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Residents urge pause on high‑density approvals and call for traffic calming on school routes
Summary
At the July 27 meeting, Louisa McKenzie asked the council to pause additional high‑density housing approvals until infrastructure and school impacts are assessed, suggested cottage courts and investor purchase limits, and requested speed bumps on 48th Avenue West to improve pedestrian safety.
Louisa McKenzie, a Lynnwood resident, urged the council to slow the pace and alter the form of current densification so that infrastructure—roads, schools, parks and utilities—can keep pace. She said even purportedly "affordable" units feel like "match boxes" and that long‑time residents are losing a sense of belonging as development outpaces services.
"I ask if possible that the council consider pausing approval of additional high density projects while catching up on infrastructure and evaluating impacts," McKenzie said. She proposed alternative development types such as cottage courts and suggested the city consider policies to limit investor purchases of single‑family homes.
McKenzie also asked for traffic calming on 48th Avenue West—a heavily used walking route to a school and park—saying drivers frequently exceed the 25 mph limit and that speed bumps would address safety concerns more quickly than prolonged data collection efforts.
Council members acknowledged the concern and said data has a role, but that residents' lived experience should be weighed alongside studies when prioritizing near‑term traffic safety fixes.
