FEDRAC MINS 09-13-2005 A-1
City of Federal Way
City Council
Finance/Economic Development/Regional Affairs Committee
Tuesday, September 13, 2005
5:30 p.m.
City Hall
Hylebos Conference Room
MINUTES
Committee Members in Attendance: Chair Eric Faison, Member Jeanne Burbidge, and Member Jim Ferrell.
City Council Members in Attendance: Mayor Dean McColgan, Deputy Mayor Linda Kochmar, and
Councilmember Mike Park
Staff Members in Attendance: Iwen Wang, Management Services Director; Pat Richardson, City Attorney; Patrick
Doherty, Director of Economic Development; Rob VanOrsow, Solid Waster/Recycling Manager; Jordan Wheeler,
Management Intern.
Others in Attendance: John Caulfield, Planning Commission Chair; Jim Yoder, Steadfast Companies; Gary
Martindale, Steadfast Companies; Bruce Lorig, Lorig Associates; Eric Hall, Federal Way Mirror.
1. CALL TO ORDER
Chair Eric Faison called the meeting to order at 5:34 p.m.
2. PUBLIC COMMENT
None.
3. COMMITTEE BUSINESS
a) Approval of the August 9, 2005 meeting minutes
Committee members Jeanne Burbidge and Jim Ferrell requested Agenda Item C on the August 9,
2005 minutes to be revised. Committee member Burbidge called for the final paragraph to be
amended to clarify to read that the committee agreed to invite property owners, developers, and
other stakeholders in Federal Way to a future FEDRAC meeting to participate in a collaborative,
interactive and open-ended economic redevelopment discussion panel.
Committee member Ferrell also requested Item C to be amended to show his concern in creating
an economic development fund. Mr. Ferrell feels the committee may be premature in creating the
fund because it’s not completely known what it is for yet and he believes that investing a
designated amount in a specific fund could weaken the city’s position to negotiate with developers.
b) 2006-2007 Solid Waste & Recycling Grants Approvals
Presented by Rob VanOrsow
Mr. VanOrsow briefly presented to the committee the Solid Waste and Recycling grants awarded
for 2006-2007.
Motion to approve the targeted grants and proposed projects for 2006-2007 and forward the
resolution to full council for approval. Motion seconded and carried.
K:\FEDRAC\2005\0913\0913 Minutes.doc A-2
Chair Eric Faison called for a short recess at 5:40. The committee reconvened at 5:53.
c) Potential Public-Private Partnership Strategies
Before the start of the discussion Economic Development Director Patrick Doherty handed out a
map of the Federal Way City Center and copies of the Leland Group Commission Report.
Mr. Jim Yoder, Mr. Gary Martindale, and Mr. John Caulfield were introduced to the committee
and thanked for participating in the open-ended discussion.
Mr. Doherty opened the discussion by giving background on recent developments in regards to
achieving the City’s vision of the downtown core. Mr. Doherty mentioned the interim zoning
changes, how the city is currently working on what will replace the zoning ordinance, and the
recent discussions on the city center and how the city can be involved in redevelopment of
downtown.
Mr. Doherty presented to the Committee a drawing of a redeveloped city center from the
Comprehensive plan vision. The drawing shows a downtown that is pedestrian-friendly, mixed-
use, and includes housing, retail, civic uses, and more. Mr. Doherty also reminded the committee
that the City has hired the Leland Consulting group to help us understand how to achieve the City’s
comprehensive plan vision and how redevelopment occurs. Already the Leland Group presented
some strategies and a market report to the committee and Council. At the Council’s request the
Leland Group’s study had an emphasis on Lifestyle retail, however the City is also certainly
interested in all redevelopment types.
Mr. Doherty also added that the next presentation by the Leland Group is a “how to” presentation.
Mr. Doherty stated that the purpose of the discussion is to learn the diversity of opinions
stakeholders may have in the topics of public-private partnerships and downtown redevelopment.
Mr. Doherty handed out a list of potential discussion points and started the discussion by asking
the stakeholders and committee members to respond to the following point, “If the City were to
position itself to consider public-private partnerships to achieve redevelopment in the City Center,
do you think the lifestyle retail, multistory or mixed-use development types would be more likely?”
Mr. Doherty defined the question by asking if redevelopment would happen in the downtown core
if the city did not actively pursue mixed-use development.
Planning Commission Chair John Caulfield responded by informing the committee and
stakeholders that downtown redevelopments and the pursuit of lifestyle centers are happening in
cities all around Federal Way. Mr. Caulfield mentioned cities like Kent, Renton, Burien,
University Place, and Puyallup that are taking action to attract those types of projects. Mr.
Caulfield stated that the pursuit of new mixed-use developments is about achieving the vision and
in order for that to happen property owners, stakeholders, the city, and developers have to work
together.
Mr. Jim Yoder suggested to the committee that the city should keep a menu of options and
opportunities on the table rather than focus on Lifestyle centers or other specific types of
developments. Mr. Yoder also recommended the city to look at what it can do for creating
incentives but to take care in not becoming too restrictive whereas to limit growth and
development.
Mr. Bruce Lorig of Lorig Associates offered his take on downtown redevelopment and identified
the difficulties of developing parking space and purchasing land for structured parking. Mr. Lorig
discussed land costs, the dynamics of structured parking, and possible roles the City could play in
developing structured parking.
K:\FEDRAC\2005\0913\0913 Minutes.doc A-3
Committee member Jim Ferrell reported that he is impressed with the new improvements to the
Alderwood Mall in Lynnwood, WA and asked if the stakeholders could conceive of something
similar happening in Federal Way. Mr. Yoder agreed that it is possible and the committee
discussed the process, The Commons, and stakeholders’ interest in more retail developments in the
city center. The committee members and stakeholders then briefly discussed office space and
housing developments downtown.
The stakeholders were kindly asked to give their opinions on what the city could do now to attract
lifestyle retail to Federal Way. The stakeholders and committee members offered their thoughts
and considerations, such as making the land more available, meeting with more developers and
property owners to craft a downtown plan, and defining the downtown vision.
The stakeholders and committee members discussed different methods and processes of
redeveloping downtown, such as a transformation or catalyst project or a series of smaller
incremental developments. Other forms of pedestrian-friendly retail centers were cited, such as
complexes with parking located away from the storefronts in the rear of the complex. The
stakeholders also discussed how to implement “big box” retail into pedestrian-friendly retail
centers.
Mr. Doherty wrapped up the discussion by reminding the committee and stakeholders that cities
that are in the same market and surround Federal Way are actively intervening in the market and
doing some sort of part to encourage retail development. Mr. Doherty stated that his concern is
that Federal Way could be perceived as the one community in the area that is not proactive in
establishing themselves in the market.
4. OTHER
None.
5. FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS
6. NEXT SCHEDULED MEETING
October 11, 2005 at 5:30 p.m. in the Hylebos Conference Room.
7. ADJOURN
Chair Eric Faison adjourned the meeting at 7:13 pm.
Recorded by Jordan Wheeler