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Council adopts amended storm-water utility ordinance with five-year incentive for previously disturbed parcel
Summary
After extended debate, the Snowqualami City Council approved a second-reading ordinance amending storm-water utility rules to assess rates on certain disturbed parcels; council members added a five‑year incentive period for qualifying development.
The Snowqualami City Council adopted a second-reading ordinance (Agenda Bill 26-014, Ordinance 1321) on April 27 amending the city's storm-water utility code to assess rates on disturbed parcels not currently served by city-owned storm infrastructure but covered by development agreements.
Council Member Washington introduced the ordinance as a measure to ensure equitable assessment of storm-water rates on parcels that will be served by development-provided storm infrastructure. Council Member Holloway proposed and successfully moved an amendment that limits the incentive period to five years — a compromise intended to encourage development while creating a sunset on the reduced assessment. "If this is an incentive for development, there should be some time bound on it — five years," Holloway said during debate.
Council members pressed staff on how fees would be applied and when a developer would begin paying full rates. The council was told that developers would start paying full fees upon completion of the project and delivery of the required storm-water system under their development agreement. Members also debated construction-period monitoring and the environmental implications of developing a previously industrial parcel; Council Member Murphy said he remained concerned about runoff and longer-term ecological impacts, while Council Member Johnson argued modern storm-water systems would likely produce cleaner runoff than the site's current condition.
Council also discussed affordable-housing components tied to the development agreement; members noted the agreement calls for a percentage of units to be set aside as affordable housing at specified AMI tiers.
After debate and the five-year amendment, the council voted to adopt the ordinance on its second reading.
What passed: Adoption of Ordinance 1321 (Agenda Bill 26-014) with the five‑year incentive amendment. The ordinance will be entered into effect according to the city’s normal ordinance effective date rules.
Next steps: Council members discussed sending certain construction-phase monitoring questions to the Parks and Public Works Committee for review and directed staff to post related development timelines and requirements on the city website as requested by council members during the meeting.
