FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

December 10, 2024 

MEDIA CONTACT

Stephen Antupit, Staff Liaison, SAntupit@cityoftacoma.org, (253) 381-5195 
 

City Council Appoints Seven Members to New Urban Design Board

-- Newly Established Board Will Hold First Meeting in January 2025 --

TACOMA, Wash. – The City Council today voted to appoint all seven members of the inaugural Urban Design Board (UDB). The seven new board members were selected from a competitive candidate pool of more than two dozen applicants. Each of the new board members will officially begin their term of service on January 1, and the board will hold its first meeting later that month. 

Establishing the UDB was part of a legislative package approved by the Tacoma City Council in May 2024 with new codes and regulations that guide and shape large-scale developments in Tacoma’s 16 Mixed-Use Centers (Ordinance 28966). The UDB has three core functions that support Tacoma’s vision for a built environment that is well-designed, functional, and culturally expressive: 

• The UDB provides early concept design guidance and make final design decisions for specific Urban Design Project Review (UDPR) permits.  
• The Board provides valuable advisory input to the City of Tacoma on matters related to urban design.  
• The Board serves as an educational resource to the community and an advocate for design excellence, benefiting all of Tacoma and its community members. 

Urban Design Board Members

Clara Cheeves works with design, planning, and policy centered around the correlation between the built environment and the physical, mental, and social well-being of people and ecology. Drawing upon her knowledge of urban design and planning, as well as urban agriculture and early childhood development, Clara works collaboratively to move in directions that are based on local lived experience and knowledge. 

Stephanie Gowing is Absher Construction's Director of Sustainability. A results-oriented sustainability leader with 14+ years of experience, she oversees Absher’s internal climate commitments and reduction strategies and empowers project teams to implement cost-effective and environmentally responsible construction solutions. Stephanie is experienced in life-cycle assessment methodologies, construction waste reduction strategies, and green building certification requirements. 

Krystal Monteros advocated for eight years on the Tacoma Area Commission on Disabilities and served as Chair for four of those years. Krystal is co-founder of Empower Movement of WA and also currently serves on the board for the Center For Independence. 

Deborah Ranniger, Ph.D. has extensive professional experience in landscape architecture, urban planning and design, and elected experience, serving 12 years as a council member for the city of Kent, WA. Now retired and living in District 4, she is a writer, co-editor of a cultural newsletter, a published writer and artist and looks forward to sharing her expertise on the many aspects of urban design with the City of Tacoma’s new Urban Design Board. 

Chris Reeh is an architect based out of the McKinley Hill neighborhood with experience at Mithun and Graham Baba Architects in Seattle. Chris brings broad expertise in sustainable and innovative design as a LEED accredited professional, dedicated to sustainable and human-scale urban development. 

Brett Santhuff is a Senior Project Architect with McGranahanPBK, where he focuses on educational design and civic projects.  He believes in the potential for good design and planning to improve our city and served previously on Tacoma’s Planning Commission.  Brett has also been involved with both the Neighborhood Council program and landmarks nominations and advocacy. 

Jennifer Weddermann has been a resident of the Tacoma area for 25 years, and has owned Weddermann Architecture, PLLC, for 15 years. She is passionate about the city, its residents, its architecture and culture, and the vitality of downtown. 

The UDB will meet monthly starting in January 2025. All meetings are open to the public, either in-person or virtually. Meeting notices, agendas, and other UDB information will be available at cityoftacoma.org/UrbanDesignBoard.  

Additional information about the City’s new UDPR program and how the process works is available at cityoftacoma.org/urbandesignreview.    

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