The Mountlake Terrace City Council at its April 14 work/study session reviewed recent development activities and discussed the upcoming 2024 Comprehensive Plan update.

Community and Economic Development Director Christy Osborn presented an update of significant activity projects from last year. She noted there were 28 such land-use projects in various stages of development during 2021, which was similar to the preceding two years.

“We’ve been pretty consistent in the number of projects like this that we’ve seen over the last several years,” Osborn said. “I would say that we have seen an increase in the building permits that we’ve been processing and other types of permits like that,” she added. “So we’re seeing that permitting is alive and well.”

The types of development activities for the projects highlighted included boundary line adjustments, conditional use permits, mixed-use developments, planned unit developments, site development plans, short plats, formal subdivisions and townhomes. The phases of those projects ranged from land use and civil review to construction and completion.

The Atlas 236 mixed-use development located downtown was completed and the Creekside Meadows planned unit development of 54 single-family homes was substantially finished last year.

Building 2 at the Terrace Station mixed-use development is nearing completion and leasing is anticipated to begin next month. Terrace Station is located adjacent to the Lynnwood Link light rail alignment located just south of the current Mountlake Terrace Transit Center. Construction on Building 3 started this month.

In addition, two townhome development projects are nearly finished and several others are either under construction or at various stages of review.

Osborn said the city recently received a development application for the site where 59th Place West was vacated last year and nine lots were consolidated in a cul-de-sac on the north side of 236th Street Southwest adjacent to the Mountlake Terrace Transit Center parking lot. She added, “We’re starting the review of, right now, just over 250 units with some ground floor commercial development, trail accessibility on the west side of this particular property.”

City of Mountlake Terrace projects included the Civic Campus redevelopment that is nearing completion, Ballinger Park waterfront renovations including the fishing pier and dock, with final improvements anticipated to be finished this spring, and also the planned installation of a new ADA accessible connective trail and playground in the park that is currently undergoing a shoreline review.

A map of current and recently completed development projects in Mountlake Terrace can be viewed here.

The council also discussed the upcoming process for the required 2024 major review and update of the City of Mountlake Terrace’s Comprehensive Plan. The 20-year plan helps guide long-term goals, decision-making and policies required to accommodate anticipated population and employment growth throughout the city while also maintaining the local quality of life.

It includes chapters to address various elements such as community livability, environment, economic vitality, housing, land use, transportation, capital facilities, utilities, and recreation, parks and open space.

Osborn said “housing is going to be a big issue” to address in the comprehensive plan update along with increases in population and employment in the city. The city must plan for growth projections of nearly 35,000 people living in Mountlake Terrace by 2044, an increase of more than 13,000 residents from its current population. And employment numbers project it will need to accommodate adding more than 2,700 jobs as well, although Osborn noted that Town Center planning has already accounted for nearly 1,100 of those being provided.

She told the council, “We have part of the work done, but there is more work to be done as far as what that looks like, what areas we’re going to concentrate growth and development on and what are some of those priorities moving forward.”

During the comprehensive planning review and update process, Osborn said the city will also need to look at all of its neighborhoods and subareas. The Mountlake Terrace Planning Commission has already begun discussions about updating some of the subarea plans and examining whether those designated areas and boundaries still apply and make sense or whether they need to be reexamined.

“Even though we’re going to look at all the areas of the city, are there a couple of areas that need maybe a little bit more focus than others because they’re going to maybe lend themselves to areas where we can really put future growth as far as residential,” she added, “or employment.”

The planning commissioners identified housing, transit connectivity and jobs as the top three items that will drive changes to neighborhoods and subareas. It has also focused on making sure that parks are a priority throughout the city’s neighborhood areas.

A recent exercise the planning commission held determined that the Melody Hill and Cascade View neighborhoods should be prioritized for some subarea planning as part of the overall Comprehensive Plan update. Reasons included their proximity to major traffic corridors and the Lynnwood Transit Center, commercial and job opportunities in those areas, and the potential for developing various types of residences including affordable housing.

“An argument could be made for each of these particular (neighborhood) areas,” Osborn said. “And I think an argument can also be made that maybe some of these boundaries don’t really fit or need to be divided in a different way or into additional neighborhoods than where they are right now.”

Moving forward, the commission will also seek community input as part of its ongoing subarea discussions in order to determine how residents feel about the current boundaries and help inform its planning process.

As part of updating the Comprehensive Plan for 2024 “we need to get good background information,” Osborn noted. “So it’s not only checking the boxes of what’s required under the Growth Management Act, but it’s really trying to set the vision of the council and the community for the next 20 years.”

“I think it’s important to remember that there’s no one area of the city that’s not important,” she added. “The whole city’s going to be important frankly – we’re four square miles and we’re going to have to take a look at the whole thing.”

Efforts related to the Comprehensive Plan update will occur throughout 2022 and the following two years with an eye on adopting the plan by the summer of 2024.

Councilmembers acknowledged that updating the comprehensive plan will require a lot of work over the next couple of years and several said they are excited about the process of identifying long-term goals and policies to help accommodate future population and employment growth throughout Mountlake Terrace.

In other business, the council reviewed some basic “housekeeping” changes needed to bring the city’s public records and social media policies up to date.

It also continued discussions about remote access and attendance for city council meetings. Councilmembers had previously expressed an interest in continuing to provide the public with remote access to its meetings after those return to in-person gatherings. They agreed Thursday night that should also include a way for people to provide public comments via remote attendance.

The council also discussed changing the number of meetings that the councilmembers themselves can attend remotely. Current policy allows them to attend one council meeting via telephone per calendar year.

Councilmembers were generally in favor of raising that number due to the streaming technologies that can be used for participation, but some felt there should still be a cap on how many times it can be done while others preferred less prescriptive measures. Another issue brought up was whether that should include requiring they provide advance notice. Those discussions are expected to continue later this month.

The city council will hold its next regular business meeting Monday, April 18 at 7 p.m. It will include a discussion about the Third of July fireworks event. See the agenda and information for watching/participating online here.

— By Nathan Blackwell