Planning commission hears update on Snoqualmie climate element; commissioners press on smoke, wildfire and transportation

Chris Green, a consultant with OTAC, told the Snoqualmie Planning Commission on March 17, 2025, that the city—s new comprehensive plan climate element now contains two subelements—climate resilience and greenhouse-gas emissions reduction—and that work on resilience is further along than the emissions side while the city awaits finalized 2022 inventory data for Snoqualmie.

The climate planning advisory team (CPAT) has prioritized drought and reduced snowpack, extreme heat and smoke impacts, and extreme precipitation as the highest near-term hazards for the city, Green said. Flooding remains important but CPAT and staff find there is already an active set of programs addressing flood risk; wildfire and smoke were debated because smoke has become a recurring health issue in recent years.

Green described the resilience process as having assessed community assets, hazards and sectors that could be affected; CPAT has begun drafting goals, policies and actions to protect and mobilize assets such as the hospital, library and recreation facilities. He said the resilience work would move next to goals and measurable policies and that a draft climate element is expected for commission review in May.

Several commissioners pressed specific resilience measures. Commissioner Murzyak said smoke has made outdoor activity difficult in recent Septembers and urged planning for smoke mitigation. "Anything we could do for resiliency on that would be nice other than just stay indoors," Murzyak said. He and other commissioners asked staff to consider ventilation specifications for public buildings and upcoming school projects to reduce indoor smoke exposure.

Commissioners and Green also discussed wildfire risk and the area—s geography. Green said Snoqualmie—s wildfire exposure differs from drier parts of the state: true ignition events are rarer but winds that funnel through local gaps can turn a single ignition into a more severe event. Dean Nadim, Snoqualmie city clerk, told the commission the City Council adopted an updated Fire Department comprehensive emergency management plan on Feb. 24, 2025, attached to "Resolution 17 o 8," and offered to circulate the link to the plan.

On greenhouse-gas reduction, Green said the city is relying on a King County-wide inventory that will be disaggregated to cities; Snoqualmie-specific 2022 data are still pending. The inventory will inform emissions reduction targets and policies. Green showed a "wedge" scenario model based on 2019 inputs and noted the 2019-to-2022 comparisons are complicated by COVID-era shifts in travel and energy use.

Commissioners questioned several technical items in the emissions presentation. One commissioner challenged a large projected decline in electricity-sector emissions shown in the slide deck, noting that a 40% drop from 2019 to 2022 in electricity consumption seemed unlikely; Green clarified the wedge showed emissions reductions under an aggressive policy scenario rather than raw consumption declines. Commissioners asked that the 2022 Snoqualmie results be presented at the next workshop so the commission can review actuals versus projections.

Transportation and vehicle-miles-traveled (VMT) reduction also drew comments as a major lever for local emissions policy. Commissioners asked that the CPAT and staff assess local options—bus routing, microtransit, event shuttles and other local measures—that the city can influence to reduce on-road emissions. Green said transportation and passenger-vehicle policies are a forthcoming focus in April workshops.

Other practical issues raised included cooling centers and community assets for extreme heat response, coordination with utilities on electricity capacity and impacts of growing air-conditioning use, and clarifying whether aviation emissions (which the county inventory flags) are treated as local or regional. Green and commissioners agreed those topics will be part of upcoming CPAT work and planning commission workshops in April and May.

The commission set a schedule for additional review: the CPAT will dig into the full greenhouse-gas inventory and proposed emissions targets in April and return draft goals and policies to the planning commission in April, followed by a draft climate element review in May.

The presentation and discussion did not include any formal commission action or vote on the climate element; members asked staff and the consultant to return with the Snoqualmie-specific 2022 inventory data and clearer, measurable policy options.