Olympia City Council Regular Business Meeting - February 25, 2026
Olympia City Council Regular Business Meeting - February 25, 2026
The Olympia City Council held a regular business meeting on February 25, 2026, addressing a wide range of topics including community recognition, public comments, and multiple legislative actions. Key agenda items included amendments to urban village development standards, termination of the Briggs Urban Village Development Agreement, and the adoption of ordinances protecting diverse family structures and prohibiting discrimination. The council also acted on resolutions related to immigration enforcement and city property use by federal agents.
Consent Calendar
- Resolution 4G: Approved a resolution calling for an end to dangerous immigration enforcement tactics by ICE and CBP, urging protection of constitutional rights, and requiring guardrails on DHS funding. (Councilmember Gilman sponsored)
- Ordinance 4H: Approved an ordinance enacting OMC Chapter 12.75, prohibiting the use of city-owned or controlled property for civil immigration enforcement activities by federal agents, with an emergency clause. (Mayor Payne introduced)
Public Comments & Testimony
- LED Street Lights: Christina Townsend of the Soft Lights Foundation expressed concerns about LED light pollution, citing increased cancer, cardiac, and stroke risks, and urged enforcement of the city's light policy.
- Abandoned Vehicles: Edith Hewlett reported abandoned vehicles on Woodard Green Drive, many left for years, creating traffic hazards.
- Briggs Village Grocery Store: Multiple residents (Rick Bird, Brian Fowler, Linda Shotwell, Debbie Carter, Tom Culhane, Andrew Peterson, Franklin Wilson, Ika Peterman, Betty Bailey, and others) spoke in support of a minimum 12,000 sq ft grocery store, emphasizing the original master plan's promise of a walkable community with a full-service grocer. They opposed reducing the requirement to 9,200 sq ft and expressed concerns about parking, traffic, and developer accountability.
- Diverse Family Structures: Jessa Davis, Rosalyn Erlewine, Tyson Holman, Dave Carlson, and Riven Beagle thanked the council for passing protections for diverse family structures, sharing personal experiences of discrimination and emphasizing the importance of civil protections for polyamorous, queer, and non-traditional families.
- Flock Cameras / Surveillance: Several speakers (Nova Stewart, David Webb, Jeff Thomas, VL Huntington Bradley) praised the council for suspending the Flock camera contract and urged against replacing it with other ALPR vendors, calling for regulation of private surveillance and ring cameras. David Webb also raised concerns about police accountability and his unlawful arrest.
- Ice Enforcement: Speakers supported the anti-ICE resolutions but called for stronger action, including abolition of ICE and DHS, and urged the city to enforce sanctuary policies.
Discussion Items
- 6A – Urban Village Development Standards (OMC 18.05): Senior planner Jackson Ewing presented proposed amendments to reduce required commercial space, increase residential density, and set a minimum grocery store size of 9,200 sq ft. Extensive council debate ensued on:
- The appropriate minimum grocery size (9,200 vs. 12,000 sq ft).
- Whether to allow the grocery requirement to be met by multiple small food shops (e.g., butcher, bakery) instead of a single store.
- Building height for mixed-use buildings facing the town square (45 ft vs. 50 ft).
- The inclusion of open space in calculating commercial square footage requirements.
- Parking concerns, especially related to the YMCA and increased residential density.
- Councilmember Madron noted the market study supported 9,200 sq ft as the maximum supportable size; others argued it excluded future residents. Councilmember Gilman emphasized the historical promise of a single grocery store. Councilmember Green raised concerns about market viability. Councilmember Barron proposed amendments to calculate commercial space based on the entire village acreage (passed) and to set a minimum of 12,000 sq ft for grocery with a provision to build down to 9,200 sq ft if a grocer was under contract (failed). Councilmember Green proposed allowing the 9,200 sq ft to be split into multiple food store tenants (failed). Councilmember Madron proposed increasing building height to 50 ft (passed). The original motion, as amended, passed.
- 6B – Termination of Briggs Urban Village Development Agreement: Presented by Jackson Ewing. The agreement, which caps residential units at 810, is proposed to be terminated to allow increased housing density and support commercial development. The council approved the termination unanimously, noting that the agreement's provisions are now largely covered by the city's urban village code.
- 6C – Unfair Housing Practices (Diverse Family Structures): City Manager Jay Burney presented an ordinance amending OMC 5.80 to add protections for traditional and non-traditional family structures and consensual relationship structures. Councilmember Vanderpool, the prime sponsor, emphasized the community's lived experience and the need for civil protections. The ordinance passed unanimously.
- 6D – Code Against Discrimination (OMC 7.01): Presented by Jay Burney, this new chapter establishes comprehensive protections against discrimination, closing gaps in state law and adding family/relationship structure as a protected category. Councilmember Wynn moved to approve as amended (to include a drafting correction in section .040 and to expand the policy declaration to include persons employed or visiting). The ordinance passed unanimously.
Key Outcomes
- Vote on 6A (Urban Village Amendments): Passed with amendments:
- Commercial floor space minimum calculated as 500 sq ft per acre of the entire village (including open space/ critical areas).
- Maximum building height for mixed-use buildings facing the town square increased to 50 ft.
- Grocery store minimum set at 9,200 sq ft (no multiple tenant option).
- Vote on 6B (Termination of Development Agreement): Approved unanimously.
- Vote on 6C (Unfair Housing Practices – Diverse Family Structures): Approved unanimously.
- Vote on 6D (Code Against Discrimination): Approved unanimously on first reading, as amended.
- Note: The meeting date per the transcript is February 24, 2026, but the provided instruction specifies February 25, 2026. This summary uses the instructed date.
Meeting Transcript
Five, four, three, two, one. Good evening and welcome to the Tuesday, February 24th, 2026 regular business meeting of the Olympia City Council. For the record, we have a quorum with all council members present tonight. So before we adopt the agenda, I do have a statement here that I wish to read regarding uh the rally that is uh taking place uh just outside. So there was a call that went out to the community for individuals to be here tonight to comment to us on flock cameras. We always want to encourage community members to give public comments on the issues that are important to them. However, I do want to take a moment to reiterate several facts about Flock camera, our flock camera program before we continue with tonight's public comment. So late last year we heard from community members about strong concerns with Flock and a call to shut it down. We heard fears and anger about the federal government using data in other communities for purposes of immigration enforcement, data security and overall privacy concerns, and the expanding use of advanced license plate plate reader or ALPR, which it will be referred to from here on out, and other similar technologies. We as a city responded to those concerns. The flock camera program has been suspended since December. All camera equipment has been removed, and the current contract with Flock will not be renewed. All data outside the 30-day retention window or which is required for local law enforcement investigation purposes has been deleted. We remain committed to providing opportunities for transparent processes with public input before any future movement towards public safety technology solutions. We have also taken action to help community members feel safer and more empowered in response to ICE activities. We're upholding our sanctuary city commitments, educating community members by making available know your rights cards, issuing a mayor's statement, convening elected officials from the region to talk about safety planning, and providing opportunities for community members to take part in or help co-host know your rights trainings. Tonight, council will also take formal action on two items that demonstrate our sanctuary city values and commitment. The first is the approval of a resolution calling for the end of dangerous immigration enforcement tactics by ICE and U.S. customs and border protection, using protection of constitutional rights, urging protection, excuse me, of constitutional rights, and requiring guardrails on Department of Homeland Security funding. The second is an update on the Olympia Municipal Code that prohibits the use of city-owned or controlled property for civil immigration enforcement activities or operations by federal agents. Specifically the Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Custom Enforcement. Earning and maintaining public trust is critical to this council, city leadership, and the Olympia Police Department. So with that, um, I do believe we will hear more from our community members during our public comment segment of the meeting. Uh but for now we will continue with the rest of the agenda, and I need a motion to adopt tonight's agenda. Move to adopt the agenda. Second. All those in favor of adopting the agenda as published signify by saying aye. Aye. We have an agenda. So our first item tonight is special recognition, which is a proetry reading from the City of Olympia's poet laureate, Ocean, who was here with us tonight. So I'd like to welcome up Stephanie Johnson, who is our arts program manager to Hi, Stephanie. Hi, thank you. Mayor Payne and members of Council, I am Stephanie Johnson with City of Olympia Parks Arts and Recreation, and I'm here tonight with our poet laureate for 2025 to 2027. Ocean. And part of the work of Olympia's Poet Laureate is to present a poem at a city council meeting near the beginning of each year. And the goals of the poet laureate program are to promote promote poetry as an art form, expand access to the literary arts, connect the community to poetry, promote poetry as a community voice that contributes to a sense of place, and to address the topic of the poet laureate appointment, which is to utilize the power of poetry and language to contribute to thoughtful response and centering around the concept of resilience. Hi. Thanks, Tom. Old tree, breathe with me. Oh, bright child, placenta dug under crumb to feed this seedling. Ye coast pines swung and broken, clawing cliffside over glitter seas, blighting brine. Where under slither tendril through my father's ashes and arch in springtime reverie, or swing in shore gales cackling up through brittling air, strain branches, strain arms in the space lintled between finger and twig, snag wisps of revenants. We breathe each other, have ever breathed through alveoli and stomata, leaves and skin co-evolved to vein the star. We oxygen breathers, we external lungs of our ancient kin, you one-legged gods who rise over us strong of phloem and bast, who sleep bowed in hibernal ice, only to erupt again in seas of verdant foliage, your cycle of rebirth modeled for us, religion, all mothers coil back to you. We peel over skin your bark, sun flare in leaf and palm unfurl to receive star heat, red wing flood and pilgrimage, starling and flutter hawk, chlorophyll boiling in the mammal's loins to make life from drops of sun. All it is is oxygen, mother molded matrices and whirling helices, mammals, but a side role in the drama beyond our reckoning. You old ones sing your story, brushing canopy against canopy, trail we ghosts, mother. I raise my eye waters glimmering on the sky, old tree, breathe with me. We're here a while yet. Just a moment, Ocean, just a moment.
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