Clyde Hill News: March City Council Meeting Preview
Budget redo ahead? Housing density increase in Clyde Hill? City proposes hiring current Bellevue Councilmember as its City Attorney and 17th St Stormwater discussion continues
Also, an update about plans for the nearby La Quinta Inn and Suites: King County purchased it as a homeless shelter (link); in tandem,
the Kirkland City Council approved Resolution 5522, which sets terms and conditions necessary to maintain City support of La Quinta Inn as a King County Health Through Housing site. R-5522 was drafted based on community input and requirements by the City Council.
One more item before our disclaimer: if you find this newsletter useful or interesting, please forward it to your Clyde Hill neighbors and friends. Thank you!
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.
March City Council Meeting Preview
The City published the packet for Tuesday’s meeting here. From a resident point of view, some topics of interest:
Budget further in the red and an amendment likely. The Administration writes (link) that with “additional costs for interim legal services and the expected increase in legal costs as a result of a new City Attorney, the result is that a budget amendment will likely be needed by year’s end.” Note that this year’s budget (like last year’s) runs at a deficit that is balanced by spending the City’s reserves.
Hiring a Bellevue Councilmember as the City attorney. The Administration will ask the Council to approve a contract for legal services. More on this item below.
The 17th Stormwater Issue. Residents continue to face flooding issues. The Administration’s slides cover Causes and Solutions… but not (yet) a plan. More on this item below.
Update on Clyde Hill City Hall remodel. The Administration will update the public and the Council on plans to remodel City Hall.
Hiring professional planners to help with the Land Use Code Update and the Comprehensive Plan. The Administration will ask the Council to approve up to $100K/yr for three to five years.
Legal Services Contract
The City’s previous legal representation, Ogden Murphy, quit Clyde Hill somewhat abruptly at the end of 2021, leaving the Administration scrambling to find interim representation. The City’s committee ran a thorough process with urgency and has returned with a recommendation that you can read here (link).
The City will ask the Council to approve a contract naming Inslee Best attorney Jennifer Robertson as Clyde Hill’s City Attorney. The City’s memo names Curtis Chambers as Clyde Hill’s Assistant City Attorney.
Ms Robertson is also a current City of Bellevue Councilmember.
Since this information was publicly posted, I discussed this topic with a few Clyde Hill residents who immediately asked about conflicts of interest. The currently available information from the City does not have any additional specifics about this topic.
To be clear, both attorneys are clearly qualified. You can read the contract here (link).
17th St Stormwater Discussion
The gist, from the slides, appears to be that the City is interpreting the absence of an easement to access stormwater equipment on a resident’s property as an indication that the problem involves private equipment and is not the City’s responsibility. It’s not clear what’s next; from their slides:
You can read the Administration’s “17th Drainage Overview” here (link) and the interim City Attorney’s Stormwater Case Law update here (link).
There is a separate stormwater item on the agenda, a public hearing, related to the City’s permit from Washington State’s Department of Ecology to operate a stormwater system. That report does not appear to be available on the website right now; I believe it will be posted Monday.
Transparency: Civil Service Commission Appointment
Congratulations to Dr. Erik Novak on his appointment to the Civil Service Commission, and good progress on transparency to the City Administration here:
“City staff… advertised the vacancy on the Commission via the City website, Police Sentinel, NextDoor, and Facebook for several weeks. Two applications for this vacancy were received and interviews were held. Pursuant to CHMC 2.16.020, the Mayor appointed Dr. Erik Novak (application attached) to the Civil Service Commission.”
Clyde Hill Housing Density?
Washington State HB 1660, “Concerning accessory dwelling units,” would remove restrictions on Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs), possibly resulting in more housing in Clyde Hill.
From the Administrator’s Weekly Report Admin report (link):
This bill is with respect to Accessory Dwelling Units. If passed in its current form, it would effectively pre-empt local authority in at least two meaningful ways with respect to Clyde Hill: 1) it would require cities to authorize three homes on all residential lots over 4,500 sq. ft., regardless of local circumstances; and 2) it would restrict the ability to limit the size of ADUs.
I believe that this would apply to all Clyde Hill’s residentially zoned parcels.
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Dean Hachamovitch