On Tuesday, 2/13, at 6:30pm, Redmond City Council will vote to approve the transfer of public land to Plymouth Housing and allow a low-barrier homeless building in downtown Redmond (16725 Cleveland Street, Redmond), only half a mile away from Redmond Elementary School.
The Plymouth homeless housing project was denied by City of Kenmore on January 22, 2024. City of Redmond immediately jumped in the next day and quickly moved to bring the Plymouth project to downtown Redmond. Residents at Kenmore accused Plymouth of “bait and switch“, and after several lengthy public comment meetings, Kenmore City Council voted 5 to 2 to deny the Plymouth project.
In contrast, City of Redmond purposefully hid the entire project from the public. The council had a behind-the-door Executive meeting on 2/6, then scheduled a special meeting on 2/13 to vote on approving the land transfer and allowing the Plymouth homeless project to proceed. In the city’s council agenda, the meeting is vaguely labeled as “Approval of Proposed Land Transfer to Plymouth Housing Development”. There is no mention of the homeless project at all!
Besides transferring the $5.5 million (purchased price) worth of public land to Plymouth for free, City of Redmond also needs to contribute an additional $3 million to Plymouth.
At the council meeting after the Executive meeting on 2/6, Councilmember Anderson raised her objection. She said, “…we have not had adequate time to consider as the council the outcomes of what this would look like. This is sort of like a surprise decision and action. I do not believe we should step in and be the hero.”
If you think that Redmond City Council should schedule public hearings to allow voters and residents of Redmond to weigh in before any decision is made, and vote NO on the “Proposed Land Transfer to Plymouth Housing Development” at the Tuesday, 2/13, special meeting, please show up at 15670 NE 85th St., Redmond on Tuesday, 2/13, at 6:30pm. Please sign up below so that we can estimate how many will participate.