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Bothell council hears legislative update; directs staff to pursue Shelton View trust transfer, track project funding and sign on to parking bill letter
Summary
City staff briefed the Bothell City Council on 2025 legislative session priorities — including preservation of Shelton View Forest, funding requests for Woodcrest and a multimodal bike plan — and councilmembers asked staff to pursue a trust-land-transfer application, continue tracking funding requests, and follow up to sign a Sightline Institute letter supporting parking-reform bills.
City staff gave the Bothell City Council an update on the 2025 Washington State legislative session and the city's priority requests, and councilmembers provided direction to staff on several items during the Feb. 4 meeting.
Deputy City Manager Tony Call and City Manager Standard summarized the city's top legislative priorities: preservation of Shelton View Forest (staff were advised to pursue a trust-land-transfer application that would preserve the property as a natural or park area; application will likely be prepared late summer), a request for $1,900,000 toward the Woodcrest Utility Improvement Project (paperwork submitted), and a broader multimodal funding ask that included a $20,000,000 request to implement the citywide bike plan with a starter $400,000 design request for the 102nd Avenue path. Staff noted housing-related bills are a major focus of the session, including measures addressing transit-oriented development, minimum parking requirements, tenant protections and streamlining development regulations.
Councilmembers who traveled to Olympia recounted meetings with legislators and encouraged continued outreach. Councilmember Kurd introduced a Sightline Institute letter supporting parking-reform legislation (Senate Bill 5184 and House Bill 1299). She said she had signed the letter in her individual capacity and proposed the city sign on. Councilmember Aldrichs—who testified in support of HB 1299 in committee—Councilmember Dodd and others voiced support for the city signing the letter. Councilmember McCurdy instructed staff to follow up with Sightline and to arrange city sign-on; staff indicated they would do so.
Councilmember Aldrichs also offered to draft a resolution in support of the Washington State Health Trust (Senate Bill 5233, House Bill 1445) and several councilmembers expressed support for bringing the matter forward as a projected-agenda resolution in an upcoming meeting.
Staff will continue to track the budget and bill activity as the session proceeds to House and Senate cutoffs and will bring updates and any requested draft letters or resolutions back to the council for formal approval.
Ending: Council gave staff direction to pursue the Shelton View trust-transfer application, continue tracking grant requests for Woodcrest and multimodal projects and follow up with Sightline about a formal city sign-on for the parking-reform letter; staff will draft the proposed universal-health-care resolution for future packet consideration.
