it?
>> Is that what your conclusion?
[1:33:30] » That's what I'm going to say.
>> I love it.
[1:33:34] » Ask reflector to
>> All right. Um, if there's no more
[1:33:39] questions to Brian, I I am going to open
this up. Have any more questions or
[1:33:43] comments?
[1:33:48] » Okay.
At this time, 7:15 p.m., I'd like to
[1:33:52] open up the public hearing. This will uh
public comments. They need to be limited
[1:33:57] to the ordinance 2026-10, please.
[1:34:03] » At this time, is there any public
comments from the audience that would
[1:34:06] like to speak?
[1:34:13] I was waiting for Al.
[1:34:20] Alfella 36016 Northwest Connecticut
Road.
[1:34:25] You know, Casey, you might be right.
That might be considered business
[1:34:29] friendly.
You know, I'm glad you caught. You've
[1:34:34] done your due diligence.
So, good job. So, that's my positive
[1:34:41] thing to say tonight.
[1:34:44] And the museum is open this Saturday
from noon to 4, but I can't say that.
[1:34:50] » Thank you for not saying that, Al. I
appreciate that. Any other public
[1:34:53] comments? Uh, please step up to the
podium.
[1:34:58] » All right. Are there any comments from
those calling in? Please press star six
[1:35:02] to unmute yourself. Please stay to the
limited or limit yourself to the
[1:35:06] ordinance 2026-10.
[1:35:14] Do we have any callers?
>> No callers at this time.
[1:35:17] » Are there any public comments to be
read?
[1:35:20] » No public comments to be
>> No public comments to be read.
[1:35:23] » Okay.
Last chance. Anybody would like to step
[1:35:27] up to speak.
[1:35:31] » Please step up.
[1:35:36] My name is Jim Newell and I'm um at 1518
West Aton Place the Center and uh I'm
[1:35:47] basically
close to that gravel
[1:35:52] walkway or
where you can take dogs and and
[1:35:58] down into the trail.
My concern is I see a lot of kids and I
[1:36:05] know that this is summertime and kids
will be kids, but I'm seeing a lot of um
[1:36:12] kids on the electric bikes, electric
scooters,
[1:36:17] even the big wheels and u go-karts.
That was new last week. um
[1:36:27] they don't have helmets on, you know, so
safety is concern. But one of the things
[1:36:33] that bothered me was
last year there was a posted no electric
[1:36:42] bikes. And I don't know what happened to
the two signs that I was aware of,
[1:36:50] but the beginning of the summer, those
were removed. I don't know if those were
[1:36:57] removed by
the city or if they were removed by
[1:37:03] kids that didn't want to see that or
adults, whatever. But
[1:37:11] safety is concerning.
>> Parents with or kids, I mean, adults
[1:37:18] taking their dogs for a walk. Um, it's
not safe. It really isn't. I've got two
[1:37:25] little ones myself and uh I've seen kids
come ripping down, crossing the bridge,
[1:37:33] and uh
I've got a dog running this way and a
[1:37:37] dog running that way. and barely have
time when they're skidding to a stop to
[1:37:44] get my dogs close at hand. And I just I
worry about that. You know, if there's
[1:37:51] an older older person than I am, can
they get out of the way? And there's
[1:37:57] places that are runners on that gravel
road that get concerned. And so anyway,
[1:38:05] that's that's my concern. Especially
the signs that were there are not there
[1:38:12] because I sit right on the corner and if
I could do something about saying, "Hey,
[1:38:18] listen.
Watch what you're doing." And if there's
[1:38:22] a cop sitting on the corner, he just
sits there and says, "Well, there's
[1:38:26] nothing I can do." So, thank you for
your time and what you're doing.
[1:38:32] » Thank you very much. And the city will
look into that. Appreciate it. Okay. At
[1:38:37] this time, 7:20 p.m. I'd like to close
the public hearing and turn this back
[1:38:41] over to council.
>> Council, any questions, comments, any
[1:38:46] further?
If not, I will take a motion.
[1:38:52] » Mayor, I move to approve ordinance
2026-10
[1:38:56] updating the MDR16 code as presented.
[1:39:04] » I'll second it.
It's been moved and seconded. Clerk, can
[1:39:08] I please get a roll call vote?
>> Council member Ravaro,
[1:39:12] » yes.
>> Council member Casper,
[1:39:14] » yes.
>> Council member Bole,
[1:39:16] » yes.
>> Council member France,
[1:39:20] » yes.
>> Council member Cerebony,
[1:39:22] » yes.
[1:39:25] » Okay, ordinance passes. Thank you,
council.
[1:39:30] » Thank you, Brian. Uh, good job.
Appreciate you staying up late tonight.
[1:39:34] » Thank you.
All right, next up we have the public
[1:39:38] hearing again. Ordinance 2026-09,
the MIR annexation and reszone. This
[1:39:44] Angie Merrill will be presenting. Angie,
>> good evening.
[1:39:51] » Tonight we have the Mir annexation and
um they are requesting to annex
[1:39:56] approximately 10.1 acres into the city
of L Center on May 12th. uh 12th a 10%
[1:40:05] notice of attent intent was accepted by
the city council. The applicant
[1:40:11] submitted a 60% petition on May 13,
2026.
[1:40:17] Perent municipal code 18.290.
It allows for parcels outside the city
[1:40:23] limits to annex into the city of L
center. Um to be eligible for the
[1:40:29] annexation, a property must be
contiguous to the existing city limits
[1:40:33] and within the urban growth boundary.
The project parcels due above the city
[1:40:38] limits to the north. The property to the
east was recently approved for
[1:40:42] annexation. The Larsson property
um and then the property to the west is
[1:40:49] in Clark County. The mirrors are the
mirrors are the property owners and
[1:40:54] they're the full owners of the property.
Thus, they exceed the 60% requirement
[1:40:59] and their parcel is located totally
within the urban growth boundary.
[1:41:04] There's availability for the city of Le
Center utilities to this parcel.
[1:41:10] Um upon annexation, the property will be
zoned LDR 7.5 with an urban holding
[1:41:17] overlay until there's some kind of um
development request if there is any kind
[1:41:24] of development request at a future time.
And um at the hearing last night, the
[1:41:30] planning commission hearing, planning
commission um recommended approval of
[1:41:35] the mirror annexation. And uh staff
recommends to city council opening a
[1:41:41] public hearing to accept public comments
for the proposed annexation.
[1:41:47] » Okay. Thank you, Angie.
>> Um any questions for Angie? Council,
[1:41:53] » I have a question.
Um could you kind of explain a little
[1:41:57] bit more what you mean by residential
density transfer transfer from a
[1:42:04] critical area
uh shall be in accordance to this uh the
[1:42:08] center municipal codes code but so
you're taking a residential density and
[1:42:15] transferring it to or from a a critical
area and I think you know maybe some of
[1:42:21] the people in the audience would like to
know with more what that means. too.
[1:42:26] » So that proposal tonight is this is just
for an annexation. There's no density
[1:42:31] transfer for that. But
>> yes, that has nothing. We're not
[1:42:36] requesting that this evening, is there?
>> Okay, I get it.
[1:42:38] » Okay. Thanks.
>> Thank you.
[1:42:42] » Thank you.
>> Any other questions for Angie?
[1:42:50] Okay. Uh, so at this time 7:24 p.m. I'd
like to open up to public hearing.
[1:42:56] Public comment should be limited to
ordinance 2026-04.
[1:43:00] Are those in the audience please step up
to the podium
[1:43:04] and state your name.
[1:43:10] All right, seeing how there is none, uh,
any callers calling in, please press
[1:43:14] star six to unmute yourself, state your
name, and please stick to the ordinance
[1:43:18] 2026-09.
[1:43:27] No callers, clerk.
>> No callers.
[1:43:29] » Are there any comments to be read?
>> No comments to be read.
[1:43:32] » Okay.
>> Uh at this time, 7:25 p.m. I'd like to
[1:43:36] go ahead and close the public hearing
and turn this back over to council.
[1:43:40] Council, any questions, comments,
conversations?
[1:43:44] If there isn't, I would definitely
entertain a motion.
[1:43:50] Mayor, I move to approve allowing the
owner of parcel number 209692-0000
[1:43:58] to proceed with the annexation process
to bring said property into the list
[1:44:04] under city limits.
[1:44:08] » Second.
>> It's been moved and seconded. Clerk, can
[1:44:12] I please have a roll call vote on this?
>> Council member,
[1:44:15] » yes. Council member Casper,
>> yes.
[1:44:18] » Council member Bole,
>> yes.
[1:44:21] » Council member France,
>> yes.
[1:44:24] » Council member Cerviny,
>> yes.
[1:44:28] » All right, ordinance passes. Thank you,
council. Thank you, everyone. Thank you,
[1:44:31] Angie, for the work into that. I'm sure
there's going to be more to come. Um,
[1:44:37] at that point, uh, we don't have any
unfinished business. Council, we do have
[1:44:41] a new business, uh, to discuss real
quick. Council uh councelor Caspber and
[1:44:48] myself will not be attending next uh
meeting at the end of August will be
[1:44:53] unavailable. Um I have actually asked
councelor Bole to chair the meeting with
[1:45:00] you as a council since it is his last
meeting. I wanted to see if there was
[1:45:04] any objections to that or any concerns
about that.
[1:45:09] » Okay.
>> Councelor, are you with us?
[1:45:14] I am.
>> Are you up to the task?
[1:45:18] » Absolutely. I'd love to.
>> Be your last meeting.
[1:45:22] » I know. I'm sad you guys aren't going to
be there.
[1:45:25] » There are no parties allowed. All right.
>> Oh, well, I will cancel all the
[1:45:31] all the things.
>> All right. Okay. Well, then uh that
[1:45:36] concludes it. Um at this point, I will
uh take a motion for adjournment. So
[1:45:41] moved.
>> So moved. It's been moved and seconded.
[1:45:45] » Uh, yeah. Did I get a second or both of
you guys did that? It's been moved and
[1:45:48] seconded. All those in favor?
>> I I
[1:45:51] » opposed. Abstain. Motion passes.
Meetings adjured. Thank you for
[1:45:56] attending.