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Council approves Capital Mall Triangle development standards and planned action; one abstention
Summary
The Olympia City Council approved two ordinances on second reading to adopt engineering design and development standards and to establish a planned action for the Capitol Mall Triangle subarea. Council member Gilman announced she would abstain, saying the plan did not secure community benefits she expected.
The Olympia City Council voted to approve two ordinances on second reading adopting engineering design and development standards for the Capital Mall Triangle and establishing a planned action for the Capitol Mall Triangle subarea.
Council member Gilman announced before the votes that she would abstain on both items, saying the final subarea plan did not secure community benefits she and some residents had sought. "These items before us tonight have not earned my affirmative vote," Gilman said, and described concerns about insufficient negotiation with the developer and a shortage of required community benefits. She asked for priorities such as public spaces, pocket parks, mixed-income housing and improved multimodal circulation to be emphasized moving forward.
Both ordinances were moved and seconded on the consent calendar and passed on second reading. Council voting yielded the ordinances' approval with one abstention from Gilman; the council recorded the outcome and advanced the changes to the municipal code as described in the ordinances.
The first ordinance adopts the 2025 Capital Mall Triangle engineering design and development standards and amends Olympia Municipal Code chapter 12.02. The second ordinance amends city municipal code Titles 14 and 18 to establish a planned action for the subarea and is intended to streamline environmental review for future projects consistent with the subarea plan.
Gilman said she had spent three years reviewing correspondence and deliberations on the West Side Triangle project and concluded the plan “articulates the zoning and building code changes that the mall owners require” rather than advancing the neighborhood visions she expected. She said the council should better balance roles as regulators, encouragers of development and advocates for community benefits.
The council approved both ordinances on second reading during the consent calendar roll; each vote included an abstention recorded for Council member Gilman. The ordinances amend municipal code provisions as described above and will take effect consistent with the normal ordinance effective dates for Olympia.
