Remarks by Devon Wardlow
30 remarks on the record, newest first · Page 1 of 2
- Play at 34:21
“I'll begin with Commissioner Wardlow. Thank you. And thank you, staff. I'm going to start just with G2, and I think I'm going to have more questions. I really appreciate that presentation and for taking the time to meet with us. I think there's been, you know, I think all of us have had a lot of questions about this process, and I appreciate the additional work that you've done on it. So I want to focus on G2 first, and then I'll let my colleagues speak, and then maybe I'll come back, depending on how the conversation goes. So I know that this commission had recommended the highest legally…”
Planning Commission · Aug 20, 2026
- Play at 37:58
“Okay. And I just wanted to make sure I was understanding that correctly. I don't think that we, or I'll speak for myself, I don't think that I understood that in the previous hearing, that what was being proposed. And I think, you know, I really appreciate you doing the work to put the calculation up with all the words so that we all understand exactly what and how this is being calculated. But I think, you know, we're, as represented in the hearing on Monday, I think we're all really focused on building housing. We want affordability. I am concerned that if we do not get buildings in…”
Planning Commission · Aug 20, 2026
- Play at 39:18
“I appreciate that. I'll let some of my colleagues ask their questions, and then I'll come back. Okay. Commissioner Peterson.”
Planning Commission · Aug 20, 2026
- Play at 1:16:43
“really appreciate this conversation. It's very helpful. Um, so kind of switching gears to the, um, home ownership aspect. So in that, um, in that calculation, we're talking about 71, $72. Are we at all concerned that we are going to inadvertently incentivize condo buildings over rental units? Cause I do believe that like when we're talking about this, and I'm thinking about this really about the context of downtown, because I think we're all really aligning on how do we get housing downtown for a whole host of reasons. So what is staff's thoughts on like the, if we go with 91 on the rental…”
Planning Commission · Aug 20, 2026
- Play at 1:17:48
“Is it because rentals over time, especially where we are today as a city, continue to increase in revenue? Rents go up over time. Is that part of it? Maybe you don't know.”
Planning Commission · Aug 20, 2026
- Play at 1:18:07
“Um, and I also really appreciate commissioner Wiscombe's comments because yes, that was my understanding of why we were pursuing the fee out. I understand that most cities do not allow for a fee out, but I think that the trying to balance this of we want housing and we don't get any inclusionary units and we don't get any money if nobody builds anything. So how do we balance that? But I think, you know, the calculations that Wiscombe just mentioned, made me feel better in that if the cost is commiserate with the cost of construction, earlier you had said that the cost that we're talking about…”
Planning Commission · Aug 20, 2026
- Play at 1:19:19
Not quoted here: it may name a member of the public. Hear it at the meeting.
Planning Commission · Aug 20, 2026
- Play at 1:20:15
“So that will be figured out in that process. Now, the other concern, though, is how long is it going to take us to get that going? So, you know... I want to be cognizant of what we set here is what the rules will be now and faster versus what we get out of the Better Buildings Program, which I'm excited about that. But I also think that all of this has to be predicated on the work that we do on the lots, because that really seems where we're going to actually get the most affordability, and getting the funding for that is seeming to be contingent on us getting market rate buildings to then…”
Planning Commission · Aug 20, 2026
- Play at 1:22:21
“So I don't even know if this is possible, and I don't even know if I support it. I'm just throwing it out there for food for thought. Is there... Is there a possibility of us saying, look for the downtown core where we're all focused on getting housing and getting this going quickly, that we have the inclusionary set at 72 or 73 or whatever is commiserate with construction costs for that area, and then have it be the other for the broader? And again, I don't know that I actually support that. I just want to understand if it's even possible.”
Planning Commission · Aug 20, 2026
- Play at 1:22:58
“Because that's, you know, when we're looking at adaptive reuse, and I do really want to encourage that as much as possible, right? So that's why I think, you know, I understand why we landed where we did on the inclusion area around that. But if If we're also pursuing an entire process on the better building programs in general, we're recognizing the need for kind of all housing types. I just want to ensure that as we make these adjustments that we're going to get the outcomes that we want. And I'm nervous about the trade-offs here, because I do think it's really important that we get as much…”
Planning Commission · Aug 20, 2026
- Play at 1:24:23
“And I do think that's a really important piece of this, the fact that we're now allowing density on top of it. That's something I definitely really support and appreciate staff work on that. Okay, I will let more colleagues weigh in. Thank you, though, for answering my questions. I'm gonna go to Commissioner Bauke next.”
Planning Commission · Aug 20, 2026
- Play at 1:43:49
“Is it okay that I, like, respond to Commissioner Wiscombe?”
Planning Commission · Aug 20, 2026
- Play at 1:43:55
“Okay. Well, I think what I'm trying to understand, so I very much want to see, housing units downtown that have affordability in them. My concern is that we're not getting that. And so I'm trying to figure out a way that we can meaningly start to get housing downtown while understanding that we are about to, and this is very important to me, that we vigorously pursue our plan around bringing affordable housing to city-owned assets and lots downtown. And given the ongoing discussion about how do we fund the affordable, the local housing trust fund, This to me could be a way that we start to…”
Planning Commission · Aug 20, 2026
- Play at 1:58:49
“So, and I meant to ask this earlier, but, and I know that we have talked about this extensively, about the residual land value, and I know that this, you know, in the previous hearing, we were all concerned about the way in which the report was done, why we used these calculations compared to the previous inclusionary study that used a different type of calculation, and obviously the benchmark set a 10% versus, like, a 7% or 8%, which is more a normal kind of return, but... When I'm looking at the 91 for the fee out, I saw somewhere here that it says it creates that at a 91 full fee out case…”
Planning Commission · Aug 20, 2026
- Play at 2:00:33
“Because the base density, because the inclusionary units now we're allowing to be on top of the base density. Correct.”
Planning Commission · Aug 20, 2026
- Play at 2:00:55
“But it it goes back to the point that like the, the fee out program that we're talking about, it is financially a lot more challenging versus if we were to, and I'm still a little confused on what is the exact, like commiserate with construction costs figure. Um, if we could get that, that would be, that would be helpful for me. I don't know if it's helpful to anybody else at this point, but, um, that that's my concern is that we're still, if we're allowing the fee out, it seems like people probably may not do it because it's, Negative on the financial side for them and yet I'm just okay. I'm…”
Planning Commission · Aug 20, 2026
- Play at 2:02:03
“But then so if we came up with a happy middle part let's say 75 I'm just making up a number then doesn't that wouldn't that ensure that like then they do fee out and we get the money but then we're just not going to get the units in that case.”
Planning Commission · Aug 20, 2026
- Play at 2:02:53
“But if you're saying that because we're now allowing the base density, the inclusionary to be on top of the base density, and that that is financially in some ways better, right? Yes, it is. Is there a number that we can come up with that ensures that that's still financially better because you're getting the base density piece on top of it, but that the fee out is not financially worse than just... Is there a middle ground here?”
Planning Commission · Aug 20, 2026
- Play at 2:03:46
“I really appreciate all of your tremendous work on this, and thank you for entertaining all of my questions. Thank you.”
Planning Commission · Aug 20, 2026
- Play at 2:28:09
“I kind of echo a lot of the comments from some of my fellow commissioners of like this is a conundrum. I think we all really want the same thing and I think we're struggling with how we actually ensure that we get there, that we actually get more housing projects and that we actually start to achieve better affordability. I'm really torn about this. I very much understand Commissioner Wiscombe's perspective that we want to see moderate income units included in these buildings. My concern is that we just aren't getting a lot of those projects. And when I think you are going to, I think staff…”
Planning Commission · Aug 20, 2026
- Play at 2:28:56
“13 rental. So we have a lot of conversations around affordable housing, right? And we all are committed to this. But when we're talking about 13 units over how much time?”
Planning Commission · Aug 20, 2026
- Play at 2:29:12
“Oh, wow, that's worse than I thought. Okay, I thought that was from 2021 or since the beginning of this RHNA cycle. So since 2019, we've gotten 13 units.”
Planning Commission · Aug 20, 2026
- Play at 2:29:27
“Yeah, okay, so that furthers kind of my concerns, right? So if we're getting such a small amount moderate which is what we all want to see but the numbers are really low and that also we're not getting as much just housing in general you know that really concerns me and I think we need to do something to ensure that we're actually making progress on these goals that I think we all share I want to start with just saying that I do believe that what we're doing in this ordinance is in terms of increasing and allowing the base density that the inclusionary units that you build on top of that,…”
Planning Commission · Aug 20, 2026
- Play at 2:39:42
“The upper bracket was $73 in the construction cost. I was trying to go off of what is the actual construction cost. That was what was in the chart.”
Planning Commission · Aug 20, 2026
- Play at 2:40:16
“Yeah, I made the motion. My comments were focused on the business district. I am open to hearing others' perspectives, but that's where I'm at.”
Planning Commission · Aug 20, 2026