Tacoma City Business Preview - Week of October 28, 2014

This week the City Council could ask the state to make bans on fortified beer and wine mandatory for Tacoma's West End Alcohol Impact Area, and the Council will spend some time discussing budgets for some specific City departments. A couple of items on this week's Council meeting agenda could also impact historic preservation in Tacoma - one would add four properties, including three schools, to the Historic Register, and another could give the City additional tools to protect derelict buildings from further deterioration.

Budget Work Session

This week's City Council study session will be a budget work session. The Council will hear presentations on and discuss budgets for the Tacoma Public Library, the Community and Economic Development Department, and the Neighborhood and Community Services Department. The work session will be televised live on TV Tacoma, so you can follow along at home.

Another post-budget proposal public meeting is planned for this week as well. The regional meeting for Central, South, and Eastside Tacoma is scheduled for this Thursday, October 30 from 6 to 8 p.m. at Lincoln High School.

Historic Landmarks

A resolution on this week's regular Council meeting agenda would put four properties, three elementary school buildins and one private residence, on the Tacoma Register of Historic places. 

The schools, McKinley Hill Elementary School located at 3720 McKinley Avenue, Oakland Elementary School located at 3319 South Adams Street, and Hoyt Elementary School located at 2708 North Union, were nominated by Historic Tacoma for inclusion on the list. Historic Tacoma considers the buildings "high priority" based on their architecture and/or their architects, era, and association with educational and social trends of the time. The school district "remains neutral" on the matter.

The private residence, the Shaw House located at 2500 North Lawrence Street, was nominated by its owners. It was the home of Tacoma architect Stanley T. Shaw, and contains examples of his work.

West End Alcohol Impact Area

The ordinance that would make the now voluntary West End Alcohol Impact Area permanent and mandatory is on this week's agenda for a final reading. The AIA imposes restrictions on the off-premises sale of certain low-cost, high-alcohol beverages in the area, in an effort to reduce chronic public inebriation. At the first reading of the ordinance last week we heard a lot of support for the move from West End and Central Tacoma residents, countered by a little push-back from beer and wine distributors.

Minimum Building & Structures Code

Over the past several months City staff has been working with stakeholders to overhaul the City's Minimum Building and Structures Code. The code, last updated in 2013, was adopted to preserve Tacoma’s existing building stock and provide tools for minimum building standards and enforcement. 

An ordinance up for a first reading this week would repeal Chapter 2.01 of the Tacoma Municipal Code, and re-enact the chapter with changes providing consistency with state and national codes, allowing for abatement under the substandard property section, and adding a section on derelict building registration. Changes to the Sub-standard property section would give the City an option to abate substandard conditions. The changes would also add an additional tool for holding property owners accountable by instituting a registration requirement for derelict buildings with a Certificate of Complaint. We look forward to hearing more about these proposed changes.

Other Items

A resolution on this week's City Council meeting consent agenda would set Monday, November 17, 2014, at 5:00 p.m., as the date for a hearing by the Hearing Examiner regarding the formation of a Local Improvement District for the placement of new asphalt and other improvements on Proctor Street from North 38th Street north to the dead end. The existing street improvements date back to a 1912 LID, so it's no surprise that they're in need of replacement. The residents included in the LID would partner with the City, which is replacing water and wastewater mains on these blocks, to repave the streets, while leaving the existing brick gutters and concrete curbs intact.

November 2014 will be proclaimed as Hip Hop History Month, and November 1, 2014 will be proclaimed as Job Carr Day in Tacoma.

At this week's meeting there will also be a presentation from the Tacoma Firefighters Local 31 to the Muscular Dystrophy Association.

A resolution on this week's regular Council meeting agenda would give 3.2 acres of saltwater tidelands property on the Hood Canal in Mason County to the Skokomish Tribe, in exchange for perpetual use of a nearby portion of tribal property. Tacoma Public Utilities, which owns the 3.2 acres, needs to build a hatchery, for which it needs the use of a portion of the tribe's lands. There were no objections to the deal raised at the public hearing on October 14.

Another resolution on this week's agenda would authorize a Memorandum of Understanding with the Puyallup Tribe for cooperation and construction on street overlay work and paving of an alley in the area of the 3100 block of East Roosevelt Avenue and Wright Avenue. The Tribe will pay for the alley work around its facilities and residential areas. 

An ordinance scheduled for a first reading this week would amend the Tacoma Municipal Code to make corrections to wages improperly calculated in an ordinance passed on August 12.