Building_development + Cross_cutting + Forests_green_space

31:41 This one goes from 2026 through 2045. Our last plan, as you know, was updated in 2011. Much has changed since then. Demographically, economically, in terms of the situation related to housing and so has state law. It's changed significantly. So we have worked to address all that in the comprehensive plan before you tonight. It has 10 chapters plus an introduction appendix and has targets for what we think is most likely to happen in terms of population growth by 2045, which is 81,000 more people. That necessitates 38,000 new housing units to address our existing deficit as well as future need and then 43,200 jobs to continue to provide robust employment opportunities for our community. Here is the updated land use map and zoning map

32:40 that council endorsed via resolution in December of last year. This maps our new zoning districts across the city and our new code that you're reviewing tonight as well applies a fully new development code to the entirety of the city. It has 10 zoning districts. Those districts have a minimum density and a maximum height. They also regulate form through the allowance of different building types and there's still a use table that says what uses are allowed or not. It has many detailed elements, obviously, but some things that are key regulations that people have been very focused on include buffers between zoning districts, tree conservation and adding to and supporting our tree canopy goals, making sure that pedestrian environment is good and that buildings support a robust and comfortable pedestrian environment,

33:36 providing some allowances for density exemptions in the low scale and medium scale neighbourhood if an existing single family house is there today, removing all parking minimums outside of a very few specialised uses and then we've got a subset of updated overlays that we've applied across the city. So we have been before you nearly 30 times throughout the last three and a half years. We are recommending that council approve the ordinance adopting our Vancouver 2026 through 2045 comprehensive plan, the updated city of Vancouver zoning map and updated Vancouver municipal code title 20, land use and development code, setting an effective date of 60 days from today, which is July 31st, 2026. I just want to note that our work doesn't stop. Comprehensive plans are designed to adapt and be flexible, as is the Growth Management Act. We will continue as we always have to have an annual review programme

34:35 where we can look at comprehensive plan and zoning changes annually. We anticipate that we will not have gotten everything right and that the next year or two will be busy as we get feedback, as we review that and update it and refine and fix and learn and adjust and adapt to new things. We do anticipate and what we've experienced in the past is that when you update your plans and maps, change occurs incrementally over time as individual property owners make decisions about what they want to do with their property. And again, we can make changes every year. So, I also just want to quickly thank, there was many, many people across the city worked on this plan, but I do want to just call out the project management team internally. In addition to Mark and myself, that included our Assistant City Attorney, Becky Rude, sorry, Deputy City Attorney, Becky Rude, Chim Choon Ko, who's a Real Estate Project Manager

35:35 in the Economic Prosperity and Housing Department, Brian Snodgrass, Dominique Martinelli, and Meredith Herbst from Community Development. These are the folks who met weekly for four years working on all aspects of this. And I just want to express my appreciation for the team and the can-do attitude of doing a big lift and taking it one step at a time. So, with that, I'm happy to take questions and discussion and that's the extent of our presentation. - Thank you. Councilors, you have any questions of Ms. Kennedy right now?

36:10 Okay, I'll go ahead and open up the public hearing. And we have five different microphones there. When you approach the microphone, you'll notice that there's a little rectangular box in the center that you can tap and your green lights will come on. Let's go ahead and have Jason Cromer, Sharon Peavey. I believe it's Kevin Calliston. And Mary Kelts and Nelson Homburg. Come on up, there's another microphone up here. Thank you. Jason, go ahead. - Okay, hi, my name is Jason Cromer. I'm a homeowner here in Vancouver. Yeah, it's been a long time coming

37:09 and I just wanted to say, well, first off, I hope you accept the comprehensive plan as is and how it's presented to you and has been. And just a huge thank you to Rebecca Kennedy and her team. It's an enormous project, you know, that span like she's mentioned over four years and probably longer than that. And it's not just a project that sounds or feels good, it's a project that looks at in detail and objectively what problems we have today with city planning and how to address those. And not just looking at a micro level, but also a macro level, taking in real world examples from our state, country and abroad as well to figure out what we need to do to address the issues we see today. When I look at the plan, it solves so many issues. I would say the overwhelming majority of the things

38:06 that people talk about or discuss and some maybe even counterintuitively. So things like homelessness through building housing, solving traffic issues by increasing density, increasing pedestrian, bicycling and transit access, reducing our debt, reducing taxes in the long term by building fewer and wider roads. These are things that have incremental and negative feedback loops in the long run. The list goes on. This is a plan that's comprehensive like the name states in addressing many of the issues we see today. I just got back from a trip from Belgium, the Netherlands, which I guess you could regard as the peak implementation of urban planning. And I was in a town called Leuven in Belgium, population about 100,000 people, but they have implemented what I see in the comprehensive plan. So a good density infill,

39:05 they've gotten rid of car access throughout the city. And what you get is more small businesses. So more economic value per square foot or per acre. You have a community that's safe, that's quiet, that's active. I've never seen so many small businesses and so much liveliness in an area before. And if you come back here, it's sort of like a ghost town and you wonder why it's because we have parking lots everywhere, wide roads, and everybody's far apart. This solves this in the longterm, not something we've seen in a few years, but in the longterm by increasing density, taking advantage of infill and giving people more of a community access, things to walk to, things to bike to, also things to drive to, but just a plethora of choices. And ultimately that's what I see in the comprehensive plan. So choices for everybody, solving real issues and really making community for everybody here. Thank you. - Thank you. Sharon.

40:05 - Yes, my name is Sharon Peavy and I just found out about the details of this coming here today. So this is the testimony I've prepared. I'm the director with AMCO, Statewide Association of Manufactured Home Communities. Our purpose is to promote, represent, preserve, and enhance the rights and interests of manufactured homeowners in the state of Washington. Through communication, education, negotiation, and preservation of our communities, we aim to educate legislators about affordable housing and promote sensible prop policies for manufactured homeowners. Recently AMCO was a part of a coalition of homeowners and others who fought for the passage of HB 1217, one of the strongest rent stabilization statutes in the country. We desperately needed to pass this bill. A round table meeting in Olympia with interested policy makers, representatives from manufactured home communities,

41:02 discussed rent increases from around our state. When an 85 year old lady tearfully described her thousand dollar monthly rent increases and how she was preparing for the streets, we were all in tears. My space rent alone has gone from 525 to $1,417 monthly in about seven years with no amenities. Now we are most interested in overlay zoning, knowing that if we were repurposed, we would lose our homes. Our homes cannot be moved, so we would lose our investment. Most of our communities house older people who need stability, not the fear of being replaced. Our city has the power to grant overlay zoning and preserve options for home ownership. These special owners have faced so many obstacles for peaceful living, which I do not have time to address. Tenants asked if they had the chance to live in a manufactured home community again,

41:59 all answered no, not the way things are now with monopoly takeover of our housing. My experience, I hate to say this, with the city was being ignored when our petition wanted safe and easy access into our community at Cascade Park on First Street. We now have one way in and one way out for 200 people or more, more details to follow on that hopefully. I do hope in future planning that more consideration for our communities is planned as funding opens up. We hope to utilize the bill we fought so hard to pass, the opportunity to purchase and run as a type of co-op and own our own land. That was the dream we had hoped for. Thank you so much. - Thank you. Kevin. Counselor. - Just before she leaves, I'm not sure if you're aware that part of this comp plan update includes a manufactured housing zone.

42:59 And so I encourage you to take a look at those provisions. - Yeah, I'll skim it over real quick. - Okay. - Way down here and whew, okay. - I didn't want you to leave not knowing that that was a new zone that we're putting in place. All right. - Kevin. - Thank you. My name is Kevin Callahan. I have the pleasure of serving on the advisory council for the area association on aging. And of course, looking at taking care of the needs of senior citizens, housing is a very important component of that. The council may not be aware, but you have 16 manufactured home parks in your community with over a thousand housing units. Even under your new manufactured housing zone, a property owner can come in and request a change of use on that zone and we'll have to be justifying the change. But I want you to understand how critical it is

43:57 to preserve the existing affordable housing that those housing units provide. We would refer to them as a manufactured housing and it's not mobile homes because these structures are not mobile. They're not gonna be moved. And if a park is going to be closed, the property owner only has to offer the tenant half of the assessed value of the structure. So if your home is worth $200,000 on the market and it's worth say $100,000 as the structure itself, they can offer you $50,000 and you're out the door. It's critical that these housing units be preserved. They are irreplaceable and it's very important that the city treats them as you would as if it were publicly funded affordable housing because that's what it is. It's affordable but it's being made affordable by the fact that the homeowners themselves purchase the homes. So they are the partners. They need the help of the city

44:57 in order to maintain their safety and their viability. We think that the current provisions in the ordinance which require the property owner to justify why it is that it's no longer viable may be appropriate or not, it will depend on how it's interpreted and how the arguments are made. And we will certainly be present to try to defend the rights of property or the tenants when those questions come up. But I think it's important to recognize the fact that those housing units have been provided by the property owners themselves and they are being threatened by the likelihood that they could be reused for another purpose. So we would urge you in adopting the ordinance which we support to be very vigilant in making sure that when a property owner comes in and wants to change the designation that they can fully justify that

45:55 and that perhaps there can be negotiated additional benefits to the tenants so that they are not left high and dry if that's the case, thank you. - Thank you, Mary. - Good evening, Madam Mayor, city councilors, staff and citizens. My name is Mary Keltz, I'm a long time resident of the city of Vancouver. And I thank you for the opportunity to comment on the proposed comprehensive plan update. In an effort to be concise, I put this on paper as follows. If implemented as drafted, the plan would allow many more homes than are needed to meet even the city's goals, the city's own established goals. That fact is reflected in the final environmental impact statement. As a result, Clark County is taking less responsibility for new homes and planning for less density

46:53 in neighborhoods next to the city. To be specific, the county is preparing to delete 8,000 housing units from the plan update covering Vancouver's urban growth area. The city plan is filled with words about equity and positive community experience. However, it calls for greater inequities in who will bear the impacts and expenses from increasing population. It puts too much pressure on existing city neighborhoods. Demand and prices for homes are likely to increase as people search for more relaxed environments in places where Vancouver is expected to grow. Important opportunities for planning may slip away quickly. We are seeing examples of that today with Oregonians moving to Clark County to escape some aspects of Portland.

47:52 If we are serious about planning for the next 20 years, we must have an equitable and effective plan for increasing the supply and variety of housing throughout our urban area while containing the cost when possible. It now appears we are failing to give adequate attention to the urban growth area and thereby prevent undue strain on the city. I've spent many hours and considerable effort to understand the plan and its implications on the ground. So I hope you will take my comments very seriously and find a appropriate way to modify the situation when possible. - Thank you. Nelson? - Good evening, mayor, council members, and staff. My name is Nelson Holmberg, a native and lifelong resident of Vancouver. I'm here tonight representing the nearly 800 members of the Building Industry Association of Clark County.

48:51 I'd like to quickly acknowledge our Government Affairs Committee chair, Eric Galimo, for his assistance in preparing this testimony. We want to express our sincere appreciation for the tremendous amount of collaborative work that has occurred over the past several years to bring us to this point. Staff, council, stakeholders from across the community have invested countless hours into developing the comprehensive plan and the associated code updates before you tonight. While we have not agreed on everything along the way, we greatly appreciate the outreach, communication, and willingness to engage in meaningful dialogue throughout this process. The BIA supports the proposed Vancouver Municipal Code Title 20 updates and recognizes the importance of increasing housing opportunities and addressing affordability challenges in our community. We also commend staff for their innovative approach in responding to council's direction

49:50 and advancing policies intended to encourage greater housing density. With any innovative effort, there will likely be unintended consequences and we accept and expect that. Our hope is that council and staff will continue to see us as a partner through issues proactively as they become known rather than waiting until challenges become difficult and stressful to work through on tight deadlines that can be expensive. As council moves forward, we ask for a continued commitment to the collaborative approach that has brought us this far in our common interest of producing housing that's affordable, available, and accessible for our community. We would like the assurance that staff and council will continue monitoring how these regulations perform in the real world and remain willing to adjust if needed if unintended consequences emerge. Several provisions warrant close attention,

50:48 including the minimum density requirements for the MX and RA zones, which may be difficult to achieve on many sites. We also believe additional flexibility is needed in lot and dimensional standards, particularly for smaller parcels where geometric and economic constraints can make development challenging. Equally important, supporting infrastructure, road, and utility standards must be aligned with the new code to ensure that projects can move forward. Ultimately, success should not be measured by the density allowed on paper, but by the number of homes that are actually built and occupied by Vancouver residents. We remain supportive of the proposed code, and we look forward to continuing our partnership with the city of Vancouver in the months ahead to ensure these policies achieve their intended goals of increasing housing supply, affordability, and choice. Thank you for your time. - Thank you very much. All right, let's have Tom Knappenberger,

51:48 Jim Williamson, Claudette Derricotte, Josh Harmon, and Paul Burgess, please. Tom, go ahead. - Thank you. My name is Tom Knappenberger. I'm a Northwest Vancouver resident of 26 years, former president of the Northwest Neighborhood Association. There are many things I could say about this proposed update to the city's comprehensive plan. I've been following it intensely for six months, attended meetings, given testimony to the City Planning Commission, written letters to the editor, and spearheaded a special briefing for the Northwest Neighborhood Association. Like peeling an onion, I've learned of the many complex layers of this plan.

52:46 Throughout, my guiding light has been this. People need to know what this is, what this is about, and weigh in. It's too important. This comprehensive plan update is nothing less than a complete and total redesign of the city of Vancouver. It will change everything forever, period stop. Every home in our city will be affected sooner or later, but do people understand? Yes, I know, 2,000 contacts made, hundreds of inputs, dozens of briefings, but how many of those came after the plan's details were revealed on February 19th? Most of those touted comments were aspirational. Would you like to live in a safe city? Would you like to have a park nearby? Would you like to walk to coffee shops? While Rebecca and her crew, excuse me, have done their best, this seminal fact remains. Very few in our city of 200,000 are aware of this city redesign. If you went down to the farmer's market

53:43 and asked 100 people, only a handful would know the plan. If you asked that handful what it means for their neighborhood, you'd be lucky to get six. So I'm pleading with you as I did with the Planning Commission. This Northwest Neighborhood Association is asking, take more time so more people have a chance to learn and comment. To help with that, consider a summit of neighborhood leaders. Very few of the city's neighborhood associations have weighed in. That should alarm you. Hold a public meeting and bill it plainly as a chance to learn and comment on the rezoning of every home in Vancouver. This is way too important not to engage our city further. In the interest of all of us, our children and grandchildren, take the time to do this right. - Jim. - I second that wholeheartedly. I can't believe that Rebecca said there had been, I've been to quite a few city council meetings

54:42 and I didn't know they'd been up in front 30 times. The awareness of the comprehensive plan is nil in my neighborhood. I pedaled around for 20 minutes and asked seven people if they'd heard about it. None of them had. They all said they'd look it up. Looking it up is not an easy thing to do. You look at the brochure that's downstairs with the receptionist, it's that thick. And a lot of it is puff and it's kind of window dressing, it's very nicely done. And I respect the efforts of the city planners to try and make a better, more livable city. But the citizens, the homeowners, the residents, the renters have absolutely no idea of what's coming down the road.

55:38 And as a guy who lives across the street from a new private equity rental house that used to be a family home, the four new cars on the street in the plug driveway, it's not the same neighborhood. I recognize that I'm just a nimby,