The Normandy Park City Council meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2025, addressed a range of important community issues, from the future of public transit to concerns about fireworks safety.

King County Metro presented upcoming changes to bus routes in anticipation of the Federal Way light rail extension, emphasizing the need for community input through an ongoing survey.

Residents voiced strong support for a permanent fireworks ban, citing fire safety concerns as the natural environment becomes more arid.

Additionally, the council approved updates to the city’s fee schedule, including adjustments to preschool tuition and streamlining of pet licensing procedures, and addressed other business including shoreline property acquisition and a new appointment to the Arts Commission.

King County Metro: Route Changes Coming

Council heard a presentation on planned changes to public transit in the area, once the light rail connection to Federal Way is complete. Presenters from King County Metro said 22 current bus routes will be affected by the regional change, beginning in fall of 2026. Planners are currently undergoing equity analysis to try to keep the transit system as convenient for those who use it as possible. There is a survey they are hoping all transit users will complete, available at this link. As one presenter said, “We want to redesign routes so that people will use them, and we can only do that if people tell us what they want.”

Planned changes include improvements to overall travel time, east/west connections, better early morning and late night service, and consistent Saturday & Sunday coverage. There are of course trade-offs, including the removal of ten peak-only routes. Of these ten routes, nine are already suspended; only one, the 177, is an active route that will be discontinued. More information is available at the above link.

Requests For Fireworks Ban

Two people spoke during Public Comments, both imploring Council to permanently ban fireworks in the city. They said Normandy Park is the only city for many miles that allows fireworks, and with increasing dryness from global warming, accidental fires will only become more frequent and widespread. They mentioned the fires currently devastating the city of Los Angeles, to illustrate the issue.

One speaker said the nature that surrounds Normandy Park homes is one of the city’s biggest assets, and it needs to be protected against the dangers of fireworks. A 2023 house fire was also mentioned. They said this fire was started by kids using “safe & sane” fireworks in the street. One firework went unnoticed across the road, and started a fire that nearly burned down a home, endangering several residents.

Fee Schedule Updates

Changes to the city’s fee schedule were made to better reflect costs. For example, preschool tuition will increase by 4%. The pet licensing process will be streamlined to reduce staff time. Pet tags will only be issued at the initial licensing, with simple renewal to take place each year thereafter. This brings Normandy Park in line with how things are done in surrounding cities.

The very low compliance with pet licensing was discussed, and even whether it was worth the effort of getting people to license their pets at all. It was explained that for both the issue of rabies vaccination and police needing to identify wayward pets, the licensing of pets is likely to continue to be required. They decided to put something in the City Scene Magazine about the importance of compliance with this law.

Other Business

Council created an ad hoc committee for shoreline property acquisition. They also went into executive session briefly to discuss the acquisition of two properties, and agreed on an offer that will be made for the properties.

Lisa Alexander was newly appointed to the Arts Commission.