Meeting colors

OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD

Record of Proceedings

Shoreline City Council Regular Meeting - December 1, 2025

City Council — Monday, December 1, 2025

BodyShoreline, Washington

SessionCity Council

DateMonday, December 1, 2025

StatusFILED

Video Record

0:00 / 27:07

Transcript — VerbatimClick a timed line to jump · ⧉ to share it

0:38

Good evening.

0:40

My call to order the Shoreline City Council regular meeting for Monday, December 1st, 2025.

0:45

Will you please join me in the flag salute?

1:02

Thank you.

1:03

Will the clerk please call the roll?

1:04

Mayor Roberts.

1:05

Here.

1:06

Deputy Mayor Mark.

1:07

I'm Council.

1:08

Councilmember Ansdale.

1:10

Present.

1:10

Councilmember Scully.

1:11

Present.

1:11

Councilmember Atamasu present.

1:13

Councilmember Povey.

1:15

Councilmember Robertson.

1:16

Here.

1:17

Okay.

1:18

The next item is approval of tonight's agenda.

1:21

If there are no objections or comments, the agenda is adopted by unanimous consent.

1:26

Next on the report is the report of the city manager, Mr.

1:28

Ellington.

1:29

Good evening, Council.

1:30

I hope everyone was able to enjoy a long weekend with friends and family over the holidays.

1:36

A friendly reminder that the Shorelights winter light display will be on view throughout the rest of the month.

1:42

Additionally, as part of the bite at the lights, various food truck vendors will be on site most days of the week and every weekend.

1:50

The lights and food trucks will be around until January 11, 2026.

1:57

Join us this week, Tuesday, December 2nd for the Briar Crest Neighborhood Walk.

2:02

Meet up with our volunteer walker, Donna at 10 a.m.

2:05

at the Briar Crest Elementary School.

2:08

Learn more at Shoreline Law.gov forward slash Shoreline Walks.

2:13

We are excited to share that this year we are bringing back the winter porch light parade and have renamed it the Shorelights Porch Parade.

2:22

Register your light display now through December 15th to be featured on the display map that will be published to the city's website and social media accounts.

2:32

No porch, no problem.

2:34

Get creative by decorating your balcony, storefront, or any street-facing window.

2:39

We look forward to seeing all of the displays throughout the city this holiday season.

2:44

And finally, I just have a couple of public reminders to share.

3:00

And the Parks Recreation and Cultural Services Tree Board's next meeting is also on December 4th at 7 p.m.

3:07

at City Hall.

3:09

For more information about these upcoming meetings, please visit Shoreline Law.gov forward slash calendar.

3:15

And that concludes the city manager's report.

3:19

Thank you.

3:19

Are there any council reports this evening?

3:26

Seeing none.

3:28

Yeah.

3:31

Oh, to you, Mayor.

3:36

Okay, as long as no one calls me Lord Mayor, everything is okay.

3:53

Gambian.

3:56

The Gambian ambassador this weekend uh here at City Hall.

4:02

It was a very uh right in earlier.

4:06

Uh it was a very it was very nice uh meeting with him uh and the members of the Gambian Embassy and Consulate uh who came here.

4:16

There were probably about a hundred uh resident uh residents from the uh the North North Seattle uh Edmonds uh up into Everett uh who came to uh City Hall here.

4:31

And uh it was very nice to meet uh to uh receive the ambassador and uh hear some of the concerns uh from members of the Gambian community who came to City Hall and talked.

4:43

So that was I think uh I know the mayor uh Scully when he met with uh member the Sierra the ambassador from Sierra Leone a few years ago, and it's just really an honor and privilege that we are hosting these community events here at City Hall.

5:01

Commander Sullivan.

5:02

And the ambassador followed the Gambian tradition and addressed Mayor Roberts as Lord Mayor Roberts.

5:08

And the rest of us thought that was hilarious.

5:12

Any further council reports?

5:17

Okay.

5:18

Next on the agenda is public comment.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting

Land Use Planning███████████████████████████████████████████43%

Procedural████████████████████████████████████36%

Public Safety███████7%

Pending Litigation██████6%

Public Engagement████4%

Community Engagement████4%

Summary of Proceedings

Shoreline City Council Regular Meeting - December 1, 2025

The Shoreline City Council held a regular meeting on December 1, 2025, at 7:00 p.m. in the Council Chamber at City Hall. The meeting included approval of the consent calendar, discussion and action on the 2025 Development Code Batch Amendments, and an executive session regarding potential litigation. No public comments were offered.

Consent Calendar

Approved by unanimous consent (7-0) the following items:
- Approval of Regular Meeting Minutes of November 3, 2025
- Adoption of Ordinance No. 1046 – Adopting the 2025 Comprehensive Plan Annual Docket Amendments
- Adoption of Resolution No. 555 – Amending the Employee Handbook

Public Comments & Testimony

No members of the public signed up to speak or appeared to provide comment.

Discussion Items

Action on Ordinance No. 1047 – 2025 Development Code Batch Amendments: Senior Planner Steve Szafran presented the staff report. The council had previously discussed the amendments on November 10, 2025, and was in general agreement except for the issue of vinyl-coated chain-link fencing. The Planning Commission recommended approval of the code amendments as drafted. Councilmember Scully moved to approve the ordinance as recommended by the Planning Commission, and Councilmember Pobee seconded. The main motion was tabled to allow a separate amendment proposed by Mayor Roberts, which Councilmember Scully moved: to amend SMC 20.50.250(B)(8)(e) to allow vinyl-coated chain-link fences in commercial zones only if they are no closer to the property line than the front building façade. The amendment sparked debate: Mayor Roberts supported it for pedestrian-friendly streetscapes and safety; Deputy Mayor Mork cited safety concerns for pedestrians; Councilmember Ademasu opposed, citing cost burdens on small businesses and existing uses like safety fencing along drop-offs. The initial vote on the amendment was recorded as 5-2 in the transcript but the minutes state it failed 3-4. Councilmember Robertson raised a concern that the vote was confused, leading to a motion to reconsider. After reconsideration, the amendment failed 4-3 (Councilmembers Ademasu, Ramsdell, Mayor Roberts, and Deputy Mayor Mork voted in favor; Councilmembers Robertson, Scully, and Pobee voted against). The council then voted on the main motion to approve Ordinance No. 1047 as recommended by the Planning Commission, which passed 7-0.

Key Outcomes

Ordinance No. 1047 adopted unanimously (7-0) as recommended by the Planning Commission, without the amendment to restrict vinyl-coated chain-link fencing to the building façade line.
Note on discrepancy: The minutes and transcript differ on the initial vote tally for the amendment (minutes: 3-4 failed; transcript: 5-2 passed). The final outcome after reconsideration is consistent: the amendment failed 4-3.
The council entered an executive session at 7:26 p.m. for 30 minutes (extended to 8:13 p.m.) to discuss potential litigation under RCW 42.30.110(1)(i). No action was taken following the session. The meeting adjourned at 8:18 p.m.

SUMMARIZED BY OPENPUBLICA AI

TRANSCRIPT VIA PUBLIC VIDEO
openpublica.com