For being here, welcome.

We are so happy you are here taking the time and engage in City of Bellevue W.

Your voice does matter to us, and we are glad to hear from you.

City Clerk, are you ready for the roll call?

Thank you.

Mayor Melakutian?

Here.

Deputy Mayor Hamilton.

Here.

Councilmember Barkava.

Here.

Councilmember Breyer.

Here.

Councilmember New Enhouse.

Here.

Councilmember Simidoria.

And Councilmember Robinson will be joining us shortly.

Thank you so much.

Councilmember Bargabov, would you please lead us in the flag?

Salute.

Yes, of course.

Please rise if you can.

Thank you.

We do have a two proclamation.

The first one is Day of Noruz, and Councilmember Breuer would read that.

I will invite Dr.

Afshin Bidari to sit here from Alf Park group, and after she's done, we will hear your comments.

Please come to the table.

Thank you, Mayor.

NODOS, which in Persian means New Day, is an ancestral festivity based on the solar calendar, marking the first day of spring and symbolizing nature's renewal, celebrated on the vernal equinox and in the northern hemisphere.

And whereas NODOs is celebrated as a central secular holiday by more than three million people around the world across a wide uh excuse me across a wide array of ethnic and cultural groups, including but not limited to Avran, Azerbaijani, Baluki, Chechen, Hazara, Kazakh, Kurdish, Kyrgyz, Lezgin, Pashtun, Iranian, Tatar, Tajik, Turkmen, Ur, and Uzbekis people, each bringing unique customs and traditions to this joyful occasion.

And whereas Noro is celebrated through centuries-old tradition symbolizes a time of personal renewal and harmony with nature and an opportunity for families and communities to come together.

And whereas Nodo excuse me, and whereas Bellevue is home to many who celebrate Nodos and who are valued members of our community, making meaningful contributions to our city's cultural diversity, economy, and civic life, and whereas a holiday that reflects on leaving behind the challenges of the past year while embracing the hope for the future.

Thank you, Mayor.

Please, Dr.

Bidari.

Thank you.

Good evening, uh Mayor, Council members, and distinguished guests.

It's truly an honor to accept this proclamation from the city of Bellevue, recognizing Noruz, the Persian New Year.

On behalf of our community, I would like to express my sincere gratitude for this meaningful recognition.

At its heart, Noruz is celebration of renewal of nature, of community, and of hope for the year ahead.

Reflect on the past year and welcome the new one with optimism and gratitude.

This recognition from the city of Bellevue is deeply meaningful.

It affirms that the traditions and cultures we carry with us are valued and respected as part of the diverse and vibrant fabric of this community.

Proclamations like this reminds us that belongings grows when communities make space for recognizing and celebrate one another traditions.

New ruse is also a time that brings people together through cultural gathering, music, poetry, and shared meals.

This celebration has invited everyone to experience the universal message of neuros, renewal, kindness, friendship, and peace.

On behalf of our community and Alifburg group, thank you to the city of Bellevue for honoring Noros and for supporting the cultural diversity that makes this city such a welcoming place for all.

Thank you.

Thank you so much.

Please stay around after the second proclamation, we take a picture with you and everyone else who wants to.

Thank you.

You can go back to your seat and we have the second one.

The second proclamation is the 25th anniversary year of the International Ballet Theatre and Academy.

Councilmember Newenhaus would read that.

I will invite Vera all to Nina, Artistic Director of International Ballet Theatre, please come to join us at the table, and after Councilmember Newenhaus is done, we can hear from you.

Wonderful, I was honored to read this proclamation this evening.

Whereas the International Ballet Theatre and Academy, or IBT was founded 25 years ago with a vision to bring world-class dance education, performance, and cultural enrichment to the east side.

And whereas over those 25 years, IBT has grown into a cornerstone of Bellevue's arts community, nurturing thousands of young dancers and providing high-quality training that inspires discipline, creativity, and confidence.

And whereas through its annual productions, including beloved classics such as The Nutcracker and Dracula, IBT has introduced generations of Bellevue residents to the beauty and power of ballet, enriching the cultural life of our city.

And whereas IBT's commitment to artistic excellence has attracted professional dancers, choreographers, instructors from around the world contributing to Bellevue's reputation as a vibrant center for the performing arts.

And whereas the Academy fosters a welcoming and inclusive environment where students of all backgrounds can explore the art of dance, develop their talents, and build lifelong skills.

Thank you, Councilwoman New and House.

Please go ahead.

Thank you.

Good evening, Council members, distinguished guests and members of our community.

I first would like to say thank you for incredible work you do for our wonderful community and for the city of Bellevue.

Thank you very much.

And I wanted to say special thank you to Councilmember Jared Neuenhouse for this continued support of the art and his belief in the power to strengthen our community.

Thank you.

Today I would like to briefly share a journey that began 25 years ago, one that has deeply interwind my life with this incredible city and the people who live here.

But by my surprise, people came to the open house many more than we expected.

In that moment, I realized something very powerful.

Art is not a luxury.

It is a necessity, especially in times of hardship.

It brings people together through emotions, story, and shared experience in the most beautiful and heartfelt way.

Over the past quarter century, the International Ballet Theater has become a cherished tradition within our community.

Each season at the Maiden Borough Theater, we welcome families from across the east side.

Our annual production of Dracula has become a Halloween called Classic.

While the Nutcracker has delighted deniration of family this past 25 years.

City uh approval of agenda.

Do I have a motion to approve the agenda?

Move to approve the agenda.

Second.

It has been moved by Deputy Mayor and seconded by Councilmember New and House.

All those in favor say aye.

Aye.

Any opposed?

The motion passes.

City Claire, are there any speakers signed up for the oral communication?

Yes, thank you, Mayor.

This evening there are eight pre-registered speakers on our list.

So before I start calling names, I'll go over a few of the rules that the council has in place.

So the total time of oral communications is for a period of not more than 30 minutes, and all topics must relate to City of Bellevue government.

People speaking to items on tonight's agenda will be called first, and then if time remains, people speaking to items not on tonight's agenda will be called.

The presiding officer in both of those categories is authorized to give preference to those who have not spoken to council within the last sixty days, or who will be speaking on topics that will come in front of the council within the next 60 days.

Each speaker is allowed to speak up to three minutes, and only three speakers are allowed to speak to any one side of a particular topic.

And one final reminder that in complaints with Washington state campaign laws regarding the use of public facilities, no speaker may support or oppose a ballot measure, or may support or oppose a candidate for an election, which includes one's own campaign.

If you do begin talking about these topics, we will ask you to stop.

And with that, I'll call our first speaker who's Norm Hansen.

Welcome.

Good evening, uh Mayor and Council members.

Uh I'm here uh for the Bridal Trails Community Club regarding the Evans Plaza application for the comprehensive plan map update.

Can you hear me all right?

If you talk to the live morning, I think everyone can hear you.

Yeah, okay.

Um I'm here for the Evans Plaza application for the comprehensive map plan update.

This could potentially allow for zoning of next use low rise to, which could result in buildings up to eighty-five feet, allowing for seven, eight, and nine stories.

In evaluating the proposal by the bridal trails community club land use group, it was determined that it clearly does not meet the threshold criteria E for significantly changed conditions.

The properties adjacent to the property to the north, south, east, and west, have not changed for many years.

To the south is another sub area, Bell Red, and that's general commercial.

The proposal is also not consistent with threshold criteria G regarding our neighborhood character described in the Brial Trails Sub-area Comprehensive Plan.

Our 3,000 multifamily units already built are also mostly two and three stories.

Already buildings have been demolished in the Bell Red area on the south side of Northeast 20th and Ross Plaza with a loss of neighborhood businesses.

Evans Plaza has been part of and served bridal trails for well over 50 years.

It is currently a thriving neighborhood business.

And I might mention that the Bural Trails Committee Club.

Mr.

Hansen, I'm sorry, your time has expired.

I'd encourage you to email the rest of your comments to Council.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Jesse Clawton.

Welcome.

Thank you.

Mayor, Deputy Mayor, and Council members.

My name is Jesse Clausen, and I'm speaking in support of docketing the Evans Plaza Comprehensive Plan Amendment.

The proposal meets the docketing criteria, including the changed conditions criterion.

Since this comprehensive plan was adopted, city policy has evolved to more clearly encourage mixed-use development and neighborhood centers like this one, particularly in transit accessible locations that support walkability, housing choice, and efficient land use.

That policy shift is a meaningful changed condition that warrants further study.

This request is also appropriately limited in scope.

It does not propose redesignating the entire Pineview Neighborhood Center.

Rather, it seeks to include a single property, the Evans Center, Evans Plaza, as eligible for mixed use consideration.

Given its close proximity to LightRail, this site is well positioned to provide future flexibility and optionality consistent with the city's long-term growth strategy.

We agree with the Planning Commission's and staff's recommendation that this amendment be docketed.

Docketing allows the city to carefully study the proposal and evaluate potential future impacts, including height bulk and scale, neighborhood character, traffic, and compatibility with surrounding development.

It does not predetermine zoning or development outcomes.

It simply enables future study and thoughtful data-driven analysis.

This site also represents a strong opportunity for future housing and any specific zoning decisions can be addressed through subsequent processes.

For these reasons, this proposal is well suited for inclusion on the docket for future study, and I respectfully urge the council to include it.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Tim Mott.

Even City Council, Mayor, and our incredible city staff.

I'm here to share tonight some exciting updates from the Boys and Girls Club of Bellevue.

My name is Tim Motz.

I've had the pleasure to be the president and CEO for the past seven years.

See many friends up here and to my side.

So on behalf of the Boys and Girls Club staff team and the incredible team over at the Bellevue School District, led by Dr.

Kelly Aramaki, John Harrison, Kelly Taylor, and so many others.

Starting next school year, the Boys and Girls Club will be expanding into every single elementary school in the Bellevue School District as well as every preschool location.

So for context for you all, that's an additional six elementary school sites, and we'll be going from one preschool to 14 next year as working families in Bellevue continue to have need in the child care space.

As we expand to serve every single elementary school, I want to emphasize that this growth is rooted in partnership around quality, access, and most importantly, equity.

We are working closely with the district leadership to ensure each preschool site is fully licensed, appropriately staffed, and aligned with school communities.

A girl is not to grow simply, but to grow responsibly with high standards, safety protocols, and staff training that families expect from the Boys and Girls Club of Bellevue.

And that's what we've been doing year after year with the 18,000 youth that we currently serve.

We are also committed to access in ways around financial assistance and inclusive programming.

It's been often shared that we provided over $2 million in scholarships this past year.

We plan to expand those services next year and also ensure that licensing funds are be able to be secured for Bellevue's families as well, which becomes absolutely critical.

And we're working closely with board member Tonascent to make sure that's a reality through DCYF as well.

We often talk about child care deserts in the state of Washington, and that's been discussed a lot in Olympia this past week.

We want to make sure that no such deserts exist in Bellevue, and we'll continue to work to close that gap, especially for our families that are millennials who report nine in ten families.

Millennials report that child care is the number one cost that they have in their homes beyond even their housing.

I want to stress the fact that we work through the working connections child care program and any other statewide initiative to ensure that families in Bellevue get the same resources that every other resident in what in Washington does.

Childcare is obviously essential infrastructure for working families and healthy communities.

As Washington lawmakers finalize the budget, maintaining strong investments in programs like the WCCC and Youth Development Services will help to ensure that children have safe spaces to learn and grow while parents work.

Our club is committed to work with you all, the city, the city council, uh, for the committed support of our organization for all the ways that we can help working families in Bellevue, and we know we can accomplish that with your partnership and ours.

Thank you all very, very much.

Thank you all.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Nariko Fujita.

My name is Noriko.

I'm here to address my concerns about the forthcoming safe parking program.

It's very hard for me to speak spontaneously due to my old age in a limited time allowed.

So I prepared the following statement ahead of time, which I would like to read out to you.

I live right next to the church parking lot, and I feel I'm the most affected by this project.

I've observed and experienced numerous unpleasant incidents each year.

Most homeless people don't follow or care about common rules, such as uh keeping their pets on the leash, don't pick up their feces, dump cat litter on the church's green area, intrude into my fenced premises looking for their pets, even ask for my help.

I was informed by my neighbor that someone came into my backyard with a flashlight in the middle of night.

They throw trash around.

I'm the one who ends up picking them up.

Wouldn't it bother you?

It happens almost every day.

Two years ago, there was a woman who occupied the entire area of the church kitchen door.

She made an enclosure around her van.

She connected the cord to get electricity from building to use a computer, fan, TV, et cetera.

She also connected a host to get the water to shower and do the laundry.

She washed her car every so often.

One day, she neglected neglected to close the water faucet.

Water ran throughout day and night until it's discovered by a church member the next day.

This cost the church to pay $4,500 water bill that summer.

I've heard some loud arguments between homeless people or even with passers by.

This was quite a disturbance to me.

I feel the residents will have difficulty distinguishing those who live in the parking lot from suspicious outsiders.

As you can see, I've been tolerating these unpleasant happenings for some time.

But 20 families moving into the site is absolutely out of question.

I'm very concerned and distressed by the intrusion and disrespect to my privacy.

And now fear even more for my safety with the increase in the homeless population in my neighborhood.

I have little confidence that the church will be able to do something to manage or address these issues, as they haven't been able not to do so far.

I'm extremely unhappy and disappointed if this project goes forward in the near future.

Thank you.

The next speaker.

The next speaker on our list is David Spaniard.

Welcome.

Good evening, Mayor and uh council members.

Thank you for the opportunity to address you.

My name is Dave Spanier, and I live in the uh Newport, or I live adjacent to the Newport Presbyterian Church in Greenwich Crest.

And I'm here just to raise a concern about this uh forthcoming safe parking program.

I'd like to briefly speak about site compatibility and infrastructure considerations related to the proposed safe parking program.

Our neighborhood is a small residential area with several physical constraints that are important to consider when evaluating whether this location is appropriate for a program of this scale.

First, our neighborhood has a single street for entrance and exit.

This creates potential challenges for traffic traffic flow, emergency response access, and evacuation during an incident.

Current parking from the three Sunday services overflows onto adjacent streets, resulting in blockages such that only one car may d drive down the street at a time.

Emergency and friar crews would not be able to pass.

The addition of up to 20 safe parkers in the lot would only exacerbate this problem.

Second, the surrounding streets have very limited pedestrian infrastructure.

Many areas do not have sidewalks.

Children in our neighborhood walk along these streets daily to reach the school bus stops at the bottom of the hill, often before sunrise, with sparsely placed street lights.

Any increase in vehicle movement or unfamiliar traffic patterns raises legitimate pedestrian safety considerations that deserve careful evaluation.

Homes are located immediately adjacent to the church property with essentially no buffering between the proposed parking area and residential yards.

Mrs.

Fujita, whom you've already heard from, is but one resident who has had difficulties even with the current much smaller program.

From what we understand, the new program may involve up to 20 vehicles, potentially representing 60 or more individuals.

Programs serving vulnerable families deserve locations where infrastructure, safety planning, and operational supports are clearly aligned with that with that scale.

We also understand that safety planning is still being developed.

At this time, it's unclear whether there will be professional 24-hour security on site, how incidents would be managed overnight, and how communication with nearby residents would occur if concerns arise.

Equally important is clarity around accountability.

If something goes wrong, who holds operational responsibility?

Clear governance frameworks are essential for both participant safety and community confidence.

Thank you for your time.

Thank you.

Thank you.

The next speaker.

The next speaker is Charles Wong.

Council members.

We want to reiterate that we share the city's goal of helping families in need, but the goal, how it's implemented, matters just as much as the goal itself.

When the city first engaged our neighborhood on February 25th, a city representative informed us that the permit was mostly finalized before any meaningful communication with the community has taken place.

Our questions, concerns, firsthand experiences felt like an afterthought.

It was only through tremendous effort by the residents in the following days that we learned that the two temporary land use permits are actually still under review.

Our concern is not about the mission of the program, but whether the specific site has been fully evaluated and the stranding community has had meaningful engagement before decisions move forward.

A program like this depends on a community around it.

You can place a program in the middle of a compact and close neighborhood and expect it to succeed without the people who live there.

We are not your adversaries.

We are stakeholders.

And our impact shouldn't be treated as an afterthought.

My neighbors tonight have shared what this site looks like and some negative experiences that we live through.

None of that had a formal channel to be heard, mainly because the permitting pathway doesn't allow for it.

Our request tonight again is simple.

We respectfully ask the councils to re support a pause and the permitting reviews until our structured community engagement process has taken place.

Taking the time to get the right site and the right safeguards in place will ultimately strengthen the program and increase its chances of long-term success.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Now we are at the report of the city manager.

We're not done yet.

Sorry.

Sorry.

You're good.

Okay, our final speaker uh is Tim Hay, but I will call out that that was our third and final speaker we'll be able to hear in opposition or sharing concern regarding the newport uh Presbyterian church parking issue.

Mr.

Hay.

Thank you.

Sure.

Team, your time is moving fast.

Do you want to do it to sort?

Yeah.

I didn't know what it started.

It is time to revamp how the city uses the word stakeholder.

Our city's planning staff seems to have restricted their use of the word stakeholder to include only property owners, developers, and professionals.

But then the staff expanded that grouping to include members of these 14 community globe community groups upon which the staff relies for both professional ideas and social discourse.

These groups were formed to advocate for high density housing by using these literal community groups who are mostly from Seattle.

In spite of the many requests from the neighborhoods to be included in the very early discussions of new planning for land uses.

Seeing the access to the city's early-on discussions involving land use by these groups, some residents are wondering if the neighborhood community groups shouldn't be afforded some equal protections.

So here's our ask.

Okay.

I'm getting to the point that your police department concealed child forensic interviews and evidence from the prosecutor's office and are still concealing it.

When we go to number two, out of order, Lieutenant Quiggle of the Bell or the Kirkland Police Department investigated a situation at Juanita Beach involving those same person perpetrators from the same case number.

You'll see that it says, speaking with Detective Alexander Slesser of the Bellevue Police Department.

Your police department hid uh perpetrators and leads in their QTEL system and falsely sent out case notes saying there were no leads and suspects, not just to other police departments, but to the prosecutor's office.

So there were several incidents in Seattle on Aurora, and there were incidents in an abandoned safeway parking lot down the street from children's.

We need to have a conversation about the criminal concealment of child sex trafficking of your officers.

And we need to have a conversation about you inviting another jurisdiction to investigate what happened in this case because February 10th, 2026, if you look at the date, 23, we are three years into your officers still concealing child sex traffickers, including October 2nd, 2025 at Newcastle Beach Park.

So when I asked for a meeting, I actually meant it because I actually expect you to give the jurisdiction to King County uh Sheriff's Office, uh Washington State Patrol or the FBI for the criminal actions of your officers that have been proven so far by prosecutor Jimmy Hung confirming nothing to that.

That is the end of your time.

We do still have a few minutes remaining of oral communications.

So at this point, I'd ask if there's anyone else joining us this evening who would like to make a comment.

Please raise your hand.

I see you, Miss Myers.

I just want to do a reminder that it cannot be regarding the safe parking program.

Okay, thank you.

Welcome.

Thank you so much.

Um I just wanted to talk about a couple different things related to some of the upzoning that seems likely in the city.

First of all, I do think the question of changed conditions is not met for Evans Plaza.

But when we consider the rest of Pine View, um, if we allow this, it will mean that there will be change conditions for that done the Dun Lumber site can point to.

Uh, and some of the other businesses in the area may be affected as well.

Um, when you think about the amount of additional height, it is a lot of housing capacity, but I think as a city, we should look at all the ways that upzoning is happening and consider whether we really need that.

Um, I'm also concerned about the HOMA approvals.

Um, it's very concerning to me that neighbors, especially near the neighborhood centers, haven't been informed that they may lose the small businesses they depend on.

Uh I also don't think the immediate neighbors um have received an explanation about the impacts, such as setback changes that could affect how much their properties are affected.

Um, and I really believe the community should participate in a process of deciding which amenities justify an increase of height.

People may want space for small businesses, continued access to groceries and child care space and so forth, and the community should be contributing to that discussion about what's important at each location.

Um I also think it puts our grocery stores at risk.

Um so once the HOMA upzoning Bellview is working on takes effect, the QFC in Northtown, the S.

Martin Newport Hills seem likely to be redeveloped because the allowable building heights there are being tripled to 60 feet.

Um in Crossroads, the Indian Metro Hypermarket, and the grocery outlet could be redeveloped to 10 stories.

The Walmart by 150th could be replaced by eight stories, the TNT supermarket and Target and Factoria and the former Amazon Fresh could be replaced by uh mix of 16 and 10 stories.

Um the QFC there could be replaced by five stories, um, the Southgate Oriental Grocery by 10 stories, um, Eastgate Plazas, Safeway, QFC, the extra mile, the Jackson's food store there can be replaced by 10-story buildings.

IFB Market by the Lake Hills Library could be replaced by eight stories, and that is a lot of pressure to put on these sites towards redevelopment.

And I think as a community, we need to have more guarantees that we will have access to food and we won't become food deserts in the future.

I hope as you move forward with the HOMA process that you'll give careful consideration to that.

I know there were some potential sweeteners that were considered that maybe the planning commission decided not to go with.

I'm not sure what is tailored to what we actually need, but I know many of you have the planning experience to take a really close look at what we need to maintain grocery access for the residents of Bellevue.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

I don't believe I saw any additional hands.

Uh Mayor, I will turn it back to you.

Thank you so much.

Uh, and thank you for all of the comments.

We appreciate you all.

Now our city manager.

Any report for us?

Thank you, Mayor.

Uh Deputy Mayor and Council members.

Yes.

Uh this evening I wanted to call out uh an item on the consent calendar just to highlight that we are bringing um two agreements related to development for mixed use affordable housing project on a city-owned land in uh Wilburton.

Uh this is resolution 10590.

Um we are expecting to that this development will bring a hundred and approximately 127 units, um, 40 percent, which will be family sized.

Um, and these agreements follow a request for uh proposals that process that we issued last year.

Uh we were looking for city development partners or department development partners to work with the city on the land.

Um Bellwether Housing was selected as a partner um in this case out of 10 applicants, and the consent calendar item tonight that we're seeking approval for would approve the execution of pre-development agreement and a future ground lease agreement, and that sets the stage for Bellwether to seek their land use process and proceed with the development on that property.

We do look forward to providing council with updates as the project um furthers itself.

So thank you.

Thank you for the opt-it.

Uh do I have the motion to approve the consent calendar?

I move to approve the consent calendar.

Second.

It has been moved uh by deputy mayor and seconded by councilmember new and house.

Any discussion?

All those in favor say aye.

Aye.

Any opposed?

No one.

The motion passes.

We have our public hearing.

Uh Council.

Uh, can you please introduce that?

Uh, our city manager.

Yes, uh, thank you, Mayor.

Council.

Um, this is a somewhat routine uh public hearing to solicit input on proposed release of an existing utility easement located in the plat of the Maryhill edition, which happens to be um near downtown.

Um, Jamie Robinson, our assistant director in finance and asset management, is here tonight to review the specific uh property and the proposed easement uh prior to the public hearing and seeking your approval post-public hearing.

Jamie.

Our staff report this evening is on a request to release a utility easement on the parcel located at 11040 Main Street.

On February 10th, council declared the utility easement as surplus to the city's needs and set today as the date for the public hearing.

The purpose of tonight's hearing is to allow the public an opportunity to comment on this release.

The property is located on Main Street between 110th and 112th Avenues, directly across the street from Main Street Park and less than two blocks from the east main light rail station.

The property owner is redeveloping the site into a 350-unit residential building with a mix of market rate and affordable units.

Shown outlined in red, the easement was reserved for the benefit of the city in the original 1955 plat.

However, no utilities were ever installed.

The developer is pursuing modifications to the plat, which is necessitating the release of the utility easement.

The easement does cross into the adjacent property owner, which is owned by a church, and the church has agreed in writing and on file to the release as well.

Following the public hearing, staff requests council action on the proposed resolution authorizing the release of the utility easement.

And this ends our staff report.

We'll be available to answer any questions.

Thank you so much.

So we opened the public hearing.

Do I have do I have a motion to open the public hearing?

I move to open the public hearing.

Second.

It's been moved by deputy mayor and seconded by councilman new in house.

Any discussion?

All in favor say aye.

No opposed.

The motion passes.

At this point, uh there are no pre-registered speakers for the public hearing.

So I would do a call out for those joining us in the audience and then those online as well.

If you would like to make a comment during this public hearing, please raise your hand.

Okay, there are no hands, Mayor.

I'll turn it back to you.

Do I have a motion, please, or foreclosing the public hearing?

I move to close the public hearing.

It has been moved by the deputy mayor and seconded by Councilman House.

Any discussion.

All those in favor say aye.

Aye.

There is no opposed.

The motion passes.

Any discussion.

Councilmember Smodaverio, any anything to say about this?

No.

Otherwise, we move to the actual uh motion.

No, I don't have anything to say.

Thank you.

Please.

I move to adopt resolution 10591 authorizing the execution of documents necessary to release an existing utility easement located in the plant of Maryhill addition that has been declared surplus to the city's needs and is no longer required for providing utility service.

It's it's been moved by deputy mayor and seconded by councilwoman new house.

Any discussion.

All those in favor say aye.

Aye.

There's no opposed.

The motion passes.

Thank you so much.

We are very efficient, and we are going to move to our first study session.

Our city manager would be able to do that.

Thank you, Mayor.

Deputy Mayor and Council.

The first study session is to have you consider the annual comprehensive plan amendment work program.

Under the Growth Management Act, as you may know, the city can amend the comprehensive plan just once per year.

Council has already initiated two amendments this year, updates to the Eastgate and Factorian Neighborhood Plans through the Great Neighborhoods Program in August 2025.

And tonight, Council has the opportunity to consider two additional potential amendments to the work program based on the threshold review.

The first is transportation conformance, which became necessary when the council updated the mobility implementation plan.

And then the second is a privately initiated amendment for Evans Plaza.

So joining tonight, we have from our staff of community development department, Tara Johnson, the planning director, and then Kate Nessie, your comprehensive planning manager, and from the planning commission, Vice Chair Johnny Liu.

And with that, I will hand it over to Tara.

Thank you, City Manager Carlson.

Good evening, Mayor, Deputy Mayor, Council members.

So tonight we're bringing forward two comprehensive plan amendments for your consideration in order to add to our 2026 work program.

As uh City Manager Carlson mentioned, you've already initiated work on both the Eastgate and Factoria comprehensive plan updates uh to update the neighborhood area plans, and you'll be receiving a written update on those plans actually at your next meeting.

Um so tonight we have uh we're requesting council to consider providing uh direction for staff to add these two amendments to our 2026 work program, and we'll be describing both of those in detail.

The first is the Transportation Conformance CPA, and then secondly is the Evans Plaza CPA, which is privately initiated.

So we'll start off and I'll start off and provide an overview on our annual comprehensive plan amendment process.

Uh we'll go into more detail and describe the scope for each of the amendments.

So first we'll cover the transportation conformance CPA.

We'll pause, um, ask for council direction, and then we'll move forward uh on and describe the Evans Plaza CPA as well as the planning commission's recommendation.

So to provide a little bit of context, um the under the Growth Management Act, uh, we're allowed to amend the comprehensive plan just once per year.

In Bellevue under our land use code, um, it stipulates that we have a two-part process for amending the comprehensive plan uh annually.

Uh CPAs are considered by the planning commission, and then um they return to council at the end of the year um to really look at all the comprehensive plan amendments, so that will include the great neighborhood's work as well as anything that's been added to our 2026 annual work program.

The city, however, can initiate a CPA at any point in time.

Um, and council has already initiated two CPAs as we know.

Once council initiates a CPA, it goes directly to the final review step of the two-step process.

For privately initiated CPAs, however, the city has to consider whether to add it to the work plan.

And this process is called a threshold review process.

There's also a deadline tied to that, which is September 15th of the prior year.

And so as part of this year's cycle, we received one application, which is the Evans Plaza request.

At this current stage, the proposal is not evaluated on its merits.

So we're simply reviewing it to see if it meets the threshold review criteria under the land use code.

Really, we're evaluating it to see if we should if it should be included in our annual work program.

If it moves forward through the threshold review, then the planning commission evaluates it based on the criteria and the code and then makes a recommendation to council, which is why we're here tonight.

And then council will review the commission's recommendation and the merits of the change and then makes a decision whether to incorporate it as part of our annual work program.

So with that, I'm going to turn things over to Kate.

She's gonna uh walk through some of the components of the transportation conformance CPA.

So the first CPA is a city-initiated CPA.

Um last year uh council amended the mobility implementation plan, creating level of service standards for pedestrians.

This made the pedestrian and bicycle plan obsolete.

Um the proposed amendment would update references to the pedestrian and bicycle plan and change those to the mobility implementation plan and conform to the structure and standards that um council has uh set up in the MIP.

There's no policy changes proposed as part of this CPA.

It's really focused on ensuring all of our plans reflect the same process and standards.

So first we're asking council to provide direction to add the transportation, whether to add the transportation conformance CPA to our annual 2026 work program.

The next oh, the second comprehensive plan amendment tonight for your consideration.

Are we pausing?

Uh apologies, Mayor.

Would you like us to pause before we move to Evans Plaza?

Would you like to do that?

Let's just talk about this, make a motion, approve that, then we move to the other one.

That's a good place to do that.

Great.

Um, great.

Any thank you for the first one.

Any discussion?

Uh raise your hand if you want to talk.

I am not going through each of you.

Uh Councilmember Samadivaria, uh, raised your hand or Viva dos if you want to talk.

Okay, great.

Uh so then can we have the first motion, please?

I move to direct staff to add the transportation conformance CPA to the 2026 annual comprehensive plan amendment work program.

Second.

It has been moved by Deputy Mayer and seconded by Council Member Breyer.

Any discussion.

All those in favor say aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Any opposed?

The motion passes.

We move to the next one.

Thank you.

Thank you, Mayor.

Um, the second amendment for your consideration to incorporate in within our 2026 work program is the Evans Plaza.

Um it's privately initiated proposal, and we're going to go into more detail.

It's a site-specific request from a property owner to change the future land use map in the comprehensive plan.

That I'm going to turn things over to Kate to walk us through the criteria and the scope.

Uh so according to Belleview's land use code, privately initiated CPAs have a two-step process, as Tara talked about a few slides ago.

The first step is to consider basically whether the CPA should be part of the city's work program and should be analyzed and considered on its merit.

The code lays out five criteria for including the proposal in the work program, which you can see above.

Planning commission reviewed the proposal against these criteria and determined that the proposal meets them.

The proposal from the property owner of Evans Plaza is to change the future land use from general commercial to low rise to mixed use.

The current zoning on this parcel is also called general commercial.

And that zone allows for the style of development that is currently there, single story commercial development.

I want to note that the HOMA land use code amendment is creating the zone that would fall under low rise to mixed use.

It doesn't currently exist.

There's no zone.

Neighborhood centers are areas that have been identified in the comprehensive plan as places to focus future growth at a neighborhood scale in the city.

They're meant to be mixed use centers where people in the neighborhood can meet their everyday needs as well as having more dense housing.

The Evans Plaza site is about 10 acres, and it's primarily single story retail.

The planning commission recommended to include that corner parcel highlighted in Lime Green.

And that corner parcel is a gas station that's owned by 7 Eleven.

So that the entire block can be considered together.

And there is also an entrance to the 520 bike trail at the southwest corner of the site.

The parcel is to the west that looks kind of wooded, is owned by PSE and is undeveloped.

And otherwise it's surrounded by commercial parcels.

The site, including 7-Eleven is currently a future land use of general commercial.

The parcels to the east also that I think it was noted that's Dun Lumber over there.

Um have general commercial as their future land use designation as well.

The parcels to the west and north are currently low-rise office mixed use, and they are zoned for office.

Under HOMA office will allow for the development of housing if if they were to redevelop.

Staff is engaged with the community in a variety of ways so far, and if this moves to final review, we anticipate further engagement with the community.

They all get a postcard in the mail.

And people who have commented on the proposal are also considered parties of record.

Everyone who commented at the public hearing held by the planning commission is now considered a party of record, and others can become parties of record by sending comments to the city or just saying, please add me as a party of record.

And there will be additional study sessions and a public hearing for the CPA if it moves to the final review.

Sounds good.

Mayor Malicutian, Deputy Mayor Hamilton, Council members, it's great to see you all.

Happy to be here to represent the planning commission and to talk a little bit about our context and some of the discussions that we had.

As you can kind of tell from earlier, this was a very criteria-driven uh conversation that we had.

We really focused on, I'd say two aspects of it.

One was the geographic scope, so that little apparently I'm colorblind because I thought that was yellow, but that lime green uh box that was shown up there.

That was the first part of our discussion.

The second one was really uh what they mentioned before already, which is does this pass the threshold for adding it into the staff plan to evaluate for later uh discussion and analysis?

So, you know, not really on the merits of the actual application, but on whether or not it passes the threshold.

Um I'm proud to say our commission had a really robust discussion.

I think we covered both ends of the spectrum, and I'd say I'm kind of proud to say uh we didn't all agree, and I think that really kind of showcases how we went kind of both ends on both the geographic scope as well as the threshold review.

And so our uh our conversations really covered all that, and at the end, the majority decided or we recommend that it does pass threshold review to add to the staff packet and to kind of take a deeper dive into what exactly is being proposed here.

Uh so you know, happy to answer any questions about the discussion that we had.

Thanks all for listening.

I'll turn it back to staff.

Um so thank you, council.

Um, we're now seeking direction from from you on the Evans Plaza CPA best based on the threshold review criteria.

Um, and of course, if council accepts the planning commission's recommendation, then the CPA will pass the final review.

Staff will be doing additional uh much more detailed additional analysis and discussion with the planning commission as we've described uh through both study sessions as well as a public hearing and then recommendation.

Thank you so much, Tara Katie, Emil and the whole team.

Thank you, Voice Chair, and thank the planning commission for all of the effort that they do for all of these very uh complex topic.

Uh again, raise your hand if you have any question.

Councilwoman Newenhouse, please.

Thank you, Mayor.

Uh first okay, Tara.

Thank you for representing the planning commission so so well, uh, Johnny tonight.

I appreciate it, and for all the great work that they do.

Just a couple of quick questions that I had.

Um first, I would be interested in knowing a little bit about the conversation that happened on the planning commission.

What was the vote as well?

And what were some of the themes in terms of pro work on?

Yeah, the uh it was a five to two vote on it.

Um I think a lot of the themes that we discussed were have there been enough conditions to justify taking a deeper look.

I think also a lot of it was clarification on are we actually talking about the merits of the application itself, or are we talking about should we study this more to see what the different options are?

I think ultimately where we landed was uh or where the conversation and a hearing was we would like to see more options.

It's not necessarily what's presented in front of us, but I think it's worth adding to the work plan.

We thought it was worth adding to the work plan to say, you know, here's a couple different possibilities.

Um, you know, and there's also the decision to not go with it.

But I think it's uh our conversation ended up decided is going towards the direction of might be a disservice to not do an evaluation of uh whether or not this could be a good idea.

Um I think I'll that's what I anything else from you guys I don't want to remember.

Um we we can go into more detail, but the bulk of the conversation was as uh Vice Chair Lewis described um on the geographic scope as well as the significantly changed conditions, whether it met that criteria.

So the commission spent a great deal of time evaluating that piece uh and then also distinguishing um whether we're evaluating the merits of the actual application versus versus including it in the work program.

So talk to me a little bit about the significant change conditions.

Uh it was interesting to hear some different perspectives on that uh during oral communications and some of the emails that I've seen and the conversations I've had.

You know, uh is it so loosely defined that it could basically apply anywhere?

Or in this case, does it still meet this threshold review um exercise?

Can you just walk me through that?

And and to be clear, um this criteria.

So does all eight have to match, or okay, so it is all eight.

Okay, thank you.

Except for the last one, is just if it's required by state.

We just thank you.

So can I get this uh uh clarification on on the definition?

Yes, Kate, do you want to significantly change conditions?

Yeah, so um uh as you recall, you updated the comprehensive plan in 2024.

Um part of the update to that plan was establishing neighborhood centers, um, which are um areas to focus more um mixed use development, so more residential as well as commercial.

This is reflected not only in the narrative, but also in the policies.

However, the council took a very light touch to the future land use map when updating the comprehensive plan as far as the neighborhood centers were were concerned.

There were a couple of changes in some of the neighborhood centers, but in general, the update to those neighborhood centers was sort of part of the update to the neighborhood area plans.

Although it will be updated sometime in the next 10 years, it's not currently on the schedule.

And so it's not part of our work plan, but there is a discrepancy between what the policy says in the comprehensive plan and what is reflected on the uh on the map.

Yeah.

Okay.

And then lastly, uh just on outreach.

So there was two notices.

500 feet.

Did we directly notify the bridal trails neighborhood association that is directly impacted by this?

Yes, we did.

We did.

And staff also attended their community meeting as well.

And I believe did a follow-up conversation with them.

And we've um we've offered to do future future touch points with them as well as needed.

Great.

Thank you.

Thank you so much, Councilmember Newhouse, and thank you for your responses.

Okay, thank you.

Um welcome by the Yeah, thank you.

Sorry, it was late.

Um so just to clarify, this direction would give staff an opportunity to do a deeper dive on how best they might let this site develop.

That's accurate.

Yes.

Okay.

So how many, and I want to talk about, and I don't know if you have the answer to this, but um, how many vacancies do we have in that shopping center right now?

I it is a very well-used shopping center.

Uh I've been to a couple of the restaurants.

Um there's a grocery store, uh, like a chef store, um, like a restaurant supply, I guess I should say.

It's a very well-used shopping center.

I would be surprised if there's any vacancy.

Yeah, me too.

Okay, so does HOMA have a program to help retain those businesses if they was to develop?

Part of the uh one of the incentives under HOMA um is uh the um the affordable business space.

Um so if it were to redevelop, that is an option that they could use.

Um we also have an economic development team that works with small businesses, um, well, all businesses, um, but particularly on finding space and um relocation.

Um so uh um yeah, anything you want to add, Tara?

I believe the recently adopted economic development strategic plan also has actions in there to that addresses how our economic development team works with businesses.

It kind of alludes to it, but doesn't show actual action items, and this is something we talked about at our retreat that we want to see.

And so I think that um that's gonna be a big part of exploring the best way to utilize this property is how we can retain some of those valued businesses.

So um I don't know if that can be added to the direction, but and I don't know how my colleagues feel that I would sure like to include that in the package of evaluating how best to um look to allow the site to do reach its full potential.

Yeah, that is absolutely something that staff will be looking at and evaluating um as part of our more in-depth analysis should should this advance to final review.

Okay, thank you.

Thank you.

Councilmember Bargoval.

Yeah, I had um set of questions on significantly changed conditions, which actually Councilmember Newenhouse's question, some of that was answered, but I still have a couple of clarifying questions.

But I do want to respond a little bit to Councilmember Robinson's question a little bit.

This is more procedural for me, and I'd love to get some guidance.

The motion we have in front of us today to consider is about the threshold review for inclusion into the work plan.

The details of what that work plan will include for this site or others.

Is that typically part of our scope for this motion or would it be outside?

I'm not totally clear.

Let me just tell me if you don't uh the question is clear or not.

I can go into further question.

I believe the question is clear.

Okay.

Um the threshold uh threshold review process has the criteria we we just um displayed on the on one of the slides.

And then the final review set of criteria uh final review process also has a discrete set of criteria, and so it's alignment with comprehensive plan policies, the goals under GMA, pretty broad, and so there's definite opportunity for us to be evaluating.

Does it align with all our comprehensive plan policies?

Maybe it's worth going back to that slide that shows the eight criteria.

Would you like to see the criteria?

That would be great.

Yeah, please bring it back to this actually the the to answer the council members' question is the um the wall versus threshold review, final review, and then council.

Because I think that's that'll show the different touch points that we have.

Yeah.

So we're we're at step one right now, and then it'll come back.

I want to ask one more clarifying question on top of that.

So the idea of what goes in, what the appropriate zoning is, and what strategies or tactics need to be part of what gets approved in the next set of reviews in terms of alignment for the economic development plan, align alignment with the comprehensive plan, are all factors that are going to be considered at that stage.

And that is sort of part of the process as I understand it at least.

That's accurate.

Yeah, that would be evaluated as part of the final review process.

Okay, that's helpful.

I got my answer.

Um two other really quick questions.

Um significantly changed conditions and the geographic scope.

Um the geographic scope first.

Did you consider anything beyond that footprint of that particular block that has very similar land uses and they may have the same discrepancies with the comprehensive plan intent?

And how did you establish that boundary and not anything beyond that?

Yeah, we we definitely discussed uh expanding it to that area east.

Can you bring the map, please?

Yeah, east of the uh of the kind of designated area.

Now, this is also one that I think there was some quite a bit of discussion within the commission on.

We ultimately decided that if the uh I think there's one of the criteria that says the minimum necessary amount to make this change, and we felt that uh expanding it just to the little parcel there to make it a complete kind of overall parcel made more sense in expanding it beyond that just because we don't know the impacts of having it on the area across the street on the east side of it.

So we definitely did discuss that um and we ultimately you know came down to a majority of let's keep it within this as the minimum necessary.

And to expand on that um regarding the land use code and the way and sort of the reason that people can bring forward um uh comprehensive plan amendments is because there isn't we don't have in our work plan at the moment uh something to address their concern, and so this allows the property owner to address their concern.

Um if we had a you know, if we were uh considering the bridal trails neighborhood area plan, we would consider it as part of that uh neighborhood area plan update.

But um, since we don't have that on our work plan for at least a few years, um this is allowing them uh to come to the city and say, please consider my particular parcel.

Yeah, so that that's really helpful clarification.

And the only thing I'll just state is my understanding of what you're saying is also that part of the discussion for just that little geographic scope increase and not beyond that is this is a privately initiated CPA coming from that specific landowner and not a larger neighborhood area plan, and that is why it's sort of the way it is.

Is that fair?

Exactly.

Thank you.

Thank you so much.

Please, Councilmember Breyer.

Thank you, Mayor.

Um Thank you so much for the thorough work conducted.

Um I have a clarifying question.

So this does not trigger zoning changes immediately to Pineview and other nearby areas.

I think it was slide maybe nine or twelve that I discussed that.

Or we're on twelve, right?

Yeah.

Yeah, that that that was unclear to me.

That's accurate.

So there's a multi-step process for zoning to change.

And then should it advance uh or should it move forward and council provides uh takes action to amend the the land use change?

That would be the first step.

And then the next step would be a zoning change.

So the applicant would have to come in and apply for a rezone.

Okay.

Uh perhaps this is a more ambitious question, or maybe I'm getting ahead of myself.

But do you think this decision would scale um or set some precedents for presidents for the new precedent, excuse me, for the nearby areas at all?

It could.

Okay.

And that's something we would be evaluating as part of the final review process.

Um but we have not done that at this point.

Okay.

I'd like to second what Councilmember Robinson brought up about uh the retention of small businesses.

We do have some uh areas that allude to this in the economic development plan, but I'd really like to see some concrete guarantees, I guess, for lack of eloquence.

I'm really worried about um some of the resident concerns surrounding small business retention and and you know, businesses that have served uh residents there for for decades now.

Um I'm also worried about uh better for worse, uh the neighborhood character there.

Um I've heard a lot in support and in opposition to this.

So what I'd like to do is um direct staff to include this in the work plan so we can understand if this really does uh meet the criteria that it's set out and uh understand the impacts of this and how those uh uh would impact our residents as well.

Thank you, Mayor.

Thank you so much.

Uh Councilmember Smotaveria, I see your virtual hand up.

Thank you, Mayor.

Um I I I love the um small business um displacement prevention on there and also the protecting the neighborhood.

So I live really close to that neighborhood.

Um, one thing I just want to, by the way, thank you for this presentation.

And then I think my colleagues asked all the really great questions already.

My one question to want to ask, because on the Northeast 24th, that street is usually pretty congested with um, you know, school drop-offs, a major artery to 520.

Um, when we doing when we doing the further study, is there any way we can look into like um the impacts on the infrastructure because that is a major street connecting from the neighborhoods to the highway 520?

Um, is there any space for us to do study about um I guess traffic uh regulation, traffic prevention, I'll make sure the infrastructure around the the area actually can able to support the growth of that lot.

Yeah, that is a very uh integral piece of our analysis.

There's environmental review that's required, and so we have to assess the all the transportation impacts and infrastructure impacts.

Okay, thank you.

And then is there any room for um this law to have more um for affordable housing?

Do you think um well under the HOMA HOMA proposal?

Um if if this does move forward with a comprehensive plan land use change, um, whatever the zoning uh zoning requires would would apply here.

Okay, thank you.

And I I'm I'm uh supporting to do further study for the this this lot.

Thank you.

Thank you, Councilmember Smother Verio.

Deputy Mayor, great.

Thank you, Mayor.

Appreciate the presentation.

Um glad you're here.

Good to see you, uh, Vice Chair Lou.

Um appreciate the threshold review work.

The planning commission is done.

I believe that the privately initiated comp plan application should be considered as part of the 2026 annual comp plan amendment work program.

I think the community engagement work that you've done so far has been very good.

Obviously, a lot more to do, and I think we'll learn a lot from that effort as the process moves forward.

You mentioned about being uh becoming a party of record.

I'm just wondering if you could be a little more specific on if does someone email you, Kate, or you know, exactly how does someone become a party of record.

Uh so anybody that uh has emailed council about the proposal or emailed planning commission, emailed uh staff um about it.

Um they they become parties of record.

Um you could just you know talk to me out in the hall and tell me give me your contact information and say that you want to be a party of record, all you have to do is communicate that you want to be a party of record and and we'll add your name to the list.

And if somebody wanted to do that by email, what would the proper email address be to do that?

Uh you can email me, K-N-E-S-S-E at Belleview WA.gov.

Okay, great.

Uh thank you.

Yeah, I mean, good work so far.

Please keep it up.

Uh look forward to finding out what we learn as the process moves forward.

I'm in support.

Thank you, Mayor.

Uh thank you so much.

I think uh there was a great conversation.

I appreciate you all.

The threshold reviews step is not deciding whether a proposal is good or bad.

It is deciding whether it's appropriate to study in the annual work program.

It seems we all agree that can go there.

I appreciate the outreach as Councilwoman New Enhaus asked you, uh including meetings with bridal trails community club and conversation with resident.

And of course, this proposal has generates interest and concern that is normal when uh whenever land use changes are discussed.

And I think you are going to hear more from community and the stakeholders when you are doing your uh actual final work.

So thank you so much, V.

Uh can I have a motion, please?

I move to direct staff to add the Evans Plaza CPA to the 2026 annual comprehensive plan amendment work program.

Is there a second?

Second.

It's been moved by deputy mayor and seconded by councilmember Robinson.

Any discussion.

All those in favor say aye.

Aye.

Any opposed?

The motion passes.

Thank you so much.

Uh let's just have a quick break.

It's 726.

Uh, let's come back at 74.

They were all coming in.

Great.

We are back.

City manager, please introduce our next study session.

Thank you, Mayor, Deputy Mayor and Council members.

Uh, very happy to bring staff from our development services department um here this evening to give you an overview of work that they are proposing to undertake related to pre-approved plans for um DADUs and cottage housing.

Um, this is a council priority.

Um, and I think they have um a good uh proposal uh to share with you about how they're planning to approach the work and involve the community um in some very exciting ways.

So with that, I will hand it over to Nick Whipple, our code and policy director.

Um joined by Jake Kesselgesser, our business services director, and Greg Schrader, our building official.

Nick.

Great, thank you, and good evening, Mayor Malicotian, Deputy Mayor Hamilton, members of the council.

Um, we are excited to hear uh excited to be here tonight to talk about the pre-approved plans program and how we're scoping this.

Um, this is for information only.

We wanted to provide an update.

This is a council priority.

Um, the priority is aimed at simplifying the permitting process for detached accessory dwelling units or DADUs and cottage housing by offering pre-approved plans.

For our agenda, we'll cover uh background and context around how we got to today.

Um, we also have broken this out into a few phases, so we'll touch on those.

Um, there's a pretty um heavy engagement process that we have planned for this as well, so we'll talk about that and then the schedule.

So, first touching on some of the context here.

So, this is as I mentioned, a council priority.

Um, the priority is around simplifying permitting for these two housing types with that emphasis on uh reducing some of the regulatory barriers, providing more predictability, and really encouraging this housing type in the city.

So the policy foundation has been building over a number of years.

Um that first action was when the comprehensive plan was updated in October of 2024, adopted by council to allow middle housing and DADU.

And then following adoption of the comp plan, the council updated the land use code to allow middle housing and legalized DADUs and cottage housing on lots in Bellevue.

So uh, why DADUs and cottage housing?

So, this is a more modest scale housing type that has a lower relative cost to single family homes, so um potentially more attainable price point for um residents.

It also aligns with goals that are looking to expand some of the housing choices and diversity within our neighborhoods, and it's well suited for standardized plans.

Um, the population that this is intended to serve.

A lot of people that are in the DADU or cottage business are typically homeowners that are interested in just adding a mother-in-law unit in their backyard, or smaller scale developers that are looking to take on this type of housing.

So this is uh really broken out into three phases.

Um, we are uh really looking forward to being able to build some excitement and momentum around this program um with the community, and then making sure that we have a really community-led process in developing this program.

A lot of buy-in from community, I think is really important to make sure that this is a well-utilized program and is really successful.

So making sure that we're getting community-informed decision making, and we'll get into that detail here, and then making sure that we are able to deliver some technically sound plans that are available for residents to take advantage of.

So we'll start first with the phases, and I'll pass it over to Jake for phase one.

Good evening, Mayor, Deputy Mayor and Council members.

Really pleased to be here this evening and share a little bit about uh what our phase one engagement will look like.

This is uh what we're dubbing the engage and imagine phase.

So this is where we'll be engaging with the community.

We haven't uh included a couple of tactics here.

The first being uh hackathon style event with our partners at GovStream AI as well as our information technology department and subject matter experts here at the city to explore ideas that really could layer on top of this pre-approved uh program using uh as, for example, GIS and zoning tools to explore site feasibility, uh, application guidance throughout the permitting application process, early stage resources to identify uh financing options and uh tools for implementation and perhaps some other seed ideas that we haven't thought of.

So, really an opportunity to lean into innovation and identify some tools and strategies that could complement the pre-approved plans uh that we would be uh hosting for the community.

Tactic number two, uh, equally, or maybe more important here is really to uh gather some community-informed uh criteria, and what I mean by that is selection criteria for the plans that we would be selecting to host and offer to the community.

So thinking about things in this phase, uh applicability across all Bellevue lock conditions, so thinking about also uh the community's interest and architectural characteristics of of homes as well as compatibility on usability or preferences or sustainability options, those could all be factors that the community may bring to us.

And uh Nick will talk a little bit more in a bit about what that engagement strategy looks like with the community.

And this will lead us right into uh phase two, uh, which I believe Nick will cover.

Yeah, so the phase two is uh when we start to uh call for designs and make some decisions.

So the important factor here is we're wanting to empower community to help us select what are those top designs based on the criteria that Jake just mentioned that community is going to be developing.

What are those priorities?

What are the values that community wants to see in these pre-approved plans?

Um, and those will help inform that call for designs to the development community.

So we would like to be able to propose uh or have people propose designs for us to be able to review and then share the criteria so that the design community also understands how are we going to be create uh ranking these plans that are being submitted.

And then we want to get community involved in the actual review.

So we are envisioning a volunteer review panel.

Um, and this will be uh the panel will be made up through an open process.

Um we are not expecting people to be technical experts at all.

We really want the community to be able to apply the criteria that they have created through that phase one outreach approach.

It's important that we look at some geographic diversity, um getting some members of the community from different neighborhoods to participate in this and to be able to really identify what are those top-ranked plans that should be forwarded on to the department for technical review.

We'll be doing some betting too, but we're really hopeful by having kind of a community-led process that's more extended, that we're able to build that excitement momentum and have a good set of plans that are submitted when we make that call for design, um, so that we'll be able to begin advancing to phase three where we're gonna start approving them.

Okay, thanks, Nick.

Uh, good evening, Mayor, Deputy Mayor, Council members.

Pleased to be here.

So for phase three, whichever uh designs the volunteer review panel has prioritized as best meeting the pre-approved community criteria.

Uh those will move forward to technical review by the development services department.

That cost will be entirely subsidized.

And once that's completed, the next step is to launch uh the program when we'll publish those plans for purchase and really have a kickoff with public announcements.

Like other cities, we would like to have an agreed-on fixed price.

The designers would charge homeowners for the design.

But homeowners might also need to hire a designer to help with any land use or utilities issues if there are a few things to resolve with that.

So then they would pay the designer for that time.

But there would be a savings on both the cost of the design and we wouldn't charge our normal review fee.

So we're timing the launch to be after May 2nd of 2027, which is the state's mandated implementation date for the new construction energy and fire codes.

And we're doing that because we don't want the designs to be outdated shortly after this evaluation and selection process.

And Nick will cover the last few slides.

Great.

So just to wrap up on engagement and schedule.

So as we noted, phase one is really gonna be about expanding some awareness that this program is getting initiated.

We really want community to be involved and participate and provide some value spaced input.

We have a couple of outreach modes that we plan to use.

We did stand up a web page just last week so that we have all this project information available for folks.

And we'd like to begin engaging with people through surveys, um, through different outreach uh modes, whether that be tabling events or really leveraging the hackathon that's envisioned for that phase one effort and just try and gather um input from folks and priorities.

Phase two is where we get into some more structured engagement.

So that's where we're going to have that open process to get our volunteer review panel.

Um, we'll begin onboarding them with what is their task and responsibility.

Um again, we wanna put an emphasis that this is an open recruitment.

We do want to be able to have some balanced representation throughout the city.

And then moving into phase three, as we are beginning to kind of turn the switch and making this available for folks, and that's really where we want to hit kind of the full press court and be able to make sure this is really getting out for folks to be aware of.

Um, we're also hoping we kind of create some community ambassadors through the program so that they're able to really advocate to their neighbors as well, that this is a program that's available and that they're really bought into the designs because of the process here.

Um that gets us to our schedule.

Um, so our phase one, that engage and imagine where we've got uh those two tactics that we're planning for.

Um, this is really going to be envisioned as taking us through the end of the year.

So that's where we're really hoping to get some community buy-in and then begin developing that criteria so that we're in a good position to then uh uh publish that RFP or provide that call for designs in our phase two.

And that'll start towards the end of the year and then move us through early um 2027.

Again, we're keeping in mind that May 2027 deadline for updating our building codes and wanting to make sure we're not uh asking for designs too far ahead of what those new codes are gonna look like so that people are in a good position to design to the new codes that we'll have adopted by that point.

And then phase three is when we get to open the program for public use.

Um, we're envisioning that happening again after that May 2nd, 2027 deadline.

Um, and there is that work for the department to do the pre-review.

Um, that's all subsidized work, and then we are uh planning to have a pretty uh user-friendly webpage where we can catalog the different plans for people to purchase.

So uh with that, this is information only.

We'll turn it back to you, Mayor.

Thank you so much, Nick, uh Jake, Greg, Rebecca, where she is, and the development service team.

Uh this is great that you are all Rebecca, great.

Uh the this is great that you are here because when we adopted the middle housing last year, the goal was not just to change the code, but it uh but to make it possible for people to actually build uh this home.

So I appreciate you are here.

Uh please raise your hand if you have any comment or questions.

Uh Councilmember Bargo of USRV too.

Okay, thank you.

Uh love it.

Oh.

Say it again.

Love it.

I love the innovation and the idea of being able to do so many things, you know, innovatively and quickly.

Uh I love the idea that you're gonna get faster permitting through this process, and it's going to do um, you know, things for improving the amount and diversity of housing that we have uh possibly.

That's a really uh important outcome.

And I love the fact that you're talking about lowering costs across the board, which I think is really great.

Um, but there is uh sort of what I and I'm gonna just it's not really too many questions.

This is just feedback and thoughts to think about as you go through this process.

What would be really not a great outcome would be what happens to many such programs potentially, that there is very limited adoption, and that would put so much of this great innovation to not great use.

And some of the challenges that we might come up with as I was thinking about this is monotony in the design and architecture within our neighborhoods.

You know, if everything looks the same because they have the same plans, that's a risk that we have to be thinking about.

And there's also the challenge that no matter what we do, if we have very limited abilities for configurability to different lots and grade conditions like we have in Bellevue, that can lead to low adoption.

So I'm really concerned about those two things.

I do have a few suggestions that I was thinking about that I'll just lay out here.

One, think about multiple designs, which you are already thinking about, uh, but it should have architectural styles that we want to see.

So we have to nudge people in a direction, and this gives us a chance to balance the cost of what these look like versus uh the design elements we want.

Some of the feedback we've heard from stakeholders and communities, at least I have, is that many of the redevelopment opportunities that are happening at the residential level at single family lots are maximizing the development footprint and making really value-engineered buildings.

And this gives us a chance to sort of change that outcome while balancing cost.

So I think this is a really sort of for me a really important opportunity.

That's why I want to highlight that to you early in this process.

Where it's not just the you know, attached detached dwelling unit or something, but it actually, if I want a small office that I want to make, then this these plans allow for that use variance as well.

I think that would be useful.

You talked about sustainability.

I love the idea that you talked about financial support.

So projecting costs if you pull this out, but also finding lender uh partnerships that might be really good.

Uh I think you already mentioned that, so I just want to appreciate that.

And then you talked about uh one thing that now there is a bit of a question here.

You talked about these reviews uh happening through community members, etc.

Now I'm an architect by training, and so I do believe, and others may agree that architecture is a process that you have to be trained and qualified to design buildings.

And so my suggestion is that you have maybe guided charettes where you actually bring in professional guidance and bring some guardrails.

I know there's technical review after that, but even for the design development and the selection process, some guardrails and guidance around those parameters that are important to us, I think will be really, really helpful.

And um that's it.

Thank you so much.

Councilman Robinson.

I'm so excited about this.

You know, when we first started talking about affordable housing and we saw Kirkland do pre-approved plans, I was so hoping we could do this in Bellevue because I wanted to make it easier and less expensive for people to do detached dwelling units or cottages.

Um I wanted to engage the community as much as possible in uh kind of deciding what these should, what form these should take in their neighborhoods, and also to um have some kind of a design competition.

Those were my three goals, and I feel like you hit it all in what you're offering here.

You know, you're engaging with the community, we they get to look at the possibilities and weigh in.

Uh I think, are you doing a design competition or am I just reading that into it?

Me, I'm just so excited.

I I think you could characterize it that way.

They have to narrow the submissions down.

Okay, there we go.

And I mean, I've seen that done in other countries.

We saw it in Sweden.

Um, and it's just it's really exciting to bring innovation into our city and see what's possible because we just don't know until we start asking people who really have the expertise.

And um, as much as I would love to add other parameters to it, I think just streamlining it, you know, like most of these will be in people's backyards.

So if everybody has the same one, I have no problem with that.

But um, I think that the idea of maybe extra points for sustainability or extra points for a more affordable design.

I think just came back from you know, um, Southern or Palm Springs, where they had all the mid-century modern homes and knowing the history of that and how that was a um a goal to make housing easier to build and less expensive, and that whole mid-century uh design was designed to lower your utility costs so you didn't need as much light, and uh make it more livable with fewer walls.

So it's kind of interesting what you come up with when you open this up to the experts.

So I'm really looking forward to seeing what ideas we get and to see if we can get more accommodations built more easily and with less money for people.

So I'm excited.

Thank you.

Thank you so much.

Councilmember New Enhouse.

Thank you, Mayor.

Um I think we're judging a little too quickly on the design standards.

They have not seen my daughter's design.

Umneven floors and lakey roofs are part of the charm.

So let's not rush to judgment on some.

I'm kidding, of course, but uh I agree that some uh design standards would be good.

Um however, um how are we going to get to consensus around some of these designs and how many designs are we potentially looking at?

I mean, this um, you know, uh I I I love the fact that we're, you know, we're we're opening up to the community, we're gonna have a lot of different options, or hopefully a community has a lot of different options to choose from, but getting consensus is going to be a little challenging, and then getting consensus in terms of what house matches what neighborhood, uh, that could also be uh an unintended consequence from this.

Um, you know, in in some neighborhoods more than than than others, but uh, what are the guardrails look like for that, Nick?

Yeah.

Um probably gonna need some facilitated uh some facilitators to help us with this.

In terms of the volume, I mean it's hard to judge.

Um the program that we're uh envisioning, we're really trying to get that awareness out there.

Um Seattle, just as an example, um, has their uh DADU universe when they did their call for designs, I believe they had over 150 submissions.

Um and their task was to narrow down and approve, I believe it was 16 plans or somewhere in that kind of range.

And so um that will be the challenge, I think, um, once we receive those submissions, I think that's a good problem to have.

Um, but then figuring out maybe how do we do a first pass, see what's maybe clearly um within the bounds of the criteria, and then have that volunteer review panel really engage on that too.

We also want to make sure we're clear with residents what the commitment is, um, because that could be a pretty big commitment to have to kind of go through that many designs.

Absolutely.

So by design, are we also talking like aesthetics like the color?

Not necessarily the color, it's more the architectural style.

And then um, as uh we were noting there might be criteria that's really important to community if if there's sustainable features, maybe that's get gets weighted higher.

Um, and that really maybe narrows the submission pool as well.

So um, but yeah, trying not to get into um shades, colors, shingle style, um really focused on the design and is it fitting within the community um and uh you know, yeah, that kind of feature.

And so the review panel is going is a one time, right?

And then they approve X number of designs, and then the review panel goes away, correct?

It does not continue to operate and continue to take in new designs.

Is that correct?

Yes.

Or will there be an opportunity, maybe at a later date, after maybe a two-year period, we re-examine or take another look at some other submitted designs?

Is that possible?

Yeah, uh, we've given that some thought as well.

Um, what we are feeling we're able to do is support kind of 10 designs getting through that pre-review.

But we know there's probably going to be more than 10.

Um, there's nothing that would prevent them from going through the review process and us uh potentially being open to hosting them on the web page as well, but maybe it's a lower priority um because they didn't quite kind of make that first cut.

Um but yeah, then the other pieces maintaining those plan sets.

That's been the challenge we've heard from other jurisdictions.

Um, building code cycles, they change the requirements, and we don't want outdated plans on our webpage.

So then it's really the onus is on the developer of those plans to update their plans.

There's probably a couple ways we can look at that, but that might kind of drive the decision about do we need to kind of get another review panel, open this up again.

Um, if we're starting to get you know plans dropping off because of the lack of interest to re-up their plans, that's when we might need to make that decision.

Okay, that makes sense.

We're excited about this program too.

I think anything we can do to make it cheaper, make it faster.

Um and as long as there's a design that hopefully everyone can find or relatively that they enjoy and want and uh on their property, I think it's a great thing.

So thank you, Nick, Jake, Greg, uh great job bringing this forward, and uh yeah, um, I'm all in.

Thank you.

Thank you so much.

Do you want to go?

Please.

Yes, thank you so much for the incredible work.

Uh, there's a lot of efficiency gains here, which is really exciting.

Um, I think echoing what Councilmember uh Bargawad mentioned that uh architecture is a substantial discipline.

So despite how many hours uh Councilmember Newenhouse's daughter may place into design work, it'd be important to have some appropriate guardrails that are established.

Uh and so those are my only comments.

Thank you.

Thank you so much.

Depute Mir.

Great, thank you.

Uh appreciate the presentation.

I appreciate you being back here so quickly to get an update on our request just to simplify permitting.

Uh, this is kind of the year of simplification here, and I think that's great.

Uh certainly share much of the enthusiasm, uh, especially expressed by councilmember Robinson.

Um, I think the community engagement approach looks really robust.

So appreciate that.

One thing I wanted to mention is that maybe in, and maybe this is step two with the designs, but looking at designs that can be that can really support some privacy because it's it's a kind of housing uh style.

If you go to buy it and you have a neighbor that is immediately next to you, it's a little bit of a different decision.

And I think some of those buyers find that to be a little more risky than if you are renting an apartment, for example.

So I hope that maybe some of the pre-approved designs keep that in mind and that we really allow for flexibility and we kind of focus on privacy so that it makes this kind of uh style of housing a little bit more attractive.

So I just want to uh throw that into the mix.

But otherwise, uh thanks for being back here so quickly.

Uh love what you have so far and ready to move forward.

Thank you, Mayor.

Great.

Thank you so much, Deputy Mayor.

I shared everything that my colleagues mentioned.

I think if you have some pre-approved uh plan, hopefully successfully, that will uh save time, reduce design costs, and make the process more predictable.

I love the phase approach uh and involving community architect, designer, and builders.

One thing that I I think I talked to Nick about that is the pre-approved plan is great.

Um what is part of the story.

So when we are doing that, because our goal is to reduce costs, reduce time.

Just and again, I love the hackathon because maybe address all of these uh concerns.

Uh the real delay and cost can still come from somewhere else.

Can come from utility connection, drainage, tree issues, grading, coordination across departments.

So if we can magically make all of them go smoother, I think that would uh help uh uh staff and also our uh customers for homeowners.

I think is important that they feel that we are reducing costs and we are reducing time.

So if the compared to the custom design, so if we can prove that in the pilot phase or when after we are doing that, some metrics that we can show that I think that would be great, and that's the goal of this.

I love that in your hackathon you had financing piece as Councilmember Bargabo mentioned.

Uh this ADU and the attached ADU and cottages have harder time to be financed, so that would be great if we can address that.

Um, and great.

I shared all of the excitement.

Uh happy you are all here.

Thank you so much.

Thank you.

Thank you.

City manager, would you introduce our last study session?

Thank you, Mayor, Deputy Mayor and Council.

Um yes, this is our uh last inform uh last study session item for the night, and it is an information session.

Um tonight, staff is bringing to council a proposal to work with our business community to simplify the city square footage uh tax and also to move to a one-time uh move from one-time business license uh plan to an annual business license renewal program.

Uh the team will cover the goals of these two um efforts and also how they plan to engage the business community to help shape the proposals, um and those proposals will come back to council.

So uh we're joined by our um chief finance officer, John Reesa, Don John Risha, um Michael Chandler, our controller, and Troy Lucas, our tax manager.

Um and with that, I'm gonna turn it over to John to introduce um the item.

Thank you, City Manager, Mayor, Deputy Mayor, Council members.

Um, what a privilege to be here tonight with the theme of simplification.

Um we have long heard from our customers, the taxpayers, about our uh tax code and the approach to it.

Not so much about a uh interest in not being part of it, but really how to make it simpler.

Tonight we're bringing forward the start of a process, and I'm gonna turn it over to Mr.

Chandler and Mr.

Lucas to take us through.

Thank you, John.

Um Mayor Malikutian and uh Deputy Mayor Hamilton and members of council.

Um it's my pleasure to bring you this topic before you today.

Uh it's an information only item.

Um so tonight is about bringing awareness of the efforts that the staff are undertaking uh to update two areas uh the square footage tax and a proposed uh business license update, and then also uh discuss the planned outreach that we have with the business community uh related to those proposed updates.

Our agenda reiterates those three topic areas.

And with that, I'll turn it over to Troy.

All right.

Thank you, Michael.

Thank you, Mayor, Deputy Mayor, Council members.

It's good to be here tonight.

Talk about my favorite subject, taxes.

So, oh, I went too far.

So the first slide here is just a quick uh overview of the business and occupation tax structure in Bellevue, two components.

Grocery seats tax, which is based on a state mandated model ordinance for all cities with the P and O tax rates and thresholds.

We're here tonight to talk about simplifying the square footage tax.

Only a handful of Washington cities administer the tax.

And Bellevue's calculation is unique and complicated.

It's also worth noting that the structure of the current code has not been updated since inception in the 1970s to reflect the current e-commerce business environment.

So the issues we hear, we have a low compliance rate.

And what we hear from our businesses day in and day out about the square footage tax code.

There's multiple confusing steps.

Information required to calculate the various deductions and the exempt and the exemption are time consuming and specific to Bellevue.

Businesses don't keep the required information in the regular books and records.

The calculations change every filing period, causing rework and valuable time spent on one city's return.

City staff does provide a multi-page document to explain the steps, but it's businesses still need our guidance walking through that.

So the simplification goals, uh straightforward, easy to understand calculation.

And going through this process, the goal is not to generate additional revenue or reduce revenue.

And we'll check and adjust as needed as we go.

So the approach.

Definitely make it easy to calculate some of the options we'll be looking at.

One calculation, total square footage times rate, consistent with what other cities are doing.

Simplify the exemption formula.

Um dollar for dollar exemption based on the amount of grocery seats tax paid to the city.

And uh no change to current grocery seats tax rate.

There's a couple other tools we can also use to make a revenue neutral and business friendly.

With that, I'll turn it back over to Mr.

Chandler.

Thank you.

Um the next topic uh is the business licensing updates.

Um, this is the slide uh talks about the current state of our business licensing program.

So currently, all businesses operating in a city uh are required to obtain a one-time license.

Um the cost of that license is uh the same for all businesses, regardless of shape or size.

Um, and uh stated differently.

We have a perpetual license, so it it's uh for life of the business, and currently no uh renewals.

Um that's the current state of our licensing program, and Troy is going to walk us through the proposed updates.

So, again, the issues that we receive from our business community.

A perpetual license with no required renewal creates the following issues.

Inconsistent communication with our businesses, outdated information and backlogs of potential closures and relocations, impacting our outreach, delays in providing support and engagement to our businesses because of that outdated address information, missed opportunities to provide critical information regarding city services or safety.

And interestingly, we we have received phone calls about why business would need to license in Bellevue if they're not required to license with the state or if they are below our gross receipts minimum threshold.

So we would definitely want to address that.

So the goals of the business license uh annual license is aligned with economic development plan goals to increase communication and partnership with our businesses using the annual license renewal, improved accuracy of information, and improved city responsiveness to help businesses engage not only tax filings and licensing, but other city services and programs.

So the approach that we're proposing, moving to an annual license renewal, but more importantly, minimizing operational burden on our businesses.

Options will look at addressing small business needs around minimum licensing thresholds and fees, streamlining the application and renewal process using electronic filing methods, utilizing a tiered fee structure based on gross receipts that's sensitive to business financial needs and impacts, partnering with other city departments to provide better support and services to our businesses using current information and through the entire process listening to our businesses and gaining their feedback.

I'll turn it back over to Mike.

Thank you.

So now we will discuss our business outreach plans, and um we're gonna be taking the opportunity to bring the proposals to the business community and other stakeholders to engage and receive their feedback.

Yeah.

So what we have done to date is we've reached out to the chamber and the Bellevue Downtown Association.

Um and we are gonna bring the information to them and receive feedback through multiple venues.

Um both of those uh entities have expressed interest in helping us reach the small business community as well as being able to provide assistance so that we can reach through the property management companies to the individual business owners.

Um both will be um very beneficial uh in our outreach uh efforts.

Then uh we also plan to utilize the resources of the state office of minority and women's business enterprises to reach that population.

Uh and then you know, the mentions there we'll have both in-person and virtual to provide a myriad of ways that they can engage with us.

And then um what's not included here uh a bit on the timeline of our outreach plans.

Um, as mentioned, um the chamber and Bellevue Downtown Association, we plan to engage with them beginning in April, uh, and then uh spend uh about two months uh in our outreach effort uh to get a set of comprehensive feedback, time to adjust and refine proposals uh before returning to council uh with anticipated timeline of June with recommendations.

And with that, um our presentation was information only.

Thank you so much, um John, Michael, and Troy for being tax your favorite topic.

Uh I think uh it's I think if a tax system is so complicated that only about half of the business comply, that's a signal that I think we should do something about it.

So I appreciate you're all here.

Let's just uh raise your hand if you have any comment or question about this topic.

Councilwoman Robinson.

Thank you.

Thank you, Mirror.

Um, so having had a small business for 20 years and having had my one-time business license, um, I was always curious why I didn't have to renew it.

And I I think that it's not a bad idea to do that.

Um with the square footage tax code, totally makes sense what you said.

And one of the goals of that is to reduce the tax burden on small businesses, is what you say.

But with the business licensing update, you're suggesting that we do an annual license renewal.

Will that require an annual license renewal fee?

So that will be part of the feedback that we want to get from the business community.

Yeah, because that would actually be increasing the tax burden on small business.

So I want to just make sure that that's up front when we're talking to our businesses because most business in Bellevue is small business, and I want to make sure we're not doing anything to discourage businesses from forming um, you know, not everybody starts a business coming out of business school, and not everybody knows how to start a business, and it's just what's on the website.

And so it's it can be um pretty confusing, and I want to make sure that we make it easier for businesses to be in Bellevue, and um I I'm looking forward to hearing the the feedback from the businesses that you talk to, and I'm glad you're targeting small business and women and minority.

That'll be good feedback.

So I'm glad you're doing this.

I'm looking forward to your next step.

Thank you so much, Councilmember Robinson.

Anyone else?

Uh Councilmember Newman House, please.

Thank you.

Um, a couple of quick questions, and I share Councilman Robinson's concern.

Um I'm completely okay moving forward to updating both both of these.

Um, there's a lot of small businesses that are not members of the chamber or the BBA.

Um so um it sounds like the outreach will be much more robust than just counting on those two vehicles, but um, you know uh uh uh uh especially um our you know recent uh immigrant restaurants and all the rest of it, there you know there's no way you're gonna reach them unless you actually go there and talk to them and have that conversation.

Um I also don't think two months is long enough.

I think for this to be really robust, it needs to be longer than than two months.

And then um I would love to see just a couple of of um uh scenarios as well, once you get that feedback, which maybe is something already thinking about, but I I share Councilmember Robinson's concern, just like to see what that tax burden looks like once we switch this up.

Um and I want to make sure that during those conversations they fully understand that um as well uh so that they can prepare for that change potentially in their in the in their business in terms of being able to uh pay those.

I mean, the the last thing we want is the unintended consequences of making it harder for small businesses to uh to to start here, even though our intent is good, but um we want to remain a place where um when um small businesses want to uh make Bellevue home, we want to welcome them with open arms and we'll do everything we can to make them successful here.

Um so I'll look forward to that.

You said we're coming back in June or somewhere around that time?

Okay, unless you spend some more time doing outreach, which I've encouraged you to do.

But thank you so much.

Thank you.

Anyone else?

Councilmember Borgavo.

Yeah, thank you.

Um two things I want to touch on.

One, uh, on the square footage piece, maybe this is just for me to better understand.

You say that it's 50% of our businesses are in compliance.

If it were a hundred percent, would it still be the revenue neutral?

Councilmember, that is a great question, but because we don't have the data and they don't report, we don't know.

What we believe is uh our controller, Mr.

Uh Chandler has suggested, when we get to that recommendation, we'll go forward if you are so inclined.

And we would actually anticipate coming back to you to tell you how it's going in case we are over collecting.

Um that is not our intention by any means, and we we want to build in the check and adjust into that process.

I appreciate that, because the where I was going with this is our intent, and you framed it as revenue neutral, should be compliance oriented rather, is the suggestion I have, because you want to create a process that's so simple or simplified to the point that you can get very high levels of compliance with the target of 100%, and then understand the cost neutrality or the revenue neutrality of that rather than start with the premise that you're gonna stay revenue neutral.

So that is maybe it's if you have a point of view on that, I would love to hear it if you see it differently.

Uh we appreciate that that perspective, and that's why we are we're trying to do the best we can with the knowledge we have in order to update that system.

And so it's a bit of chicken and egg in both sides of it, and that's what we're hoping to engage with large, medium, and small businesses to understand that play to be able to come back to you with recommendations which aren't just about the annual business license, but also about the thresholds for the tax payment and looking at all of those pieces in flux to understand how best the community can comply, and we're not starting this from a goal of increasing taxes.

And I think that's the primary understanding that we're really starting from.

That we are because of that, we're targeting the revenue neutral, but it really is about compliance and making sure that folks have the easiest way to do it and get us great information so we have that ongoing dialogue with community.

Okay, appreciate that.

And the second comment I share the concern that Councilmember Robinson and uh known house laid out about additional complexity and burden of an annual renewal process.

Uh but if the idea is to get only to capture accurate information and to pass it along to interdepartmental impacts, etc., then we have to really balance that to see that the process is so simple that uh it allows for that.

And then, you know, your piece on additional tax burden or complexity for the businesses needs to be thought about.

Uh that that's a place where you could take in order net increase to cost approach, and I would appreciate that.

Uh if you say for businesses, uh and I would say yeah, so they're going from here to here would be uh we're holding a bot saying no net increase to cost to business.

And then what can you do?

Those of you have two thoughts.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thanks.

Please go ahead.

Thank you, Mayor.

I have a rather trivial question.

Um, think first thank you for the incredible uh work that you're conducting.

I think it's just as fantastic, and I'm super excited about it.

Um if the intention behind the annual renewal of the permit, which I support, um, granted the concerns and caveats that Councilmember Robinson and New Inhouse and Bar uh Council Member Bargova also brought up if one of them is misleading information and frequent communication, and again perhaps this is a silly question, but why is it not a direct channel to all of our small businesses?

Um is that over ambitious?

I I guess I'm trying to understand how those two are correlated with one another.

They could be, but if the business license was issued in 1972, and we're having trouble even finding out if a family member is still running that business to be able to engage with them, that's part of the challenge that comes with it.

So yeah, so we are very much looking at how to improve that channel.

So our only communication isn't just your tax filing for gross receipts on an annual basis.

So if uh it's not just your taxes, but also the annual permit review, which are the two touch points of communication.

Do you still think that's frequent enough for small businesses if you're trying to disseminate a whole number uh a number of different items?

There is an economic development group who takes that portion on.

Okay.

Unfortunately, we are the tax side.

Okay, it's out of scope, sorry.

We're we're the we're the other side of the house that we work in concert with and being able to share that information so that they can do the good work in partnership.

I understand.

Thank you for clarifying.

Thanks so much.

Thank you, Councilman Breyer.

Deputy Mayor.

Thank you.

Appreciate the presentation.

Um in favor of this.

I think clarifying and simplifying the um square foot tax makes a lot of sense.

Uh I think everybody benefits those who pay it, those who collect it.

Um, and I'm sure that compliance is going to increase.

And just my experience with small businesses is there is a general desire to pay the taxes that are owed to meet the regulatory requirements, but often it's just so difficult to do so.

And when you have so many challenges in running a business to make this part of the the business challenging is really counterproductive.

So I'm sure you're you're gonna see a good increase in that.

And any time, too.

I mean, the more complex it is, the more expensive it is.

And so I think when we simplify this, it's not only cheaper for the city to collect this tax revenue, but it's a lot easier for those who pay it to be able to comply as well.

Um and then too, bringing the city into alignment with uh neighboring municipalities.

I think that makes it easier on everyone.

If you've learned how to do it in Seattle, you know how to do it in Bellevue.

If you want to pack up and move over here, that's great.

If you want to add another location over here, then that's great.

So when it's uh when we're aligned, that just simplifies it for everyone.

Um so I think you know, again, uh we're all about streamlining and being more efficient this year in the city and for those who have businesses here or visit here, so completely in favor of it, and look forward to seeing what you come back with and appreciate all the comments I've heard so far.

Thank you.

It seems like it.

Okay, we should work on that.

Thank you so much.

Uh I think I agree with everything has been mentioned.

Uh I actually like that you are over-emphasizing that this BNO simplification doesn't does any additional cost to businesses.

I think that lens is very good, and I think hopefully you keep that.

I understand why we need to um do the annual business license because we want to have our records accurate and up to date and be connected to businesses.

Just some small questions.

You said the compliance is 50%, and Councilman Borgalbo said the target should be 100%.

Do you guys have a goal that what that should be based on this simplification?

Mr.

Mayor, if our if it's simplified and our businesses are able to at the same time they're doing their gross receipts, actually have their square footage in a simple, simple calculation, it should be 100%.

If you're filing one, you've checked the other and make it very simple.

So your target is 100%.

Great.

One question about how simplified would that be.

If uh business owner who knows decent mathematic and knows have some common sense, can they do that on their own, or do you still need to hire accountants?

Today?

No.

In future.

The goal.

Hopefully, if you know how many square feet you have times a number, compare that with against your gross receipts and dollar-for-dollar credit of gross receipts would be about as simple as it would take.

Currently, our 11-page simplification document provides guidance that needs the assistance of a state and local tax attorney uh to help understand it.

And we really have heard from our community that we've got to think about not being that kind of simplification.

And I shared the whole uh that should issue the second piece of the uh annual license, annual license renewal should not feel like a tax.

I think the communication should be clear.

This is a better data and alignment with other cities.

Or not the businesses doesn't feel that there is a new tax is going to impose to them.

The my last comment would be can this renewal process would be a service touch point for these businesses?

Like, hey, these are the city resources that we can help you with.

You're renewing, but hey, this is a support that also are available if you need one.

Can we do that also?

Mr.

Mayor, that is actually part of your economic development plan and a very specific part of it, which is why they've been a key partner to us and have encouraged us and are going to be helpful and supportive in that process.

They want to be right there in that space.

That's awesome.

Thank you so much.

Uh, did you guys get what you needed from us?

Perfect.

Thank you so much.

We have a written report or intergovernmental affairs monthly update of February 28 is there.

Great.

And I think by that we can adjourn the meeting and see you all next week.

Thank you so much.