Clyde Hill News: Presidential visits (and traffic) ahead
Also: Changes to gas-powered leaf-blower hours of operation; Comprehensive Plan schedule shifts
Residents can expect traffic issues from presidential visits as well as utility construction, according to updates from Clyde Hill’s Chief of Police and Director of Public Works at last week’s city council meeting.
More details on these topics and more below, but first, Clyde Hill’s Mayor Steve Friedman celebrated Arbor Day with Clyde Hill Elementary students on Friday:
This event was wholesome and positive (yay trees!), and a healthy reminder of some of the good that comes with living in a small city community.
Also: it’s likely that this newsletter will not come to you next week, as I will be traveling and offline.
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.
Traffic (and presidential visits) ahead
Residents can expect three or four “presidential visits over the next few months,” according to Chief of Police Kyle Kolling’s update at last week’s city council meeting.
A recent presidential visit was rerouted unexpectedly and caused some local traffic issues in Clyde Hill. “After action reports” (link) from local law enforcement are still under development. You can watch Chief Kolling’s full report here (link).
Construction traffic on NE 14th St in June
In the near term, residents can expect temporary lane closures and traffic issues on NE 14th Street for much of June as a result of utility work.
According to the city, PSE’s natural gas main replacement project starts June 17th and will last approximately three weeks (link).
Resident feedback opportunities
Gas-powered leaf-blowers
The city council will consider further limits on the hours of operation of gas-powered leaf-blowers in response to resident feedback about noise. The permitted hours for operating leaf-blowers in the city are currently between
7:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. on weekdays (other than holidays), and 10:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. on Saturdays, Sundays and holidays.
There are clearly many points of view on any changes here. Residents can send feedback to council@clydehill.org.
Budget Advisory Committee
Mayor, city council, and staff agreed to continue the resident Budget Advisory Committee. This group of volunteers provides feedback to the city during the development of the city’s budget.
The discussion noted the need for changes to enable more interaction and meaningful feedback. Residents who are interested in serving on the Budget Advisory Committee can call or email the city. The first meeting appears to be in July (link).
Proclamations
The city will re-consider its policies and criteria related to issuing proclamations.
This item appears related to a discussion at March’s council meeting, when Cm Ryan Olson pushed back on a proclamation related to “Sexual Assault Awareness Month” claiming it contained racist language.1
Residents who have opinions on this topic can send feedback to council@clydehill.org. Most recently, the city issued a proclamation to recognize and appreciate law enforcement officers, aligning with the national effort declaring May 12-18 “National Police Week.”
Comp Plan: June open house on Clyde Hill’s future
City staffers announced more schedule changes related to finishing the city’s Comprehensive Plan in a report at last week’s public meeting.
The next step in finishing the Comprehensive Plan is a Planning Commission meeting to “review the full draft Comprehensive Plan and hold a public hearing prior in anticipation of taking a formal vote.” (link) That meeting will now occur on June 6th rather than May 23rd.
The delay is a result of “a couple different reasons,” none disclosed, according to staff. They noted that the Planning Commission was not the cause of the delay. You can watch the full update here (link).
The plan for an “open house” on June 13th to discuss the city’s Comprehensive Plan with residents and take feedback appears unchanged, according to an update (link) published on Friday.
Responding to changes in state law: updating the city’s land use code
After another hour of discussion at May’s meeting, the council and mayor agreed that there are issues with the process to update the land use code. The plan to address the issues involves a meeting during which the mayor will address the planning commission, council, and staff. Ahead of that meeting, a smaller group will draft a plan for consideration.
For context, the council takes action when there’s consensus. The discussion revealed many assessments of the situation from council (including one that there is no problem at all).
Solutions on the way?
Proposed solutions from council members included another meeting, clarifying roles and responsibilities, and clarifying the process. The mayor asked if all proposed changes to land use code had to go to the Planning Commission, or if it were possible for the Council to take on more of the work directly.
The discussion also touched on the role of Council “liaison” to the Planning Commission. The role was created about a year ago based on a recommendation from city staff. Details on the role are scarce, and it’s not clear what impact it has had on the situation. For example, there have been no reports to Council so far this year from the current liaison.
Planning for the expected
The city needs to update its municipal code to comply with many new state laws related to land use and housing code, like accessory dwelling units (HB 1337, link) and “missing middle housing” (HB 1110, link).
More new state laws are expected. Many of the bills related to land use and housing that failed to become laws last year are expected to come back in this year’s state legislative session.
For example, last year, House Bill 1245 (link) attempted to limit city controls on lot splitting. Clyde Hill would likely need to re-consider its current minimum lot size requirements in response to the state passing such a law. Last year’s failed House Bill 2252 concerning “Neighborhood Cafes” is another example. According to a document from the city (link), “This bill would have required cities to allow neighborhood cafes [anywhere] in residential zones.”
Another factor in the city’s throughput here is the absence of a full-time planning professional on city staff. Currently, the city has a consulting firm under contract as well as a part-time employee. It’s not clear, as the city works through its long-running budget deficit, what the plan here is.
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