Land Use & Environment Committee Meeting – June 2, 2026

Note: According to the provided agenda and transcript, the meeting actually took place on Thursday, May 28, 2026, at 2:00 PM. However, the user instruction specified using the date June 2, 2026. This summary uses the instructed date but notes the discrepancy.

The Land Use & Environment Committee (LUEC) held a special meeting to discuss sidewalk repair policy, receive a legislative update on affordable housing, and approve code amendments. Chair Vanderpool called the meeting to order at 2:00 PM. All three committee members were present: Chair Robert Vanderpool, Clark Gilman, and Paul Berendt. The agenda and minutes from April 23, 2026, were approved unanimously.

Public Comments

• Heather Moline (resident, not representing BPAC) shared a personal story about her father with a traumatic brain injury struggling with a six-inch sidewalk uplift. She urged the committee to treat sidewalks as public goods funded publicly, emphasizing that sidewalk repair can be life-or-death for vulnerable residents.
• Jim Lazar (former BPAC chair, involved in the 2004 Parks and Sidewalks measure) endorsed the Planning Commission recommendation for a second repair crew focused on pavement grinding of small (0.5–2 inch) lifts. He argued the city's proposed TBD sales tax spending on three large capital projects violates the city's long-term financial strategy, which requires maintaining existing infrastructure before new programs. He urged adopting the Planning Commission's recommendation that the city, not property owners, assume sidewalk maintenance responsibility, except for damage caused by property owner actions.
• Larry Dzieza agreed with Lazar, emphasizing the need to spread fixes citywide, not just downtown, to show public benefit for the tax increase. He noted that businesses have historically received free city repairs while homeowners paid out-of-pocket or went without.

Discussion Items

Briefing on Sidewalk Repair Policy Approach

Michelle Swanson (Public Works Principal Planner) presented the draft policy. Key points:

• Inventory found 28,000 repair locations across 226 linear miles; 83% of uplifts are tree-related.
• Current code holds adjacent property owners responsible, but enforcement is ineffective (only 3% of surveyed cities find it effective).
• The city now funds sidewalk repair at nearly $1.2 million/year via TBD sales tax, but at current rates it would take ~250 years to fix all locations.
• Staff recommended a shared responsibility approach: city crew focuses on common pedestrian destinations (schools, transit stops), large property owners fix their sidewalks, and a point-of-sale repair program.
• Committee members discussed equity, prioritization, and funding. Councilor Berendt supported shared responsibility and emphasized schools, a grinding crew, and “skin in the game” for property owners. Councilor Gilman raised concerns about downtown fairness and the need for a spread of small projects rather than large capital ones. Councilor Vanderpool questioned the definition of “large property owners” and suggested city take full responsibility with a “worst first” approach.
• The committee directed staff to further explore the shared responsibility model, including analysis of large property owner frontage and potential grant programs, for presentation at the full council study session on July 21.

2026 Legislative Updates Related to Affordable Housing

Christa Lenssen (Senior Program Specialist) provided updates:

• Federal: 21st Century Road to Housing Act (Senate version passed March 2026; House amended). Key provisions include HUD prioritization near opportunity zones, pilot programs for home repairs and housing conversion, and prohibiting large institutional investors from buying single-family homes (if owning 350+ homes).
• State: SB 6027 allows local HOME funds for operations/maintenance and rehabilitation of existing affordable housing. HB 2442 allows REET 2 revenues for abating nuisance properties and new local sales tax for child/family services (effective Jan 2027). Other bills address land banking, condominium liability reform, and mixed-income faith community density bonuses.
• The committee recommended updating city code language to match state law (especially on cooling devices/rental units).

Approval of Code Amendments (Title 10, 16, 17, 18)

Joyce Phillips (CP&ED Planning Manager) presented 47 proposed amendments, mostly staff-initiated cleanups and state-required updates. Notable: lot splitting, daycare centers, parking standards updates, tree-root-siding clarifications, and removal of ground-floor commercial requirements in some downtown areas (per Planning Commission recommendation). The Planning Commission recommended approval and suggested revisiting ground-floor housing restrictions later in 2026. Committee member Gilman supported allowing residential on ground floors to increase housing.

Key Outcomes

• Sidewalk Repair Policy: The committee expressed general support for a shared responsibility approach but requested additional analysis on large property owner definitions and costs. Staff will return with refined options for the July 21 council study session.
• Affordable Housing Legislative Update: No formal vote; the committee accepted the report and directed staff to align city code with state changes.
• Code Amendments: Motion by Councilor Berendt, seconded by Councilor Gilman, to adopt the Planning Commission’s recommendations and forward the package to the full City Council for approval. Passed 3-0 (Vanderpool, Gilman, Berendt).
• Farewell: Joyce Phillips was recognized for her 11 years of service and numerous code improvements; she will be leaving the city soon.
• Next Meeting: The next regular LUEC meeting is scheduled for June 25, 2026, starting at 4:30 PM (delayed 30 minutes due to an all‑department retreat).