HomeMy WebLinkAbout02-23-1998MINUTES OF PLANNING AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE
FEBRUARY 23, 1998
The regular meeting of the Planning and Community Development Committee was held February 23, 1998 in the
Council Work Area. Those members in attendance were as follows:
MEMBERS PRESENT: Trish Borden, Sue Singer, and Pete Lewis
STAFF PRESENT: Lynn Rued, Dick Deal, and Patricia Zook
ALSO PRESENT: Mayor Booth; Mary Urback, representative for Dieringer School District;
Bob Poldervart, Deputy Superintendent for Auburn School District
The meeting was called to order by Committee Chair Borden at 6:00 p.m.
PUBLIC HEARING:
1. WSC00032-97 - Schneider Homes, Inc.
Chair Borden opened the public hearing.
BS presented the staff report. Schneider Homes is requesting water and sewer availability certificates for
approximately five acres into 30 lots. The proposal is consistent with City Policy CE-3. He then reviewed
the four findings of fact. Staff recommends approval of the request.
There was no public testimony. Councilmember Lewis made a motion, seconded by Councilmember
Singer, to close the public hearing. Councilmember Singer made a motion, seconded by Councilmember
Lewis, to recommend approval of the request for water and sewer certificates. Chair Borden concurred.
The meeting recessed and reconvened in the Council Work Area.
ACTION ITEMS:
1. Little League Concession Agreement
Parks and Recreation Director Deal presented the staff report and explained that the agreement is similar to
agreements in the past.
Councilmember Lewis made a motion, seconded by Councilmember Singer, to recommend approval.
Chair Borden concurred.
2. Optimist Club Concession Agreement
Parks and Recreation Director Deal presented the staff report and explained that the agreement is similar to
agreements in the past.
Councilmember Singer made a motion, seconded by Councilmember Lewis, to recommend approval.
Chair Borden concurred.
3. School Impact Fee Ordinance
Assistant Planning Director Rued presented the staff report and provided background information on the
purpose for Chapter 19.02. Pierce County has school impact fees and Auburn does not. The ordinance is a
framework ordinance which does not establish the actual fees. The framework ordinance could be used to
collect impact fees for school districts if the City receives a request to do so. The City would adopt by
reference what Pierce County adopted for Dieringer School District (DSC). The fees will be collected for
residential dwellings only and he mentioned the amounts that would be charged. These fees would be
collected at the time of building permit issuance and would be collected only for permits issued within the
DSC. An administrative fee of $50 per each unit will be collected by Auburn to help offset the
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FEBRUARY 23, 1998
administrative costs. He explained the time constraints involved in adopting the ordinance because the
Lakeland annexation is before the Pierce County Boundary Review Board. The DSC raised concems
because the City had not adopted a school impact fee ordinance. He mentioned that Auburn, Kent and
Federal Way may want to establish an impact fee collection process also. If so, the impact fees would be
established by using the adopted fee amount that the District is using in other jurisdictions, or adopt a
separate scheduled based on methodology used by other jurisdictions that have adopted a school impact fee
ordinance. If Chapter 19.02 is adopted, then a fee schedule is established, an interlocal with the school
district is entered into, and liability matters are outlined.
Assistant Planning Director Rued then distributed three pages of "housekeeping" changes to the draft
ordinance and proceeded to review the pages. He briefly reviewed the ordinance and explained that it is
based on ordinances from Issaquah and Pierce County. He advised that much of the wording in the
ordinance is driven by State law and that some of the language, such as the Definitions section, is taken
from actual State law.
Chair Borden asked about adopting fees for the ordinance. Assistant Planning Director Rued said the City
would adopt an ordinance for the fee schedule and identify the fee amount and how they are determined.
He then explained how Pierce County determined the fees. Councilmember Lewis wanted to know which
fee is correct. He wondered if the DSC comes up with an amount. Assistant Planning Director Rued said
that Pierce County determined what to charge county-wide for school impact fees.
Mary Urback, representative for the DSC, gave a brief history of impact fees and explained that the formula
drives proportion share to be contributed through impact fees. Impact fees are a "fair share" contribution to
be paid by a developer. DSD under Capital Facilities Plan was different than fee now. Pierce County
agreed with development community on the amount which is much less than the actual amount. The figure
is one that everyone can live with. DSD has agreed to accept the numbers that Pierce County has adopted.
She pointed out that that there is no argument or problem because of the two fees.
Assistant Planning Director Rued reviewed a few of the definitions. If the other school districts in Auburn
(Kent and Federal Way) want school impact fees, they must sit down and work out a formula to establish
the fee amount. Kent School District has an impact fee ordinance, but no lots developed within Auburn
impact the Kent Schools. Kent School District would approach Auburn and base impact fee amount on
what they have with King County. Both King County and Kent are collecting impact fees.
Assistant Planning Director Rued referred to the interlocal agreement responsibilities. Chair Borden asked
about the timing of an interlocal. Assistant Planning Director Rued said that adoption of Chapter 19.02 is
the first thing which needs to be done, then a fee schedule is put together, then interlocals signed. Staff is
looking at a draft interlocal which they hope to present to the Committee for review in a few weeks.
Assistant Planning Director Rued then pointed out the need to adopt the Dieringer's Capital Facilities Plan
(CFP) as part of the Comprehensive Plan. He reminded the Committee that this was recently
accomplished.
Chair Borden asked if the CFP is reviewed yearly. Assistant Planning Director Rued said this must be done
in order to collect the impact fees.
Councilmember Lewis asked how the Dieringer CFP was adopted by Auburn. Assistant Planning Director
Rued explained that this was part of last year's Comprehensive Plan annual amendment process. If Auburn
collects impact fees for Auburn, Kent and Federal Way School Districts, these CFPs would have to be
adopted also.
Councilmember Singer referred to page 6, the section on adopted standard of service, and asked for
clarification. Ms. Urback spoke about the standard of service relating to elementary and middle schools. It
is a policy determination by the Board of Directors as to the number of students each facility should house.
Deputy Superintendent Poldervart said this is directly program related and that some portions of the
programs need different space requirements. He emphasized this is part of formulization spoken of earlier.
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Assistant Planning Director Rued referred to page 7, sections 19.02.060 and 19.02.070 and explained that
the fee is collected for residential development only. The fee is collected once and is paid before building
permits are issued. The City takes the money in and disperses the money to the School District. Auburn
keeps the $50 administration fee which is reasonable since the City will have a fair amount of accounting to
do relating to the process. The Building Division and the Finance Department will be involved in
collecting the fee.
Assistant Planning Director Rued referred to page 7, 19.02.080 and briefly mentioned the types of
exemptions permitted. He reviewed paragraphs E, F, and G, relating to mitigation. Councilmember Singer
asked if the mitigation is over and above the impact fees. Assistant Planning Director Rued explained that
the developer only pays once. The development will be mitigated by the impact fee.
Councilmember Lewis wondered if a developer could say that he worked with the School District and has
mitigated his impact, would Auburn be able to say anything about this. Councilmember Lewis wondered if
the ordinance is adopted, could a developer say he has already mitigated with the School District. Assistant
Planning Director Rued referred to page 8, 19.02.090, paragraph F. Councilmember Lewis wondered if the
City does not agree to the mitigation, can the City say so.
Deputy Superintendent Poldervart related that King County will say if the deal is between the developer
and the school district and the City acts on their agreement.
Chair Borden requested clarification to paragraphs F and G on page 8. Assistant Planning Director Rued
clarified that in essence the City is asking for proof that the developer reached an agreement with the
school district.
Assistant Planning Director Rued then referred to fee adjustment discussed on page 9 and explained that
the RCW requires an appeal process to be in place.
Councilmember Singer referred to paragraph G on page 9 asked why the part discussion errors is deleted.
Assistant Planning Director Rued referred to page 7, 19.02.060, and clarified that the section on page 6 is in
place to handle errors.
Ms. Urback spoke about the appeal process and said the RCW requirements can be a little confusing. By
having the annual Council review, the City Council is not out of the loop.
Assistant Planning Director Rued then referred to page 10, 19.02.100, and said that most of the wording,
such as the six year time frame, is reflective of State law. The City is acting as a collection agency and
forwarding the money to the school district.
Mayor told the Committee that a copy of the draft ordinance was forwarded to Linda Cowan, Auburn
School District, to review.
Councilmember Lewis referred to 19.02.010, Purpose, on page 1 and stated that he prefers the earlier
version of the preamble. He wanted to know where the underlined text came from. Assistant Planning
Director Rued said the City's outside counsel provided the wording for this section. Councilmember Lewis
stated that he did not see the reason for have this underlined wording in the paragraph.
Chair Borden asked why the outside counsel wanted this wording. Assistant Planning Director Rued
explained that the wording is from the RCW and points out the intent of Chapter 19.02.
Ms. Urback pointed out that the City's outside counsel has worked on many ordinances. Even though the
statute says Auburn is the collection agency, a finding must be made that there is a need to adopt the
ordinance. The f'mding must state the need and determination made by adopting the DSC Capital Facilities
Plan. Section 19.02.010 gives Auburn a basis to adopt the ordinance for impact fees. In Washington state,
the city is the collecting agency because the collection of funds must go through a municipality other than
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the school district. In order to ensure the ordinance is not attacked, the City must make finding that a need
for the ordinance exists. She pointed out that the Pierce County ordinance goes on for several pages listing
all the findings. She believes Chapter 19.02 is succinct and will stand up to challenge.
Councilmember Lewis referred to 19.02.030, on page 4 and wanted to know how the fees are determined.
He wanted to know if it is Auburn's responsibility to determine fee schedule. Assistant Planning Director
Rued mentioned what Pierce County did to determine the fee schedule. They adopted a formula, plugged
in information from the school district, and the fee amount determined. Councilmember Lewis asked what
is City's responsibility if the Auburn School District submits a fee schedule. Assistant Planning Director
Rued said the school district can give the City information, the next step is to determine the methodology,
and adopt the fee amount.
Councilmember Lewis referred to 19.02.050, on page 6, and wanted to confn-m that annually the school
district submits the items listed in 1 through 5. Assistant Planning Director Rued said yes. Ms. Urback
said this is directly from the statutes; the school district must comply.
Deputy Superintendent Poldervart spoke briefly about school enrollment projections and estimated cost of
school buildings in 2016 which are subject to fluctuations and matching funds.
Councilmember Lewis asked how much it will cost Auburn to implement the ordinance. Assistant
Planning Director Rued said that an administrative fee of $50 per housing unit is being charged. He will
not know the actual cost until the City starts processing. Mayor assured Councilmember Lewis that the
City will keep data to determine if the $50 fee is a sufficient amount.
Deputy Superintendent Poldervart said that the Auburn School District has not imposed impact fees in the
past. The current enrollment growth of a little over 2% is not extraordinary and has been the growth rate
for approximately 15 years. They have been involved in a joint study with DSC regarding the Lakeland
development to determine who should serve the students. He mentioned the enrollment increasing because
of Lakeland development. School Board needs to decide whether to do impact fees as a matter of policy or
not.
Ms. Urback mentioned that Dr. Newbill, Superintendent for DSC, was unavailable for tonight's Committee
meeting. She mentioned a recent article in the Tacoma News Tribune on Lakeland. The article said the
main reason Lakeland's growth is because people want the suburban schools which has turned into a
marketing tool used by Lakeland. She spoke about the Dieringer community's impression that the massive
size of Lakeland would ruin the school district because the enrollment population will triple. The
community now feels that Lakeland will pay its fair share.
Ms. Urback complimented City staff on being very helpful in discussing and reviewing the ordinance with
the DSD. The City went to outside counsel for a thorough review. Regarding methodology, in Pierce and
King Counties' ordinances, they adopted the state-approved methodology, a complicated formula with
other municipalities have adopted. This may make the City Council feel more comfortable that the
methodology is approved.
Deputy Superintendant Poldervart said the formulization is most of the data generated by the school
district, such as property values, construction costs, and purchase price of portable classrooms.
Councilmember Singer asked if Kent and Federal Way School Districts received copies of the ordinance.
Assistant Planning Director Rued said they received copies in the past. He said if the Kent and Federal
Way School Districts want to impose impact fees, they will enter into an interlocal agreement.
Councilmember Singer made a motion, seconded by Councilmember Lewis to recommend City Council
adopt Chapter 19.02.
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o
Other Business:
Parks and Recreation Director Deal distributed an agenda bill with numerous items to be surplussed.
Councilmember Lewis made a motion, seconded by Councitmember Singer, to place this item on the
consent agenda. Chair Borden concurred.
With no further items to come before the Committee, the meeting was adjourned at 7:15 p.m
PCDCLMIN'~2B-98
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