2013/10/16 Council Agenda Packet

PLANN/NG AND Allan Giffen LD/lIINUN/TY DEYELOFAIENT Director MEMORANDUM TO: City Council FROM: Allan Giffen, Planning Director ":"Alt& DATE: October 11, 2013 SUBJECT: Growing Transit Communities Agenda Item The Council Agenda Item Cover Sheet for the October 16, 2013 council meeting said that the Corridor Action Strategies were transmitted separately to the City Council. The attached Corridor Action Strategies are the heart of the Growing Transit Communities (GTC)program. GTC originated from a successful grant proposal by the Puget Sound Regional Council (PSRC). The $5 million grant from the US Dept. of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) funded a very large body of work that is intended to promote transit oriented development, affordable housing, and economic development around high capacity transit stations along the three Sound Transit light rail corridors. The north corridor included 10 station or potential station areas in the Everett Planning Area that were analyzed in detail in various background reports funded by the grant. The attached Corridor Action Strategies are intended to be used by local governments, transit agencies, and other stakeholders as a guide for more detailed station area planning. The strategies focus on addressing the housing needs of lower income households and increasing outreach to, and improving opportunities for, populations that have typically been under- represented in planning processes (lower income and minority communities). The 24 Corridor Action Strategies were developed through an intensive, and sometimes contentious, task force process that City staff participated in. The City also participated in the Affordable Housing Subcommittee, and on the Oversight Committee. The Oversight Committee has recommended, and the PSRC Executive Board has adopted, the Corridor Action Strategies. The next step is for partners in the grant program to execute the Regional Compact in the City Council packet. The Regional Compact is a non-binding pledge to use the Corridor Action Strategies as guidance in planning processes for station area planning around light rail and bus rapid transit station areas. More information about the GTC program can be found at http://www.psrc.org/growth/growing- transit-communities. CITY OF EVERETT • 2930 Wetmore Avenue, Suite 8-A • Everett, WA 98201 • (425) 257-8731 • Fax (425) 257-8742