Councilmember Patricia Holten

At her first 2026 meeting of the Richland City Council, newly-elected Councilmember Patricia Holten indicated that a long learning curve may lie ahead of her. She tried to abstain on a vote to eliminate parking minimums, an issue that has been discussed for months and primarily affects her neighborhood.

Mayor Theresa Richardson, re-elected to the position earlier in the meeting, may have some learning to do too. She wants to replace the word “nuclear” with other words in some documents in Richland, a city that was once referred to in the region as the “Atomic City.”

Richardson takes long-time friend Holten under her wing.

By seating Holten on her right side, Richardson appeared to have taken her good friend Holten under her wing. During the discussion on whether to allow developers to decide how much parking they needed in north Columbia Point and the central Richland area where Holt lives, Richardson asked, “Councilmember Holt, I know that this is your first meeting. Do you have a comment? Don’t feel like you have to weigh in but if you do….”

Holten  responded, “I’ll weigh in. Yes, it’s a bit overwhelming.” Holten went on the say that she was conflicted about the change.

Holten and Richardson quietly discuss an abstention

Later, in a quiet discussion between them, Holten said she wanted to abstain from voting on eliminating parking minimums.

Richardson replied that abstentions were not allowed. Holten then followed Richardson, who supported the change, and voted yes.

A new state law pushed Richland along.

Senate Bill 5184, passed in the 2025 session of the Washington State Legislature and signed into law, pushed the city along. The new state law prohibits cities from requiring more than 0.5 parking spaces for new multifamily units or more than one parking space per new single family home. Parking requirements for commercial use were also reduced. The changes will apply in all the Tri-Cities.

Richland’s code had required a minimum of 1.5 parking spaces for multi-family units and 1 for a studio and 2 spaces for a single family home.

A consultant and months of discussion on the parking issue

The  council had hired a consultant to advise them on parking minimums before the state made the change, and councilmembers had discussed the issue for months.

Since Councilmember Kurt Maier was first elected in 2023, he had been pushing the council to eliminate the parking minimums city-wide and allow developers to decide how much parking they needed. During a discussion about a ten-story building proposed for the Columbia River waterfront in north Columbia Point, Maier pointed out that under the city code, valuable city property would have to be paved over for parking.

Maier said that he would support the compromise position to eliminate minimums in the central business area of Richland and north Columbia Point but would continue to work to extend it to the rest of the city.

Councilmember Shayne VanDyke, in perhaps the only time that he has taken a different position than Richardson’s since he was appointed to the city council in 2022, voted no. Councilmembers Jhoanna Jones and Ryan Whitten voted yes. By a vote of 5 to 1, in a small section of Richland, developers can decide how many parking places they need.

Taking “nuclear” off of Richland documents

During her comments at the end of the meeting, Richardson said she would like to propose changing the word “nuclear” to “advanced energy manufacturing” in documents before the state legislature. Even her most loyal fellow councilmembers and staff seemed to be having heartburn over that.

Richardson explained , “I’ve tried to have conversations, especially with people on the west side, and you start off with saying that word nuclear and it’s like they had an immediate meltdown. It’s difficult to continue the conversation at that point.”

RIchardson admitted that she hadn’t talked to many leaders in the area about a change in wording. “I have reached out to Senator Boehnke with this proposal, and he agreed with it,” she said.

VanDyke, who had just been made mayor pro tem with Richardson’s support, treaded carefully. He pointed out that there was area-wide support for the wording but suggested perhaps the city could make a change on its own documents.

“Mayor, I think just a clarifying question. So for example, we have our legislative priority materials, and I think that’s really what we’re narrowing down on.”

VanDyke punted the discussion to City Manager Jon Amundson, “I’m interested in Jon’s thoughts.”

Amundson, who received a 5.5% raise from the council in December said, “A good start is the legislative priorities that could be done very quickly, and something that we could have available when we go over and have discussions with elected officials from throughout the state.” 

Amundson added, “We do have a strong nuclear industry in the area….it’s part of our heritage.”

A video of the meeting is available on Richland City View.