Mayor Updates Council on Speed Limit Reductions and Public Safety Ordinances

The Everett City Council meeting held on July 16, 2025, focused on several key public safety updates and proposed ordinances aimed at enhancing community safety.

The meeting began with a presentation from the public safety team regarding efforts to address speeding in the city. A citywide analysis is underway, with recommendations expected next month to lower speed limits on Sixteenth Street and Holly. Specifically, the proposal suggests reducing the speed limit to 25 miles per hour on Sixteenth Street between Grand Avenue and Marine View Drive, and similarly on Holly between 100th Street Southwest and Evergreen Way. Additional assessments are planned for Dakota and Madison streets before any recommendations are made.

In conjunction with these speed limit changes, the council will also review a comprehensive speed limit policy and a forthcoming speed management plan, funded by a federal grant. This plan aims to evaluate every arterial road in Everett and implement necessary changes, including the potential introduction of a 20-mile-per-hour local street speed limit and a citywide alley speed limit. The plan will also explore the new neighborhood shared street concept recently approved by the state legislature.

Further discussions included the development of a graffiti prevention ordinance, expected to be ready by early August. This ordinance aims to hold accountable those responsible for graffiti vandalism, providing relief to affected residents and businesses.

Additionally, the council is working on an ordinance to address the exposure of children to dangerous drugs, particularly fentanyl. While state legislation exists regarding meth exposure, there is currently no law addressing fentanyl. The proposed ordinance would criminalize the knowing or reckless exposure of a child to this substance, responding to past incidents in the city.

Lastly, the public safety team is reviewing data related to the recently passed "stay out of drug areas" ordinance, with plans to examine additional neighborhoods, including areas south of downtown in the Port Gardner neighborhood.

The meeting concluded without further updates, but the council is set to address these significant public safety issues in the coming weeks.