Minutes May 2023
Olympia Council of Neighborhoods
Meeting, by Zoom, May 8, 2023
Facilitator: Larry Dzieza, Chair
Note-taker: Charlotte Persons
Meeting started at 6:32 p.m.
Attending: Larry Dzieza (Nottingham), Tim Smith (Deputy Director, City of Olympia Community
Planning and Development Department), Bob Jacobs (Gov. Stephens), Bob Jones (Goldcrest), Leah Davis (Wildwood), Karen (Clemens) Sweeney (Eastside), Judy Bardin (Northwest), Melissa Allen (Bigelow Highlands), Dana McAvoy (East Bay Drive), Justin Belk (Southwest), Leslie Wolff (Bigelow Highlands), Charlotte Persons (Bigelow), Jenn Wulf (Downtown Neighbors), Lisa Riner (Burbank/Elliott), Mike Dexel (Northeast), John Saunders (S. Capitol), Dontae Payne (Olympia City Council Member)
Neighborhood Reports
Charlotte Persons (Bigelow) – The trees behind the Bigelow House Museum that we are trying to revive look good this spring – they are blooming, perhaps due to trimming and fertilizing.
Karen (Clemens) Sweeney (Eastside) – We are preparing for a garage sale.
Dana McAvoy (East Bay Drive) – Oyster Seed Planting, a big annual event, will be held July 1.
Leah Davis (Wildwood) – There is nothing to report.
Bob Jones (Goldcrest) – We planted 500 daffodils and will plant 500 more. We are preparing for a garage sale on August 1.
Bob Jacobs (Gov. Stephens) – Suggested that a useful item would be an information sheet developed by the City of Olympia on what can be developed in low density neighborhoods. Also, we are receiving $100 to $150 each quarter from rebates from store items.
Jenn Wulf (Downtown Neighbors) – We had our quarterly meeting and have a new board. Our focus will be finding new volunteers.
Melissa Allen (Bigelow Heights) – We also just had board elections. We distribute print quarterly newsletters to all residents.
Justin Belk (Southwest Olympia) – We will have a retreat for old and new board officers.
Lisa Riner (Burbank/Elliott) – We had a murder last week in one of the homeless RVs in our neighborhood. This was an important event that we are still processing.
Mike Dexel (Northeast Neighborhood Association) – Olympia Northeast Neighborhood Association, consisting of all the NE neighborhood associations, is mostly inactive after a lot of activity in the past. We are working on the subarea parking requirements.
John Saunders (South Capitol) – We have a full board now. We are working on what’s in store for the Episcopal Church building in our neighborhood.
Larry Dzieza (Nottingham) – We are trying to solve a traffic problem, perhaps with a stop sign.
Judy Bardin (Northwest Olympia) – We are planning a fun summer event. We are returning to in-person meetings.
Chair Update – Larry Dzieza
1. Update on Proposed Regulations for Reduced Parking Requirements
The process is still on-going. (See summary in this meeting’s agenda of the changes currently being proposed as of today.) Recent changes include accessible parking when zero parking is allowed as the previous proposal would have eliminated them. The City Council could consider the proposed regulation changes on May 16, without a public hearing.
2. The Land Use and Environment Committee favorably considered a proposal for EV vehicle charging stations that requires more than the state law. See the announcement for the May 15 public hearing at the Planning Commission attached to this meeting’s agenda.
3. The Regional Fire Authority Referendum did not pass. Olympia’s vote was 64% no and 36% yes. Tumwater was 62% no and 38% yes.
Council Member Update – Dontae Payne
1. Regional Fire Authority Referendum – With the “no” vote, the funding issue is still not resolved, so Olympia is beginning to look at other funding sources. Olympia has resumed a national search for a fire chief.
2. Downtown Improvement District – There are on-going discussions about how to address public safety issues, beautification and cleaning, and expansion of services. This includes perhaps having a separate cleaning team. The District raises money from businesses and residents within the district, based on each property’s lot size. The City, since it owns property downtown, is also a rate-payer.
Jenn Wulf asked – Can I be involved in this process? I am especially interested in the definition of public safety.
Dontae Payne replied that the emphasis is on finding funds and expanding capacity for existing programs, i.e., Familiar Faces, Crisis Response Unit programs, lighting, especially for alleys, and increased presence of non-law enforcement organizations.
Bob Jones asked – Has the City Council looked for information about how the minimum parking regulations proposed have affected other cities that have adopted similar proposals?
Dontae Payne had no answer, but deferred to Tim Smith.
Tim Smith said that information had been provided to the Planning Commission.
Larry Dzieza pointed out that so far, as Leonard Bauer pointed out, no cities of Olympia’s size have implemented “zero parking requirements” for new development.
Justin Belk said that from his personal experience, zero parking requirements keep rents down in Portland. However, that city has a good transportation system. His family was able to have only one car there.
Melissa Allen asked who makes the decisions in the Downtown Improvement District?
Dontae Payne replied that downtown ratepayers make decisions.
Larry Dzieza asked whether there were more votes for property owners with more property downtown?
The answer was yes.
3. The Comprehensive Plan Update, Olympia 2045, process will start on May 10. There will be an on-line survey during the month of May on the first chapter.
4. April 11 – Annette Pitts, CEO of Experience Olympia and Beyond, gave a report on the state of the community at this City Council meeting, based on community surveys. Oly CNA members should watch the April 11 meeting to find out about those conclusions.
Tim’s Report on Development – Tim Smith, Deputy Director of Community Planning:
1. New development projects include Bayan Trails Apartments, a 243-unit townhouse-style development near Martin Way/Sleater Kinney Road.
2. The 50–60 tiny homes on Anderson Road will relocate to an area next to Hobby Lobby and Wheeler Avenue. This is city-owned property with funding from Department of Commerce.
3. The former Red Lion on Evergreen Park Drive will change from being a hotel to market-rate apartments. This was the city’s only conference site.
4. The Finance Committee will meet on May 17. On the agenda is a feasibility study to annex the SE UGA. This is slated to begin in June.
Larry Dzieza commented that the city will need funds to provide fire services, and lack of the $72 million from the now-defunct Regional Fire Agency proposal will make this UGA annexation timeline difficult.
Bob Jones asked about no street connection to Sandman Drive for the already-permitted Bayan Trails Apartments.
Tim stated that the connection will be a pedestrian-only trail. Because of the condition of neighboring residential area streets, the Hearing Examiner ruled that there was no need for a direct vehicle connection.
Judy Bardin asked about the next City Council meeting, whether it would be in-person.
Bob Jacobs said that it was hybrid, both by webinair and in person.
Dontae Payne mentioned that there is a hotel in Lacey that is also for homeless. If people in encampments are offered a shelter spot, they cannot stay in Lacey if they refuse to move. He implied that Olympia would have the same policy.
Melissa Allen asked if the Finance Committee meeting is open to the public?
The answer was “yes”.
CNA Elections
1. Vice Chair – Larry Dzieza asked if those present wished to re-elect Melissa Allen (Bigelow Highlands). He asked if there were any other candidates. Hearing nothing, he asked for a vote on this motion. The vote was unanimous in favor.
2. Chair – Larry Dzieza followed the same procedure for re-election of Larry Dzieza (Nottingham) as chair. Again the vote was unanimous in favor.
3. Secretary – Larry Dzieza followed the same procedure for electing Charlotte Persons (Bigelow) as Secretary, but he also asked if anyone wished to help Charlotte in this position. There were no volunteers, but ideas to help her included making a contact list and updating the mail chimp list for each Olympia Neighborhood Association representative’s skills and whether they could share those or not. The vote in favor passed unanimously.
4. Program and Event Coordinator – Larry Dzieza stated that at the April meeting Karen (Clemens) Sweeney (Eastside) had volunteered. Oly CNA is starting quarterly forums as an event. The vote in favor passed unanimously.
5. Communications Coordinator – This person will work on monitoring the Oly CNA website and updating it. Jeffrey Showman (Wildwood) volunteered to do this job at the April meeting. John Saunders (South Capitol) will help him. The vote passed unanimously.
Report Out on the MOU Meeting
1. As in past versions of the draft, in the current version the City asked that RNAs recruit renters and low-income people to participate in RNAs. Larry and Melissa suggested that the City and RNAs collaborate to find ways to attract this demographic. They suggested that, since evening meetings are difficult for low-income heads of households to attend, the RNAs, with City help, could provide childcare or dinner. However, the City was not interested in that suggestion.
2. One idea from discussions is to re-invigorate quarterly forums on topics shared by more than one RNA. The City would like to tie these forums to their annual work plan.
Melissa – This meeting on the MOU was attended by Larry, Melissa, Tim, and three other city staffers.
3. There was a discussion about the relevancy of Oly CNA from the city’s perspecive. One thought was that it was created as a way for the City to connect with neighborhoods, but now they have so many other methods, especially the webpage “Engage Olympia”, to get citizen participation. Perhaps the CNA is no longer useful to the City.
4. Timeline – The parties are about to agree to the MOU draft as written.
Tim Smith stated that the current MOU expired December 31, 2022. There is no specific timeline to be followed to create and approve the new one.
Bob Jacobs stated that meetings between Oly CNA and City Council is a good idea because the City seems to consider Oly CNA as a passive recipient of information. However, the City regularly consults with commercial interests and the people/residents as represented by Oly CNA should be able to convey as well as receive information.
Melissa Allen explained the City’s point of view. The City now has so many other mechanisms to reach residents, such as surveys, committees and stakeholder groups, is Oly CNA duplicative?
Proposal for Quarterly Neighborhood Forum
Larry Dzieza stated that for a community of relatively small size, around 50,000 people, it is surprising how out of touch residents, City staff and elected representatives are with each other. An example is the recent Regional Fire Agency vote. The quarterly forums can be a venue for meaningful dialogue. Perhaps the first topic should be on fire and emergency services.
To do this well, he proposed that a small group of people prepare for each forum by mustering facts relevant to the topic. The forum itself could be an evaluation of policy alternatives.
John Saunders asked if this preparatory work would be in tandem with City work already in progress for each topic.
Larry Dzieza said that in the RFA case, there was no policy analysis. He listened to over 50 hours of meetings and there was no discussion of studies.
Bob Jones stated that RFA analysis is needed, but questioned whether a neighborhood forum was the place to do that. He suggested the topic of sidewalks instead.
Karen (Clemens) Sweeney said that the Land Use and Environment Committee had no access to information about how the “zero parking” regulation affected similar-sized cities as Olympia. This would be a ton of work to put together, but the City Council would be receptive to this information.
Judy Bardin said that in the case of the “zero parking” regulation, the Planning Commission seems to be unable to take into consideration that Olympia does not have a good transit system that would support the policy. The decision is being made without data, just ideological positions.
Charlotte Persons asked what is the purpose of the neighborhood association quarterly forums?
Larry Dzieza said that one purpose is to avoid costly elections that result in no solutions to real problems.
Melissa Allen said that input from experts in the forums or from research would help resolve issues. Perhaps “sidewalks” is a better first topic than fire service funding since the latter topic could be even more divisive.
John Saunders said that City staff time/help would be necessary to do deep research on any topic. Also, Oly CNA need to think about its pitch for the quarterly forums. The sidewalk issue is more pertinent to many residents than the RFA issue.
Melissa Allen said that Sophie Stimson of the Transportation Department is beginning to plan for proposals, so the sidewalk issue could be timely.
Judy Bardin suggested that each neighborhood could choose a road as important for fire and emergency services or a sidewalk.
Creative Destruction; from Eyesore to Neighborhood Center – Mike Dexel
1. Mike Dexel explained that creating the Olympia Northeast Neighborhood Association (ONNA) ten years ago was a long, arduous process, especially forming a pilot subarea plan, and only a couple of projects were later undertaken in the subarea. However, the Northeast Neighborhood Association (NONA) creation of a neighborhood center showed that this work was worthwhile.
2. Mike explained the back story of the 2023 NONA sponsored ONNA grant application for a Neighborhood Matching Grant (attached to the April meeting agenda). ONNA helped the owner of the property meet with the city and agree to a plan to demolish the old gas station at the corner of San Francisco St. and Puget Ave., at a cost of $25,000, and establish a temporary use that does not require excavation. Excavation for building construction is not possible until the City can find funds to clean up polluted soils on site.
The owner plans to bring in food trucks and the Neighborhood Matching Grant funds will be used to create landscaping and seating. Surveys of ONNA subarea plan area, a project headed by the late Jay Elder, were useful in the negotiations. These showed that ONNA residents’ #1 priority was to demolish the gas station. They also wanted a community center where residents can gather informally. A market/restaurant was the #1 choice.
Mike stated that the 3 P’s prevailed – patience, passion, and partnership. However, the ONNA subarea plan provided the leverage.
Karen (Clemens) Sweeney asked what we can take away from the process for other CNAs?
Mike – Any major project will need someone willing to see it through.
Charlotte Persons asked about cleanup of the site.
Mike, who works for Dept. of Ecology, stated that a major question is whether there is migration of the pollution into Budd Inlet. More City funding will be necessary to answer that question. The City can
do the testing with permission of the owner. The City can take over the site and do the cleanup with federal funding as there are no state funds.
Larry Dzieza said that the food trucks are the short-term plan and the long-term plan is site cleanup.
Mike stated that the City has test wells at the San Francisco Bakery site that can add to the data needed.
Minutes for April Oly CNA Meeting
The minutes, with corrections from Bob Jacobs, were approved.
Scheduling Use of School Rooms for Neighborhood Meetings – Bob Jones
(Please see the form attached as part of the materials for this meeting). This form is on the School District’s Communications and Community Relations’ webpage. To complete the form on-line, go to that webpage, then click on “login” at the upper right to create an account for your RNA. Then you can access the form’s website. According to Carmen Painter, this hold harmless agreement, one per organization, will be kept on file, costs nothing, and there is no requirement for an insurance policy.
To get started on meeting in a school, contact the principal, who can suggest which rooms are suitable for your size group.
Bob Jones (Goldcrest) stated that his RNA has been meeting at Marshall Middle School with no problems. Schools are a friendly place to meet for RNAs. Meeting adjourned at 9:10 p.m.