Edmonds residents urge planning board to reconsider North Bowl hub rezoning, cite process and home-expansion limits

Residents from the neighborhood the planning staff has labeled the "North Bowl" (also referred to in public comments as the "North Bull Hub") pressed the Edmonds Planning Board on March 12, urging the board to slow or revise proposed zoning changes that would designate parts of the neighborhood as a center or hub and impose an interim ordinance limiting expansions of existing single-family homes.

The comments, delivered during the meeting's public-comment period, raised three linked concerns: process and notice to affected homeowners; limits the interim ordinance places on homeowners' ability to expand or remodel; and neighborhood impacts including traffic, school access and property taxes. "We're a diverse group of people...and we're opposed to the proposed changes to building code in our neighborhood," said Connor Cart, a Grandview Street resident representing the neighborhood, who told the board residents had reviewed the planning-board recommendations and wanted the board to "reconsider the proposal for that area in particular."

Why it matters: the draft centers-and-hubs designations are part of Edmonds' implementation of state-mandated housing growth; if the council and city adopt code changes, parcels inside a center or hub will be subject to different development rules than they face today. Residents at the March 12 meeting said those changes were introduced without adequate notice and that an…