The item had been added to the council agenda at the request of Mayor Bernie Talmas.

Alexandra Sheeks, assistant to the city manager, later confirmed Phoenix Development met with the city “a few weeks ago” but did not file a permit application.

After a brief overview of the proposed ordinance by City Manager Richard Leahy in his staff report on Tuesday, council adjourned to executive session to discuss potential litigation with legal counsel before a vote was taken.

The executive session was projected to take no more than 30 minutes, but took 90.

Upon council’s return and with no public discussion, Councilmember Susan Boundy-Sanders  immediately moved to pass the ordinance, stating she’d been a longtime defender of residential  neighborhoods and citing a lack of minimum lot sizes written in current city code for R-1(one unit per one acre) neighborhoods.

Councilmember Les Rubstello acknowledged he was a member of the city’s planning commission when  in September it recommended unanimously that council require all residential zones to establish minimum lot sizes.

“However, due to information presented in executive session and the legal risks, I cannot support the moratorium as it’s written,” he said.

Councilmember Scott Hageman said he’d always been in favor of preserving the integrity of Woodinville’s neighborhoods and then recused himself from the vote, citing a “personal legal risk” for himself and his family.

With no further discussion, the vote was passed 4-2, with council members Liz Aspen and Rubstello opposed.

Later during individual council reports, Aspen said the following: “I want to let the public know I do support R-1 zoning ... and I’m sure I’ll get crucified in the blogs ...  A lot was discussed in executive session and none of it we can really share with you ... There’s a lot that the public doesn’t know, as to what influenced our vote ... It was one of the hardest decisions to make.”

And then she added this: “We have a large hole in our code that should’ve been dealt with sooner but was not.”

It was an apparent reference to WMC 21.12.030, which as currently written gives developers the ability to build more units than base density allows, until the council considers the planning commission’s recommendation to revise Title 21, reviews its findings and implements a decision.

A public hearing on the moratorium, enacted for up to six months, is scheduled for March 20, 2012.

In June of 2011 the City of Woodinville and Concerned Neighbors of Wellington (CNW) emerged victorious as the Washington State Supreme Court unanimously overturned a Court of Appeals decision that determined the city illegally denied Phoenix the right to a rezone request in the two land parcels it owns in Wellington.

In 2008, in the first round of litigation, King County Superior Court ruled the city was within its rights to deny the rezone.

Photo courtesy of WF&R. Matt Roodzant, a Woodinville Fire & Rescue firefighter for 14 years, was killled in a car crash last week.

Woodinville Fire & Rescue tragically lost one of its own Thursday, as 14-year firefighter Matt Roodzant was killed in a single-vehicle collision near his home on Camano Island. He was 38.

According to the Washington State Patrol report, Roodzant was speeding and failed to stop his 2003 Dodge Ram at a “T” intersection, crashed through a guardrail before striking a tree at about 10:30 p.m. on Wednesday.

He was transported to Colby Hospital in Everett where he was pronounced dead early Thursday.

According to the report, alcohol was involved.

Roodzant’s passenger Justin Good, 35, was uninjured.

WF&R Interim Fire Chief Mark Chubb said in a media release that Roodzant had been scheduled to work at the time of the accident but traded the second half of his 48-hour shift with a colleague so he could accompany one of his children on a field trip.

“Matt was well-known to his colleagues inside and outside the fire district as a skilled and compassionate firefighter who cared deeply about our citizens’ welfare,” Chubb said. “We are making every effort to see that his family and colleagues are treated as well as he treated the people he served.”

Roodzant joined WF&R in 1998. In addition to his assignment at Station 31, he looked after the maintenance of the district’s self-contained breathing apparatus.

Chubb said his skill and professionalism performing these duties was greatly appreciated by fellow firefighters who rely on the equipment for their survival in hostile environments.

Roodzant is survived by his wife of 15 years, Johanna, and his three children, ages 9, 8 and 5.

Fellow WF&R firefighter David Weed knew his colleague longer and better than most.

“Matt was always the first one to show up to help out a friend,” he said. “This summer I was roofing my house and he unexpectedly showed up, tools in hand, and went to work.

“He loved his family more than anything. He was such a patient father and enjoyed telling anyone who would listen about his wife and children.

“Matt was such a great part of the fire department family and will be greatly missed. His personality lit up the room and we all enjoyed working alongside of him. He was a hard worker, loved helping people and was a great friend and brother to all.”

A memorial service will be held at 12:30 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 3, at Northshore Christian Church in Everett.

(L-R:) Josh Byland, Mike Neill, Nate Kim, Mitch Byland and Drew Byland stand in front of the 15-foot giant snowman they built.

Four days of steady snow iced over by freezing temperatures are now just a memory, but the rain is forecasted to stick around all week with the threat of flooding throughout the Northshore region.

In terms of flood preparedness, Woodinville has sandbags stockpiled in several key locations around the city, the source said.

“But the biggest thing during the melt and the rain is if people can just go out and clear their storm drains of snow and debris, that would be a huge help.”

The city of Kenmore has made sandbags available to its residents, deployed at five designated locations for use during the flood season.

Residents are responsible for the pickup and placement of sandbags on their property. Please notify the city prior to taking sandbags by calling (425)398-8900 or email cityhall@kenmore. gov.

This will allow the city to track the number of sandbags used so that the locations can be resupplied.

Sandbag locations are as follows: Near Kenmore Elementary at NE 192nd Street & 73rd Ave. NE; Old Kenmore Park& Ride at 18201 68th Ave. NE; Rhododendron Park at 6910 NE 170th Street; Log Boom Park at 60th Ave. NE & NE 175th Street; Arrowhead Drive at 67th Ave. NE & NE 155th Street.

Under City Manager Richard Leahy’s direction, staff identified four major issues it suggested be discussed by council: establishing a sustainable financial plan; clarifying the role of city government; establishing an attractive business environment; and building strategic infrastructure.

Regarding financial stability, staff’s No. 1 priority is to avoid new taxes — a presumed no-brainer to all seven elected council representatives and to residents throughout.

Staff suggested adding new programs and/or employees only happen when an ongoing, sustainable funding stream has been identified and secured.

It suggested to diversify the general fund by securing one or more reliable revenue streams, another no-doubter.

Clarifying the role of city government — or at least attempting to, staff said the city routinely changes its role when there is a shift in elected leadership, and so it proceeded.

Staff is asking the council to identify its desire to discontinue or reduce existing programs and services, or to expand and/or establish any new ones.

“There are numerous worthy and beneficial programs and services the city can provide, however, we  cannot be everything to everyone,” staff wrote in its report.

In respect to establishing an attractive business environment, staff wrote the following: “We have heard Woodinville characterized as ‘anti-business.’

“Sometimes these comments are directed at city employees, other times they are directed at city council, the community, or our regulations.”

Given its current and future financial projections, the report said, it’s important that the city have stable conditions in place to proceed, to attract the type and “magnitude” of development it desires.

“We should discuss the potential impacts of making continual changes in our development regulations to determine whether they correctly position us to be competitive in attracting development to Woodinville.”

In regard to building strategic infrastructure, staff touched upon fulfilling transportation promises: widening Woodinville-Duvall Road as well as the Sammamish Bridge and the trestle and expanding downtown grid roads to alleviate the existing and burgeoning traffic problems that the city continues to endure.