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HomeMy WebLinkAbout02-09-1998MINUTES OF PLANNING AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE FEBRUARY 9, 1998 The regular meeting of the Planning and Community Development Committee was held February 9, 1998 in the Council Work Area. Those members in attendance were as follows: MEMBERS PRESENT: Trish Borden, Sue Singer, and Pete Lewis STAFF PRESENT: Paul Krauss, Lynn Rued, A1 Hicks, Bill Mandeville, Shirley Schultz, Dick Deal, and Patricia Zook ALSO PRESENT: Mayor Booth The meeting was called to order by Committee Chair Borden at 7:30 p.m. 1. Ordinance 5065 - CDBG Budget 1998-99 Program Year Senior Planner Hicks introduced Associate Planner Schultz and described her duties. Associate Planner Schultz presented the staff report. Councilmember Singer made a motion, seconded by Councilmember Lewis, to recommend approval of the Ordinance. Chairman Borden concurred. 2. Consolidated Plan Senior Planner Hicks suggested discussing the Consolidated Plan and affordable housing together and then provided a history of each. He mentioned previous documents called the Housing Assistance Plan and the Comprehensive Housing Affordability Strategy (CHAS). The Clinton administration developed the Consolidated Plan for five year period with annual updates. He then mentioned various housing acts such the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974. He distributed an Appendix 7 document. Associate Planner Mandeville distributed the Annual Performance Report of the Consolidated Plan. Councilmember Lewis said the Consolidated Plan received a thorough review by the Committee at a previous meeting and was sent on to the Council. The Council then sent the Plan back to the Committee for additional information. The additional information had to do with the objective under Housing Affordability Strategies on page 98 6-4. He wondered why the additional information was distributed tonight. Associate Planner Mandeville spoke about the requirements of the Consolidated Plan which is an application for CDBG funding. He read a paragraph from a HUD document relating to housing to be provided. The Consolidated Plan is a five year plan. Councilmember Lewis referred to the objective on page 98-6-4 and suggested that this objective be reworded. He wanted to know the specific amount of housing to be created each year. Associate Planner Mandeville said the City does not track the amount of this kind of housing that is created. Councilmember Lewis expressed concern about setting a goal that cannot be tracked. He stressed that the objective needs to be measurable. Chairman Borden agreed that a clarification of the 1,800 housing units figure is necessary. She wanted to know if the amount was for new units or for low income. Associate Planner Mandeville said the housing unit figure is measurable and tangible per HUD requirements. He used the same planning assumptions from the Comprehensive Plan to draft the Consolidated Plan and based these on build out capacity. Auburn has enough space and zoning to provide the 1,800 units. The build out capacity is greater than the actual figure. Councilmember Lewis wanted to clarify that there is no feasible way to know from 1995 to 2000 the number of units created for low income. He believes it is reasonable to know the number. Associate Planner Mandeville said there is probably a way to count. He referred to Strategy 1-7, Inventory and PAGE I MINUTES OF PLANNING AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE FEBRUARY 9, 1998 Tracking, on page 98 6-4 and read the paragraph. Councilmember Lewis said there is a problem if that figure cannot be changed. Associate Planner Mandeville is looking at the annual plan which is based on several analyses. They must justify a lot of changes made to the plan. Councilmember Lewis pointed out that the City Council's objection was to the 1,800 units by the year 2000. Chairman Borden sees a problem with promoting development of this many units. It assumes that all housing developed will be low income. Planning Director Krauss said the 1,800 units is based on a build out capacity of 20 years. The City is not building any where near this number of units. Chairman Borden stressed that she does not want all development to be low income. Councilmember Singer suggested adding wording relating to build out capacity over a number of years to the paragraph. Chairman Borden asked why the City has to accept the 37% figure. Senior Planner Hicks advised that the 37% figure is in the County-wide Planning Policies and Growth Management Act. Chairman Borden referred to graphs in the Consolidated Plan and recommended that Associate Planner Mandeville go through the numbers again. Mayor asked about the time for approval of the Plan. Associate Planner Mandeville provided information on the timing. Chairman Borden said the Plan could be moved on to the City Council on the condition that Associate Planner Mandeville review the numbers. Planning Director Krauss said that staff will use next week to rationalize the numbers. Associate Planner Mandeville informed the Committee that the Plan will have to be rewritten next year because in the year 2000 the City Block Grant year will become based on the calendar year. He anticipates a major rewrite in 1999. Chairman Borden stressed that Council is concerned about developing 1,800 low income housing units in the near future. She emphasized the need for the numbers to be more realistic. Planning Director Krauss provided information on the formula used to develop the number of units needed. When the housing projections were developed for planning under the GAM, the projection was that the City would have approximately 7,000 new units by 2012. However, development of these units would not occur uniformly. Population was tied to employment projections. The SuperMall, the racetrack, and casino caused the population projects to reflect a substantial increase in growth between 1995 and 2000 with growth tapering off in subsequent years. Population projects correlated to employment expectations which led to the projected number of new units to be developed to be highest between 1995 and 2000. The 1,811 affordable housing units in the Consolidated Plan reflected 37% of the total projected units to be developed between 1995 and 2000. The actual number of total units developed between 1995 and 2000 will be substantially less than the projected number of units. The City now has actual data on the total number of new units created in 1995, 1996, and 1997. The Committee suggested the number of affordable housing units proposed in the annual update should provide a more accurate correlation to the actual number of units being developed. Senior Planner Hicks said that according to HUD, changing the number of units represents a material change, and the City has to extend the comment period. Associate Planner Mandeville suggested scheduling another public hearing and then pass the resolution. Chairman Borden directed that the paragraph be revised, the call for public hearing at the February 17 meeting, and the public hearing held on March 2. The Committee agreed. Lakeland Zoning The Committee tabled this item to the February 23ra meeting. PAGE 2 MINUTES OF PLANNING AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE FEBRUARY 9, 1998 Human Services Roundtable Senior Planner Hicks informed the Committee that the City's membership with this organization is up for renewal. He provided a brief background on the organization. Staffwould like the City Council to have an opportunity to review the work of the organization and its budget for 1997 and 1998. He wanted to know if Council wishes to continue membership in the Roundtable. Mayor stated that the Suburban Cities Association (SCA) has become very active and is in a way replacing the activities performed by the Roundtable. He wondered if the City is using the money provided to Roundtable as wisely as possible. He suggested the Committee review the budget and make a recommendation whether to continue membership or not. He is unsure if the Roundtable is as effective as it could be. Senior Planner Hicks mentioned that over the last 10 years the Roundtable had reached a high point and is now declining in its effectiveness. Last year a considerable amount of money was paid to consultants to perform work. He pointed out the expense in retaining consultants over a 10 year period. He believes the amount earmarked for "Best Practices" is expensive. Mayor said that if the City decides to participate in 1998, the Roundtable should be put on notice that 1998 is the City's last membership year. Chairman Borden reviewed the work plan and budget and does not see any real outcomes to justify the budget. She believes the SCA could use the contribution much more wisely. She mentioned concerns about consultants working instead of staff. Councilmember Lewis made a motion, seconded by Councilmember Singer, to instruct the Mayor to forward a letter to the Roundtable. Affordable Housing Associate Planner Schultz distributed a HUD 1997 income guidelines for King County spreadsheet and a sheet listing the home sales in Auburn in January, 1998. She indicated that the def'mition of affordable housing includes mobile home parks and King County sponsored housing. Affordable housing is percentage of income; low income is 50% and 80% is moderate. Senior Planner Hicks advised that HUD recently changed its terminology describing the income designations, but retained the income designations in funding criteria. Councilmember Lewis wanted a clarification of what HUD says; what Auburn calls low HUD calls low to moderate. Associate Planner Schultz indicated that when the Consolidated Plan was written 1994, 80% was the number used. The average affordable house in Auburn is $150,000. Chairman Borden said this brings up the question of where the 1,800 housings units are to come from. Councilmember Singer stressed the need to keep the existing affordable housing viable for first time home buyers. Councilmember Lewis wanted to know if the figures will be changed. Library Site Plan Review Parks and Recreation Director Deal introduced Matthew Stennard, architect with Olson Sundberg; David Kunselman, Project Manager, King County Library System; and Bill Ptasek, Director, King County Library System, and gave background information on the library which is now part of the King County Library System (KCLS). They are working with the architect to bring the site plan forward. He wanted to keep the Committee up to speed on the site plan which was ref'med. He is seeking the Committee's comments. PAGE 3 MINUTES OF PLANNING AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE FEBRUARY 9, 1998 Earlier tonight, a presentation was made before the Public Works Committee. They plan to take the site plan to full City Council next week to get an agreement and proceed with the bid. Library constructions costs are increasing each month. They hope to open the new library in 1999. Matthew Stennard, architect with Olson Sundberg, showed a diagram of the site and spoke of negotiations to get additional property on Auburn Way South. He mentioned proposed improvements to "J" Street. He then showed another diagram of schematic design with proposed landscaping and pointed out land acquired for entry to site on Auburn Way South. He then pointed out parking areas and where additional landscaping is required. He showed exterior details such as a collonaide at front of building, and pointed out various rooms such as the after-hours community multi use purpose room. He then showed a diagram of the south elevation and pointed out the entryway. King County Library System Director Ptasek person reported that the Library Board came up with an additional one-half million dollars for construction. Mr. Stennard showed another elevation of view from the wading pool and pointed out the four foot overhangs on the building to protect the building and also gives the building an elegant look. He stressed that they are working on incorporating more window glazing in the building. He then displayed the north elevation and pointed out location of windows to provide balanced soft lighting. King County Library System Director Ptasek said that too much lighting creates problems with glare on the computers, lets in too much heat and cold, and loss of storage along walls. He mentioned the need to look at other possibilities of acquiring property along Auburn Way South, but this is not feasible now. He stressed moving forward with the project as it is now and the possibility of acquiring property on Auburn Way South in the future. Parks and Recreation Director Deal agreed that additional access to the library from Auburn Way South would be ideal. As it is now, a visitor does not get a good view of the park and library from the road. He affirmed that "J" Street will probably become the access of choice. He mentioned improvements planned for "J" Street in order to provide better access. He spoke about signage to direct visitors to the library. He noted that the library will be part of a very nice community complex. Councilmember Singer spoke of concerns about pedestrian access from Auburn Way South. Using one of the diagrams, Stennard pointed out a sidewalk. Councilmember Lewis believes the majority of users of the library will access the area via "J" Street. New Auburn residents will access the library from Auburn Way South. Parks and Recreation Director Deal stressed that signage at the intersection will direct people to "J" Street access. Steve Mullen, Traffic Engineer, thinks the signage will work well. He showed the location of the relocated Metro bus stop. A discussion occurred on the possible locations for the Metro bus stop due to revised access on "J" Street. Councilmember Singer asked for additional information on the on truss system. Stennard said the trusses are factory built as opposed to custom built, and they will work with the manufacture to make sure the trusses look as good as possible and are uniform in design. King County Library System Director Ptasek said that the trusses will enable the library to have a large open area for flexibility because they do not want poles supporting the ceiling. Parks and Recreation Director Deal informed Committee that the Public Works Committee talked about eliminating the pedestrian crossing light and installing a four-way light which is hard to do because of the traffic pattern on Auburn Way South. Councilmember Lewis said that he likes the change in signage and additional windows. PAGE 4 MINUTES OF PLANNING AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE FEBRUARY 9, 1998 With no King County Library System Director Ptasek mentioned increase use of the library since the operation was taken over by King County Library System on January 1 st. Parks and Recreation Director Deal said the plan is to bring the site plan forward to City Council at their next meeting as a consent item. King County Library System Director Ptasek stressed how critical it is to keep the library On the fast track because of cost escalation. Councilmember Lewis made a motion, seconded by Councilmember Singer, to add the matter to the Council's next consent agenda for the February 17th meeting. Chairman Borden concurred. "Around the Block" Newsletter No discussion occurred on this agenda item. Other Business Planning Director Krauss provided information relating to the latest Growth Management Hearings Board Action. He then provided information relating to a telephone call he received from a King County staff person which dealt with the Academy Drive road issue and the Muckleshoot amphitheater. He then spoke about what the City's next steps would be. further items to come before the Committee, the meeting was adjourned at 9:30 p.m. PCDCLMINX2A-98 PAGE 5