Land‑use committee advances preservation overlays, roundabout acceptance and Wayside Church talks; approves sign‑code update for council review

The Federal Way City Council Land Use & Transportation Committee on Nov. 4 advanced a package of street maintenance, bidding and development items to the city council consent agenda, including authorization to complete design and bid the 20 First Avenue Southwest Preservation Project and the South 3 Twentieth Street preservation project; acceptance of a compact roundabout project; a preliminary 2026 asphalt overlay list; and authorization to begin negotiations on a development agreement with Wayside Church.

Charsky Kinlock, a city civil engineer, presented the 85% design status for the 20 First Avenue SW preservation project and asked the committee to authorize staff “to complete design and bid the 20 First Avenue Southwest preservation project and return to LUTC and council for bid award, further reports, and authorization.” The project scope includes a 2.5‑inch HMA overlay, curb‑ramp upgrades and updated pedestrian push buttons to meet current ADA standards. The estimated project cost is $3,090,000: an NHS asset‑management grant of $2,590,000 and a $500,000 match from the city’s 102 overlay fund, staff said. The committee voted to forward staff’s recommendation to the Nov. 18 consent agenda.

The committee also accepted a project completion report for the 20 Seventh Avenue SW at SW 340 Fourth compact roundabout constructed by Active Construction. City staff said the council had authorized a maximum contract of $767,697 and the actual construction contract amounted to about $724,130, leaving the contract under budget by roughly $43,567; the committee forwarded the acceptance to the Nov. 18 consent agenda.

Jeff Hahn, civil engineer, presented the 85% design status for the South 3 Twentieth preservation project, consistent with other preservation work: overlay, ADA curb‑ramp upgrades and pedestrian‑push‑button replacements. The estimated cost is $3,000,000 and funding sources cited by staff include an NHS grant, a PSOC grant and local “lift‑sell” tax revenue as described in the presentation. Hahn said ADA work typically accounts for a substantial portion of overlay project costs — “probably gonna take about 1 fourth to 1 third of the paving project” — and the committee forwarded authorization to bid to the Nov. 18 consent agenda.

John Strong, presenting the preliminary 2026 asphalt overlay list, said the program largely carries over schedules that could not be awarded in 2025. Estimated expenditures for the proposed overlay program (including contingency, design and construction management) total roughly $4.21 million, with available funding of about $3.45 million; $500,000 of the available funding is already proposed as the match for the 20 First Avenue preservation project, creating a near‑term shortfall staff said it will address by cutting schedules at the authorization‑to‑award step if bids come in higher than available funds. Committee members pressed staff on the project‑selection methodology; staff said it is driven by pavement condition scores, grant eligibility, and geographic grouping to limit contractor mobilization costs.

On a non‑paving item, staff proposed a resolution designating a portion of South 316th Street as a festival street to host downtown events such as the Federal Way Farmers Market. Staff said King County Metro can reroute the A‑line on weekend closures but raised concerns about providing multilingual signs at temporary bus‑stop relocations; council members suggested QR codes and other communications workarounds. The committee forwarded the resolution to Nov. 18.

Public works staff gave a status update on the Surface Water Management (SWM) Utility 2026–2031 comprehensive plan update and recommended council approval. Staff emphasized that the update does not change rates or reallocate the city budget; rather, it updates the capital program, permit compliance and maintenance schedules. The presentation documented the scale of stormwater infrastructure the city manages — 23,011 catch basins, roughly 386 miles of public pipe and about 91 miles of ditches — and identified program adjustments such as moving some pond‑maintenance funding to an annual schedule. The committee voted to forward the plan update.

On housing and land use, the committee authorized staff to negotiate a development agreement with Wayside Church for about 1.1 acres of developable church property. Community development staff noted current city code discourages development agreements on parcels under five acres and said a code amendment or an exemption for religious institutions would be needed if a full development agreement is pursued. Staff reported the mayor recommends waiving the standard $34,000 development‑agreement application fee for the Wayside Church negotiation as a pilot, and the committee forwarded that recommendation. Church representatives said the congregation has discussed supporting affordable ownership opportunities and that the congregation would consider any final agreement.

Other actions the committee forwarded: acceptance of a competitive Office of Public Defense grant (state RCW reference provided in staff materials) totaling just over $50,000; referral of a proposed 10‑year franchise ordinance for Fat Beam LLC (to place fiber in the city right‑of‑way) to first reading at the Nov. 18 council meeting; and forwarding a comprehensive sign‑code rewrite to address content neutrality (following Reed v. Town of Gilbert), to simplify standards and to add limited new allowances (for example, small signs for home‑based businesses). On the sign code, staff and council members discussed temporary sign time windows, a‑frames, feather flags and enforcement; council asked legal staff to review a shorter window than the draft’s 180 days (legal was asked to return with vetted options prior to first reading).

Sound Transit and Public Works provided an information‑only update: the Federal Link opening is scheduled for Dec. 6, 2025, and pre‑revenue operations and system testing are underway; work continues on station and garage close‑out. Staff said the operations‑and‑maintenance facility‑south (OMF South) development agreement remains under negotiation and a BPA transmission‑tower relocation tied to OMF South was rescheduled to January 2027; that work will require temporary road closures and coordinated traffic planning.

Quotes from the meeting included public comment in support of festival streets — Mike Bollick Zigler said, “I think it's a great idea” — and staff descriptions of project scope and tradeoffs. The committee’s votes to forward the items to the Nov. 18 consent agenda were unanimous on voice votes.

What’s next: the items advanced by the committee will appear on the Nov. 18 city council consent agenda for final action or first reading as noted. Several projects (the 20 First Avenue preservation match, the 2026 overlay list and the Wayside Church development agreement) will return with more detailed bid results, funding breakdowns or code‑amendment language when needed.

Ending: The committee spent much of the evening on pavement preservation, ADA upgrades and city infrastructure planning, and also opened a path for small‑scale affordable housing discussions tied to congregational land. Council members and staff asked for more granular budget and bid‑award information before final contract awards, and legal staff will return with a reviewed temporary‑sign window for the sign‑code amendment prior to first reading.