If the July 26 meeting of the Edmonds City Council could be likened to Monopoly, one player was allowed to pass “Go”, another was sent to “Jail” and missed his turn and the city’s equivalent to the gold-standard properties shrunk.
The council also decided how they wanted to play the game by voting down a public-advisory election on building heights.
Continuing to hammer away at changes to the Comprehensive Plan as it affects the downtown business commercial (BC) zone, the council agreed to Mauri Moore’s motion to “shrink” the size of the retail core centering on Fifth Avenue and Main Street to give property owners on the outskirts more leeway in usage. She successfully lobbied for a pull back from the south and west edges of the proposed retail zone.
Keep compact the area requiring first-floor retail, she asked, to lessen the likelihood of unrentable storefronts staring at passersby.
Deanna Dawson cast the lone dissenting vote on Moore’s motion to change the name of the “conservation district” to “arts corridor” and allow a “25-plus-5” building height in the residential/commercial area if efforts are made to retain a single-family-home look. An earlier proposal capped the buildings at 25 feet.
Dawson, a stalwart opponent of increased heights, objected to a possible “kitschy” look (Leavenworth was her example) resulting when buildings are made to look like something they aren’t.
The area affected stretches from the alley just north of Bell Street, along Fourth Avenue to Daley Street, where it extends a short distance.
Not faring so well was council president Richard Marin who got his procedural hands slapped by Michael Plunkett, Dawson and Moore for failing to submit to the council ahead of time two motions, one involving zoning changes on Fifth Avenue in the vicinity of Bell and Edmonds streets.
After the three said they refused on principle to vote for whatever he submitted, Marin withdrew one motion and let the second one drop.
A motion by Dave Orvis that essentially would have returned downtown heights to “25 plus 5” with modulation failed 4-3. Michael Plunkett and Dawson sided with Orvis; Marin, Moore, Jeff Wilson and Peggy Pritchard Olson opposed them.
Orvis also authored a motion — that failed in a vote identical to the prior one — to delay submitting Comprehensive Plan amendments until a public advisory election on building heights is held.
Wilson protested what he called backing away from a hot-button issue by taking the position of “Nah-h-h…let’s put it on the ballot.”
“We have to take responsibility for being up here,” stated a clearly frustrated Wilson. “If you can’t do it, don’t be up here.”
Dawson countered Wilson by saying the council is not taking the “will of the people” on building heights into consideration and just might see a citizen-generated referendum down the road.
Council direction on proposed changes to the Comprehensive Plan will be sent to the Planning Board for further study and recommendations before returning to the council for action.
Tuesday night the council also decided to huddle with the Architectural Design Board in August to mull a staff-generated framework for further review of proposed development-design guidelines.
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