MUKILTEO—Former Mukilteo City Council President Bob Champion sent an email to the Mukilteo City Council on Tuesday, October 1, urging them to “table” the upcoming controversial October 7 vote to rezone the Harbour Pointe Tech Center property from business to multifamily residential to make way for a proposed 200-unit high-density housing complex.
In that email, Champion called the arguments to rezone the property by local politicians “very weak and hyperbolic” adding that if the council “caves to [the developers] recommendation, the character of Mukilteo will be changed forever.”
“I would urge this council to table this vote until such time as a review and modification of the Comprehensive Plan is accomplished and a thorough understanding of the potential impact to Sector 3 and the entire Harbour Pointe master planned community are deliberated and well understood,” wrote former Mukilteo Councilman Bob Champion in an email to the council on Tuesday.
Champion commended Mukilteo Councilman Tom Jordal for authoring a recent September 25 article published in a local newspaper, particularly concerning his request for residents to consider the likely consequences of approving or denying the rezone request, agreeing that it is important to understand and assess likely outcomes over the next decade.
In Jordal’s article, he mentioned three possible outcomes if the request to rezone the Harbour Pointe Tech Center were denied by the council:
- Scenario 1: The facility continues as an industrial park with increased utilization.
- Scenario 2: The property is developed with fewer number of residential units than currently proposed.
- Scenario 3: The property is developed with a higher number of residential units than currently proposed due to HB-1110 passed by the legislature in 2023 and supported by Mukilteo’s state delegation.
However, Champion noted in his email to the council on October 1 that two out of three of Council Vice President Jordal’s assumed outcomes if the rezone request were denied were “moot” as these would only be scenarios if the council were to approve the rezone. In other words, scenarios two and three are only possible if the council approves the rezone which it is not legally obligated to rezone.
What is a Motion to Table?
To table an item in the United States usually means to postpone or suspend consideration of the pending item without debate or discussion and requires a simple majority to pass. If the item is not taken from “the table” by the end of the last Business meeting within three months of the motion, it is considered dead. A two-thirds majority is required to “kill” a motion at the time it is tabled.
Although the motion to table is not debatable, the presiding officer of the meeting may ask the maker of the motion to state the reason in order to establish the urgency and legitimate intent of the motion or the maker can state it on his/her own initiative when declaring the request to table. According to Robert’s Rules of Order New Revised, the motion to table can be made only when there is a different topic that has “immediate urgency.”
A councilmember can motion to Take from the Table as long as it is made in the current meeting or the next regular meeting, and as long as that next meeting isn’t more than three months in the future.
To kill a motion—to remove any possibility that the item can come back for more discussion or a vote at the current meeting—one needs to move to postpone the motion indefinitely which is debatable and is passed by a simple majority.
Harbour Heights rezone controversary
Over one hundred residents attended Mukilteo City Council’s Regular Meeting on Monday, September 16, to voice their opposition to the rezoning of the Harbour Pointe Tech Center property to a 200-unit multifamily residential project.
Concerns raised during that meeting included opposition to high-density, protection of known Bald Eagle nests near the construction site, traffic congestion, legal concerns, as well as having the proposed facility block views to the Puget Sound which many neighboring homeowners said were a selling point when they purchased their homes years ago.
The voting action by the city council was postponed to Monday, October 7, given a mishap by the city in sending out adequate notices of the public hearing four days into its required 10-day lead-time. The action to delay was in response to a letter sent by Telegin Law on behalf of Sundance Homeowners Association to the City on September 13, urging the council to postpone its public hearing.
The Harbour Pointe Tech Center property is currently zoned as a Business Park and designated as “Industrial” on the City of Mukilteo’s current Comprehensive Plan. The surrounding land is currently zoned as MR22 which allows for up to 22 homes per acre.
Nevada-based Tri Pointe Homes applied to rezone the Harbour Pointe Tech Center from Business Park to Multifamily Residential-High Density/Multiple Residential (MR) on April 4, 2024, which would amend the City of Mukilteo’s current Comprehensive Plan.
The vote to rezone the property is scheduled for Mukilteo City Council’s meeting this upcoming Monday, October 7.
Related Article(s)
- Mukilteo residents in mass testify against Harbour Pointe Tech rezone
- Public uproar over rezoning of business park to high-density housing in Mukilteo
