City of Shoreline Planning Commission Meeting, August 7th

What will the future of Shoreline look like?

At 7 p.m. on August 7th, the City will hold its regular Planning Commission meeting, and it is open to the public. There will be designated times for public comment, as well as a study session regarding permit regulations for the Regional Business zoning district. You can take a look at the agenda, and find a link to download a memo about the permit regulations, by clicking here.

Frankly, I find the wording of these documents to be like old pumpernickel; dense and dry. But that's because I am no expert on city planning. Still, I've found that perusing documents like the planning commission agenda (PDF) do reveal some interesting facts (surely those more expert than me will find even more buried treasures).

For example, density is measured in "dwelling units per acre" or DU. A proposed revision to the codes would allow a base density of 48 DU (this is also abbreviated as R-48). All residential dwellings (by which they mean, I believe, houses, apartments, condos, and the like) that have more than 10 dwellings would be required to have recycling space, plug-ins for electric cars, and bike racks.

If a developer would like to build residences that house more people than this R-48 density, they'd also have to provide other amenities, like, for example, underground parking. If you are a neighbor to a proposed building like this, you'd be glad to have the new residents not parking up and down your street, I'd think, which makes underground parking a good thing.

If the City's future is important to you, you might consider keeping up with what the Planning Commission is up to. After all, these meetings will ultimately determine the future of the city, and possibly even the street you live on.

Link to: Planning Comnission Agenda.
Link to: downloadable PDF memo on business zone regulations.
Link to: City of Shoreline Planning Commission home page.

Link to: send comments by email to the Planning Commission

Shoreline City Council Business Meeting, July 28th

The Shoreline City Council will be meeting on Monday, July 28th, at the Shoreline Conference Center's Highlander Room. Now, if you're like me, you may have flipped the channel past these meetings on television from time to time; maybe you stop to see what's going on. Maybe you're more involved and actually attend the meetings. Maybe not. If not, you might think about going; there are usually topics discussed that affect all of us living in Shoreline, and the public is allowed to comment.

The meeting on the 28th will address issues including a mini-grant for the Meridian Park neighborhood, construction at Richmond Beach Saltwater Park, the upcoming "National Night Out" on August 5th, and the "Celebrate Shoreline" event on August 12th.

You can download a complete agenda in PDF format here. It's pretty hefty; 128 pages, including minutes from recent meetings. Are you curious about what your neighbors and fellow Shoreline residents are saying at these meetings? The public commentary can make for quite interesting reading!

For example, I mentioned a neighborhood mini-grant earlier. I wasn't sure what that might be, exactly, but in the June 9th meeting minutes (part of that same agenda packet) I read that Patty Hale thanked the Council for grants that allowed her neighborhood to plant trees, develop a logo, and establish signage. They also funded playground equipment for Ridgecrest Elementary.

The Meridian Park requested mini-grant is $3,100, and is intended for three projects: signs and a banner to "raise neighborhood awareness of the newly rejuvenated Meridian Park Neighborhood Association," removal of blackberries and planting of native plants at Ronald Bog, and add new plants and bark at Meridian Park Elementary.

The agenda packet provides complete details on these projects, down to the $168 for locks to prevent people from stealing the signs. And there are several other projects addressed in the packet, some of which might concern your neighborhood. If you're curious, take a moment to download and read through the agenda, and if you feel like participating, you might want to go to the meeting. Decisions will be made which may directly affect your quality of life in the future!

If you've attended City Council meetings in the past, what was it like? Please leave a comment by clicking below where it says "COMMENTS"