Showing posts with label city council LFP. Show all posts
Showing posts with label city council LFP. Show all posts

Public hearing in Lake Forest Park regarding acquisition of forested land adjacent to Five Acre Woods

Thursday, August 22, 2024

Property adjacent to Five Acre Woods available for purchase
by City of Lake Forest Park
The City of Lake Forest Park invites the public to provide their comments at the upcoming Special City Council Meeting on August 29, 2024. 

The primary agenda item for this meeting is the consideration of Resolution 24-1962, which involves approving the Purchase and Sale Agreement for acquiring property located at 19001 40th Place. 

The agenda for the meeting can be found here.

This 2.43-acre property, located adjacent to Five Acre Woods Park, offers a unique opportunity to preserve a significant urban forest area. 

Purchasing and preserving this property will provide several benefits, including:
  • Expansion of Green Space: The acquisition would expand Five Acre Woods Park, providing more recreational space and enhancing public access to nature.
  • Environmental Preservation: The heavily treed property consists of a second-growth forest, which contributes to local biodiversity, supports wildlife habitats, and helps maintain an ecological balance within the urban environment.
  • Sustainable Development: By preserving the property as a natural area, the City can ensure that the land is not developed by private interests, thereby maintaining the community's character and integrity.
  • Community Health and Well-being: Increased access to natural spaces has been shown to improve mental and physical health, making this acquisition a valuable investment in the well-being of Lake Forest Park residents.
We encourage all community members to attend the meeting and share their thoughts on this significant opportunity to preserve and expand our parkland. Your input is invaluable in shaping the future of our community spaces.

Meeting Details:

Date: August 29, 2024
Time: 6:00 PM
Location: City Hall, 17425 Ballinger Way NE

INSTRUCTIONS FOR ATTENDING THIS MEETING VIRTUALLY:

Join Zoom Webinar: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/82544268482
Call into Webinar: 253-215-8782 | Webinar ID: 825 4426 8482

HOW TO PARTICIPATE WITH ORAL COMMENTS:

If you are attending the meeting in person, there is a sign-in sheet located near the entrance to the Council Chambers. Simply fill the form out, and the Mayor will call your name at the appropriate time. Oral comments are limited to 3:00 minutes per speaker and are not being accepted via Zoom.

The meeting is being recorded.

HOW TO SUBMIT WRITTEN COMMENTS:

Written comments will be submitted to the Council if received by 5:00 p.m. on the meeting date; otherwise, they will be provided to the City Council the next day. The City Clerk will read your name and subject matter into the record during Public Comments.

For more information, please contact City Clerk Matt McLean at 206-364-5440 or mmclean@cityoflfp.gov.


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Public Hearing before LFP City Council August 8, 2024

Tuesday, July 30, 2024


City of Lake Forest Park
PUBLIC NOTICE
NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING
THURSDAY, AUGUST 8, 2024 - 7:00 P.M.
WASHINGTON INITIATIVE 2117 CONCERNING 
CARBON TAX CREDIT TRADING

The City of Lake Forest Park City Council will consider whether to adopt a resolution supporting or opposing Washington Initiative 2117 concerning carbon tax credit trading on the general election ballot. The City Council seeks public input for and against the initiative.

The initiative would repeal the 2021 Washington Climate Commitment Act (CCA), a state law that provided for a cap and invest program designed to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 95% by 2050. The cap and invest program sets a cap on the total carbon emissions in the state. Businesses with emissions exceeding 25,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide per year must purchase allowances equal to their allowed greenhouse gas emissions. The cap and invest program was designed to allow businesses that reduce emissions to sell their remaining carbon emission allowance permits to other companies, thereby incentivizing companies to lower their emissions.

The public hearing will be conducted during the City Council’s regular meeting on August 8, 2024. The meeting will begin at 7:00 P.M., and the public hearing will commence thereafter. The public hearing will be held in person at the City Council Chambers. Written testimony will be accepted prior to the meeting and distributed to the City Council, and verbal testimony will be accepted during the public hearing.

Written comments should be submitted to City Clerk Matt McLean at mmclean@cityoflfp.com no later than 5:00 p.m. local time on the date of the hearing. A request to speak can also be made by phone directly to the City Clerk at (206) 368-5540 prior to 5:00 pm on the date of the meeting.

Matt McLean
City Clerk
July 29, 2024


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Lake Forest Park councilmembers oppose rapid transit improvements on Bothell Way

Saturday, July 13, 2024

An aerial view from the Sound Transit plan shows the proposed northeast-bound bus lane some Lake Forest Park council members oppose (in blue)
By Oliver Moffat

At their June 27, 2024 meeting, the Lake Forest Park city council debated a proposed letter to Sound Transit opposing a rapid transit bus lane on Bothell Way.

The letter, sponsored by Deputy Mayor Lorri Bodi, called the highway a “green residential corridor and city gateway”, and called on Sound Transit to preserve trees and shrubs between 153rd and 165th by removing a proposed northeast-bound bus lane and shrinking a bus station at 165th street. “No other city will face such inequitable impacts,” the letter argued.

Councilmember Semra Riddle declined to sign the letter because it lacked specifics. “We're not Traffic Engineers and so some of these elements I think are overreaching what we are able to say,” she said. Riddle also disagreed the city has suffered unfairly compared to the impact neighboring cities have experienced from mass transit projects. “Yes, we do have disproportionate impacts right now but that's because those impacts have already been made to our neighboring cities.”

The proposed letter asks Sound Transit to remove a northeast-bound Business Access and Transit (BAT) lane between 153rd and 165th Streets - forcing busses to merge into regular traffic. The city and Sound Transit disagree about how much delay this change would cause for bus riders. Sound Transit says the BAT lane will save commuters 2.3 minutes at rush hour while estimates in the Lake Forest Park letter said removal of the BAT lane will delay commuters by 1.5 minutes.

The Sound Transit S3 line will connect Bothell, Kenmore, and Lake Forest Park to the Shoreline South light rail station with a fleet of all-electric busses running in dedicated bus lanes

The Stride S3 Line is part of a ballot measure approved by voters in 2016 to add Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) along Bothell Way and 145th Street. Once completed, an all-electric bus fleet will feature station stops with off-board payment and multi-door boarding. - connecting Bothell, Kenmore and Lake Forest Park to the 145th Street Light Rail Station in Shoreline.

Bothell celebrated completion of its BRT improvements in June 2022 but the project has fallen behind schedule and has yet to start in Lake Forest Park. Some Lake Forest Park residents have fought the project and said it would “deforest” the state highway. Last year, the Lake Forest Park city council asked Sound Transit to pause the project and passed regulations requiring retaining walls to have architectural finishes and aesthetic vegetation.


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LFP Leadership plan to attend the Comp Plan Open House on July 16, 2024

Thursday, July 11, 2024

Lake Forest Park Planning Commission in a recent session

Lake Forest Park has issued notice that a quorum of the city council, as well as the Planning Commission, Climate Action Committee, Tree Board, and Parks & Recreation Advisory Board plan to attend the Comprehensive Plan Open House on July 16, 2024.

City of Lake Forest Park Comprehensive Plan Periodic Update Open House
Tuesday, July 16, 2024, 4:00pm – 7:00pm

The City of Lake Forest Park’s decennial Comprehensive Plan periodic update is well under way, now into its second year.

The active update effort is required by state law to address recent legislative changes, new King County Countywide Planning Policies (CPPs), and the Puget Sound Regional Council's (PSRC) VISION 2050. 

Collectively, there are new requirements and policies that change the ways we plan for housing, address the needs of vulnerable residents, and incorporate climate planning. 

The open house for the community is hosted by the City's Planning Commission. The open house is an informal setting to learn about the update, ask questions, and give feedback to the Commissioners as a check-in at this point in the process. 

The Commission has reviewed the existing goals and policies in the adopted 2015 Comprehensive Plan and made draft amendments to each element. 

Before the Commission holds a noticed public hearing and makes a recommendation to the City Council, the open house is an opportunity to update and check in with the community on this important effort.


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Lake Forest Park city council increases traffic camera fines

Sunday, May 26, 2024

A new No Racing Zone sign greets drivers entering Lake Forest Park on 178th street where the speed limit drops from 30 to 25 mph - photo by Oliver Moffat

By Oliver Moffat

Lake Forest Park will increase traffic camera fines starting this summer after new state laws encourage cities to use cameras to improve safety. The city designated 178th a no-racing zone to allow the city to leave the cameras active all the time (not just during school hours) despite an equity analysis raising concerns about the traffic cameras.

At the Thursday, May 23 meeting the Lake Forest Park city council voted to raise traffic camera fines to the maximum allowed under Washington state’s recently expanded laws.

With the passage this year of House Bill 2384, cities in Washington can now increase automated traffic camera fines and Lake Forest Park is speeding ahead to raise fines from $130 to $145. Repeat offenders can have their fines doubled to as much as $290 under the new law that takes effect on June 6, 2024.

The change comes after the city recently added 178th to its list of designated no-racing zones, allowing the city to leave the traffic cameras on all-day throughout the year whereas before they could only be active during school hours when Brookside elementary was in session.

Speaking in support of the plan, Council Vice Chair Tracy Furutani, said “the fact is we are going to see increased traffic volumes as the Link Light Rail stations open. And my concern is that once September rolls around and the kids start coming back to school, especially along Brookside, that there will be significant potential interactions between traffic and the walking school children.”

A graph from Lake Forest Park, shows how fast vehicles are going east-bound on 178th 

The camera infraction recidivism rate is less than 10% which, according to the city, means that the cameras are effective in getting drivers to slow down. Data collected from the Washington State Patrol’s website shows there have been a total of 45 collisions on 178th over the last ten years with crashes on the rise from a low of two in 2020 to five in 2023.

“I know that this is going to be revenue generating for the city. But that’s not the principal reason that we are doing this. We are doing this because we are very concerned about pedestrian and multi-modal safety,” Furutani said.

The city pays an external company a flat monthly fee of $4750 to operate each of its fourteen current cameras (totaling $798,000 per year). That external company does not get a percentage of the fines or any kind of commission.

The previous state law required cities who adopted traffic cameras like Lake Forest Park to give 50% of the revenue back to the state to fund transportation safety projects. 

But to entice more cities across the state to install traffic cameras, the legislature changed that rule this year: now cities can keep all the ticket revenue for three years as long as they spend the funds on traffic safety improvements. After three years, the state will take a 25% cut to fund state-wide traffic safety projects.

According to the city’s budget, traffic fines will generate $3.84 million this biennium for the general fund. At 30% of the budget, the city’s largest line item at $11 million is the police department. The city spends $2.5 million a year on transportation - making up 7% of the city’s budget.

At a December 14, 2023 meeting the city council designated 178th a no-racing zone. Then at an April 30 special meeting, the Lake Forest Park city council voted to keep the automated cameras active year round, 24 hours a day within the 178th no-racing zone.

In 2022, state law allowed cities to use automated traffic cameras to enforce speed limits on streets designated “restricted racing zones” and a new state law took effect in 2024 which also makes “drifting" illegal.

A map from the Washington State Patrol website shows the locations of the six collisions in the past ten years attributed to street racing in Shoreline, Lake Forest Park and Kenmore 

A public records request filed with WSDOT returned a total of ten crashes attributed to street racing in Shoreline, Lake Forest Park, and Kenmore since 2010. A search on the Washington State Patrol’s website found six street racing crashes in Shoreline and Lake Forest Park in the past ten years. 

In comparison, there were 1,785 crashes in Lake Forest Park alone over the last ten years according to the Washington State Patrol’s website.

Recent changes to state law expanded where cities can deploy cameras and allows city employees to review tickets where previously a police officer needed to review each ticket.

State law requires cities to complete an equity analysis to prove traffic cameras will not disproportionately target historically over-policed people. The Lake Forest Park report raised concerns about the city’s traffic cameras. 

A graph from the city shows more than 90% of traffic camera tickets are received by people who don’t live in Lake Forest Park 

According to the police department, although less than 4% of Lake Forest Park residents are Black, 12% of people who received a traffic ticket in the city were Black. Only 8.5% of the traffic camera fines were issued to residents of Lake Forest Park - the majority of ticket recipients were from out of town.

Under the new state law, vehicle owners can dispute the ticket in court and (under the new state law) the fines must be cut in half if the owner of the vehicle is a recipient of a state public assistance program. But that requires fighting the ticket in the Lake Forest Park court.

Meanwhile in Shoreline: on June 10, the much anticipated (and overdue) Annual Traffic Report will be reviewed by the city council and traffic enforcement cameras will be discussed. While neighboring cities including Lynnwood, Lake Forest Park, and Seattle have long embraced the use of traffic cameras, the Shoreline city council has opposed their adoption in the past.

5-26-2024 corrections: 
-The camera infraction recidivism rate is less than 10%.
-traffic fines will generate $3.84 million this biennium for the general fund.
-At a December 14, 2023 meeting the city council designated 178th a no-racing zone. Then at an April 30 special meeting, the Lake Forest Park city council voted to keep the automated cameras active year round, 24 hours a day within the 178th no-racing zone.


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LFP Salary Commission Public Hearing 5-6-2024 - Proposed Increases for Councilmembers’ Salaries

Tuesday, April 30, 2024

City of Lake Forest Park
PUBLIC NOTICE
NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING

MONDAY, MAY 6, 2024 – 7:00 P.M.
Proposed increases for Councilmembers’ salaries

The City of Lake Forest Park Salary Commission has been reviewing the compensation of the Mayor and City Councilmembers. The Salary Commission is proposing no change to the Mayor’s compensation or benefits. The Commission is proposing an increase to the Councilmembers’ salaries from $600 per month to $700 per month for the remainder of 2024, with another increase January 1, 2025 to $800 per month. 

A public hearing will be held to accept comments on the proposed increases, and the Commission’s draft determination will be available for review on the city’s website, www.cityoflfp.gov.

The Commission’s final determination is filed with the City Clerk. An increase in salary is effective on the next payday of City employees. A decrease in salary is effective for incumbent elected officials at the commencement of their next subsequent term of office.

The public hearing will be held during the Salary Commission’s May 6, 2024 meeting. The meeting will begin at 7:00pm, and the public hearing will commence thereafter. The public hearing will be held virtually and in person at the City Council Chambers. Instructions for how to participate in the virtual public hearing may be found on the agenda for the meeting. Written testimony will be accepted before the meeting and distributed to the Salary Commission, and verbal testimony will be accepted during the public hearing.

Written comments should be submitted to City Clerk Matt McLean at mmclean@cityoflfp.gov no later than 5:00pm local time on the date of the hearing. Any person wishing to provide oral testimony at the hearing is encouraged to register via the Remote Public Comment Sign-in Form on the City’s Hybrid City Council Meetings webpage by 5:00pm on the date of the meeting. Persons who have not signed up on the online public hearing sign-in sheet will be called upon to raise their hand through the Zoom meeting webinar feature and will be added to the speakers’ queue by the City Clerk, to be called upon by the Meeting Chair or designee. A request to speak can also be made by phone directly to the City Clerk at 206-368-5540 prior to 5:00pm on the date of the meeting.

Matt McLean
City Clerk
April 25, 2024

Salary Commission's Preliminary Decision Document - April 25, 2024


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LFP Council develops rules for oral comments at City Council meetings

Tuesday, April 23, 2024

City Hall, Lake Forest Park
Photo by Steven H. Robinson

After being trolled last year by an individual who took advantage of the Zoom meeting and an open forum, the Lake Forest Park Council has developed a process for citizens who want to make oral comments at council meetings

Providing Oral Comments at City Council Meetings

If you would like to provide Oral Comments at City Council regular meetings, City Council Committee of the Whole meetings, and/or City Council Budget and Finance Committee meetings, please see the sign-up instructions below.

HOW TO PARTICIPATE WITH ORAL COMMENTS:

Sign up here https://app.waitwhile.com/welcome/comment-sign-up between 9:00am and 4:00pm on the day of the meeting if you wish to provide Oral Comments during the meeting. You may provide comments or feedback on any item listed on the agenda, or any topic under the purview or control of the City Council.

If you are attending the meeting in person, there is a sign-in sheet located near the entrance to the Council Chambers. Fill the form out and the Mayor will call your name at the appropriate time. Oral comments are limited to 3:00 minutes per speaker.

If you are attending the meeting via Zoom and would like to address the Council during the Public Comment section of the agenda, you must sign up on the electronic comment sign-in sheet between 9:00am and 4:00pm on the day of the meeting. 

Oral comments are limited to 3:00 minutes per speaker. Individuals wishing to speak to agenda items will be called to speak in the order they have signed up. The City Clerk will call your name and allow you to speak. People who are not signed up to speak will not be allowed to address the Council at the meeting. Please state your name and whether you are a resident of Lake Forest Park. The meeting is being recorded.

Please contact the City Clerk if you have questions.


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Lake Forest Park moves to slow speed limits across city

Thursday, April 18, 2024

An illustration from the Lake Forest Park speed study illustrates
why lower speeds are safer for pedestrians 

By Oliver Moffat

For more than two years, the city of Lake Forest Park has been working on a study of traffic safety.

At the Thursday, April 11 Lake Forest Park regular meeting the city council voted to accept the recommendation to lower speed limits from that study.

Under the proposal, all local access streets across the city would be have their speed limits reduced from 25 to 20 mile per hour.

All arterial streets and collector roads would see their speed limits lowered to 25 miles per hour from 30.

The study considered a number of options that were rejected by the city council including the “85th percentile” method which sets speeds based on how fast cars are going regardless of safety concerns. This method optimizes speed limits for the benefit of car drivers while ignoring safety for walkers and bikers and has been criticized as outdated.

A map for the Lake Forest Park speed study shows which streets
would have their speeds reduced from 30 mph to 25 mph

The option chosen by the city council treats all roadways in a city uniformly and simply sets a default speed limit across the city. This option is simpler and easier to communicate to drivers.

Under Washington State law (RCW 46.61.415) cities are allowed to set speed limits as low as 20 mph on their roads without costly traffic engineering studies.

Seattle, Tacoma, Portland and Bainbridge Island have all lowered speed limits to 20 mph on local streets. The proposed changes would make Lake Forest Park’s speeds consistent with Seattle’s.

Lake Forest Park does not have jurisdiction over Ballinger Way (State Route 104) and Bothell Way (State Route 522) because they are state routes controlled by WSDOT.

Council members expressed impatience with WSDOT for not moving to reduce speed limits on those roads and discussed what options the city has to get the state agency to move faster.


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Route 372 to be deleted; “very frustrating” says Lake Forest Park Mayor

Wednesday, April 17, 2024

A map from Metro’s website shows planned Shoreline and Lake Forest Park bus routes

By Oliver Moffat

At the Thursday, April 11 Lake Forest Park regular meeting the city council reviewed planned bus route changes from King County Metro.

Route 372 from Bothell to the University District will be deleted in 2025.

A screenshot shows Lake Forest Park Mayor Tom French expressing frustration over the deletion of route 372 to the University District 

In comments, Mayor Tom French said, 

“l, for one, I'm gonna be mourning the loss of that direct bus service. And as the Council has so consistently said, this community is really losing out again in the midst of all this expansion in other areas. 
"And it's very disappointing… once again, Lake Forest Park is a drive through and it's very frustrating for us…”

A map from King County Metro’s website shows the planned Metro Flex zone

Metro will add Metro Flex service in Lake Forest Park, north Kenmore, Brier and southeast Mountlake Terrace that allows riders to use an app to hail a minivan to get a ride within the service area.


There will continue to be no bus service in Lake Forest Park south of Ballinger Way and west of Bothell Way.



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LFP Council Corner - Help design our lakefront park

Monday, February 5, 2024

Lorri Bodi, Deputy Mayor
Lake Forest Park City Council
Greetings Neighbors. 

I am honored to serve again on our Lake Forest Park City Council, and now as your new Deputy Mayor. For the last few years, I’ve also enjoyed being Council liaison to our citizen Parks and Recreation Advisory Board.

The Parks and Recreation Advisory Board is actively working on outreach and recommendations for our new Lakefront Park, located just north of the Civic Club and Lyon Creek Waterfront Preserve. The design concept will include desired recreation, environmental preservation and restoration, multiple means of access including disabled access, and public safety. Our goal is to have a completed design concept in place in time for state biennial grant funding opportunities this spring.

So far, the Board and the Administration have reached out to our community through an online survey and in a community workshop, both well attended, to receive suggestions. Based on the input to date, our community shares many goals for the park, including a focus on water-based recreation and all-age use, equitable waterfront access for all community members, seamless alignment with the Lyon Creek Waterfront Preserve conservation area, and security for nearby properties.

We’d like to hear from you! Please come to the community workshop on February 21, 2024 at City Hall between 5:30 and 7:30pm, where the Board and City team will share design alternatives for your consideration and input. The summaries will be shared with the Council and the Council will weigh in on a preferred design concept during its March meetings. For more information, please visit the project website.

--Deputy Mayor Lorri Bodi



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LFP Council Corner – Update on the Climate Action Committee

Saturday, January 6, 2024

The Climate Action Committee will release the city’s preliminary Climate Action Plan in January. The committee, comprising a group of ten residents (including a couple of Shorecrest High seniors) and guided by the city’s Environmental and Sustainability Specialist Cory Roche, has been working for 20 months on putting the plan together. 

The plan will have recommendations on cutting greenhouse gas emissions in city operations and suggestions for homeowners, renters, and businesses to become more resilient in the face of climate change.

Reasoning that Lake Forest Park residents have much personal, business, and academic background and experience in understanding the Pacific Northwest climate and its changes, committee chair Sarah Phillips and vice-chair Anne Udaloy steered the committee away from hiring outside consultants. 

The result is a report that is literally tailored for Lake Forest Park and our unique geography, canopy, and community.

The main recommendation of the report is the recognition that climate mitigation (reducing greenhouse gases) and resilience (adapting to climate change) cross multiple city operations (as well as many aspects of our personal lives). 

Designating a single person as a Climate Action manager will help implement the other recommendations of the report and assess, over time, how the city and its residents are meeting our climate goals.

What effect will a climate action plan have on multiple 100-degree days, weeks of smoke-laden air and deluges of rain? 

We do what we can! The city’s leaf-blowers and other maintenance equipment are all now battery-powered. This year there have been 90 permits for residential heat pumps and 12 for solar-power systems. 

This past month, dozens of LFP residents participated in the Miyawaki forest planting (with native and non-invasive non-native species) at the Shoreline Historical Museum, a radical approach to increasing urban canopy cover.

“The environment” was cited by the majority of respondents to our survey as to why they moved to LFP. The Climate Action Plan is a roadmap to preserving the environment we all cherish. 

With the discovery of several salmon fry in Lyon and McAleer Creeks, we are seeing the fruits of working on our climate actions.

And the committee would love to talk to you about the report and any aspect of the climate that concerns you! 

Find us at the LFP Farmers Market (where we’ve been at the sponsor table the past two summers), or at Picnic in the Park or other city-sponsored events. 

Or, you’ll find us inviting you to take part in a survey, as we did in November 2022, to find out your concerns and your aspirations in mitigating climate change and building climate resilience (nearly 500 of you responded – thank you!). 

Or, you’ll come to one of our series of climate talks that we set up with the cities of Shoreline and Kenmore; we covered induction cooking, home and business solar power and heat pumps this past year. You can always get ahold of us at climate@cityoflfp.com.

--Councilmember Tracy Furutani


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Mayor Jeff Johnson and Councilmember Phillippa Kassover honored in their final LFP council meeting

Tuesday, December 19, 2023

Mayor Jeff Johnson and Councilmember Phillippa Kassover
Photo by Mike Remarcke

At a special city council meeting on Thursday December 14, 2023, the Lake Forest Park City Council, staff, and guests honored departing Mayor Jeff Johnson and Councilmember Phillippa Kassover.

The city issued proclamations and presented them with plaques.

Mayor Johnson and LFP City Council (l-r) Semra Riddle, Tracy Furutani, Tom French, Mayor Johnson, Philippa Kassover, Lorri Bodi. Photo by Mike Remarcke


PROCLAMATION 
Honoring and Thanking Jeff Johnson 
Lake Forest Park Mayor 

WHEREAS, as a resident of Lake Forest Park since 1983, Jeff Johnson began his service on the Lake Forest Park City Council in 2012; and 

WHEREAS, Jeff Johnson began his service as Mayor of Lake Forest Park in 2016; and 

WHEREAS, during his time as Mayor, he oversaw the acquisition of Five Acre Woods, Brookside, and Lakefront Parks and the rebuild of Eagle Scout Park; and 

WHEREAS, Mayor Johnson has been a strong advocate for replacing city culverts and improving fish habitat; and 

WHEREAS, Mayor Johnson served as a member of the Lake Ballinger Forum, ensuring that Lake Forest Park had an active voice in this regional effort; and 

WHEREAS, Mayor Johnson worked tirelessly during, and lead the city through, the pandemic and the new hybrid Council Meetings; and 

WHEREAS, Mayor Johnson was tasked with hiring an entirely new leadership team, police chief and municipal court judge; and 

WHEREAS, Mayor Johnson leaves office with the satisfaction of knowing he has built a dedicated and respected administration; and 

WHEREAS, Mayor Johnson through all his efforts set the City of Lake Forest Park on a path for a better tomorrow for future generations. 

NOW, THEREFORE, the Deputy Mayor and City Council of the City of Lake Forest Park, do hereby thank 

Jeff Johnson 
Lake Forest Park Mayor

And wish him all the best in his future endeavors. 
December 14, 2023

CM Kassover and Lake Forest Park City Council
(l-r) Tracy Furutani, Tom French, Mayor Jeff Johnson, Phillippa Kassover, Lorri Bodi, Semra Riddle. Photo by Mike Remarcke

PROCLAMATION
Honoring and Thanking Phillippa Kassover
Lake Forest Park Councilmember

WHEREAS, as a resident of Lake Forest Park since 2007, Phillippa Kassover began her service on the Lake Forest Park City Council in 2016; and

WHEREAS, during her tenure, Phillippa Kassover served as the Deputy Mayor, and Council Vice Chair, bringing to bear her expertise in communication and leadership; and

WHEREAS, she has represented the city on the Solid Waste Management Advisory Committee, the North Urban Human Services Alliance, the Puget Sound Regional Council Growth Management Policy Board, King County Solid Waste Advisory Committee, SeaShore Transportation Forum, and K4C Outreach Committee; and

WHEREAS, Phillippa Kassover brought to Lake Forest Park a deep expertise in policy and budgeting from her broad career experiences; and

WHEREAS, Phillippa Kassover consistently defended the character and quality of the city from the dais and at regional and state level; and

NOW, THEREFORE, the Mayor and City Council of the City of Lake Forest Park, do hereby thank

Phillippa Kassover
Lake Forest Park City Council

And wish her all the best in her future endeavors.
December 14, 2023


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Lake Forest Park council meetings on Thursday will honor departing councilmember and mayor and take care of yearend business

Tuesday, December 12, 2023

The City Council of Lake Forest Park will hold a reception for Councilmember Phillippa Kassover and Mayor Jeff Johnson at a special meeting on Thursday, December 14, 2023 at 5:30pm.

The regular council meeting at 7pm will confirm Tree Board and Planning Commission members, and appoint a Community Development Director. 

The council will consider issues of residential parking and street racing.

Instructions for attending the meeting virtually and/or making comments HERE  The in person session will be held in the Council Chambers at City Hall, 17425 Ballinger Way NE Lake Forest Park, WA 98155


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Shoreline, Lake Forest Park, and Kenmore city councils to hold joint dinner meeting

Friday, October 6, 2023

Shoreline City Hall courtesy City of Shoreline

Three city councils will meet over dinner on Monday, October 9, 2023 from 5:45 to 6:45pm at Shoreline City Hall, 17500 Midvale Ave N, Shoreline WA 98155 - Shoreline, Lake Forest Park, and Kenmore

On the agenda:

Round-Robin City Updates
  • North King County Aquatics Center Study Update
  • Regional Crisis Response (RCR)/Connections Accomplishments
  • Early look at State Legislative Priorities

You may attend the meeting in person (bring your own dinner!), join via Zoom webinar, or listen to the meeting over the telephone.

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LFP Councilmembers request speed reduction on Bothell Way

Wednesday, August 16, 2023

A two story concrete wall the length of Lake Forest Park under Sound Transit plan

Five of the six city councilmembers in Lake Forest Park have sent a letter to the Regional Administrator of the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT), asking for a speed reduction on Bothell Way / SR 522, which runs the entire length of Lake Forest Park.

8-14-2023

Brian Nielsen
Regional Administrator, Northwest Region
WA State Department of Transportation

Lake Forest Park City Council formally requested our administration to apply for a speed reduction on State Route 522 at our August 10th meeting. This letter is in full support of a speed reduction. In addition to the important information in Resolution 23-1910 we want to encourage WSDOT take into consideration additional information that has been identified by our community.

We are at a point in time where Sound Transit is nearing completion of their redesign of State Highway 522 to accommodate their Stride project. Their project widens 522 to add a North/East bound transit lane and sidewalks. The final configuration of the roadway will be very similar to 522 in Kenmore where, after a recent speed review, WSDOT reduced the speed to 35MPH.

The most impactful element in the Sound Transit design that WSDOT can have a positive impact on is the two-story retaining wall. The City has been working with both Sound Transit and WSDOT to improve the visual design of this wall through tree relief patterns and vines pockets along the wall. While we support these efforts, the wall will still be a large shift from a green corridor to a concrete corridor. 

Reducing the speed limit to 35MPH allows a reduction in lane width from 11’ to 10’. This would yield a narrower road profile overall by approximately 4’ and consequently reduce the amount of hillside that needs to be excavated. This would reduce the height of the retaining wall by approximately 3’ (approximately 19% lower). 

A lower retaining wall lessens the visual impacts in our community, reduces the quantity of soil being trucked offsite, shortens the excavation schedule, saves additional trees, reduces acquisition extents, and reduces costs. 

In addition, the reduction of the speed limit would make living in the single-family homes along SR 522 safer. While these driveways are typically considered low volume and do not generally contribute to lowering speeds, these residents are at high risk as they back into the highway instead of the shoulders they have now and should be considered as part of the speed limit review.

We entreat WSDOT to reconsider the speed limit of State Highway 522 through Lake Forest Park as this is a win for WSDOT, Sound Transit, and our community.

Kindly, in our individual capacities,

Councilmember Semra Riddle
Councilmember Larry Goldman
Councilmember Tom French, Deputy Mayor
Councilmember Phillippa Kassover, Vice Chair
Councilmember Tracy Furutani
Councilmember Lorri Bodi


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Classifieds: Notice of Public Hearing on July 27, 2023 at LFP Council meeting: King County Veterans, Seniors, and Human Services Levy

Thursday, July 20, 2023

Notice of Public Hearing on July 27, 2023 regarding King County Veterans, Seniors, and Human Services Levy for 2024-2029

City of Lake Forest Park

PUBLIC NOTICE
NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING
THURSDAY, JULY 27, 2023 – 7:00 P.M.
VETERANS, SENIORS, AND HUMAN SERVICES LEVY FOR 2024-2029
_________________________________________________________

The City of Lake Forest Park City Council will be considering whether to adopt a resolution in support or opposition to Proposition No. 1 regarding the Veterans, Seniors, and Human Services Levy on the August 1, 2023 primary and special election ballot. The City Council seeks input for and against the levy from the public.



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Classifieds: LFP City Council public hearing regarding Proposed Code Amendments regarding Retaining Walls

Wednesday, July 19, 2023

Notice of Public Hearing on July 27, 2023 regarding Proposed Code Amendments regarding Retaining Walls

City of Lake Forest Park

PUBLIC NOTICE
NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING
THURSDAY, JULY 27, 2023 – 7:00 P.M.
Proposed Code Amendments regarding Retaining Walls
__________________________________________________________

Full details about the hearing and how to submit public comments are available here.

Ordinance 23-1272 (“Interim Regulations”) is available here.

Matt McLean
City Clerk
July 19, 2023


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LFP City council moves forward with plan to reduce speed limits on Bothell and Ballinger Way

Friday, June 9, 2023

Photo by Joshua Hoehne on Unsplash
Since last spring, the LFP City Council has been considering reductions to speed limits on our local roads and state highways which will prioritize pedestrian and multi-modal safety.

The Council discussed a multi-phased approach to setting lower speed limits which began with the adoption of a speed limit setting methodology as required by state statute.

As part of this ongoing safety effort, they are also continuing to move forward with the process to reduce the speed limits on SR 522 (Bothell Way NE) and SR 104 (Ballinger Way NE) to ensure the safety of all pedestrians, cyclists, and drivers.

On October 13, 2022, the City Council unanimously approved Ordinance 1252 adopting the National Association of City Transportation Officials’ (“NACTO) 2020 City Limits, Setting Safe Speed Limits on Urban Streets (“City Limits”), a document intended to provide cities with guidance on how to strategically set speed limits on urban streets, using a Safe Systems approach, to reduce traffic fatalities and injuries.

As recommended in the City Limits document, the City will consider three or more phases to increasing safety on our roads. 
  1. Setting default speed limits on many streets at once (such as 25 mph on major streets and 20 mph on all minor neighborhood streets),
  2. Designating slow zones in sensitive areas, and
  3. Setting corridor speed limits on high priority major streets, using a safe speed study, which uses conflict density and activity level to set context-appropriate speed limits.

Ordinance 1252 will move forward with a Safe Speed Study in accordance with methodology in City Limits to determine the speed limits that will best minimize the risk of persons being killed or seriously injured in Lake Forest Park.

This work that the Council is conducting is very timely and necessary. The reduced traffic during the pandemic emboldened some drivers to ignore basic courtesy and safety and this has led to a significant increase in unlawful behavior on our roads and state highways. Traffic volume is down, yet infractions are up, as are crashes on a per-trip basis.

It is the Council’s intent to create a speed-setting program that slows drivers down and one that reflects the character of our community.

Be safe out there whether walking, riding and especially when driving!

--Deputy Mayor Tom French


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City Council and mayoral candidates in the August primary and November general election

Thursday, June 1, 2023

For candidates, the purpose of a primary election is to winnow the field to two people who will appear on the November general election ballot.

If there are only two candidates for a given position, that race will not be in the August primary election.

In Lake Forest Park, Jon Friesch has withdrawn from the contest for council position 4, leaving the race between Nigel Keiffer and Ellyn Saunders to be decided in the November election. Also in the November election, Tom French and Jeff R. Johnson for Mayor, and Lorri Bodi, unopposed for council position 2.

The only LFP council race on the primary will be the candidates vying for position 6, Paula Goode, Dustin Shaffer, and Stephanie Angelis. The top two in the primary will advance to the general election in November.

None of the Shoreline city council positions will be on the primary ballot. Keith Scully in position 2 is running unopposed. Rowan Hurt has withdrawn from position  6, leaving Betsy Robertson unopposed. Of the incumbents, only Doris McConnell has an opponent, Annette Ademasu. They will appear on the November ballot.

Shoreline and Lake Forest Park have different forms of government. The mayor of LFP is elected by the voters. The LFP mayor has the administrative authority to prepare and administer the budget, appoint a City Administrator, and appoint and dismiss department heads.

The mayor of Shoreline presides at Council meetings and represents the City at ceremonial functions and intergovernmental meetings. The Shoreline mayor is elected by the other council members following the general election.

--Diane Hettrick


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Lake Forest Park: multiple candidates for open council seats and contested Mayoral race

Monday, May 22, 2023


At the close of the filing period on Friday, May 19, 2023, it appears that Lake Forest Park is in for a lively election season.

Long-time councilmember Tom French has left his council position to challenge incumbent mayor Jeff Johnson.

Vying for his council seat #6 are;

Phillippa Kassover has chosen to retire from her council seat (see previous article

Candidates who have filed for her seat #4 are:

Incumbent Lorri Bodi in position #2 has no challengers. Barring a vigorous and unlikely write-in candidate, she has effectively been re-elected to her seat. Her statement was previously published.

Races with more than two candidates will be in a primary in August with the top two advancing to the general election in November.

Residents can check their registration information at My Voter Information

--Diane Hettrick


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