Puyallup City Council Regular Meeting – May 12, 2026
Puyallup City Council Regular Meeting – May 12, 2026
The Puyallup City Council met in regular session on Tuesday, May 12, 2026, at 6:30 PM in Council Chambers at City Hall, 333 S. Meridian. All members were present except Councilmember Kastama (excused). Mayor Witting presided, and the meeting adjourned at 8:22 PM after an executive session. Due to technical difficulties, the first portion of the meeting was not audio recorded; the consent agenda and earlier items are summarized from the minutes and agenda.
Presentations & Proclamations
- Mayor Witting read a proclamation recognizing May 2026 as Military Appreciation Month. Josh Wheeldon, VFW District 3 Commander for Washington State and VFW Chaplain, accepted the proclamation. Councilmember Adler noted this appeared to be the City's first such proclamation.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Kevin Sampson urged caution around motorcycle riders on roadways.
- John Hopkins spoke in support of the Arts Downtown sculpture donation.
- Matthew Caras addressed the flagpole vote and needs of veterans.
- Shannon Bennett addressed decorum during City Council meetings.
- Dave Churchman spoke about potential conflicts of interest from City officials.
- Dave De Groot discussed the need to address invasive plant species at City parks.
- Andrelyn Izquierdo spoke in support of the Military Appreciation Month proclamation.
- John Higley addressed the Military Appreciation Month proclamation and the flagpole.
Consent Calendar
- The agenda was approved 6-0.
- Mayor Witting removed agenda item 3.e (2026 Chip Seal contract with Sierra Santa Fe, Inc.) before the agenda vote.
- The remaining consent agenda was approved 6-0, including approval of City Council minutes; the Berger Partnership contract for the Wildwood Park and LaBelle Property Master Plan; acceptance of a 2024 Emergency Management Performance Grant Reallocation; the Psomas supplemental agreement for Shaw Road Widening Phase 4A; the R.L. Alia contract for the 4th Avenue SE Emergency Sewer Main Repairs; the Arts Downtown public sculpture donation; the Motorola Solutions Infrastructure Support Agreement renewal; the PH Consulting supplemental agreement for the Railroad Quiet Zone Project; the BHC Consultants supplemental agreement for construction management on the sewer repair project; the AA Asphalting change order for street repairs; acceptance of a Pierce County Human Services grant, use of City Opioid Settlement Funds, and an agreement with Catholic Community Services; and purchase of a Woodbine Cemetery mini-excavator.
Public Hearing: 2026 Traffic Impact Fee Study and Code Changes
- City Engineer Hans Hunger presented the second reading of the ordinance adopting the 2026 Traffic Impact Fee (TIF) Study. The updated maximum defensible fee is $8,762 per PM peak trip, effective January 1, 2027. Fees may be paid at permit issuance, deferred until certificate of occupancy, or paid within 18 months, whichever comes first. The study includes inflation indexing, credits for previous land uses, an 80% reduction for certain uses such as early learning centers, a mandated 50% reduction for ADUs, and a 50% reduction for qualifying 20-year multifamily tax exemption projects, plus a heavy-truck trip adjustment for industrial uses.
- Mayor Witting opened the public hearing at 7:10 PM and closed it at 7:12 PM.
- Aaron Hallenberg, government affairs director for the Pierce County Master Builders Association and a Puyallup District 1 resident, expressed concern that the fee increase would raise housing costs. He said national studies show the end consumer pays about 20% more than the developer, and estimated a Puyallup homebuyer could pay roughly $10,000 instead of the current $4,000-and-change. He stated the association is not against infrastructure, but urged limiting the burden on consumers.
- The ordinance passed 6-0 on a roll call vote.
Ordinance: Additional Public Parking near 311 W. Pioneer
- The Council approved a second reading of an ordinance adding on-street parking around 311 W. Pioneer with a 3-hour time limit. The motion passed 6-0 on a roll call vote.
Resolutions: Eight-Year Multifamily Property Tax Exemption Agreements
- Senior Planner Chris Beale presented both resolutions together. The agreements are with Urban Puyallup Mixed Use LLC for two downtown projects: Bell Place (approximately 100 market-rate units) near the police substation on Pioneer, and AOB (140 market-rate units) behind the senior activity center/library. The eight-year MFTE exempts residential improvements from property taxes while land and commercial components remain taxed; no affordable housing set-aside is required. Both projects are under active permit review and must finish construction within three years of contract execution.
- Councilmember Smolko asked about recapture if construction deadlines are not met. The city attorney responded that under the contract, noncompliance likely means the project simply does not receive the tax relief, and offered to verify.
- Resolution 6.a (204 4th Street SW) passed 6-0.
- Resolution 6.b (330 3rd Street SW) passed 6-0.
Other Business: Proposed Title 20 Zoning Code Amendments (Informational)
- Development and Permitting Services Director Courtney Brunell presented a zoning code update intended to align the code with the recently adopted Comprehensive Plan and the February phase-one zoning map updates. Proposed changes include: updating the zoning district list; allowing certain auto-oriented uses such as vehicle sales/service in the RMX zone; allowing standalone multifamily and townhouse development in mixed-use zones without a commercial component; increasing residential density in RMX and UCX zones; increasing size allowances for incidental signs; and adjusting the site plan review appeal process.
- Staff requested policy direction on density. Options were maintaining current standards (18 to 22 dwelling units per acre), increasing to 50 dwelling units per acre, or removing the density cap. Staff noted practical constraints such as parking, setbacks, height, and stormwater would limit actual yields even without a cap.
- Deputy Mayor Johnson supported removing the density cap, saying it is consistent with other high-density downtown areas and would concentrate housing in commercially busy corridors. Councilmember Gilliam asked about parking; Brunell said multifamily parking would remain roughly 1:1 unless state law changes, and she would provide a map of transit-oriented development districts before first reading. Councilmember Smolko asked about limited developer interest in the RMX area; Brunell said interest has been in auto-oriented uses and that the earlier River Road vision had not materialized. Mayor Witting expressed concern about the proposed increase in incidental sign size, and Councilmember Adler asked about consistency with temporary fair-season parking signs; Brunell said those provisions are unchanged.
- The proposal was before the Planning Commission for a public hearing on May 13, 2026, with a tentative City Council first reading on June 2, 2026 and second reading on June 16, 2026. No vote was taken.
City Manager, Council, and Mayor Reports
- City Manager Steve Kirkelie announced the next regular meeting on June 2, 2026, which will include a presentation on traffic calming.
- Councilmember Smolko reported attending her first SIP Puyallup event and called it a valuable community connection event.
- Councilmember King said he is preparing to launch the Memorial 250 Fund and invited pledges by email.
- Councilmember Adler thanked colleagues for the Military Appreciation Month proclamation.
- Councilmember Gilliam reported volunteering as a pourer at SIP Puyallup.
- Deputy Mayor Johnson reported attending the Pierce County Prayer Breakfast on the National Day of Prayer, noting the presence of Governor Bob Ferguson. Minutes record attendance at over 2,100 people; the transcript contains an unclear attendance figure. He also commented on the vitality of downtown Puyallup on Mother's Day weekend.
- Mayor Witting praised the Memorial 250 Fund, reported attending a Wildland-Urban Interface Fire Workshop in Eatonville with Councilmember Adler, highlighted the Pierce Conservation District's free property assessments for fire-resistant landscaping, and noted rising food insecurity and homelessness, with up to 90 individuals seeking meals at New Hope Resource Center. He said Pierce County is working toward a unified regional approach to homelessness, with the first county presentation held in Edgewood and a Puyallup presentation to be scheduled.
Executive Session
- The Council recessed at 7:59 PM into executive session to discuss with city attorneys litigation or potential litigation to which the City, Council, or a Councilmember may be a party. The session was expected to last 30 minutes, adjourned at 8:22 PM, and no further action was taken.
Key Outcomes
- Agenda approved 6-0.
- Consent agenda approved 6-0, with the 2026 Chip Seal contract (3.e) removed.
- 2026 Traffic Impact Fee ordinance adopted 6-0.
- Parking ordinance for 311 W. Pioneer adopted 6-0.
- Eight-year MFTE resolutions for 204 4th Street SW and 330 3rd Street SW approved 6-0 each.
- No formal action on Title 20 zoning amendments; staff directed to continue and return for first reading June 2, 2026.
- Meeting adjourned at 8:22 PM.
Meeting Transcript
What does it mean to be good? I like the health care. Well, you can talk about the car. Not the same. Been here a few times there uh for the traffic impact fee. We're now at the point of doing a second reading and a public ordinance or a public hearing tonight. So I'll give a short presentation here on it, and then we'll uh move on to the public hearing part. So I'll give a little background there, but go over it um fairly quickly since we've been here um three times prior to this um where we've made decisions on the traffic impact fee. So just a reminder the traffic impact fee is a one-time charge to developers, and it's really to um offset the incremental additional trips that new development brings to the city, which causes um to um traffic to back up, and so we try to keep up with that with projects to uh increase the capacity of our streets. Um traffic impact fee study very much does a calculation on this on the projects that are needed, the cost of those projects, it removes out existing deficiencies, it removes out trips that aren't generated from within the city, and then it divvies up those costs by the projected number of trips over the next um ten years. The new fee right now um is that the maximum defensible rate of 8,762, um, and we do that by PM peak trip. And these funds are very specifically labeled, they can only be used towards those projects. Now, those projects will need other funds too, but you can't use these for just any um project there. So it really is a method for growth to kind of pay for growth as it occurs. And these two maps are just kind of a representation of the projects that are on the traffic impact fee study, the project list. They include both non-motorized improvements but also corridor improvements like Shaw Road and Knight Street Southwest and several of the intersections labeled up there in uh red. And then this is a slide that we showed last um week emphasizing that um what we're gonna do is begin this new fee in January uh 1st, 2027. Um applications that are in place at the time of building complete building permit application will be vested to the current TIFF fees that are in place when they vest. Um, and then the developer has the option, if they choose, they can either pay those at the time of permit issuance or they can ask for a deferral. And if they do defer, those vested fees will continue for um certific until they reach certificate of occupancy or 18 months, whichever comes sooner. Um a couple of the policy choices that we've made here. Um we're going to index the traffic impact fee to inflation so we keep up with the cost of projects that are that are rising. Um we have some specific um reductions in the fee for certain types of land use. Some of these are um dictated as you it's an option for a city to choose these reductions, such as the early learning center or the low income, and that gives up to an 80% reduction in their traffic impact fees. Um are mandated along with you know the idea of providing more housing options. The reduction for ADU is mandated at 50 percent, so we don't really have a choice on that one. Um, and also a reduction of 50 percent for the multi-family residentials that do the 20-year um claim the 20-year tax exemption. That's where you need to have 20% of your units be low income, and they also have to be within five half a mile of the um transit center. And then um we lack previous land uses, so as development occurs, we look back the years, what that was decided was looking back up to 10 years for the previous land use and how many trips that was generated. Those will be credited against a new redevelopment at that site. So it uh recognizes that some of those trips are already kind of baked into um the amount of traffic. And then one other item that we've added is a heavy truck trip adjustment, recognizing that trucks take up a lot more room than a car, but that only applies to industrial land uses where we increase the fee to account for those um traffic the heavy trucks that are generated by that land use. And then this is a slide, I apologize. It's in error. It's supposed to be there's a credit given as a developer does improvements on their site. So if they build frontage and road that is part of a system improvement increase in the capacity, they get a credit against their TIFF fees for the cost of those improvements there because they're part of the whole system, and so they're improving that. And so the next steps, I'm happy to answer any questions that you might have, but we hold the public hearing and then we consider the second reading of the ordinance. And that's the end of my presentation today. Okay, we'll now open up our public hearing for citizen comments. Each citizen is allowed to speak for two minutes. Uh do I have anyone that wishes to speak? Uh good evening, council. For the record, Aaron Hallenberg, I'm the director of government affairs for the Pierce County Master Builders Association. Uh, but more importantly, resident of District 1. So thanks for happy to be here, short commute back to home. Um again, impact fees right. Again, this will ultimately impact affordability and will raise the cost of housing. But I'm more or less here just to kind of offer some information. Um we've shared the data before, but we have national studies that show for um the that the end consumer pays 20% more on that impact fee than developer does. And I think it's a common misconception that the developer is the one paying the fee, right?
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