Bothell planning commissioners review downtown subarea community engagement plan, offer outreach suggestions

City of Bothell planning staff presented a community engagement plan for the Downtown Bothell subarea update at the Planning Commission’s Feb. 19 study session and asked commissioners for input; no formal action was taken.

The engagement plan lays out goals of inclusive participation, meaningful engagement, public education, relationship building and future‑oriented visioning for a downtown plan intended to guide the city’s downtown for roughly the next 20 years. Planner Megan Rigney said the plan draws on Bothell’s 2009 downtown subarea plan, the 2012 and 2024 Imagine Bothell comprehensive plans, the city’s July 2024 community engagement toolkit, and best practices from Bellevue and Kirkland.

“Engagement matters because this is a plan for people,” Megan Rigney, Planner, City of Bothell Community Development, said. “We’re designing the downtown for the community that live, work, and enjoy downtown Bothell.”

The nut graf: The plan sets a multi‑pronged outreach approach — combining digital tools, in‑person tabling and workshops, targeted stakeholder outreach and translation/ADA accommodations — to reach people who live, work, visit or aspire to live or do business downtown, with an emphasis on underrepresented populations.

Key elements and schedule - Goals and strategies: The plan identifies five goals (inclusive participation, meaningful engagement, education/awareness, relationship building, and future‑oriented visioning) with specific outreach strategies aligned to each goal. Staff said strategy details are in the meeting packet. - Tools and partners: The city will use Engage Bothell (a GoVocal platform) to gather and analyze participation data and demographic metrics, supplementing in‑person events called “Civic Saturdays.” Staff said they will work with the city’s DEI coordinator (named Gabby in the presentation) to meet ADA and language access needs. - Timeline: Staff described the schedule as tentative: project launch in Q3 2025; distribution of flyers and postcards to downtown residences; public engagement and “envisioning the future” activities in late 2025 into Q2 2026; and later draft review and finalization. Rigney emphasized the plan was in the scoping phase and subject to change.

Commissioner feedback and staff responses Commissioners broadly praised the plan as thorough and offered detailed suggestions commissioners asked staff to incorporate: - Add faith‑based organizations, the YMCA, preschools and daycare centers to the outreach list; Commissioner Robson and Commissioner Jones specifically suggested faith‑based and early‑childhood providers. Rigney said staff will add suggested organizations and asked commissioners to email additional contacts. - Track representativeness: Commissioners recommended capturing demographic benchmarks (for example, by comparing engagement respondents to Bothell census data) and publicly reporting results so the city can show who was reached and where gaps remain. Rigney said Engage Bothell can be configured to compare respondent demographics to city data and that demographic questions will be optional. - Staffing and budget: Commissioners asked whether staff and budget exist to perform targeted, in‑person outreach to underrepresented groups. Rigney said the city has engagement funding set aside for the downtown, housing and climate plans and a cross‑department community engagement team to coordinate resources. - Participation incentives and accessibility: Commissioners supported offering stipends or raffles (staff noted an ongoing climate action survey that offered $25 gift certificates) and continuing family‑friendly features such as childcare and ice cream at events to lower barriers. Rigney said the city has used such incentives and will include accessibility measures in implementation. - Clarity about influence: Commissioners emphasized that outreach materials should clearly state where public input will be informational versus decision‑making (the IAP2 participation spectrum). Rigney said staff will be explicit about how community input will be used and will summarize key themes for review.

Staff said evaluation metrics are on page 27 of the meeting packet and that after initial engagement staff will analyze themes, refine the plan, and return draft materials for public review.

What’s next Staff invited commissioners to email additional stakeholder contacts and said a formal outreach launch will follow the scoping and council review. The plan is intended to guide later downtown planning phases but no ordinance or policy changes were proposed at the Feb. 19 session.

Votes at a glance Two procedural motions recorded during the meeting: approval of the Feb. 5 minutes and a motion to adjourn. Both passed unanimously. Details appear below (vote records are derived from the meeting transcript).