Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout09-25-2000MINUTES OF PLANNING AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE SEPTEMBER 25, 2000 The regular meeting of the Planning and Community Development Committee was held September 25, 2000 in the Council Work Area. Those members in attendance were as follows: MEMBERS PRESENT: Trish Borden, Jeanne Barber, and Fred Poe STAFF PRESENT: Paul Krauss, Lynn Rued, Dennis Dowdy, Dick Deal, and Patti Zook ALSO PRESENT: Mayor Booth The meeting was called to order by Committee Chair Borden at 6:30 p.m. ACTION ITEMS: 1. Request for City Resolution relatinq to Air Traffic Flow from SeaTac Airport The Mayor requested that Planning Director Krauss place this on the agenda for action. Auburn is occasionally contacted by adjacent communities for support in support of their case against the third runway. The City of Des Moines is requesting that Auburn City Council intercede because more takeoffs are occurring over the south end of the County than the north. Auburn does not have an official position on the third runway and has been able to stay out of the fray. Auburn is not impacted too much because the planes are relatively high when they are over the City. Councilmember Barber commented that the residents adjacent to SeaTac Airport knew of the impacts long ago. Auburn should stay out of the issue. Councilmember Poe believes that the prevailing winds from the southwest make it a factor that requires planes to take off on the route they do. Chairman Borden believes there should be some fairness in the distribution of flights over areas, but not sure what it would be. Councilmember Poe comment that air traffic control is out of Auburn's jurisdictions. Committee agreed not to act on this request. 2. Resolution 3265 - Senior Center Travel Aqreement Parks & Recreation Director Deal presented the staff report. This agreement is similar to ones in the past. Councilmember Poe made a motion, seconded by Councilmember Barber, to recommend approval. Chairman Borden concurred. 3. Parks & Recreation Department Budqet Parks & Recreation Director Deal said there is no increase in the budget. Arts Commission budget is a maintenance budget. There are no changes in staffing for the department. He spoke about funding for the parks plan for Lea Hill annexation area. The Senior Center is moving to a new facility and there will be an increase in professional services. One change is decreased grant funding for the late night program. Chairman Borden advised that she does not agree with reducing late night or after school programs. Parks & Recreation Director Deal said that funds are not available. Mayor added that there is a reduction at State and County level for the programs. Chairman Borden believes the late night and after school programs are important and have been successful. Auburn should be able to find money to continue to support these programs. Chairman Borden commented that Planner I Mandeville said that data regarding crime in certain neighborhoods served by the programs showed crime was significantly reduced because of them. She then wondered if this was accurate data. PAGE 1 MINUTES OF PLANNING AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE SEPTEMBER 25, 2000 Parks & Recreation Director Deal will have one of the recreation specialists come and talk to the Committee. He then spoke about an asset development model which showed positive results of participation in programs. Chairman Borden again expressed concerned about the programs being reduced or dropped. Mayor then gave some reasons for the drop in crime and said that the City may be able to come up with funds to continue the programs. Committee did not have further questions. 4. P annin.q Department Bud.qet Planning Director Krauss remarked there is no increase in the budget. In past years, department carried the legislative analyst position, but this is now being paid out of the Mayor's budget. The neighborhood plan will be done in-house. The City will begin implementation of the downtown plan, annexations will continue, as well as the effects of the Endangered Species Act. The department may assume duties related to code enforcement for nuisance and zoning. There are no program improvements. Committee did not have questions. DISCUSSION ITEMS: 1. Panhandle Lots Assistant Planning Director Rued referred to the memorandum in the packet which summarizes discussion held recently about the length of panhandle lots and private access tracts and private streets. The Committee asked staff to consider more flexibility for lots in short plats and larger unplatted property. Changes would need to be made to the City Code. Staff proposes not to have panhandle length limit for RS or LHRS zoned property. Staff proposes also not to have a panhandle length requirement for commercial or industrial lots. It is also proposed to increase the number of lots that a private street could serve from 4 to 6. In order to serve more than 4 lots, the private street must also comply with the existing private street standards. It is also proposed to increase the panhandle length in certain zoning districts to 150 feet. If the Committee wants to go in this direction, staff will prepare amendments and present to Planning Commission for public hearing. Chairman Borden wondered if the these suggestions were reviewed against some things that came up last year, particularly some specific concerns raised by Council. Assistant Planning Director Rued showed a layout of property on 29th Street SE in which the owner is limited by access, another issue was a short plat on Lea Hill. The issue with Doug Trussler has been resolved. Planning Director Krauss explained that the RS zone requires large lots because of environmental concerns or sensitive areas. Assistant Planning Director Rued said the RS designation is only on the west hill and a small portion on Lea Hill. Chairman Borden referred to the second paragraph on page 2, the formula, and wondered about the formula versus a maximum. Assistant Planning Director Rued gave an example and said that if someone wants one acre lot served by a panhandle, there is not an issue with longer panhandle. Previous discussions showed there was a concern about panhandle having access to "shoehorn" lots. Chairman Borden likes the idea of moving from 4 to 6 lots on private street. Councilmember Poe commented that the formula does not make sense to him. He believes the only consideration is the length of the panhandle which is a fire safety issue only. In four acre zoning, it could be 1,000 feet from the street. He does not think people should be restricted. It is PAGE 2 MINUTES OF PLANNING AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE SEPTEMBER 25, 2000 up to the person who buys the lot if they want to have a 300 foot drive way, unless it is a fire safety issue. Chairman Borden inquired where Fire Department comes into the matter. Assistant Planning Director Rued said that in a rural zone, an extra long driveway could be required to have hydrants depending on the distance. An option to this could be to allow extra long driveway without turnaround. Chairman Borden thought Councilmember Poe was more concerned about homeowner who tries to subdivide property and could not subdivide property. Councilmember Poe referred to the property on 29th Street (discussed earlier) and pointed out driveway and gave different scenarios. He spoke of the need for more flexibility. It is important not to violate whatever the City already has in effect for private streets. The City should not encourage private streets in plats. It does not make a difference if the private drive is 100 feet or 150 feet. Planning Director Krauss remarked that private streets can be somewhat problematic for emergency services. Some of the private streets are not well marked. Private streets could also pose problems for turnarounds. Flexibility is a good thing when a site has steep slopes or wetlands. The formula might be a bit complex, but Assistant Planning Director Rued's concept has resolved most issues. Councilmember Poe said the formula does not deal with length of driveways and then gave an example. There was a brief discussion again on the 29th Street site. Councilmember Barber wondered how many times the situation would be encountered and if it would make sense to do on a case by case basis. Assistant Planning Director Rued said this approach would not provide continuity in the decision making process. Councilmember Poe wondered why City would care if there are four or five homes on a private street. Chairman Borden believes staff is headed in the right direction, but she is concerned about going. too far. She understands Councilmember Poe's concerns. She thinks the proposed should fit most situations without making too liberal and is comfortable with the proposal. Councilmember Barber is inclined to agree with Councilmember Poe. Chairman Borden wondered if someone could develop neighborhoods with six lots on private streets. Assistant Planning Director Rued spoke about existing situations only. Councilmember Poe commented that if property does not lend itself to subdivision with planned street, there is an option. If developer can build street and plat property, then do. He is not advocating for lots of panhandle parcels. It would be to deal with difficult situations only. There should be more flexibility for odd situations. Councilmember Poe is still unsure about the formula and not sure if it would accommodate situations. Councilmember Poe suggested putting in language that Planning Director has the ability to allow longer driveways if warranted due to topographic conditions, sensitive areas or surrounding development partterns, when those make access via a public street impractical. Planning Director Krauss then rephrased the language. WRIA Interlocal Aqreement City Engineer Dowdy presented the draft agreement to Council in August and said that nothing has changed. He gave an update on the forum. Since the draft, City Attorney has reviewed and comments were given to drafting committee. The City Attorney's comments were not substantial. He believes the final draft will be good document. The joint forum met once since the draft was issued. Fourteen of the 16 jurisdictions were present and indicated their favor of the conceptual PAGE 3 MINUTES OF PLANNING AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE SEPTEMBER 25, 2000 agreement. He cautioned that cities may have to subsidize the smaller cities if they cannot afford to implement because some are having trouble financing. He thinks the City's amount would be about $2,000. He then spoke about a couple clarifications made to the agreement. Committee did not have questions. 3. Sunbreak Cafe Parking Chairman Borden mentioned that Bruce Alverson, owner of the Cafe, was going to come to the meeting. He is upset that employees are parking in his lot. Planning Director Krauss provided information on what is being worked out to resolve parking problems around City Hall. He spoke about the City's agreement with Bruce. The lot adjacent to the street is approaching capacity. He then spoke about the long term parking situation and parking garage. VVith no further items to come before the Committee, the meeting was adjourned at 7:55 p.m. PCDC~vllN\09B-2000 PAGE 4