Will you chip in to support our nonprofit newsroom with a donation today? Yes, I want to support My Lynnwood News!
This article has been edited to delete an incorrect paragraph regarding the council’s discussion about Josh Binda’s residency that was mistakenly left in after other edits were made.
Major changes are on the horizon for Lynnwood residents after the Lynnwood City Council made monumental decisions Monday night regarding the future of housing in the city.
At Monday’s council meeting, councilmembers voted 5-1 to adopt the 2024 Imagine Lynnwood Comprehensive Plan, with Councilmember Patrick Decker being the only “no” vote. The council also voted 5-1 in favor of implementing new state-manded STEP housing requirements, Councilmember Decker again voting against.
Mayor Christine Frizzell also addressed an article published Monday in the Lynnwood Times, which alleged that Council Vice President Josh Binda is not currently a resident of Lynnwood. She and the council had an emergency meeting on the matter Monday morning, where it was determined the address Binda provided to the city matched the address the Snohomish County Elections office and state voter registration data has on file, city spokesperson Nathan MacDonald said in an email to Lynnwood Today Tuesday afternoon.
“…the Mayor was not inferring that this was the end of the conversation,” city spokesperson MacDonald wrote. “Her comments were simply a summary of what transpired that morning.”
City staff are still in the process of researching the city’s role related to a councilmember moving in or out of their jurisdiction, MacDonald said.
Binda denied the allegations in a brief phone interview with Lynnwood Today. During the meeting he announced he was in the process of filing a protection order against Mario Lotmore, the owner and publisher of Lynnwood Times.
Black History Month and Lunar New Year proclamations
Monday’s meeting kicked off with proclamations for Black History Month and the Lunar New Year. The proclamations were accepted by representatives of Edmonds College.
Binda read the proclamation for Black History Month. Dr. Yvonne Terrell-Powell, vice president for equity, inclusion and belonging at Edmonds College also spoke, prompting the audience to look inward to find ways to make a difference in the community.
“When we look at Black History Month, that is an opportunity for all of us to ask the questions: What do we know? What do we want to know? How can we help?” she said. “How can we make a difference when we find ourselves at a time where asking ourselves that question is so important. What’s my role and what’s my responsibility? How do we honor African Americans and how do we honor our community, and how do we all make a difference?”
Councilmember Patrick Decker then read the proclamation for Lunar New Year, both in English and Mandarin.
Lunar New Year begins on Jan. 29, according to the Luna Solar calendar, Decker said.The year 2025 is the year of the snake, representing wisdom and transformation. According to National Geographic, Lunar New Year is the most important holiday in China. It’s also observed by several other countries worldwide, including Vietnam, Korea, Malaysia and Singapore.
“The City of Lynnwood honors the invaluable ways the Asian community contributes to our common goals, celebrates their diverse cultures and works toward a strong, more inclusive and more prosperous society for all,” Decker said. “We honor the invaluable ways in which these communities contribute to and enrich our great city.”
Lynnwood Comprehensive Plan and STEP housing requirements
In the works since 2021, Lynnwood finally crossed the finish line Monday as the council approved the 2024 Imagine Lynnwood Comprehensive Plan. The council also passed a state-mandated amendment to the city code, allowing STEP (emergency shelters, transitional and permanent supportive) housing to be built in residential zones and zones with hotels.
The 2024 Imagine Lynnwood Comprehensive Plan provides current and future city leadership with evidence-based recommendations to guide the city toward sustainable growth over the next 20 years.
It also includes plans to create new zones in Lynnwood, including a middle housing residential neighborhood zone, a transit-oriented Alderwood Zone, a new zone consolidating existing multi-family zones and an open space and parks zone.
Additionally, the document outlines a need for 12,648 permanent housing units to be built by 2024, as well as 1,401 permanent supportive housing units (per state-mandated STEP housing requirements).
A full breakdown of how many units are planned for each income level can be found in previous reporting.
Upon the passage of HB 1220 in 2021, cities in Washington can’t prohibit housing from being built in residential neighborhoods for those experiencing – or at risk of – homelessness.
These units provide both indoor and outdoor emergency shelters and housing coupled with services to help individuals find permanent housing. This includes but is not limited to behavioral and physical health services, employment services and those that address basic health, food and hygiene needs, according to city documents.
Councilmember Decker was the only one who voted “no” on both measures. He said he was concerned aboutin state lawmakers’ decisions to pass “one size fits all” legislation, without considering Lynnwood’s unique challenges and needs.
“State legislators have decided that cities should not have sovereign rights to decide how they do their city planning,” he said. “They’ve literally created a one-size-fits-all zoning plan for all cities across the state of Washington. Everybody will have the same zoning plan when it comes to residential housing. We no longer have the ability to govern our residential zone.”
Check back later for an in-depth article on what these new requirements could mean for the future of Lynnwood.
In other business, the council appointed Brian Pouch to the Lynnwood Tourism Advisory Committee and approved the 2025 biennial city budget calendar and the 2025 Finance Committee meeting calendar.
A recording of Monday’s meeting can be found on the city’s website.
— By Ashley Nash. ashley@myedmondsnews.com
Real first and last names — as well as city of residence — are required for all commenters.
This is so we can verify your identity before approving your comment.
By commenting here you agree to abide by our Code of Conduct. Please read our code at the bottom of this page before commenting.