Clyde Hill News: Fighting graffiti with drones
Also: Planning Commission considers restrictions on new homes that block existing views; how to be a city budget optimist
Washington State’s Department of Transportation is “testing drone technology that can remove graffiti from hard-to-reach places.” (link) The effort, currently in preliminary field testing, is of interest to the Points Communities given a recent surge in graffiti along the local paths by State Route 520.
This week, the newsletter looks at the Clyde Hill Planning Commission’s recent decision to consider a new city policy that would restrict new homes in the city from blocking the views of existing homes.
Also, with budget season approaching, what’s a good starting point for residents trying to provide constructive feedback about the nearly $6m of city “general fund” spending?
More on these topics below, but first: Clyde Hill residents have the “opportunity to place bulk items, extra furniture and yard waste out for pickup” on May 15th (the regular pickup date). More information is available from Republic Services (link).
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. City 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.
Under consideration: new policy about homes blocking views
The Planning Commission will consider a new city policy that would restrict new homes from blocking the views of existing homes.
At its April meeting, during discussion of the city’s Comprehensive Plan update, the Planning Commission agreed to consider this issue:
“should people be able to build new homes that block their neighbors.” (link)
For context, Clyde Hill’s municipal code currently protects views and sunlight that have “been unreasonably obstructed by the growth of a tree located on private property.” (link) There are no similar city protections for views related to construction other than the 25 foot height limit and setback requirements. HOAs in Clyde Hill do offer some additional view protections.
One commissioner noted “Personally, I think this is urgent and I would love to see it included in this round of comprehensive plan updates.” (link)
The city attorney commented that he “would just want to caution you that there might be a legal limitation on our ability to pass that kind of ordinance,” noting the need “to do the research to make sure we have that authority.” (link)
At its next meeting on May 23rd, the Planning Commission is scheduled to review the Comprehensive Plan one last time before referring it to the City Council (link).
If the Planning Commission and City Council agree on this change, modifying the city’s municipal code would be one of the next steps. It’s unclear when that change might occur based on the current backlog of proposed changes to the land use code currently in the Planning Commission’s queue:
How to be a budget optimist
This week, I want to offer a different point of view on the city’s budget in response to feedback from last week’s newsletter. The gist of the feedback (paraphrased) was
“I’m an optimist. We have talented and dedicated staff and volunteers, and everyone is working hard. Yes, there are structural challenges that all cities are facing… give me options along with the facts.”
With that feedback in mind, here’s one approach to being a budget optimist. The goal is framing what’s going on in a way that it’s easier for residents to engage. The eventual solution will (I expect) evolve out of the public discussion process.
Challenge: complexity and control
Residents understand that addressing the city’s budget deficit will involve some combination of “less spend, more revenue.” The City of Clyde Hill has welcomed resident feedback on the budget through a public “Budget Advisory Committee” (BAC) process (link) since 2000.
One challenge for residents involves wrapping their heads around the complexity of city operations and government accounting. Here’s the “boiled down” version of the city’s 2024 budget as the City Council approved it in November 2023:
Another challenge is how much of the spending seems beyond anyone’s discretion and control. Last year’s Budget Advisory Committee meeting in July (link) explored many options that were suggested by residents and staff. Unfortunately, many of them turned out to be non-options. For example, in response to the suggestion to renegotiate the agreement with Bellevue Fire/EMS, city staff responded
“There is not a benefit to renegotiating with Bellevue Fire. Additional legal fees would offset any possible benefits”
Opportunity: creating options
As a spoiler, here are some example “what” and “how” conversations that the right starting point can set up:
Should city celebrations shift to community volunteers and donations (like Medina Days or the Points July 4th celebration) or continue as a city staff/city budget item?
Is there a different “how” for delivering city services? The current cost structure reflects how city services are delivered today.
Much of the city’s work today already happens through professional services contracts (for example: city attorney, fire and emergency medical response, information technology, street cleaning). Is that approach being used too much, not enough, or just the right amount?
Much of the city’s work costs today are already shared (for example, shared police department costs with Yarrow Point). Is that approach being used too much, not enough, or just the right amount?
Opportunity: starting point
Motivated optimists who want to create options to get out of the current budget impasse can focus on these two cells — General Fund Revenues and Expenditures — as a starting point:1
Using the “Mayor’s 2024 Line Item Budget” (link), we can break down expenditures into categories based on benefit to residents:
The line item budget (link, p3-6) provides residents a better sense of where the money goes. Some illustrative examples:
Public Defender: $8,000
Celebration Event / Pumpkins: $8,000
ARCH (“a partnership of the County and East King County Cities working to preserve and increase the supply of housing for low and moderate income households in the region”): $26,954
Discussions ahead
The city’s Digital Budget Book (interactive version here, link; PDF here, link) is a great reference for anyone who really wants to dig in to the details. City staff deserve much credit for producing this reference work for the community.
As the community begins this year’s budget process, it’s worth considering how other cities have framed their budget discussions and what they have done to engage their communities. As one example, Mercer Island (link) has had the same clearly stated purpose at the front of its budget document for many years:
Repeating what’s been done for the last few years is unlikely to produce a different outcome. I feel hopeful that the community is ready to have serious conversations about our options.
Thank you for reading! Please forward and share with your friends and neighbors, and if you are not already getting this newsletter, subscribing is both easy and free.
Dean Hachamovitch
From the public information available in the city’s budget book here (link), some explanatory detail behind the recommendation about where to start:
Fund 002: “There are no expenditures included in the Reserve Fund. The balance has remained stable for many years and is available with Council approval should the City need it.”
Fund 003: “This fund was created for the purpose of tracking retainage deposits given to the City for permitted projects being performed in the City by residents and contractors.”
Fund 100: “The Projects Fund was developed to help segregate and keep track of the more restricted City revenue sources so they can be paired up with allowable expenditures.” Examples include criminal justice, city streets, and grants.
Fund 300: “By law, the use of these funds can only be used for capital projects and cannot be used to balance the operating budget in the General Fund.” Funds here are restricted in their use to infrastructure, like the costs of street repair or sidewalks or park and trail related capital projects. This is the next place, after the General Fund, I would recommend residents dig in, by the way.