Bothell council and planning commission map closer coordination, new outreach and parking work

Bothell City Council and the Planning Commission held a joint study session on Feb. 18 to discuss how the two bodies should coordinate on large policy projects, code amendments and community engagement.

City Manager (staff) and Christian Getz, Community Development deputy director, framed the session around the Planning Commission’s advisory role under the municipal code and presented a work plan that groups items into multi-year policy projects (climate action plan, housing action plan, urban forestry), code updates and ongoing administrative items. Getz said typical municipal code updates take six to 12 months and larger policy efforts can take multiple years, setting the timing expectations for the groups.

The meeting focused on three practical questions: how the Planning Commission should reflect the City Council vision in its advice; what council can do to set the commission up for success; and how both bodies can reach city residents who typically do not attend meetings. Planning commissioners said the council’s vision document is not routinely reviewed by commissioners and asked for an annual or periodic briefing. Council members offered to present the vision directly to boards and commissions.

Commissioners pressed for more inclusive outreach beyond standard public hearings, saying respondents to past surveys tended to skew toward higher-income homeowners and that people working multiple jobs, people with language barriers and many seniors are not being reached. Council members and staff described steps the city is taking to expand engagement: hiring a communications and engagement manager and two additional outreach positions in the 2026 budget; investing in community partnerships; and working through the DEI coordinator to equip departmental staff with engagement tools.

Commissioners and council members discussed alternative outreach formats, including open houses, staffed tables at festivals, targeted canvassing with city-provided materials, and in-person visits to assisted-living and senior centers. Several council members and staff said interactive, workshop-style events (rather than additional formal public hearings) produced more useful input for policy design.

Parking enforcement came up repeatedly as a council priority. Tony Call, deputy city manager, said staff are researching options used by neighboring cities and will coordinate with Planning Department staff on what portions of parking policy and code should be routed to the Planning Commission for review. Sarah Gustafson (staff) urged the group to treat parking as an “adaptive parking” program—monitoring, pricing, delivery spaces and potential parking-benefit mechanisms—rather than a single enforcement-only fix.

Commissioners also requested clearer framing in staff packets: identifying the problem to be solved, the intended affected population, and how proposed changes would align with council priorities. Several speakers recommended routine equity analyses or an “equity impact” lens be incorporated into project scoping so outreach centers the communities most affected by a proposed policy change.

Council members described priorities they expect to see in 2025, including tree and urban-forest policy, the housing action plan, the climate action plan and downtown parking. Staff said the docket and work plan will be brought forward for more formal guidance from council in March.

The session closed with a commitment from staff to provide clearer problem statements in pre-reading, to bring the council vision to the Planning Commission, and to continue building the communications and engagement capacity the city outlined in the adopted 2026 budget.