City Council - Regular Meeting

I'd like to call to order the city council meeting of 05/19/2026. Clerk, please call the roll.

Deputy mayor Bushnell, absent councilmember Diaz, absent councilmember Hines. Aye. Councilmember Palmer. Here. Councilmember Rumba. Absent. Councilmember Sidalgo.

Here.

Councilmember Scott. Here. Councilmember Walker. Here. Mayor Ibsen.

Here. Please join me in listening to the land acknowledgement and flag salute led by councilmember Sidalgo followed by a moment of silence.

We gratefully honor and acknowledge that we rest on the traditional lands of the Puyallup people where they make their home and speak the Lushootseed language. Please stand for the flag salute and remain standing for a moment of silence.

Right. We have one modification to the agenda tonight, adding a recognition for deputy chief Frank Krausz as item seven eight of the agenda. Is there any additional modifications at the agenda this evening?

I'd like to take a recess for five minutes. Mr. Mayor, can I make a motion to take a recess?

Sure. Second.

Move and second for recess. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed, say no. We'll recess for five minutes.

City Council has now reconvened. Do we have a motion?

Yes. I move to move item 13, resolution number 41,916, to a date to be determined.

Second. Moved and seconded. All those in favor, please signify by saying aye. BERNANDEZ: Opposed?

BERNANDEZ: JEAN BERNANDEZ: Second.

CHAIR Move and seconded. Are there any counsel or any counsel Do

we need to do the inclusion?

Yes. I move to adopt the consent agenda, including resolutions numbers 41,911 through forty one thousand nine thirteen.

Second. Movement seconded with a friendly correction. Are there any people with any corrections, any questions or comments on the consent agenda as modified? Seeing none. All those in favor of adopting the consent agenda, please signify by saying aye. Aye. Opposed say nay. Consent agenda is adopted. Moving on to proclamations, recognitions, presentations, and announcements. We have four ceremonials tonight.

I'd first like to invite deputy chief Frank Krausz to come up with the Welcome, chief. Deputy chief deputy chief Frank Krause's retirement marks the close of an extraordinary thirty five year career of service to the people of Tacoma. Since joining the Tacoma Police Department in April 1990, Frank has demonstrated an unwavering commitment to public safety, professionalism, and compassion. Throughout his career, he served our community in nearly every corner of the department, from patrol and traffic to criminal investigations, special events, and special investigations. He also contributed his expertise to critical specialty teams, including the dive team, search and rescue, incident management team, and HEAT, before helping lead the department through support services and executive leadership.

Frank's career reflects both operational excellence and deep care for the community he served. In 2011, he received the award of merit for his leadership in developing the school resource officer program, and for serving as a liaison with the school district during and after the tragic Boerne Elementary shooting. That recognition speaks not only to his professionalism, but to his calm leadership during some of the community's most difficult moments. What stands out just as much as his accomplishments are the countless examples of kindness and humanity he showed throughout his career. Community members repeatedly wrote to recognize his compassion and respect in everyday interactions, including one resident who specifically thanked him for the care and dignity he showed while assisting an intoxicated individual on a metro bus.

Those moments may not make headlines, but they leave lasting impressions and define what true public service looks like. Frank continuously invested in his own growth as a leader, including completing the prestigious Northwestern University Center for Public Safety School of Police Staff and Command in 2019. His progression through the ranks reflects the trust and respect he earned from both his colleagues and the community. On behalf of the city of Tacoma, I want to thank Deputy Chief Krausz for more than three decades of dedicated service, studied leadership, and genuine compassion. We are grateful for the legacy he leaves behind, and wish him and his family all the best in a well earned retirement. And I'd like to call on deputy chief Krausz to say few words.

Thank you. It's been an honor.

Been an honor to serve the citizens

of Tacoma. It's been an honor to be up here today. Thank you very much. And wish, my wife is here, Shar. And, she's been my partner for practically my entire career. And, you know, our team, I feel like we have a great team, and we're leaving this place in a good, good hands. And thank you very much for this honor.

Thank you, deputy chief. Before you accept your your recognition, are there any counsel comments? Councilmember Scott.

I just want to say thank you. And I know you have some time left, but enjoy that retirement and spending time with your lovely wife and your family.

Thank you.

Thank you. Any other comments? Councilmember Palmer.

I haven't known you very long, but I just wanted to say thank you. And you have been open to talking to me and having that dialogue since I've started. And so I wish we had longer, but I'm looking forward to you being able to have that free time. So thank you. Thank you for everything in the short amount of time.

CHAIRMAN Thank you. Any other comments? Well, assistant chief, thank you so much for your service to our city. Your reputation is well earned and well deserved. Thank you so much for your service, for all that you continue to do, and wishing you a very pleasant, peaceful retirement.

So with that, let's give the deputy chief a round of applause, and please step forward to accept your proclamation. And your wife is more than welcome up here too. Thank you very much. Moving on to our next proclamation. Our next item is proclaiming 05/17/2023 as National Public Works Week.

For National Public Works Week, I'd like to invite Christina Curran, deputy director of environmental services Lewis Griffith, deputy director and Corey Newton, assistant director of public works, to the podium as I read the proclamation. Whereas public works professionals focus on infrastructure, facilities, and services that are of vital importance to sustainable and resilient communities and to public health, high quality of life, and well-being of the people of Tacoma and whereas these infrastructure, facilities, and services could not be provided without the dedicated efforts of our public works professionals who are responsible for rebuilding, improving, and protecting our communities' transportation, water treatment, sewer and solid waste systems, public buildings, and other essential structures and facilities. And whereas this year's theme, Rooted in Power by Community, acknowledges that the roots of service run deep in public works, propelling innovations that have helped our communities evolve into places where people can lead lives of purpose and possibility. And whereas some work, like fixing roads and picking up garbage bins, is more visible, while other public work professionals' contributions, like managing projects, maintaining sewer systems, interviewing permits, are sometimes hidden from view. And whereas together, these efforts form the foundation of thriving communities, reminding us that every project, seen or unseen, powers the connection between service and the community it supports.

And whereas the year 2026 marks the sixty sixth National Public Works Week sponsored by the American Public Works Association. Now, therefore, I, Anders Ibsen, mayor of the city of Tacoma, on behalf of the city council, do hereby proclaim 05/17/2026, May 17 through May 23, excuse me, 2026, as National Public Works Week in the city of Tacoma, and extend our deepest appreciation for the contributions which our public works professionals make every day for our health, safety comfort and quality of life. Please say a few words.

Good evening mayor and council members my name is Corey Newton I'm the assistant public works director and city engineer and I can't tell you how excited I am to be here today to accept this proclamation on behalf of Public Works Environmental Services and Planning Development Services. This proclamation serves as a reminder for the dedication that these amazing Public Works professionals do as part of their job every day and really help improve the quality of life for our community. So just in Public Works alone we have a portfolio consisting of 75 projects right now $316,000,000 worth of construction work and like the mayor mentioned this year's theme is rooted in service powered by your community and that really demonstrates what we can do to impact our community and actually this year we have a special guest with us to make an exciting announcement so with that I'll turn it over to Donald.

Thank you My name is Donald Hewlett and I'm the Washington State delegate to APWA National. Basically it means I deal with all things public works on the national level. For you that may not be familiar with APWA, we provide services to public works professionals across all of Canada and The United States through advocacy, education, training. And one of the other things we do is we recognize excellence in public works and we show that excellence to really highlight the great things that public works professionals do. You may be aware in April the Washington chapter of APWA recognized your public works department for their amazing work on the high level fender repair project, giving it the best emergency repair project in Washington.

There was over 30 submissions for this award, and so it's no small feat that it got recognized for that. So again, I'd really like to thank your Public Works Department for all their work on that and all the great services they do for your community. The reason I'm actually here tonight is that same project is also being recognized on the national level. APWA National has recognized that project as the best disaster project less than 9,000,000 in The entire United States and Canada. That award will be provided in Houston, Texas at our national convention.

But I just really wanted to thank your Public Works Department for all the great work that they do to serve your community. I wanted to thank you for supporting your Public Works Department. They couldn't do the work they do without your support. And wanted to say congratulations to both your department and the city of Tacoma for this really prestigious award. Best project in the nation is not a small feat. Thank you.

So just one more thing on that. That high level bridge repair project, just an example of the amazing work we did. So there was a fender system that was damaged for a bridge, and that fender system protects a pier. And so that required a critical shipping lane to be shut down. And so this type of this emergency work, this amazing work that our public works professionals did, allowed that critical shipping lane to reopen in a very expedited manner and was recognized on a national level competing against cities across the country. A pretty amazing effort and an absolutely amazing way to recognize Public Works Week. So, thank you.

CHAIRMAN Thank you. Any other comments? All right. Well, thank you so much for all of your service. Are there any council comments? Well, recall my old friend from my prior time on counsel, Director Kingsolver, once saying that we're in the business of being ignored when it comes to engineering, public works, and utilities, namely that the good work, when things are functioning, is often understated or underappreciated, but deeply relevant, and especially in the case of this council, very much appreciated, too. So with that, thank you for all you continue to do. Please step forward to accept the proclamation, and let's give them a round of applause.

Three rows.

Okay. One two three.

Thank you so much. For our third proclamation this evening, I'd like to invite President Erik Matson from Temple Bethel to celebrate Jewish Heritage Month. And you're welcome to come forward to the podium as I read the proclamation.

And

I'm Erica Matson. I'm the President of the Board of trustees at Temple Bethel, and I'm here with Rabbi Karen Gorben, who's the rabbi at our synagogue.

Welcome, Rabbi. Whereas, since 1654, when the first Jewish immigrants arrived on the shores seeking stability and a better life, fleeing rising persecution, prejudice, and pogroms, Jewish values, culture, and contributions have shaped our character as a nation. And whereas, Jewish American Heritage Month was established in 2006 to honor the generations of Jewish Americans who have enriched our nation's civic, social, economic, and cultural life. And whereas, the Jewish story is one of resilience and hope, serving as a vital chapter of the American story through the contributions of educators, scientists, artists, public officials, and community leaders of diverse racial and ethnic identities. And whereas, the Jewish community has faced bigotry, hatred, and violence that continues today, with Jewish Americans currently experiencing the highest levels harassment and intimidation in nearly fifty years.

And whereas Tacoma joins together with all Washingtonians to stand up, speak out, and reject anti Jewish bigotry and advance safety, equality, compassion, and belonging for our Jewish neighbors and all Tacoma's. Now therefore, I, Anders Ibsen, mayor of the city Of Tacoma, on behalf of the city council, do hereby proclaim May 2026 as Jewish heritage month in the city of Tacoma, and encourage residents to join me in commemorating this occasion by celebrating the Jewish community's contributions to our city, recognizing Jewish Washingtonians who share their joy, passions, and pride with us and commit to confronting barriers to Jewish safety and belonging, recognizing, calling out, and being allies in confronting anti Jewish harm wherever it appears in our communities. Please say a few words.

I'm gonna give the mic to Rabbi Gorbin.

Welcome Rabbi.

Thank

you. I just want to thank you for your proclamation and also highlight some of the language from the letter of President George Washington to the Jewish community of Newport, Rhode Island, which was done in 1790, as they thanked him for their, for his support of their community. We still turn back to this letter because of some of the really beautiful language in here, that it is now no more that toleration is spoken of as if it were the indulgence of one class of people that another enjoyed the exercise of their inherent natural rights. For happily the government of the United States, which gives bigotry no sanction to persecution no assistance requires only that they who live under its protection should demean themselves as good citizens in giving it on all occasions their effectual support. And particularly these lines that this country gives bigotry no sanction and persecution no assistance is a reminder of how we should be living in our country, in our city today, and the support that we have received, especially from Tacoma and from the city council.

I also want to highlight that there are that there is in our group today the brother of a former Tacoma City Council member, and Jack Warnick was his name, and also that we're sad that Sarah Rumba, council member Sarah Rumba isn't here to join us. But this community has really been supported by the Jewish community, and we appreciate that the support that this city has given to us. Thank you.

Thank you, Rabbi. Are there any council comments? I'd like to take this opportunity to, for one, for thanking you for all of your contributions to Tacoma. Not simply as members of a religious and ethnic community, but as people who historically have been at the forefront of justice. To say thank you for all that you do you are seen and loved and deeply honored in Tacoma.

There are two words in this proclamation that aren't explicitly in words, but they permeate it and those two words are never again. And our city stands by those values and everything that we can do to give that assurance of not just physical safety, but cultural, emotional, and allyship and partnership, the city stands with you. So, with that, thank you for all that you do. Thank you for loving and caring and being part of our community. With that, please come forward to accept the proclamation, and let's give our friends a round of applause.

Okay. Yep. Everybody get scoot on in. Can I have y'all move closer? Move closer in please. Thank you so much. Rather than you going out, we're going in. All right. One, two, three. Thank you all so much.

All right. Thank you so much, everyone. Moving on to our fourth and final proclamation of the evening. For therapeutic court month, I'd like to invite judge D. Sontag to the podium as I read the proclamation proclaiming May 2026 as therapeutic court month.

Thank you, mayor.

And judge Servier Flores, senator Joe Flores too. Whereas treatment courts serve an important role in addressing the rising levels of mental health needs, substance use disorders, housing insecurity, poverty, unemployment, and trauma in our community, while also ensuring public safety. And whereas with more than 4,000 treatment courts nationwide, they save an average of more than $6,000 for every individual they serve and refer more than 150,000 people annually to lifesaving treatment and recovery support services. And whereas these courts provide a range of economic benefits to the community, such as reduced costs in court and prison expenditures, increased tax revenues, lowered foster care expenses, and decreased costs related to victimization. And whereas therapeutic courts offer an evidence based, holistic, compassionate path for justice involved individuals to receive treatment services and community resources while resolving their legal cases and whereas they recognize the racial disparities that exist in the justice system and work to counter systemic racism by creating equitable, attainable opportunities for all and whereas therapeutic courts value community partnership and prioritize collaboration and cohesion among local resources for the benefit of all community members.

Now, therefore, I, Anders Ibsen, mayor of the City Of Tacoma, on behalf of the city council, do hereby proclaim May 2026 as therapeutic court month in the City Of Tacoma, and invite our residents in joining us to recognize the significant impact that our therapeutic courts have on the lives of those they serve. Please say a few words.

Thank you city manager Kim, mayor Ibsen, and city council on behalf of the Tacoma municipal court my bench mate judge Sergio Flores our case manager alidia komenares and our court excuse me our therapeutic court coordinator emily splinterfelton we just like to thank you so much we launched a behavioral health court and we launched community court in 2023 and we know beyond a shadow of a doubt that we could not have done that with our our stakeholders and and our city partners. We just thank you so much for your continued support we are grateful for the community that members that we get to serve. We're excited the work that we have done and we're even more excited for what's yet to come. So, thank you for your continued support for these very vital programs.

Thank you. Judge Flores would you like to say anything? Thank you

for your support. These are incredible programs that are changing the lives of our citizens and our community and and we're really grateful that we're able to have them here in Tacoma.

Thank you both. Are there any council comments? To no one's surprise, councilmember Sadalgay.

I forgot that it was you guys on today, I didn't actually prepare anything. I'm so glad to see you here, I think this is really meaningful that we recognize our therapeutic courts. I knew nothing about the therapeutic courts two years ago. When I got on council, it was one of the first observations I made. I've been to both the mental health court, the community court several times, and seen graduations.

I've seen exactly what you've mentioned, the transformative power of these courts. And it actually really helped me when I'm talking to community, to constituents, to residents, to show that there are pathways out there because often it is easy, especially in the world and in vitriol and the type of rhetoric that people use right now, it's easy to go into a world where you believe that why can't you just punish someone? Why can't we just arrest them and jail them as a solution to all of our problems? And we've known from history that that is not necessarily and we've learned that that doesn't always lead to the best outcomes for our society. And what I observed when I was sitting there and watched the compassion with which every single person approaches these individuals is that these are individuals that have largely gotten into trouble because of barriers that our society is now putting in right You lose your license but you need to drive You need a place that is regular consistent and safe to live You don't know how to you know there's something you want to solve but you don't know how to and those are some of the things that this program helps individuals who want to help themselves navigate through.

You know, it's these types of programs that are helpful because when I asked someone once a long time ago, again before I knew anything, and I asked what's the number one reason why people are homelessness, you think it's substance abuse. You think it's mental health issues. You think it's losing your job. But ultimately there are people who suffer from all of those that don't end up on the streets and it's people lose their social support network and I saw aspects of that in the individuals that were coming through. They'd lost a lot of support and they just needed support to get themselves up and through and remove the barriers that are keeping them from being successful in their own lives.

And I saw that when I had the real fortune of witnessing graduations where people talked about all the work they did with you to correct those things or whatever they needed to move forward and how happy they were and when their family showed up and the support they were and you know I know that it's open so I want to let everyone know that at least community court is held at the main library. And it's open to anyone. You can observe it. And you can see really good work being done in our community. And that's really important.

It's something we have to support. So I'm more than happy to recognize it's a piece of paper, but the work goes beyond that. So thank you for being here.

Thank you.

Thank you. Councilmember Palmer.

Thank you. I just wanted to say how happy I am to be a Tacoma City Council member today. Earlier today we talked about how Tacoma's leading on our alternative response and now we have this amazing program as well. And I think we're really leading when it comes to other options and less punitive options and giving folks another chance and helping them through their worst times, And to have advocates like you, Judge Santag and Judge Flores, we're so fortunate. So, you.

Thank you.

And I think that there are we are short of words to describe the levels of success that we see from our local therapeutic court. I think it's one of the crown jewels of not just our justice system, but just good policy made manifest. I think it's one of some of the most thoughtful, human centered systems that we've seen, with room to grow. And so I'm very excited about opportunities we may have later this year to talk about what it would look like to expand therapeutic court, and to make something that is already currently successful even more so, even within the context of current budget constraints. These aren't just numbers.

These are human beings. And just as we've discussed with our other proclamations, one life living better is a win. And just imagine all the thousands that we could help even more so. So with that, we salute your efforts. Please step forward to accept the proclamation, and one more round of applause, please.

One three.

Okay. Moving on to public comment. Clerk, please read.

This is the time set aside for public comment. Speakers are asked to identify the specific legislation they wish to address.

All right. So under public comment, can speak about motions, resolutions, and ordinances on tonight's agenda. Under the public hearing, you can speak about the 2026 amendment to the one Tacoma comprehensive plan and the land use regulatory code. These forums are intended to give speakers the opportunity to share their viewpoints and feedback with the city council to aid in our decision making and is not meant to be a back and forth dialogue. Your remarks should be directed to the city council and not individual staff members or members of the council. And if you want to speak under the public common period, and if you're attending virtually, then you can just press the raise hand button near the bottom of your Zoom window or star nine. So with that, we have a few people signed in. We have Emily Reich, followed by Marian Schwartz.

Hi. I'm Emily Reich. I'm a licensed CPA, but I'm here as the CFO for our real estate company. And we are here in support of Resolution Number 41,917, which is designating certain census tracts as an opportunity zone. Now, we're developers with deep roots in Tacoma.

We had developed most of 15th And Tacoma. We've owned the property below that, and we know the people with Brook. And now we have an acre and a half in 15th And Faucet, where we're seeking to develop or build about 400 units in a multifamily building and with affordable housing. And our permit number is SDEB23Dash-three53. And we have already invested millions in our project, and we're almost shovel ready.

But what we need is an equity stack. And all of our equity partners have expressed that we're currently in an opportunity zone, and they're looking for us to be recertified as an opportunity zone two, which is the current application that's being submitted. And I think that most of our real estate developer friends are in the same boat, in that the projects in Downtown Tacoma are not viable without this designation. That's it. Thank you.

Thank you for your testimony. Moving on to Marion Schwartz, followed by Kit Burns.

MARYANNE Hi. My name is Marion Schwartz. I'm going to speak on proclamation three seventy nine, proclaiming May 26 a Jewish heritage month. Just concerning the fact that this has been designated on a national level and also considering the fact that anti Jewish rhetoric and activities have been on the increase, as mayor Ipsen mentioned, drastically, I just want to say thank you very much to the city council for bringing this to the local level and acknowledging that there is a problem here. You know, I just want to say thank you very much. The words, Mayor Ibsen, that you said really moved me, and I appreciate

BERNS: them. Thank you. Of course. Thank you. All Our final in person speaker is kit burns.

Which items are you speaking to tonight? My name is kit burns and I'm speaking to item for nineteen fifteen and for nineteen fifteen and and and for I promise to be quick because I only have a minute and a half and time wasting. On the affordable housing provision I want to bring this up again the toco housing authority rates affordable housing at 60% of AMI. The affordable housing fund for Tacoma rates affordable housing at 60% so the city of Tacoma needs to look at that. Know I've been speaking with a number of you on this and so I hope that this year you'll set that as a goal to look at that.

I'm not opposed to affordable housing what I'm opposed to though is just giveaways that harm the city. This particular one on

tonight's I'm sorry let's pause for a quick second can you identify which item you're speaking

to Kit? I'm speaking about the affordable housing one.

The twelve year? That was tabled from tonight's agenda. I

show up late the one time I show up late. Sorry. It's okay. Let me continue on my other item then.

Please continue.

So, earlier this year there was actually funds created for cleanup and part of the discussion for that award and there was a kind of a controversy about it was that fifa has taken to use some of the homeless to help clean up. Now this particular provision tonight which causes me a little bit of concern and I can't go into all the details here but I looked at the February 3 proposal and it basically says there's an initial contract term of three years with the option to renew for two additional one terms. The agreement tonight or the resolution under recommendation summary it basically reads considerably different So I'd like to know why that was changed. Thank you.

CHAIRMAN All right. You're fine. You're very concise. With that, we have no further in person speakers who signed in. We have no online attendees who signed in. So I'm going to close public comment and move on to the regular agenda starting with appointments item 11 clerk please read.

Resolution 41,914 a resolution removing appointing reassigning and reappointing individuals to the commission on immigrant and refugee affairs.

I move to adopt resolution number 41,914.

Second.

Move and second. I'd like to call on councilmember Scott.

Thank you, mayor. At the 04/23/2026 Community Vitality and Safety Committee meeting, the committee conducted interviews and recommended the removal of inactive members due to unexcused absences and the appointment, reassignment, and reappointment of the following individuals to the Commission on Immigrant and Refugee Affairs, Olga Pedobna, Ryan McIntosh, Shanay Tracy, Faith Synago, Isabel Hernandez, Yulia Diedkivska, Emanuella Shasha, Lydia Zapata, and Marycrest Castro. Thank you. That's all.

All right. Thank you. Is anyone here present who's being appointed? Please stand and be recognized. Please say a few words.

Thank you, mister mayor and the county council and everybody. My name is Faith Sango, executive director, Hope Leadership Trust, a nonprofit serving the people of Tacoma and Pierce County, immigrants and refugees. I am so happy for this appointment today as a commissioner. I hope to represent our communities, which is highly growing here in Tacoma and to make their voices seen in here in Tacoma. Thank you so much.

Thank you. Are there any other council comments or questions? Alright. Seeing none, all those in favor of adopting resolution number four one nine one four, please signify by saying aye. Aye. Those opposed say nay. Resolution is declared adopted. Congratulations. Alright. Thank you. With that, we're gonna move on to purchase resolutions. Item number 12, clerk please read.

Resolution 41,915 a resolution authorizing an increase to the contract with cabras cleaning service l l c in the amount of $9,000,000 for encampment mitigation debris and litter removal services for projected contract total of 9,200,000 plus applicable taxes.

I move to adopt resolution number 41915.

Second.

Move and seconded. Are there any counsel questions or comments? Seeing none, all those in favor of adopting resolution number 41915 please signify by saying aye. Aye. All those opposed say nay. Resolution is declared adopted. Moving on to resolutions. Item number 13 has been tabled. So we're going to move on to item number 14. This item will have a PowerPoint presentation. Court, please read.

Resolution 41,917, a resolution supporting the application for six census tracts to be designated as opportunity zones and authorizing the mayor to write letters of support for applications.

I move to adopt resolution number 41917.

Second. Move and second like to call on jb bingham. Good

evening mayor and council members I'm debbie bingham with the community and economic development department I'm here to speak to resolution 41,917 regarding the city's application for opportunity zones. Opportunity zones were established under the twenty seventeen Tax Cuts and Jobs Act as a federal tax incentive program designed to spur investment in low income communities. The incentive they incentivize investments by letting investors delay, reduce, or potentially eliminate federal capital gains tax when they invest long term in designated communities. Washington currently has 139 census tracks that are designated as opportunity zone tracks across 36 counties. Tacoma currently has six tracks which will expire in 2028.

In July 2025 federal law made the opportunity zone program permanent and they now will have ten year designation cycles. The new round which we call opportunity zone two point zero the application period ends May 28 and the new census tracts will launch in January '27. Governors may nominate up to 25% of eligible low income census tracts and low income is defined as less than 70% of the county AMI. The changes in OZ two point zero all tracts will become will compete for nomination the first time around each county received a certain number of tracks and they allocated them to the cities and Tacoma only had to apply competitively for some of our tracks reduced from 139 tracks throughout the state to only 99 in the state and also has a priority for rural tracks it's a very competitive process. Tacoma's existing opportunity zones have had an have attracted a meaningful wave of investment since 2019.

OZ funded projects have already generated more than $250,000,000 in investment in Tacoma. These investments have supported housing production mixed use development and transit oriented development. Tacoma's opportunity zone designations provide a strategic advantage by attracting private capital into low income areas aligned with the city's long term economic development priorities. Tacoma intends this time to apply for six census tracks and I'll show you a map on the next slide. Five are hoping to retain their current opportunity zone designation and one is a new tract.

One of the six current tracks no longer qualifies. These designations are strategically important active investor interest already exist in these areas and OZ status continues to lower capital accelerating project timelines and attracting outside equity. As stated these applications are competitive community need investment readiness and policy alignment are major determining factors applications are scored based on factors including economic distress documented investor interest local government support housing need and alignment with Washington state priority sectors such as manufacturing clean energy agriculture and workforce housing. Competitive applications must document support through a letter from the lead applicant's legislative authority CEO or chief economic development officer as well as letters of support from any partner organizations and investor letter of interest. Outreach was conducted to multifamily developers, potential investors, Pierce County, the Puyallup Tribe of Indians, Economic Development Board of Tacoma Pierce County, the Manufacturing Industrial Council, the chamber of commerce, and the downtown Tacoma partnership.

All of these outside partners have voiced support for the opportunity zone program and are planning to write letters of support. This is the map of the census tracks. This resolution that we are bringing forward tonight shows support for the application of these census tracts and supports the mayor writing individual letter of support for each separate tract on behalf of the city council. That ends my presentation I'm happy to answer any questions.

Thank you debbie are there any counsel questions? Councilor Hines.

Thank you mayor debson. Debbie can put the map back up on the screen really fast?

Somebody can.

All right.

My question is going to be where is the census tract that was removed? Think you put the six up there so maybe when we put the map up you could kind of describe where it is. Certainly.

I can also The

music at the same time would that help it out? No. Maybe you could just describe it, Debbie, without the map.

DANIEL Sure. So the sixth census tract that currently exists is in the Lincoln District. And it straddles Pacific Avenue, like kind of between 38th and 48th. Don't have the exact demarcations. But that census tract, yeah. So it's just right in the Lincoln District. No longer. So the AMI is above 70%. So we are not allowed to apply for it. Gotcha. Okay. And, oh sorry. No. I was just gonna say the new Track 63410 is further down on Pacific Avenue and it is includes the area that the Fred Meyer that just recently shut down is. And so it has a

lot

of potential development opportunity in that area. Great.

And just as a reminder census tract based on population. So, when I look at six to 600, it's very large versus 61,601, which is small, right? So, it's got number of people inside each tract, correct?

I believe so.

Okay. Great.

Thank you very much. Those are all my questions from here. Thank you. Councilmember Palmer.

Thank you, Mayor. Thank you, Interim Director Bingham for spending the time this morning or earlier for explaining this to me and giving me some more insights. From my own research, opportunity zones, they've seen like a great thing for our city and to drum up investment. I know that there's concerns in some other spaces where the intended purpose of the opportunity zones hasn't really been seen, where it's supporting the folks who are already living in those areas. And so I'm hoping that if we do go forward with this, that there's still an opportunity to look at what is being done and what isn't being done as far as reaching that goal of supporting the folks in the area.

I know that you'd said this new one is a lot there are going to be a lot more opportunities to track BERNANKE.

What's happening. And so I think it'll be great to dig into that when we have some data. So just wanted to say thanks. Thank you. All right. Thank you. Any further questions? With that, resolution number 41917, is before us. All those in favor of adopting the resolution, please signify by saying aye. Aye. Those opposed to say no. Resolution is declared adopted. Thank you, Debbie. All right. It is past 05:15, so now it's time for public hearing and appeals. Item number 15, we'll have a powerpoint presentation. Court, please read.

This is the date set for a public hearing by the council in the 2026 amendment to the one Tacoma comprehensive plan and land use regulatory code as recommended by the planning commission.

I'd like to call on Mr. Steve Atkinson to begin the presentation.

Great thank you and good evening Mayor Ibsen, members of the city council. I'm Stephen Atkinson, planning and development services, and it's my honor to be here tonight to present the planning commission's recommended amendments to title 13 of the Land Use Regulatory Code for public review and comment this evening. Given that we conducted a study session earlier today we will keep this presentation somewhat brief this evening. As the council's aware the twenty twenty six amendments included four applications that were under review and went through the process with the Planning Commission for recommendation. The general purpose of these amendments is to maintain consistency with the goals and policies of the Once Come a Comprehensive Plan and to comply with the Washington State Growth Management Act.

The first of these applications is a pre annexation zoning and land use designation for four properties on East McKinley Avenue between 80 6 and 88. These were a property owner application that was filed last year in 2025 when the owners submitted a notice of intent to annex, and that notice of intent was accepted by the city council start the annexation process. As part of that review the Planning Commission's role is to provide recommendations to the City Council on appropriate land use designations for the comprehensive plan and zoning regulations that would go into effect pending the final completion of the annexation process. In this case the commission is recommending a low scale residential designation and you are one zoning for these properties. Second application is related to special needs housing and shelters.

The first slide here will pertain more directly to the broader special needs housing category. The slide after this will provide the specifics of the commission's recommendations for shelters. Generally these topics are under review in part for compliance with recent state legislation, as well as in response to a council directive to consider appropriate citing requirements for certain types of special needs housing within the City Of Tacoma. One thing just to make sure for our audience members who are here tonight is to understand what we mean when we talk about special needs housing. So under the city zoning code this generally entails and is defined by residential uses that also incorporate state licensed medical or clinical facilities on-site.

So often what differentiates these from a typical residence or multifamily project is the fact that there are sometimes significant employment employees on-site as well as residents and care work being provided to the residents of these projects of these uses the commission specific recommendations include one simplification in our zoning code a recognition that our zoning and land use tables often identify very specific types of state licenses and treat those separately and the commission's recommendation is to combine those into one umbrella category in part to be more inclusive in our zoning definition so that if any future licensing requirements change at the state level that our zoning code is not suddenly out of compliance with those changes. The second recommendation from the commission is to increase the bed capacity for special needs housing in the UR1 and UR2 zones these are our lowest intensity residential zones in the city of Tacoma and this would increase the bed capacity to 12 beds within the UR1, and 24 beds within the UR2 zones. And then finally they are recommending some simplification to the conditional use permit process. So if a provider wanted to build a project that would exceed those bed capacity limitations They could apply through a conditional use process to permit a larger or more intensive use.

And the Commission's concerns with the conditional use permit process could be too onerous, and wanted to simplify and streamline that process. Pertaining to our Shelter Code, there are two different types of shelters that are affected. In our zoning and land use tables we predominantly determine where certain kinds of uses and development activity can occur throughout the city, and whether there are any specific land use standards that apply to those uses in terms of where they locate. So in the city zoning code we identify both permanent and temporary shelters. Permanent shelters are considered shelters that are year round service and composed of a permanent structure.

So, you can think of an existing building, retail storefront, could potentially be converted into a shelter, and we would consider that a permanent shelter. A temporary shelter is typically something like if a property owner wanted to provide tents or tiny houses to help support shelter in emergency situations. Temporary shelters are often structures that can be removed. They are not permanent structures, and typically a temporary shelter has a limited duration, and it's more tied to responding to emergency situations. The commission's recommendations in this case are following some of the new state legislative changes which require us to allow permanent shelters in any zoning district that allows hotel or motel uses.

So there are several changes to the zoning code that would be bringing us into conformity with that new state requirement. And then for the temporary shelter provisions the commission heard public input expressing concerns about some of the difficulty navigating the current codes. So these are recommendations to simplify and streamline the codes to make it easier to locate and cite temporary shelters throughout the city. The third application are minor code amendments. These are typically often amendments that are brought to our attention from permit staff who are implementing the code.

Permit applicants who are working with the code, and identify areas where information may be out of date. There may be inconsistencies in the code that are kind of reflective of just different code changes that occur over time, or where there are minor errors or difficulty kind of understanding the code and the code requirements. So this is often based on feedback that we receive, and then conduct the sort of cleanup code amendment processes with the City Council on an annual basis. This year the Planning Commission's recommendations are grouped into five unique categories. Generally these are all considered to be sort of non policy or non substantive changes.

Really trying to amend the code and clean the code up to better reflect direction that we've already received from the City Council. And the fourth application are we're calling the state legislative code amendments. This is amending our standards for daycare facilities and binding site plans to very different topics, but both relating to recent state law changes that are very prescriptive about city standards for day care facilities generally new state laws require that we allow day care facilities in all of our non industrial zoning districts by rights, which means not through a special discretionary permit process. Often we would kind of call that our conditional use permit process, which adds additional time, review complexity to the permitting. So in this case again the UR1 and UR2 zones were the primary zoning districts that were out of compliance with this new state law and the commission has made recommendations to remove the conditional use permit and the limitation on enrollment within those two zones to bring us into consistency with those changes.

The second component of this is the state does give us some flexibility to consider limitations on daycare facilities in our industrial zones. So the commission is recommending prohibition of daycare facilities in our M2 Heavy industrial districts. In our M1 Light Industrial District the state law requires that we do at a minimum allow daycare facilities by conditional use. And so in this case the commission is recommending changing our daycare facilities from an outright permitted use in our M1 districts to a conditional use. And the intent of that is to be able to use that conditional use permit process to identify any potential health or safety concerns and identify strategies to mitigate those concerns for those daycare facilities.

The second topic under this code application is the amendments to our binding site plan codes. Binding site plans are basically an alternative method to subdividing property. As we talked about in the study session earlier it's very similar in intent and and methodology to the unit lot subdivision. The idea here is to identify a parent lot that meets all of our site development standards, and then to be able to subdivide that property into individual parcels each of which on their own do not necessarily meet our standards but in their entirety as part of that parent are consistent with our zoning and development standards In this case the state law that was changed was a clarification. This is typically a tool that has been used in the past for larger commercial industrial projects.

The state has clarified that the applicability of this also applies for multifamily projects or mixed use projects. So the intent of these changes is to change the applicability of our code so that larger multifamily projects or mixed use projects could take advantage of this tool, and then to allow this for larger projects in the UR1 and UR2 districts, but for smaller projects to continue to rely on the unit lot subdivision to accomplish some of the same goals for subdivision. And then finally in support of both the Planning Commission City Council public hearings we've engaged in a number of different methods of communication and public outreach to ensure that our community is aware of the proposed amendments. The process through which we go to adopt code updates, their opportunities to engage and inform the decisions of the City Council. In addition to all the notifications that you see on the left, we also conducted on May 9, on just one of the last two Saturdays ago, a public event at the STAR Center to provide information to our community members both about the 2026 amendments, as well as a lot of the other codevelopment work that we have ongoing here at the city.

I had a great turnout. Over 50 individuals came to that event, and had a very positive reception at that public informational meeting. In terms of our next steps following the public hearing this evening we're scheduled to come back on June 2 for first reading of ordinance, and June 9 for final reading and adoption. With that I'm happy to answer any questions.

Thank you Steve are there any counsel questions? Thank you for the presentation. And with that, we're going to open up our public hearing, which is only which is explicitly limited to the 2026 amendment to the One Tacoma Comprehensive Plan and Land Use Regulatory Code. If you're virtual, then you can press star nine on your zoom window. With that, we have one person who signed in for in person testimony, and that's Doctor. Bill Parker.

Thank you Mr. Mayor. I' here to address the issue of short term housing in Tacoma and the ambiguous wording associated with it. We have been dealing with this for two years I spoke before council just like this two years ago and was told by one of the members, and I'm not going to name names, I'm not here to embarrass anyone, I'm just going to tell you like it is, I was told it was going to be shut down, the commercial entity in our neighborhood that is under, is being a commercial entity under the guise of a single family unit in a ur one housing area. Because nothing has been done, the city attorneys have not been asked to do the wording as we for two years have been told they would, and we've come to find out it's never been addressed by you the city council.

I hope that this administration will look into it. Please do. Because it hasn't been done, we are subject in our neighborhood. We have a commercial hood rather than a neighborhood. We are subject to DJs with pounding, thumping music for eight hours at this one particular property. We're subject to mariachi bands. Were subject to 10 piece orchestras were subject to 90 cars coming and parking on our street 150 people attending this property three tiers of alcohol are available to buy

Thank you for your question.

At that house. Can I go on for a minute?

No, You're welcome to submit the rest of your comments in writing. We'd love to hear from you.

Pardon me?

You're welcome to submit the rest of your comments in writing. Your time is

Can up. CHAIRMAN go on for a minute?

CHAIRMAN No, sir. Thank you for your time. Thank you for your presentation. You're welcome to submit anything else you'd like to say via email.

Can I give this to the lady? It's a petition.

With that, we're going to move on. We have one speaker who's logged in virtually, and that's Kathy Irwin. And to clarify,

this

is solely about the One Tacoma comprehensive plan twenty twenty six amendment. Hello? Hi, Kathy. Go ahead.

Okay. Yes. I wanted to I've obviously already shared several emails with the city council members about this, but my concern is the this amendment that has to deal with that's dealing with special needs housing and day cares is currently written in a way and already in the municipal code to be allowed, especially day cares, in M1 and M2 industrial areas, and that's the way the code is being written with the paperwork that's been submitted to you. So it is not being excluded from any zones. This is very much of a concern for people to be living in these areas, essentially in residential type facilities, are attending this area in an area that's going become even more polluted, and this is documented, with results of the traffic that's going be generated by the warehouse.

There's no reason to be locating residential type situations in an industrial area. This is not any to anyone's benefit, and this is putting those people that are the most vulnerable of our population at greater risk of further health problems. So this is not an appropriate use of an industrial zone. These codes were never updated in the industrial zones. And now with an amendment, I understand they cannot they're looking at one part of it, but they never looked at the whole picture or allowed the city council to evaluate it either. And I hope that somebody will address this. This is not an appropriate use of an industrial zone. Thank you.

Thank you, Kathy, for your comments. Seeing as there are no further speakers signed in, we're going to close the public hearing, and we're going move on to unfinished business. Is there any unfinished business? Sir, the public hearing is closed. You're welcome to speak to us after the meeting, or you can submit your comments in writing. Sir, this is not the this is not the forum for questions. You can talk to us after the meeting, sir.

But the conference

isn't a conversation.

Sir, that this is not the purpose of the meeting. We're going

to move on. I'm going to ask you to take

your seat, please. Work. You for your time. We're going to move on to unfinished business. Is there any unfinished Seeing none, city manager, do you have a report this evening? Just two reports,

mayor Ipsen, members of council. We are pleased to share that we recently launched a new web page with information on TPD's response to immigration enforcement. Me, pardon me. Counsel requested that information be widely shared so that residents have a better understanding of the Tacoma Police Department's role in federal immigration enforcement, as well as what they may expect during interactions with federal authorities, and if they contact local law enforcement during those interactions. We have a new page, forward slash TPD immigration info.

This is a URL that directs to the Tacoma Police Department's webpage, that has information, along with frequently asked questions. Just wanted to give you this as a report, that this webpage is now live. Thank you to TPD, as well as to our MCO team that has supported this effort. I appreciate that. My second report at this time, I'd like to also share that our TV Tacoma program, the two fifty three, has been recognized by the Tele Awards in 2026 for original television broadcast content.

The two fifty three was recognized in the category of Public Interest and Awareness Series, with a bronze award. Moreover, the Dockyard Roller Derby segment was honored with a silver in the television general sports category, sharing in the company of other broadcast outlets like ESPN, the Olympic Channel, and others. The two fifty three is produced by our very own Mark McKittrick, Thank you, Mark, who is not in the booth, but thank you, Mark, for your good work, and to MCO and the full team back there that is here. And that's my report,

and I

conclude that. Mayor, any questions or concerns? I'm ready to take those.

Thank you, City Manager. Are there any council comments or questions? Seeing none we're going to move on oh, to comments councilor Merritt Siedelka.

I just wanted to address and I wanted to thank all the city staff involved in putting together that page. It's something we have been working on for a very long time, And I do want to remind people that, you know, the wheels of government can move very slowly because we have to be very careful and accurate in everything that we put out there. This was very well researched and put together. So I also want to thank the city attorney's office and TPD for taking some of the most frequently requested questions and putting them together in a very accessible manner BERNANKE: on the site because I did review it and wanted to mention to people I we have been working on it for

a really long time and I'm really glad we were able to publish it this week. Thank you. Moving on to comments and committee reports of the city council, I'd like to call on councilmember Scott, vice chair of the CVS committee, for

her report. CHAIRMAN Thank you, mayor. The CVS committee has convened twice since the last report. The committee met on April 23 with an agenda including informational briefings on the Crystal Judson Family Justice Center and on therapeutic courts and support services. At this meeting, CVS also interviewed interested parties to fill seats on the Commission on Immigrant and Refugee Affairs.

The committee also met on May 14 with an agenda including a presentation from Planning and Development Services that continued the discussion of the city's property maintenance enforcement modernization project, including technology improvements and potential updates to the enforcement framework. The committee voted to advance all recommendation options to the counsel for discussion at an upcoming study session. Our next meeting will be on Thursday, May 28. The committee will receive an informational briefing on court appointed advocates for domestic violence survivors. That meeting will occur in Room 2 48 of the Tacoma Municipal Building, this building right here. Virtual attendance options will be available for the public. Mayor Ibsen, that is that concludes my report.

Thank you, Vice Chair Scott. Councilmember Walker, any other comments?

I just wanted to highlight on that CBS report the code updates and enforcement because we did have have had several robust conversations, but we did want to make sure that all of the counsel got to weigh in on that. So we are going to give you some homework before it comes to city council, but I just wanted to flag that for everybody to make sure that they knew that was coming. It's a really important topic, we didn't feel like we could make a decision without the rest of you.

Councilmember Walker, sort of put you on the spot, or Vice Chair Scott, does that include the licensing conversations like provisional regulatory, or is that a different CVS conversation?

That's different.

Different, okay. Any other counsel comments? Well, I'd like to remind the public that the May 2026 City Council study session and business meeting have been canceled due to the Memorial Day holiday. And before we adjourn, is there a motion to excuse any members of the council?

Sorry Mr. Mayor I forgot that we're canceled next week so I will take the opportunity to say something right now is we're not we're canceling more like so I won't have a chance to say it next week I am having my quarterly coffee chat on May 30 at Wheelock Library from 10:30 to noon If you have any District 1 related issues or anything else you'd like to chat about, encourage you to come out and talk with me for that hour and a half. I got a new idea about kind of how we're going run the meeting, and excited to see if you want to come out. So, again, May 30, Saturday 10:30 to noon the Wheelock Library.

Thank you.

CHAIRMAN Cool.

Councilman Walker.

I'm just ready for the second.

CHAIRMAN And I'll make the motion. I move to excuse Councilmembers Diaz, Rumbaugh, and Deputy Mayor Bushnell BERNANKE. From the meeting this evening.

CHAIRMAN

Aye. CHIEF All those opposed

to say no. Are excused. Is there a motion to adjourn?

CHIEF Move to adjourn.

CHIEF Second.

CHIEF All those opposed to say no. We are adjourned.