Edmonds Planning Board Regular Meeting – 2025-12-11

The Edmonds Planning Board met in hybrid session on 2025-12-11 (source timestamp 09:45:00+00:00; the agenda and transcript identify the meeting as December 10, 2025 at 7:00 PM in the Brackett Room, Edmonds City Hall). Outgoing Chair Lee read the land acknowledgement. The board approved amended minutes, adopted the updated Planning Board handbook, elected 2026 officers, and reviewed the 2026 work plan. No administrative reports, public hearings, or public comments were held.

Consent Calendar & Routine Approvals

• Agenda: A motion to approve the agenda as read was seconded and passed unanimously.
• Minutes: The November 12, 2025 draft minutes were approved unanimously as amended by corrections submitted by Judy Gladstone.

Public Comments & Testimony

• No public comments were offered in person or online.
• No public hearings were held.

Planning Board Handbook Review (Unfinished Business)

• Planning staff member Mike Clugston presented a revised draft handbook incorporating prior board discussion, including redline/strikeout changes and a new appendix-five template for council recommendation memos.
• Judy Gladstone offered editorial and substantive revisions. The board agreed to changes such as setting a goal that agenda packets take no more than two hours to review, allowing board members to contact the chair or staff with suggested agenda topics, removing 'audio' from meeting-note recording language, clarifying that the board determines who prepares and reviews recommendation memos, and deleting confusing quorum wording while retaining the code citation for future code cleanup.
• Isabel Jones proposed an added sentence clarifying that board members should make every effort to be knowledgeable about agenda packet contents before meetings.
• The board approved the handbook as revised by Gladstone and Jones; the motion carried unanimously.

Election of 2026 Board Chair and Vice Chair (New Business)

• Chair: Judy Gladstone nominated Lauren Golembiewski. No other nominations were made. Golembiewski accepted and was elected chair by unanimous voice vote.
• Vice Chair: John Milke was nominated for vice chair, supported by Nick Maxwell and others, and elected by unanimous voice vote.

Extended Agenda: 2026 Work Plan Preview

• Mike Clugston said an urban forest planner and a planning manager are expected to join by late 2025 or early January, increasing staff capacity for code work.
• The tree code update is expected to be the first major topic of 2026. The landmark tree ordinance expires at the end of April; an interim extension is likely, with completion targeted around the middle or third quarter of 2026.
• House Bill 1757 requires an update for existing uses in residential buildings. Zoning-related elements will likely come to the planning board beginning at the first January meeting.
• Staff plan to make non-substantive cleanup edits to the middle housing and design review chapters to align cross-references and correct incongruities.
• The January 14 Parks and Recreation annual report may be shifted so staff can address budget and levy effects.
• A larger unified development code rewrite is planned over about two years—the first major reorganization since 1980, with some code dating to 1955. Lot splits and child care siting must be addressed by mid-2027.
• For the Critical Areas Ordinance update, the Deer Creek/CARA language will be held back until PFAS/stormwater science is available; the rest of the CAO update will move forward.
• A board retreat is planned for January 28, with city attorney attendance for open meetings training. A quarterly report to the city council will be submitted for the council's first January meeting.

Board Member Comments and New Member Introduction

• John Jesson, the new alternate member, introduced himself as an architect with about 40 years of experience who worked in Chicago, Washington, D.C., and Bethesda. He described prior work on historic preservation and form-based code and said he wants to contribute to Edmonds as his forever home.
• Board members thanked outgoing Chair Lee for leadership and organization, outgoing Vice Chair John Milke for behind-the-scenes work, and planning staff for managing a demanding code year. They praised the board's respectful and productive working climate.

Key Outcomes

• Agenda approved unanimously.
• November 12, 2025 minutes approved unanimously as amended.
• Planning Board handbook approved unanimously with revisions.
• Lauren Golembiewski elected Chair for 2026.
• John Milke elected Vice Chair for 2026.
• 2026 priorities previewed: tree code, House Bill 1757 implementation, middle housing and design review cleanup, parks report, unified development code planning, CAO/CARA sequencing, and staff hiring.