OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

Land Use & Environment Committee Meeting – October 1, 2025

City Council & Commissions — Wednesday, October 1, 2025
BodyOlympia, Washington
SessionCity Council & Commissions
DateWednesday, October 1, 2025
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 2:49:27

Transcript — Verbatim
0:03

All right.

0:04

Hello, everybody.

0:06

This is the Land Use and Environment Committee of the Olympia City Council.

0:11

My name is Danny Madron.

0:12

I serve as the chair, and I'm calling this meeting to order.

0:16

Today's Thursday, September 25th, and we're just a couple of minutes after 4 p.m.

0:21

Uh roll call.

0:22

We've got uh myself and a committee member Jim Cooper here.

0:26

Uh uh committee member Vanderpool is excused this evening.

0:31

Uh so just two of us here.

0:33

Um first thing we need is an agenda.

0:37

Can I get a motion, Jim?

0:39

Move approval.

0:41

Second.

0:41

All in favor?

0:43

Aye.

0:43

Aye.

0:44

All right.

0:44

We're gonna start off with public comment.

0:47

Um, and we do have quite a few people who have signed up today.

0:51

Um, I do typically allow three minutes for public comment, but because we do have so many people who are signed up, I am going to limit it to two as uh as identified in the um agenda.

1:03

And I'm just gonna go ahead in the order that people signed up.

1:07

So the first person I'm going to call is Heather Burgess.

1:14

And uh, oh, there she is.

1:16

Okay, go ahead, Heather.

1:19

And so Good afternoon, Councilmember Madron, can you hear me?

1:23

Yes.

1:24

Okay, wonderful.

1:24

Thank you.

1:25

Appreciate it.

1:26

Um, my name is Heather Burgess.

1:28

I'm a real estate and land use attorney, and I represent Briggs, RE development LP and Gordy Gill, who are the owners of the remaining undeveloped portions of the Briggs Village Development, to which your item 6A uh would make certain amendments to the governing codes.

1:43

I did just want to draw your attention to a letter that I believe I copied both you and Councilmember Cooper on, dated September 22nd, 2025 regarding um two provisions of the draft.

1:56

One had to do with minimum grocery store size and requesting a clarifying amendment, and the second having to do with the maximum building height in and around the town square versus relative to the number of stories.

2:07

So just wanted to draw your attention to those additional clarifying comments.

2:10

Appreciate all of the time and effort that you, the staff, and the uh members of the public have given to this process so far, and looking forward to bringing this to council.

2:19

Thank you very much.

2:21

Great, thank you.

2:22

And thanks for being brief, Heather.

2:23

I forgot to mention that the timer is at the top of the Zoom screen.

2:27

Uh, so you are very well within time.

2:31

Uh up next, I have Gordy Gill.

2:38

Gordy, you could go ahead and unmute.

2:40

There you go.

2:42

Hi, um uh uh my name is Gordy Gill.

2:44

We're a medium-sized real estate development company that's operated in British Columbia for over 30 years.

2:49

We own and manage a diverse uh diversified real estate portfolio comprising of office, retail, and industrial properties, mainly in the greater Vancouver area.

2:57

We purchased a property, we purchased Briggs Village property from California developer in December 2015, comprising of nine commercial lots, 20-acre parcel, and a couple of other parcels that will be developed in the future.

3:10

We sold two commercial lots to local investors, and we still own uh an intent to develop the remaining seven commercial lots.

3:18

We have constructed and still own 33 unit apartment complex on one of the commercial lots and have developed the 20-acre parcel into 45 single family lots, which are currently being planted.

3:29

We intend to start building houses on those lots in the spring of 2026.

3:33

Briggs development is a long-term hold for our company.

3:36

Frankly, we thought we'd be further along in the development of the properties.

3:39

The lack of progress has been due to the number of challenges property and the general real estate market has faced since we purchased the property property.

3:47

Uh, any successful development has to meet the needs of the community.

3:51

It operates uh current market demand for space, uh, be a residential commercial and be economically viable.

3:58

We believe our proposals are in line with the community expectations and the marketplace.

4:02

In particular, we feel that the increase of density will facilitate the community's need for housing and create a customer base for the proposed commercial space, thus creating a viable, sustainable and a welcome neighborhood.

4:14

Thank you.

4:18

Thank you, Gordy.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Land Use Planning████████████████████████████████32%
Climate Action Planning████████████████████20%
Public Comment████████8%
Housing And Homelessness████████8%
Public Engagement██████6%
Downtown Revitalization██████6%
Procedural█████5%
Urban Design█████5%
Zoning Regulations███3%
Summary of Proceedings

Land Use & Environment Committee Meeting – October 1, 2025

Note: The meeting minutes and transcript indicate this meeting occurred on September 25, 2025, but the user-provided date is October 1, 2025. This summary uses the provided date as instructed.

The Olympia City Council Land Use & Environment Committee met to discuss three major agenda items: amendments to the Urban Village Code (OMC 1805) related to Briggs Village, the Climate Action and Resilience chapter of the Olympia 2045 Comprehensive Plan, and the Housing chapter of the Comprehensive Plan. The committee heard extensive public comment, primarily concerning the proposed changes to the Briggs Village commercial requirements. All three items were unanimously recommended to the City Council.

Consent Calendar

  • The agenda was approved unanimously.
  • The minutes from the August 28, 2025 meeting were approved unanimously.

Public Comments & Testimony

  • Heather Burgess (attorney for Briggs Village developer) requested clarifying amendments regarding minimum grocery store size and building height around the town square.
  • Gordy Gill (developer, Briggs Village) stated his company is a long-term holder and that increased density will facilitate housing and commercial viability.
  • Andrew Peterson (resident) criticized the market study, noting it focused on a 5-minute drive time rather than standard 10–15 minutes, and questioned its objectivity by highlighting a model store in Whistler, Canada.
  • Franklin Wilson (resident) urged rejection of changes to the Briggs Village Plan, calling the request a “bait and switch” and supporting the Planning Commission’s recommendation for a 12,000-square-foot minimum grocery store.
  • Chris Wickham (resident) opposed reducing the grocery store minimum further (to 9,200 sq. ft. with subdivision possible), arguing the developer has not marketed the property in 10 years and that the Planning Commission’s recommendations (12,000 sq. ft.) should be forwarded as-is.
  • Betty Bailey (real estate agent and resident) expressed concern about whittling down the commercial vision and supported a 12,000-square-foot store.
  • Meegan Cronk (business owner and resident) noted that market studies ignored existing local business data, which supports retail viability.
  • Craig Burley (resident) supported the Planning Commission’s 12,000-square-foot minimum and opposed excluding critical areas from commercial density calculations.
  • David Merchant (resident) recounted a history of the developer prioritizing residential over commercial and asked that commercial development be required now.
  • Lahela Peterson (resident) questioned the credibility of new information provided by the developer (real estate letters and notes from a conversation), arguing the most compelling evidence is the thriving existing commercial in the village.

Discussion Items

  • Urban Village Code Amendments (Briggs Village) – Staff recommended amendments to OMC 1805 to increase flexibility: raising residential density, adjusting commercial space requirements, and setting a 9,200 sq. ft. minimum for grocery/food stores (with allowance to split into multiple tenants). The Planning Commission had recommended 12,000 sq. ft. Key discussion points: the difference between the two numbers, the need for a whole grocery store versus subdivided tenants, and the lack of substantial new information from the developer. The committee voted 2-0 to forward the staff recommendation to City Council minus the provision allowing a grocery store to be split into multiple tenant spaces.
  • Comprehensive Plan Climate Chapter – Staff presented a new climate element required by HB 1181, covering resilience (adaptation) and mitigation (emissions reduction). The chapter integrates goals across all comprehensive plan chapters. Over 500 public comments were received. The committee raised a concern about pollution from stormwater not being explicitly mentioned; staff agreed to coordinate on language. The committee voted 2-0 to forward the climate chapter to the City Council for a study session.
  • Comprehensive Plan Housing Chapter – Staff presented the new housing chapter, incorporating the state-required housing needs analysis (14,295 units needed by 2045, with 7,600 affordable to low-income) and a racial disparity analysis. The Planning Commission recommended one semantic revision (PH 2.2) and emphasized urgency given lagging permit numbers. The committee discussed minor edits (e.g., updating rent notice language to match state law). The committee voted 2-0 to forward the housing chapter to the City Council for a study session.

Key Outcomes

  • Urban Village Code Amendments: Motion carried 2-0 to forward the staff recommendation (excluding the ability to split a grocery store into multiple tenant spaces) to the full City Council.
  • Climate Chapter: Motion carried 2-0 to forward the climate element to the City Council for a study session.
  • Housing Chapter: Motion carried 2-0 to forward the housing element to the City Council for a study session.
  • The committee also discussed the need for a full council development snapshot in the future, and noted the lack of a quarterly housing update to the council.

Meeting Transcript

All right. Hello, everybody. This is the Land Use and Environment Committee of the Olympia City Council. My name is Danny Madron. I serve as the chair, and I'm calling this meeting to order. Today's Thursday, September 25th, and we're just a couple of minutes after 4 p.m. Uh roll call. We've got uh myself and a committee member Jim Cooper here. Uh uh committee member Vanderpool is excused this evening. Uh so just two of us here. Um first thing we need is an agenda. Can I get a motion, Jim? Move approval. Second. All in favor? Aye. Aye. All right. We're gonna start off with public comment. Um, and we do have quite a few people who have signed up today. Um, I do typically allow three minutes for public comment, but because we do have so many people who are signed up, I am going to limit it to two as uh as identified in the um agenda. And I'm just gonna go ahead in the order that people signed up. So the first person I'm going to call is Heather Burgess. And uh, oh, there she is. Okay, go ahead, Heather. And so Good afternoon, Councilmember Madron, can you hear me? Yes. Okay, wonderful. Thank you. Appreciate it. Um, my name is Heather Burgess. I'm a real estate and land use attorney, and I represent Briggs, RE development LP and Gordy Gill, who are the owners of the remaining undeveloped portions of the Briggs Village Development, to which your item 6A uh would make certain amendments to the governing codes. I did just want to draw your attention to a letter that I believe I copied both you and Councilmember Cooper on, dated September 22nd, 2025 regarding um two provisions of the draft. One had to do with minimum grocery store size and requesting a clarifying amendment, and the second having to do with the maximum building height in and around the town square versus relative to the number of stories. So just wanted to draw your attention to those additional clarifying comments. Appreciate all of the time and effort that you, the staff, and the uh members of the public have given to this process so far, and looking forward to bringing this to council. Thank you very much. Great, thank you. And thanks for being brief, Heather. I forgot to mention that the timer is at the top of the Zoom screen. Uh, so you are very well within time. Uh up next, I have Gordy Gill. Gordy, you could go ahead and unmute. There you go. Hi, um uh uh my name is Gordy Gill. We're a medium-sized real estate development company that's operated in British Columbia for over 30 years. We own and manage a diverse uh diversified real estate portfolio comprising of office, retail, and industrial properties, mainly in the greater Vancouver area. We purchased a property, we purchased Briggs Village property from California developer in December 2015, comprising of nine commercial lots, 20-acre parcel, and a couple of other parcels that will be developed in the future. We sold two commercial lots to local investors, and we still own uh an intent to develop the remaining seven commercial lots. We have constructed and still own 33 unit apartment complex on one of the commercial lots and have developed the 20-acre parcel into 45 single family lots, which are currently being planted.

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