Planning Commission

1 CITY OF LYNNWOOD 2 PLANNING COMMISSION MINUTES 3 September 11, 2025 Meeting 4 5 6 Call to Order 7 8 The meeting was called to order by Chair Larsen at 6:30 p.m. 9 10 Land Acknowledgement 11 12 Chair Larsen read the land acknowledgement. 13 14 Roll Call 15 Commissioners Present: Staff Present: Robert Larsen, Chair Karl Almgren, Planning Manager Patrick Robinson, 1st Vice Chair Ben Wolters, Director Devt. & Bus. Svcs. Noel Baca Catherine Kato, Senior Planner Kelly Betts Sarah Cho, City Center Program Manager Matt Cail Zack Spencer, Planner Dorina Katro Other: Absent: George Hurst, Council Liaison Sue Phillips 16 17 Approval of Minutes 18 19 None 20 21 Public Comments 22 23 Elizabeth Lunsford, 98037, spoke in support of a providing a substantial public 24 play area for families at the new Public Facilities District development expansion. 25 26 Council Liaison Report 27 28 Councilmember Hurst had the following comments: 29 • He thanked everyone who made the Fair on 44th successful. It was a 30 really good crowd. 31 • Council’s next meetings will focus on how to deal with the budget deficit. 32 33 Public Hearing 34 35 1. PFD Master Plan and Development Agreement 36 9/11/2025 Planning Commission Meeting Page 1 of 5  1 Development and Business Services Director Wolters introduced this item. City 2 Center Program Manager Cho reviewed the Lynnwood Public Facilities District 3 (LPFD) Master Plan. This is a collaboration between the City and LPFD including 4 public outreach to redevelop the aging 13-acre retail center to create a vibrant 5 community hub in City Center. It is integrated into the City Center downtown plan 6 and will focus on mixed-use development with housing, retail, hotel, green space, 7 and expanded event center with outdoor event space. She gave an overview of 8 the site plan noting that a new parking garage would be built to accommodate all 9 of the growth. The event center would be expanded to approximately double the 10 size with an additional outdoor area. 11 12 The Development Agreement (DA) would allow the property owners (LPFD) and 13 the City to agree upon specific development regulations that will apply to the 14 development over the course of the DA term. She highlighted topics covered in 15 the DA including the term (15 years), allowable development capacity, building 16 heights, ground floor use, design standards, open space, parking, road 17 improvements, utilities, maintenance and noise mitigation. 18 19 The public hearing was opened at 7:04 p.m. 20 21 Public Hearing Comments: 22 23 Ted Hikel, 98036, reviewed some historical background on the area and 24 expressed concern about the area that would be impacted by the proposed 25 changes to the LPFD. He raised a concern about how the focus in Lynnwood has 26 shifted from simply planning to being more about development. 27 28 Frank Percival, Lynnwood PFD Board Member and Chamber of Commerce 29 CEO, spoke in support of the DA which represents a shared goal of redeveloping 30 an automobile-oriented city center into a walkable, livable, acceptable urban 31 center. He described the benefits of the proposed new space. They are proud to 32 support this agreement as a partner in transforming Lynnwood into a destination 33 city. 34 35 Ted Hikel (again) expressed concern about the potential huge impact of overflow 36 parking onto neighborhood streets for special events and the lack of clarity about 37 the number of special events to be expected. He requested more detailed 38 information about parking, building heights, and setbacks from single family 39 neighborhoods. He cautioned against setting a precedent with this DA. He 40 presented a petition (attached) with approximately 21 neighbors opposed to the 41 way this is being handled. 42 43 The public hearing was closed at 7:21 p.m. 44 45 Commission Discussion: 46 9/11/2025 Planning Commission Meeting Page 2 of 5  1 Commissioner Betts asked if the design of the Ring Road would be brought back 2 to the Planning Commission. Director Wolters said they could bring it back for 3 information purposes, but the City Council is the body that would be approving it. 4 5 Commissioner Katro asked how the calculation was done for the estimated cost 6 of the Ring Road project. Director Wolters explained it was based on the cost of 7 similar projects and applied on a linear square foot basis. Staff is currently 8 working with the LPFD on a financing agreement and phasing of design of the 9 Ring Road. The City Engineer anticipates that the cost could fall below or above 10 the estimated $18 million. Commissioner Katro asked about the backup plan if 11 the cost goes above $18 million. Director Wolters explained that the City and the 12 PFD would look at a number of different options for how to proceed. Construction 13 would not commence until financing is fully adopted and in place. 14 15 Chair Larsen asked about the potential for doing a shuttle from the light rail 16 parking area for large events. Director Wolters replied that the LPFD and the City 17 are aware of concerns about impacts to neighborhoods and have the intention of 18 broadening the circle where off-site parking could occur for special events based 19 on opportunities for the PFD to enter into parking agreements with private 20 property owners. The intent is not to have the events meet parking needs by 21 parking in residential areas but rather to have the PFD arrange for parking in 22 commercial lots. This would be a requirement of the City related to special event 23 permits. The PFD has agreed that no large events that would require parking 24 beyond what they can provide would occur unless they meet the City’s 25 requirements for a special event permit. He suggested the possibility of providing 26 free residential parking stickers to limit neighborhood parking to residents. He 27 discussed how this worked in Kent with the ShoWare Center. 28 29 Commissioner Katro asked about potential traffic impacts related to the 30 development. Director Wolters explained there would be a parking control plan 31 and traffic control plan for special events. The traffic from the overall 32 development fits within the City Center Pan for mitigating traffic and growth. 33 Planning Manager Almgren explained how potential impacts were reviewed by 34 the City of Lynnwood and private consultants as part of a planned action EIS. 35 The City was in discussions with the PFD at the time and was able to incorporate 36 their modeling into the overall model for usage to ensure that Lynnwood’s 37 roadways continue to move. The redevelopment of the site has been considered 38 as part of the city center planning efforts and has been incorporated in many of 39 the previous traffic analysis points. 40 41 Chair Larsen asked for confirmation that city staff and administration have been 42 actively involved in this plan throughout the process. Director Wolters confirmed 43 that it has been a very deliberate, complex, and exciting plan to realize the City’s 44 vision for City Center. Chair Larsen noted that the Convention Center has proven 45 itself to be a very valuable asset to the City and this asset seems very much 46 warranted in terms of the immense positive effect it’s going to have on finances 9/11/2025 Planning Commission Meeting Page 3 of 5  1 for the City and for the public. He thinks staff has done a good job of navigating 2 the challenges of accommodating additional growth. 3 4 First Vice Chair Robinson asked about the intended use of the parking garage. 5 Director Wolters explained it is primarily intended to be used for the events at the 6 event center. The facility would be able to host an outdoor event for 1000 to 2000 7 people. A portion of the parking will also be provided for the residential and retail. 8 The hotel would have its own parking to serve hotel guests. 9 10 Motion made by Commissioner Betts, seconded by Commissioner Cail, to move 11 forward with the Development Agreement. Motion passed unanimously. 12 13 Work Session 14 15 1. 2025 Comprehensive Plan Amendment List (PAL) 16 17 Senior Planner Catherine Kato reviewed some background on this item, the 18 docket process, and the 2025 Comprehensive Plan Proposed Amendment List 19 (PAL). The two docket items include: 1) 2025 Miscellaneous Amendments, and 20 2) Annual Updates to Capital Facilities Plan (CFP) and Transportation 21 Improvement Program (TIP). She reviewed next steps and the expected 22 schedule for adoption. 23 24 2. UDC: Miscellaneous Update 25 26 Planner Zack Spencer highlighted proposed amendments which are mostly 27 minor changes for clarity. 28 29 Commissioner Betts expressed concern about removing the requirement for bike 30 parking for senior housing. She noted that bike parking might be even more 31 valuable for people on fixed incomes. She feels it goes against some of the past 32 efforts to include all ages and abilities in the bike community. Planning Manager 33 Almgren explained some of the challenges with the way the parking requirements 34 are currently written. They want to provide a level of flexibility on a project basis. 35 He offered to provide more clarity on this. 36 37 Other Business 38 39 None 40 41 Planning Manager’s Report 42 43 Planning Manager Almgren had the following comments: 44 • He reiterated the plan to generally have just one Planning Commission 45 meeting a month. 46 • He highlighted some exciting items on upcoming Council meetings. 9/11/2025 Planning Commission Meeting Page 4 of 5  1 • He expressed the impacts from 2 3 Commissioners' Comments 4 • Commissioner Cail asked if any of the upcoming capital improvement 5 projects might be delayed or pushed out in light of budget challenges. 6 Planning Manager Almgren explained that capital improvement projects 7 are in a separate pot of money with different revenue streams. The City is 8 mainly challenged right now with general fund revenues from things like 9 sales tax, property tax, private fees, fines and forfeitures. Director Wolters 10 added that capital projects are facing budget challenges but that is more 11 from the aggressive inflation in construction that has been plaguing the 12 region for the last 10 years. 13 14 Adjournment 15 16 The meeting was adjourned at 8:00 p.m. 17 18 19 20 __________________________ 21 Robert Larsen, Chair 9/11/2025 Planning Commission Meeting Page 5 of 5