Bothell city staff on March 18 presented a preparatory briefing to the City Council on an update to the Downtown Subarea Plan, outlining a preliminary vision, goals, scope and a community engagement strategy that staff and the Planning Commission had drafted.

Jason Greenspan, director of community development, and senior planner Eric Jasewski described the update as an opportunity to reassess the 2009 plan in light of roughly 2,600 housing units and an estimated 6,000 new residents built in downtown since that plan was adopted, along with about $200 million in public and regional investments. "The Downtown Plan was adopted in 02/2009 and amended periodically," Jasewski said, noting the breadth of private and public projects completed since then.

Staff asked council to weigh in on draft topics including the future of Main Street and public space, possible refinements to subarea boundaries (including consideration for regional "countywide center" designation), transportation and curb management, parking policy and enforcement, retention and attraction of businesses, integration with UW Bothell/Cascadia College and river and trail connections, climate resilience, and approaches for monitoring plan performance using SMART goals. Planning Commission suggestions that staff shared included stronger equity language, emphasis on retaining existing businesses, pilot programs and experimentation, and specific attention to curb management and parking enforcement.

The preliminary community engagement plan described five objectives: inclusive participation with emphasis on underrepresented groups, meaningful two-way engagement (open houses, focus groups and interactive tools), education and alignment with other city plans (housing action plan, climate action plan), transparency about how input will be used, and building a forward-looking plan with pilot opportunities. Staff noted Engage Bothell has been activated for the project and said the next phase — collecting existing conditions and community input — is planned for late spring (roughly May–June) with a public engagement phase to follow.

Council feedback emphasized several priorities: (1) revisit development standards for the vacant corner lot at 100th Avenue and Main Street so rebuilding is feasible; (2) explore more ground-floor small-scale retail space and simplify downtown zoning to reduce barriers to street-level businesses; (3) document lessons learned since the 2009 plan and report how community input will shape changes; (4) consider a countywide center designation with Puget Sound Regional Council and coordinate boundaries; and (5) ensure outreach reaches underrepresented groups such as the nearby mobile-home community. Councilmembers also recommended that staff return showing how proposals would translate into development scenarios (so the public can see what code changes mean in practice).

No council action or vote was requested at the study session; staff sought direction to proceed with community outreach and to refine the scope and schedule based on council input.