Shoreline Planning Commission Meeting Summary - May 6, 2021
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Shoreline Planning Commission Meeting Summary - May 6, 2021
The Shoreline Planning Commission met on May 6, 2021, to receive a comprehensive update on development activity since 2019, including multifamily, townhome, and commercial projects, as well as pre-application trends and policy initiatives. The meeting also included discussion of the commission's upcoming retreat.
Consent Calendar
- No consent calendar items were noted. The meeting proceeded with roll call, agenda approval, and minutes approval without objection.
Public Comments & Testimony
- No members of the public signed up to speak during the general public comment period.
Discussion Items
- Local Development and Long Range Planning Projects Update – Director Mark presented a slide-heavy overview of permitting and development since 2019. Key points included:
- In 2020, the city received about 2,600 permit applications valued at nearly $250 million, issued 2,300 permits, generated $6.8 million in revenue, and completed 4,719 inspections (handled by two inspectors due to COVID). This was approximately 700 fewer applications and $3 million less revenue than in 2019, but revenue still exceeded budget.
- Since April 2019, 923 multifamily units have been permitted (230 affordable), all outside station areas. Station-area MUR-70 developments are still in pre-application.
- 226 townhome units approved since 2019, 45 completed, with 447 total expected in two years. Many early townhome projects predate updated design standards; new standards require 40% of units to face the street and address landscaping and utility exposure.
- Commercial projects covered include storage facilities, fire stations, a church, the North City Water District facility, Shoreline Community College additions, and remodels (e.g., Washington State Health Lab, WSDOT office, Black Coffee, Jersey's relocation).
- Pre-application meetings indicate strong future development: 2 multifamily projects (288 units) for the 185th Street station area, and 6 multifamily projects (1,142 units) plus a 72-unit townhome for the 148th Street station area.
- Environmental progress: mandatory Built Green 4-Star/Passive House standards have resulted in 370 certified units in 2020, up from zero in 2014, saving 4+ million gallons of water and 783 megawatts of energy.
- Staff discussed upcoming work: MUR-70 regulation updates, sign design guidelines for Shoreline Place, tree code amendments, and the Housing Action Plan.
- Commissioners asked about the impact of new development on open space per capita, property tax revenue, and business sales tax thresholds. Staff noted a revenue/cost model is under development and expected by July 2021.
- New Business – Planning Commission Retreat – Staff proposed a retreat to discuss topics such as diversity and inclusion in land use, tree regulations, the 148th Street non-motorized bridge, parks planning, and other city projects. Commissioners agreed to generate topic lists and schedule a retreat of 1–2 hours.
Key Outcomes
- No formal votes were taken. The commission received the development update and will revisit retreat planning at the next meeting.
- Staff will prepare a list of retreat topics and share with commissioners for input.
- The appeal of the Point Wells decision was noted as continuing at King County Superior Court.
Meeting Transcript
I'd like to call out call to order the March 6 Planning Commission meeting. Oh, five second four, okay. Small. Basics, oh excuse me. I'd like to I'd like to call to order the May 6th Planning Commission meeting. And uh the first item on the agenda is roll call. Could you help us with that, Miss Oakston? Commissioner Plan ahead. Commissioner Lynn. Sarah Mark. Present? Commissioner Romassonde. Best uh second. Yeah. And um Commissioner Malik, I do not see yet. Um, Commissioner Gallista is absent with notice. Thank you. Thank you. Uh we have a quorum, so we can continue. Is there any changes to the uh agenda that anybody would like to make? Hearing none, is there any concerns about the minutes that need to be addressed? Hearing none, uh we moved to general public comments. Is there anybody signed up to make a general public comment tonight? Um then I have anyone uh in the attendees can make a comment. Yep. Thank you. But then we shall move on to the study items. And uh concerning local development and long range planning projects update is what I'm assuming we are talking about. Mr. Saffron, are you going to be chatting with us? No, I'm not, Director Mark will take this. Oh, cool. Yes, I think I'm ready. It is. All right. So yes, good evening, everyone. Um this presentation is uh planning community development is asked every year to give a presentation like this to the council of neighborhoods. And so last night I gave this presentation to the council of neighborhoods, and they asked for the presentation to be focused on the built environment and I call it the soon-to-be-built environment. Um they received the presentation and had a lot of discussion last night. I was only um able to get through about half of it in my 45 minutes because of discussion. So, which was great. It was really fun to have that kind of all the questions. Um Chairmark, how would you like to do questions? It is a lengthy uh presentation. There are about 60 slides. Um it's pictorial, a lot of pictures. Um would you like to have people just uh ask questions as you go, which is fine with me, or have a couple of organized breaks. What would you like? I think we should ask questions as we go. All right, great.
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