Redmond Planning Commission members held a study session July 23 on the Redmond Fire Department's proposed 2025' 650 Fire Functional Plan and asked staff to return with additional detail before making a recommendation to city council.

The plan, presenters said, is a policy tool intended to align fire capital investments with projected population and employment growth and to enable the city to use fire impact fees under the Washington State Growth Management Act. "Importantly, the plan is not a green light for construction," Ami Corconi, deputy fire chief, said as she introduced the document and described how it would be incorporated into the comprehensive plan's capital facilities element.

Why it matters: The plan lays out priorities for station siting and facility upgrades, identifies modernization needs at Station 11 and the completion of Station 17, recommends relocating Station 12 inside Redmond city limits, and proposes a centralized logistics facility. Staff said the capital strategy anticipates roughly $26'$27 million in projects over the near term, with impact fees expected to cover about one-third of growth-related costs; other financing tools such as bonds are also under consideration.

Presentations and public comment: Corconi and Interim Deputy Chief Mike DeSpain walked commissioners through the plan's goals, technical chapters and the ties to local and regional policy, including the Redmond 2050 comprehensive plan and King County countywide planning policies. Corconi said chapters include a facilities readiness assessment (electrification and green infrastructure), a service-gap analysis that considers equity, and an implementation and monitoring chapter intended to prevent earlier plans from languishing.

A member of the public, David Morton, testified in support. "This plan is a critical strategic road map designed to ensure that the Redmond Fire Department can continue its vital mission of compassionately, proactively, and professionally protecting life, property, and the environment through 2050," Morton said.

Key questions raised: Commissioners pressed staff on several recurring topics:
- Impact fees and fiscal risk: Commissioners sought clarity on how impact fees would be calculated and what portion of project costs the city would reasonably recover. Staff said state law gives cities discretion over fee formulas but prohibits charging developers for 100% of growth-attributable costs; the plan is a first step that will feed an updated impact-fee study.
- Implementation and monitoring: Commissioners asked how the city will track whether projects identified in the plan are completed and whether the plan's assumptions will be reviewed over time. Corconi pointed to chapter 8 (implementation and monitoring), which establishes accountability within the fire department, ties plan updates to regular capital and budget processes, and allows flexibility if service metrics change.
- Construction costs and inflation: Commissioners asked whether the plan's unit cost assumptions reflect inflation. Staff said the plan uses an order-of-magnitude range (about $1,000'$1,300 per square foot for stations as a placeholder) and that a facilities feasibility study and subsequent consultant work will refine estimates for specific projects (Station 11 was called out as the immediate priority).
- Equity and service gaps: The plan identifies service gaps that emerge as growth concentrates in neighborhoods such as Overlake and downtown; staff said Redmond currently provides coverage citywide but that station moves and additions would improve response equity in areas expecting dense growth.
- Station siting, seismic risk and infrastructure dependencies: Commissioners asked about liquefaction and seismic vulnerabilities at the downtown station (Station 11) and what would happen to existing properties if stations are rebuilt or relocated. Staff said feasibility and real estate disposition questions would be addressed separately in project-level planning and finance analyses.
- Electrification, backup power and emerging risks: Commissioners and staff discussed the department's early adoption of electric apparatus and the tradeoffs of electric vehicles versus diesel generators for resilient backup power. Staff said clean-building standards and city climate goals affect design, but diesel generators remain the current reliable backup for essential facilities until alternative storage proves reliably available.
- Interjurisdictional aid: Commissioners asked about relationships with neighboring agencies. Staff described longstanding automatic- and mutual-aid arrangements with Bellevue and Kirkland and noted those cooperative responses are an operational reality the plan assumes.

Next steps: Staff said the plan meets the technical criteria for a comprehensive-plan amendment and requested the commission's recommendation to adopt the functional plan into the capital facilities element. The commission did not take a formal vote at the July 23 study session; staff said a public hearing is scheduled for Aug. 13, the commission is expected to make its recommendation on Aug. 27, and the item will be forwarded to city council in October with hoped-for adoption in early November.

Ending note: Commissioners requested additional detail for the public hearing packet, including links to the department's standards-of-cover and data dashboards, refined cost estimates from the planned feasibility study (starting with Station 11), and clearer monitoring cadences for implementation and reporting.