Olympia Planning Commission sets deadlines to craft 2026–27 work plan, seeks commissioner suggestions

Casey Schoffler, an associate planner in the City of Olympia's Community Planning and Economic Development (CPED) department, told the Planning Commission on Nov. 17 that staff will draft the commission's 2026–27 work plan from suggestions the commissioners submit in January.

"For the record, my name is Casey Shoffler. I am an associate planner with community planning and economic development," Schoffler said as he opened the presentation. He asked commissioners to submit suggested work-plan items by Jan. 5 so staff could prepare a draft for the Jan. 26 meeting and recommended Feb. 2 as a fallback date if additional time is needed.

Why it matters: the commission's advisory work plan helps shape which zoning, land-use and transportation items staff and council prioritize. Schoffler said the plan is constrained by departmental resources and staff cuts, and he urged commissioners to focus on items with feasible staff support and clear problem statements commissioners can forward to the City Council's Community Livability and Public Safety Committee.

Key priorities discussed included small-scale neighborhood commercial uses and home-occupation rules, a multi-year zoning-code simplification effort, a review of commercial parking standards and a downtown parking strategy, further work on the Capitol Mall Triangle subarea and continued implementation tasks tied to the Olympia 2045 comprehensive plan. Schoffler said the zoning simplification effort aims to reduce overlapping commercial zoning districts downtown and streamline what uses are allowed where.

On middle housing, Schoffler told commissioners that engineering design standards (EDS) are still being drafted and that the city is still working through unit-lot subdivision and density-calculation questions required by recent state legislation. He said council was scheduled to consider the middle-housing ordinance's first reading in early December and that additional code and EDS work would follow adoption.

Schoffler also reminded commissioners that the city will resume a twice-yearly cycle for comprehensive-plan amendment submittals now that the Olympia 2045 process is winding down; he said staff will check OMC 18.70 and follow up with a precise statutory response timeline for full applications.

Staff announcements: Schoffler announced an Olympia Transportation open house on Dec. 4 from 5:30 to 7:00 p.m. at City Hall on the Capitol Boulevard project and said advisory-committee applications are open through Dec. 12; the planning commission will have one opening.

Commissioners asked questions about downtown revitalization, food security and urban agriculture, a proposed beekeeping setback ordinance, ADA considerations for street parking and the feasibility of hybrid or occasional in-person meetings. An unidentified participant noted that "the mayor and the city manager explicitly were talking about how to fund a multistory" downtown parking garage at a recent council meeting; Schoffler and commissioners treated the remark as context for a larger downtown-parking conversation.

Next steps: Schoffler said he will prepare a draft work plan based on commissioners' Jan. 5 submissions for consideration at the Jan. 26 meeting and will forward the adopted plan to the Community Livability and Public Safety Committee for March review. The commission's next scheduled meeting is Dec. 1, 2025 (subject to change). The meeting adjourned at 7:48 p.m.