The City Council's public hearing on Triway's proposal to rezone the isthmus will be September 16th, 6:00 to 11:00 PM, at the Washington Center (512 Washington St. SE). At their Monday meeting the council revised the procedures for commenting and testifying at the hearing; the changes are on their website at http://www.ci.olympia.wa.us/newsfaqs/IsthmusRezone.htm. (See my Cliff Notes below...)

They'll also accept written, phone and email comments through September 23. (I haven't checked with them myself but I understand Councilmembers Machlis and Ottavelli have said they're not willing to discuss the issue individually with people, because they're concerned about maintaining the appearance of fairness. I think that everybody else on the Council has said they'd also be willing to talk with people who contacted them directly.)

[Next day's note - BUT it turns out that I should have checked with them myself - one strike for citizen journalism. As you can see from the comments below, people soon said they thought that was wrong. I wrote him to ask, and got a nice note back. He's still happy to talk to people individually about this. My apologies all around for my misinformation.]

Sometime after September 23rd, they'll discuss and vote on the rezone at a regular Council meeting, maybe as soon as September 30th. (Of course, if the new Olympia Capitol Park Foundation initiative requiring a study of the cost of creating a park on that land as an alternative has gathered enough signatures by then so that they legally have to deal with it, that will complicate matters.)

Here's my summary of the details about the new procedures for testimony...

If you'd like to speak for up to three minutes, you'll put a card in a box.. At 5:55 they'll take away that box and draw 40 cards - those people will get to sit in the first 3 rows and talk when testimony starts. At 7:00 they'll stop letting people put cards in the box, and they will draw another 40 names - the second round - and they'll keep drawing groups of forty until they've given everybody who turned a card in by 7:00 a spot in line as part of one of these groups of forty. There will only be time for 75 or so people to speak on the 16th, but if people who submitted cards by 7:00 still want an opportunity to speak, they'll continue the hearing Sunday the 21st, starting at 3; how long that Sunday hearing will run has not been decided..

Another note - they've now added an explicit warning saying that people have no guarantee that anything they send to the Council or to staff will be part of the official public record unless they send a copy to Jan Weydemeyer themselves(or deposit it in a testimony box at the hearing).You can leave phone messages for the Council (360-753-8569), email them (citycouncil@ci.olympia.wa.us) or write to them (P. O. Box 1967, 900 Plum St SE, Olympia, WA 98501). (According to Cathie Butler, they aren't actually changing the way they handle messages, which has been to send copies of what comes in over to the planner in charge so it gets into the record.) But if you want to be sure your stuff about the rezone is in the record, you now officially need to send a copy to Ms. Jan Weydemeyer; Senior Planner, City of Olympia; P O Box 1967; Olympia WA 98507-1967. (Or email jweydeme@ci.olympia.wa.us. Or leave a copy for her at the Community Planning Customer Service Counter; Smith Building; 837 Seventh Avenue; Olympia - around the corner from City Hall.)

Best,
Thad