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Bothell unveils draft Climate Action Plan; staff seeks summer public feedback
Summary
City staff presented a draft climate action plan that incorporates updated greenhouse gas inventories for 2022–2023, municipal operational emissions, and a menu of mitigation and adaptation measures. Staff asked the council for feedback and signaled plans to run public engagement through the summer before returning with a final draft in fall.
Bothell — City staff on July 15 presented a draft Climate Action Plan that combines updated community greenhouse gas inventories for 2022–2023, the city’s first municipal operations inventory, and proposed strategies for emissions reductions and resilience. Staff said the draft will be posted for public comment over the summer with a final plan expected in the fall.
Why it matters: The plan sets local steps to reduce greenhouse gases and to prepare for climate impacts such as hotter summers and shifting precipitation patterns. The city’s municipal inventory puts city operations at about 2,176 metric tons CO2e for 2023, roughly 0.4% of community emissions; transportation and building energy are the largest community sources.
Planning staff Cameron Colvin and Climate Action Fellow Emily Nielsen summarized outreach to date, the inventory results and the proposed approach. Nielsen said the plan will present community priorities in a compact format: “We want to make it as engaging as a PDF can possibly be,” she said, noting pop‑up summaries, a two‑page factsheet and survey data embedded in the draft.
Staff noted the regional context: state and regional policies (updated energy codes, the Clean Buildings/related standards and other measures) already account for a large share of projected emissions reductions. The plan therefore focuses on locally actionable measures — for example, building electrification support, expanding EV chargers and preserving tree canopy — and on co‑benefits such as walkability, affordability and public health.
Council feedback covered several themes. Members pressed staff to strengthen links between this plan and related work on urban forestry, stormwater and school‑yard cooling; they urged clear, replicable data layers and GIS inputs so the inventory can be updated later. Council members also raised specific policy ideas that had appeared in public conversation: incentives or group‑purchase programs for rooftop solar or heat‑pump installations, pilot subsidy partnerships with neighboring jurisdictions, a phased approach to shifting small engines (lawn equipment) away from two‑stroke gas models, and using covered solar canopies on public parking and play areas.
Next steps: Staff will run public engagement and focused outreach over the summer, incorporate feedback (including targeted conversations with the school district and community groups), and bring a final recommended plan to council in the fall. The city is participating in k4c (a multi‑jurisdiction collaboration) and staff encouraged council to consider formally supporting k4c targets as part of the plan’s implementation.
