AN ORDINANCE relating to the Pike Place Market Historical District; amending Chapter 25.24 of the Seattle Municipal Code to adopt an interim boundary expansion for the Pike Place Market Historical District.
Okay. Those in favor of adopting the resolution as amended. Please vote i. I those opposed vote no. The motion carries a resolution is adopted. Same. The next agenda item into the record. The report of the Finance and Neighborhoods Committee to name three resolutions excuse me accountable 119 330 related to the Pike Place Market Historical District amending Chapter 25.24 Estate Code to adopt an interim boundary expansion for the Pike Place Market. Historical Districts Committee recommends the bill passes amended. Very good, Councilmember Baxter. Why don't you introduce the matter? I'm sure folks have something you should amend. Go ahead. Amended version and then. Yes, that's what I was going to bring forward this amended version. But if you would like to do that first, please go ahead. No other way. But I don't know what the familiar is specifically. Why don't you go ahead and make the motion for the amendment? That's what I thought you were going to do. So very good. Last week we looked at an ordinance which we amended a couple of times in my committee, and we have provided another amendment yet this morning, which, like I would like to put in front of us for discussion. Okay. So what let's describe with a little more particularity, Councilwoman Swan, would you like to describe this amendment a little more specifically or. No, you don't have to. Would you like to? I I'm sorry. Who would like to describe them. And I'm. I'm not. Go ahead. It's. Yeah. My legislation, I'm probably in the best position to explain it. So, first of all, I. I'll just make the motion. I moved to amend council bill 119330 by substituting motion for for version to. So second. There's second. Okay. And this version has been approved by law. Yes. And as a matter of fact, just to quickly explain the the amended version, it actually and this came after the committee vote on Wednesday. It incorporates recommended amendments from the law department itself. And I can go over it again if you want. But these were the things that we discussed at the briefing. Yep. Okay. I think we're ready to vote any of the comments before we vote on the amendment. All those in favor of the substitution version for for version two, please vote I. I opposed the ayes have it. So now we have a version for for consideration. We'd like to speak to the version four of this ordinance. That could wait. I'm pretty informal on the process here, since we all worked on it. Sort of collectively, consumers don't like to tear up. Thank you. First of all, I wanted to thank all the all those who have been fighting to save the shoebox for also supporting the MDC in their fight. I won't really make too many arguments for why we should save the shoebox. Because you all have said it more than eloquently. And I didn't hear what there was, but. Related. It. It is. It is absolutely all related. I could not agree more. Yes, it's about saving our city. So just to let everybody know, the petition that was started by Jay Middleton, who spoke in the public comment this morning, when I checked, it had 92,975 signatures. And we have we have had tremendous outreach from the music community. You all know last Monday, Ben Gabel from Death Cab for Cutie was here and he called my office saying, I'm just calling as a constituent. And we've had now the Pearl Jam concert on Friday. I don't know how many of you were there, but but they some somebody somebody I know message me a clip a video clip from that concert where everybody was saying, save the shoebox, save the shoebox. So thanks to all the the music community for putting their weight behind us. We also know that a number of music musicians and music bands, everyone from Katy Perry to Sir Mix-A-Lot, you know, it's every genre you like to go out a two page ad in the Seattle Times, I had my staff member check how much it cost, and it costs roughly $22,500 for a 42 page ad. So now, granted, the musicians may be able to afford it easily. But I think what that ad represents is the tremendous commitment of the entire community, not just the most well-known musicians, to saving the shoebox. So this is really, really important. And it's it's been my honor to be able to be there with you. I think it is important to underscore the points that we made earlier, which is that this is not and again, I'm going to quote only one of the employees of the Showbox was sitting right there who I think said something like, this is not a conflict between culture and affordable housing. This is a conflict between culture and profit. And he asked City Council, Which side are you on? And I think somebody else also captured that sentiment. And I think it's important to clarify that this is this is not this entire community, which is probably far more than 100,000 people. Not everybody who wants to save the shoebox has openly spoken up or one has signed the petition. This is not against change. The question that all community members and working class people are asking is on whose terms does change happen in Seattle? That's the question. And I am. So I mean, I don't have words to describe my gratitude to everybody who has stood on the front lines of this, because that is the only reason we are here today. I thank all the council members who were there at the Wednesday committee because we were able to have a discussion and be voted the legislation out of committee, six votes for, no votes against and no abstentions. So that already shows how much how much support there already is for for this legislation. But again, I will also say that this won't be the end. This legislation is very, very important today, but that is step one. We need to continue to get organized. So those of you who are here, those of you who were here last week, we need to come together again, maybe in September and discuss our next steps for organizing. But thanks to everyone and. I know and I know. Special thanks to the Showbox employees themselves. I think the bill has been properly moved. And second, it is ready for vote unless anyone has any. Councilmember Herbold. Thank you. So one of the findings of the Arts Office's CAP report, which is the creation, activation and preservation of cultural spaces. I know there are a lot of people involved in it, but I want to recognize Matthew Richter in the office, who is one of the primary authors. Really, this report really does a great job. Of highlighting. Why this is an. Issue that is much. Larger than just a shoebox. That that report says, despite cultural. Spaces role in strengthening neighborhoods, creating and maintaining these spaces in strong real estate markets can be extremely difficult. The older, smaller. More. Eccentric spaces that often house cultural uses and small businesses are particularly vulnerable to development driven displacement. And I bring that up because. The CAT report itself has. A number of different recommendations to deal with. This larger. Larger issue. One of the one of the recommendations is to actually look at creating a cultural space management public development authority that we're going to hear more about that actually in my committee tomorrow morning. This council worked with the arts office in developing an implementation plan for its recommendations. So really, this is really about, I think, a much bigger issue. One of the things that we've been talking about since last Wednesday was the talk. About whether or not we should hold the legislation. And I'm glad that it appears that we've decided. Not to hold it. But I do want to. Yeah. I really want to sunlight the issue. The fact that the developer of this site agreed to voluntarily take steps to delay vesting in the hopes that this council would delay the vote. And happily, again, it appears that that we're not doing that. Though a hold would. Provide an opportunity for the developer to develop another plan. The description I've heard of, the plan that they're working on, calling it a win win solution gives me great pause. The developer's legal counsel contacted SGC last week in their agreement to delay vesting, and the description of the Win-Win effort was as follows We look forward to working with you on a win win solution that could sustain the performance history of the shoebox into the future. So as I. Understand the words, sustaining the performance history, this, of course, could result in space within the new building. Being dedicated to live performance rather than a preservation of the structure, like was successfully done in the instance of the sanctuary on Fifth Avenue, with construction costs approaching over $900 per square foot for some of the new high rise buildings in the city. I really doubt that any performance venue could financially support that cost per square foot. So that's to me, I think that's a it's up it's a hollow effort. Because one, as as you. Have really made. A great point of there are things. About this structure. That are so important to maintain. I'm really glad that somebody mentioned the spring loaded floor. That is really one of the things that makes. Makes a show at the Showbox, a really life. Changing experience. Almost in the stage from the floor. And so so all of this brings all of this brings me back to, again, the recognition that the CAF report has identified, which is that because we have. Such a hot. Real estate economy, we have to be creative in finding ways to save these venues. So thank you. Thank you. Okay. So I think we're ready to vote. Not quite. Oh, quite. Okay, well, now. Now we get down to the procedures, and I know you're all excited about how this is going to work. I am very much presuming that this is going to be a unanimous vote today. And what's going to happen is that it's going to bias about ten months time to consider how the Showbox property can be included as an interim basis and working toward a more permanent basis to be part of the market. But it's also going to take us some time to get there. The Pike Place Market itself, tenants, board members, many people in the music community, property owners, both people who are living there now and businesses have said that they would like to be part of this. They want to be part of the conversation about how we preserve the shoebox and this and the floor and the wall, as you've talked about, and the stage. So it's not anything that is going to be preserved if it is scraped and then something else is built there and the shoebox is put elsewhere. We have heard that loud and clear. Preserving the shoebox and its history and the cultural value, however, is going to take every tool in our book. And I think that already our historic Seattle. Thank you all for coming today and for getting in the landmark nomination. It was pretty amazing. For those of you who are not here on Wednesday, my committee people are sitting there working through talking about the conversation. Eugenia Wu is sitting there completely poker faced, and at the end of the meeting, we find out that they had submitted a landmark nomination in the middle of it. So we appreciate the fact that it's moving forward. But the plan and this is something I think is really important for people to work on with us together is to explore the potential impacts on the neighbors and the neighborhoods. And I want to get more specific about that. But the impact to the market and the key organizations could be profound. We want to make sure that they've got the time to think this through and what it means. And we've got to rely upon the roles and responsibilities of those who have been engaged in the market for over 50 years now. And it includes our preservation and development authority. I want to recognize that Mary Vaccarello was there on Wednesday, our market historic commission and Friends of the Market. Sarah Payton was there with us as well. The Day Stall Tennis Association, the Market Foundation, the Merchants Association and downtown neighbors and property owners that are around there, the market operations in them. So sells for maintenance, security facilities, the buskers, the events and all that, something that has to be considered as well. Also, just from the standpoint of what we will be looking at, First Avenue mobility is a big deal. Many of you have been listening to this for years about whether we have a First Avenue streetcar, yes or no, what we can do during this. What I love the marketing term of the period of maximum constraint, but freight deliveries are critical for markets, for merchants, for the hotels and residents. And a gentleman that was here from the Newmark mentioned that the alley is critical alleys all through. Whether it's between first and second or second and third are things that we really haven't come to grips with yet. And we're going to be working, continuing and call upon escort to make sure that the transportation mobility all around those blocks is really addressed while we're doing this kind of work. And many of you remember that the pipeline corridor improvements are something that this council has been working on. I don't want to see one of them get behind this other work. I do want to say thanks to my council colleagues, all of you who are here, every one of you have paid attention. You jumped on it. We had an excellent meeting on Wednesday where this came through loud and clear that preserving the shoebox was important. And at the same time, we have affordable housing we're trying to accommodate. We want to include more people in the neighborhood. So that said, the market charter itself are market guidelines. They provide the time tested kind of public processes. I'm looking forward to working with that. And I want to thank my colleague, Councilmember Gonzales. She's putting together a resolution right now that's going to set forth a schedule and how we're going to proceed that will probably be in front of us in September. I want to thank her staff as well, already is working with mine because as we're moving these conversations forward, I can just see that we can expand this conversation to the downtown neighbors as well as to the music community, residents and businesses. So that people see this. We're bringing the collective wisdom to the table, figuring out the best way that we can to preserve the shoebox without negatively impacting the market or in the neighborhood around it. So with that, that's the process you can expect. I want to say thank you. You've got my vote on this. Thank you very much. That's why I'm a skater. Thank you, Mr. President. One of the individuals who came up to testify said that they moved here many years ago and they moved here for the culture. And we have people who are continuing to move here every single day. In our region, we have over a thousand people who moved to our region because of the culture, because of us, the community, because of the environment that we've created and because of our progressive values. And another person who came forward testified to say that past city councils should have taken opportunities to up zone, up zone throughout the city so that we can have housing and density and affordable homes and cultural centers and child care and access to grocery stores. Those are the things that I hope that we can do together, because it doesn't have to be a false dichotomy. We must be able to preserve cultural hubs for individuals to come together, to gather, to either create activism or art or music. And we also we also need to have the ability to afford to live in this city so that those who are performing at the Showbox, those who are cleaning up the buildings, those who are building the buildings, those who are stocking the grocery shelves are taking care of our kiddos. And seniors can afford to live in the city. And right now. And right now, our restrictive zoning laws have focused most of the development to 15% of this city. And when 15% of the city is focused on development. It's no wonder that the cost of housing continues to go up, that folks are being pushed out of the city, that mostly black and brown and low income workers are being pushed out farther and farther and having been too forced to commute, commute to their jobs. And you know what? We want to make sure that this movement continues so that we can do development done right, so we can create affordable housing and more music venues and art centers and childcare facilities and grocery centers. So I want to keep working with you to make sure that we create that density throughout the city so that we can create the homes and the public services and more artistic venues. So we can truly be that creative hub that brought many folks here and that keep many people here. I know it doesn't have to be a false dichotomy. I'm hoping that we can continue to work through this committee and the effort that's been laid out in this new legislation to make sure that we can create an actual win win, because we have to not just say protect this one piece when what we want to do is protect cultural hubs, especially in black and brown communities that don't often have a historic designation. We want more affordable housing for those who are performing and wanting to raise their kiddos here and stay here as seniors on fixed income. So will you work with us to create affordable housing and a cultural center going forward? All right. I look forward to working with you, and I so appreciate all of the activism and I really appreciate you all coming forward. I did have my life changed by another motley concert at the Showbox, although Motley and really I think, you know, it helped that she kind of like me roots in the community and want to continue to be here so looking forward to working with you. Same saving the Showbox. Step one. So Councilmember Gonzalez. Thank you council president serve my remarks are I'm going to be a lot more boring than that and I apologize in advance because I use all my energy already on the first agenda. You know, I just wanted to I just really wanted to talk about what I keep hearing from folks about how much the show box means to them. And I know that there are some people who might be listening to this conversation. I don't know who they are, but there might be some people who listen to this conversation and think about how it's just a building. And and I think that what I hear from the public testimony, from the countless number of people who've been emailing and calling my office, is that this represents much more than just a building. It really is about who we want to continue to be in the future in our city. And we and and it's about taking a position that we value the arts and culture and music community and those who participate in it to be part of our story moving forward, not just in history, but in present and in the future. And I really want to thank you all for just reminding us as a city that that's important. And as as somebody who's who has participated and going to concerts at the Showbox or just going in to get drinks at the Showbox as I'm working my way through downtown and whatnot, I, I understand and appreciate and what this means to our community. And so I'm really proud that we're going to be able to take a step forward now to hit the pause button, really, and to make sure that we send the message to those who want to see the Showbox go away that the Showbox isn't going anywhere. And I'll just I'll just end by by talking a little bit about how I hope we can accomplish creating a path forward to making sure that whatever tool we use to create the greatest opportunity possible to preserve the shoebox through community driven approaches is is a resolution that I'm working to pull together that I'll be working with my colleagues on. I think I think you all should walk away with a sense of understanding and belief that we are unanimous up here on this city council, on this dais, that we need to create as many tools and options and pathways and rooms available to have a conversation about what the appropriate tool is to preserve the shoebox. And I'll be working really closely with my colleagues to do that. But I also want to work closely with a lot of you and with as many of you who are willing to continue to engage over the next several weeks and months to make sure that that that the tool that is chosen is one that is going to be most viable and most workable for everybody who's interested in making sure that we preserve the shoebox within our arts and culture community. So I look forward to working with you on that. For any of you who are interested in continuing to work with me and my office on this, you can reach out to my office and I'm literally one of the most easiest people to find. So just, you know, look, look, look us up. Give us a ring sheet, drop us an email, let us know how you want to be engaged and involved, and we'll keep you posted on making sure that the work plan is one that is going to keep up, keep up the urgency, but also create an opportunity for for the most creative solutions to to win out, to accomplish the common goal that I think we all have here. Thank you. Councilmember suarez. Councilmember war as you have the floor. Thank you. Thank you. Council president. I'm not going to be specifically on point about the Showbox, but I have an overarching theme here that has always concerned me since I've been on Seattle City Council that is with CCI or any of the PDAs or the Design Commission or the Historical Commission. While I appreciate that you're all here and the shoebox is important to you and you all have great memories as a Native American person is indigenous people that are this is our land. People have been deliberate in erasing us and making us invisible. What is more important, from what I heard today in this conversation, I've heard it my whole life is what is history and what is culture? And who gets to decide? Who gets to decide what's important? What is your soul? And I'm here to tell you that the soul of the city are the indigenous people that were here. I'm hoping that when it comes, when we have our issues, that we can count on you to step forward and support us in making us in seeing that we are the indigenous in the original folks here and that our culture and our history has to be represented. And I say this not to be on a down note. I say it because, again, these institutions that were put together, these commissions, these PDAs, these committees, were deliberate in keeping our voices of people like me who don't get to be on these committees and commissions and decide what is culture, what is important, and what is soul. Because I believe that this is Indian country and we should be. Represented across the board. So I'm hoping when some of you come forward and like listening to you today, I was mildly listening about your great memories of coming to Seattle, of your memories of going to a concert there. Imagine people who have been here for time immemorial in which the only thing that shows that we're here is that fake cheese Seattle thing over there and some other issues down in the market. So I'm hoping when the time comes, I can look for your support to talk about what it is to be indigenous and what it is to be representative. And that has that's neither here nor there for me about the Showbox. So I just want to end on that note. Thank you. Councilmember O'Brien. Thank you. I am thrilled to support saving the shoebox today also. Someone said in public comment that what makes Seattle great is change in progress, but not at the expense of things we care about. And obviously. Councilmember Whereas I appreciate your comments about how we decide what that is. But clearly, we've heard resoundingly from the community that saving the shoebox is critically important. And it's amazing to see how many people come together so swiftly around this. And it was great that we've been able to find a legal path to move forward, to put a pause on this, to have further discussion, and to figure out how we can have a long term, permanent solution to saving this shoebox. I really appreciate all my colleagues work on this legislation and excited to go to the next step. So thank you. Thank you. Has asked, why would you like to close debate? Yes. Thanks to all the council members who who've spoken in favor of saving the shoebox and to the council members who participated in the discussion on Wednesday. I also wanted to thank Kittle Freeman and Lesch Watson is right here. These are these are staff members who serve all council members. And they are the ones who worked with my office to develop this ordinance. So they they certainly deserve a big measure of the things. And also, Kirsten arrested central staff director, historic Seattle who've been on the forefront of this from the very beginning. I also wanted to thank all my staff members Doug Vardon, Ellen Anderson, Nick Jones, Sasha Summer Adams and Koski, Jonathan Rosenblum, all of whom who worked on both the EMT resolution and the shoebox ordinance. We weren't expecting all of it to come all at once, but in a way, it has been a beautiful confluence because the shoebox struggle has supported the Mdhhs and the Mdhhs have supported the shoebox. And as you yourself said, it's connected. I also I. Also wanted to thank Joel Sanchez, who's standing there in the back, who's who's a Ph.D. doctoral student, you know, physics doctoral student at U Dub. And I first met him when his union was on strike for a fair contract a few months ago. But he's also happens to be a musician. So he's been on the forefront of the, I should say, the show back struggle as well. And and it really shows that a lot of these issues are connected in our heads and also in reality. You know, nearly 50 years ago, it was a community uproar and community organizing that saved the Pike Place Market. The shoebox is our struggle of our times. So it's really exciting that we will be able to take this first step and then move on to the next one. But also, let's remember, one is we need to come back to organizing. So, you know, please stay in touch with us. Make sure you're signed up on the sign up sheet that my staff have handed out, because we want to make sure we have an organizing meeting in September. But also, let's not stop. There are a lot of people who actually who are affordable housing activists and didn't didn't weren't immediately in tune with what was happening with the shoebox. Have said perceptibly to me that this this this need not just be about the shoebox. We could but we we we will succeed in saving the shoebox. We need to get organized for that further. But but what they said was, interestingly, was that this could be the catalyst for future struggle to build affordable housing. So how awesome would it be if you all became part of the people's budget movement for this year that we will be launching and maybe we can win the Amazon tax that was repealed. Maybe we can win a tax on big business to build affordable housing. Why should we stop at just saving the shoebox? We need affordable. Housing as well. You are. And after this vote, let's keep fighting. Yeah. Okay. Okay. Let's vote. Please call the roll on the passage of the amended bill. Whereas I macheda i. O'Brien. All right, so on. Make sure Gonzalez Herbold i President Harrell high ed in favor and unopposed. Bill passed Cheryl Senate. And. They? So. If you could hear me, Madam Clerk, please call Mother. Please read an agenda. Item number four. Agenda item 41193 ten Williams The City of Sails Volunteer Deferred Compensation Plan. The committee recommends the bill pass. A very quick go. Forward. Yeah. Transition to. Oh. Can take a minute to go down and look. Okay. I'm a little bit what we want to say. I just want to say. I think it's. Okay. As you exit, please. Order restored. So go ahead and read the next gen item. Sure. Ciao. Thank you. Agenda item four Council Vote 1193 ten Relating to the City Seattle's Volunteer Deferred Compensation Plan amending Section 2.5 of the Deferred Compensation Plan to clarify existing immunity from liability for offering certain investment options. The committee recommends the bill passed.