Clyde Hill News: City council seat opens ahead of election
Also: no plans on housing density; council approves hydrant change 4-0 after Bellevue Fire safety update; another hedge with an issue on 92nd Ave
Councilmember Scott Moore announced his intention Tuesday night to resign his council seat before the end of his term. Appointing a successor is the responsibility of the city council; the council’s goal, from discussion at the meeting, is to take action by the end of April.
Tuesday night’s council meeting also included a 4-0 vote to update the city’s fire hydrant code, making it consistent with the City of Bellevue’s; a discussion of local plans for pending state legislation that would increase housing density in Clyde Hill; and news that the city is contemplating enforcement of its hedge code on another house on 92nd.
Disclaimer: while I am a councilmember on the Clyde Hill City Council, I write this newsletter in my capacity as an individual resident. Any opinions expressed are my own and not necessarily the position of the City. The information and references here are from public sources. I welcome email responses — and if the topic is about City business I will respond from my City email account.
Housing density
“The legislators are not listening. They are not responding to any of all of our calls…. it has really fallen on deaf ears… it’s extraordinarily frustrating,” said the Mayor, referring to legislation that requires Clyde Hill and other cities to permit four-unit and in some cases even six-unit housing in any residential zone (link).
“There's no stopping it,” she added.
You can watch the entire update here. The gist is that there’s no Clyde Hill plan right now for what to do. After new laws are in place, Clyde Hill and its neighbors will need to work through what the new laws mean to residents and the permitting process.
Fire hydrant update
The city council approved an update to the city’s fire hydrant code by a 4-0 vote, adopting a staff recommendation to make Clyde Hill’s code consistent with the City of Bellevue’s code. Cm Dean Hachamovitch voluntarily recused himself.
The vote followed a presentation by Bellevue’s Fire Department, who sent two representatives to address the community and council. You can watch their presentation and the subsequent discussion here:
Safety: Bellevue Fire Department update
Bellevue Fire was clear about how seriously they take public safety.
They noted that City of Bellevue firefighters and utility workers know where every hydrant is as a result of GPS, phones and tablets, paper maps, regular visits to fire hydrants, and blue reflective traffic dots in the roads. They did not express concern about the proposed Clyde Hill code change.
The Administration’s memo (link) on this topic did not express any safety concerns. The memo noted that the Administration has not enforced the original code that some residents advocated keeping. In an email stream included in the packet (link), the Administration noted that it had no plans to enforce any visibility requirement set by the council.
Recusal, and ad hominem attacks
Cm Hachamovitch recused himself from the deliberation and vote on this topic “so that the focus of discussion can remain on public safety [and] the current state of enforcement.” He referred to “an accusation that I somehow stand to be enriched by the proposed update.”
The public comment section ahead of this discussion included a variety of ad hominem attacks. Other councilmembers called out the conspiracy theories, fear-mongering, and the “purely politically-motivated, neighbor against neighbor vendetta” against Cm Hachamovitch.
Cm Steve Friedman noted that a Clyde Hill resident attempted to use “bullying tactics” and “lies… to scare residents” and “rile the public up” with unfounded claims and misrepresentations.
Cm Kim Muromoto added “You should all be ashamed of yourself for bringing this political agenda and posing it as a city crisis.”
“Loud and clear”
En route to the 4-0 vote, Cm Muromoto expressed that he “heard loud and clear” from Bellevue Fire Department “that this [fire hydrant code] is a non-issue.”
According to Cm Friedman, the update reflects a collaborative effort between staff and council to align the city’s code and the city’s actual enforcement practice. The code clean up, according to Cm Friedman, is part of a larger effort to provide the community with clearer code that is consistently enforced.
Another hedge issue on 92nd Ave
Tuesday night’s meeting included an update that the city is working through an enforcement issue regarding another hedge on 92nd Ave.
Last year, the city brought in outside contractors to remove one of the hedges flanking the entrance to Mercia on 92nd Ave:
Councilmembers noted the inconsistent enforcement of hedge code around the city.
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Dean Hachamovitch