Edmonds staff outlines 2025 code work; interim zoning proposed for four Westgate parcels and sweeping tree-code review planned

Edmonds planning staff told the Committee of the Whole on Oct. 21 that four parcels adjacent to Edmonds Way were inadvertently left without a zone after the city's recent neighborhood-centers and hubs code work, and recommended an interim one-year ordinance to apply the Planned Business (BP) zone while the city completes a broader review next year.

The update came during a larger briefing on the city's 2025 code work. "So they're currently unzoned, which is obviously not a good thing," planning director Mike told councilmembers, describing parcels that include the site of Pagliacci's, a small office building and a Taco Bell. Staff said the root cause was a mismatch between the comprehensive-plan land-use designation ("planned neighborhood") and an earlier zoning category (formerly WMU) that was removed when the neighborhood-centers code was adopted.

"The plan is to bring an interim zoning ordinance to Council next week and have these parcels be zoned Planned Business," Brad Shipley, a planner on the team, told the committee. The one-year interim ordinance would give the city time to develop a work plan and to analyze nearby edge areas for consistency with the comp plan and the neighborhoods-and-hubs policy.

Why it matters: Unzoned parcels create immediate administrative problems (no clear sign-code standard, uncertainty for tenant-improvement permits and building permits). Staff said the BP zone is consistent with the current comprehensive-plan designation and with the zoning that exists along Edmonds Way to the northwest, and would be used only as an interim fix while staff and the planning board complete a fuller review.

Tree-code overhaul and staffing: The same 2025 code effort includes a substantial tree-code rewrite. Staff recalled the interim landmark-tree code the council adopted in April and said legal and "minor tree code" changes tied to a recent court case were completed last week. The department is recruiting an urban forest planner and expects to have that specialist on board in December to lead an integrated rewrite of chapters covering residential trees, street trees, commercial landscaping, development tree code and private-property protections.

Councilmembers urged a range of additional features: Jenna asked that the code allow designation of "noteworthy" species that might not reach the 30-inch landmark threshold and requested a process for recording a covenant on the deed; Will suggested a recognition program (plaques or similar); Jenna and others proposed "grove" designations to protect contiguous stands of trees across multiple properties; and Michelle asked staff to analyze possible tax-credit or other financial incentives to help private owners pay for maintenance.

Staff response and schedule: Mike and Shipley told the committee they intend to pull the planning-board recommendation into council materials as soon as the board finishes work the following evening. The interim Westgate zoning would be limited to a one-year ordinance with a specific work plan to re-evaluate comp-plan designations and hub-edge parcels in 2025'into'2026.

What remains unresolved: Councilmembers pressed staff for details on counts (how many 30-inch-plus trees exist citywide) and on the funding or feasibility of tax incentives; staff said the new urban forest planner would take those questions on as part of the larger rewrite. The council did not adopt any ordinance at the meeting; staff said the interim zoning ordinance and the critical-areas/landmark tree code items would be on council agendas in the coming weeks.