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HomeMy WebLinkAbout01-27-2003MINUTES OF PLANNING AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE JANUARY 27, 2003 The regular meeting of the Planning and Community Development Committee was held January 27, 2003 in the Council Work Area. Those members in attendance were as follows: MEMBERS PRESENT: Trish Borden, Sue Singer and Stacey Brothers STAFF PRESENT: Paul Krauss, Daryl Faber, David Osaki and Patti Zook The meeting was called to order by Committee Chair Borden at 5:00 p.m. ACTION: 1. Approval of Minutes of January 13, 2003 Meeting The minutes were not available for action. DISCUSSION: 1. Committee Goals for 2003 Planning Director Krauss said that the downtown parking issue may come before the Planning and Community Development Committee in 2003. Sufficient parking downtown is high on the priority list. He spoke about the Sign Committee which is tasked with the overhaul of the sign ordinance. The group meets regularly and will for another six months. He spoke about the Permit Review Committee staffed by Fred Poe which is tasked with developing a one stop permit center. He spoke about the Terminal Park Plan which is being presented to the neighborhood this week. Councilmember Singer talked about looking at the property by White River Church and its inclusion in the Terminal Park Plan area. She has invited the church members to Terminal Park meeting. Parks Director Faber spoke about the trail system around the park, school and church, but does not think it is a good link with Terminal Park. He then suggested a scenario involving the nearby Catholic Church. Planning Director Krauss talked about the ongoing revitalization of downtown with many different ideas floating around. He spoke of the effort to finish leasing retail space at the garage and a permanent parking program is coming. Staff is developing ideas for more downtown parking. Councilmember Singer spoke about the problem that employees have in finding parking places. Employees are moving cars every three hours. There needs to be a better system. The City needs to facilitate employee parking. Planning Director Krauss spoke about a meeting with a downtown business owner who said that she as a business owner is obligated to provide parking to its employees. This is required by other cities. Councilmember Brothers thinks that two blocks is the outside for employees to walk from their cars to business. Planning Director Krauss spoke about a permit parking program and purchase rights to park. Planning Director Krauss said that in the Safeway lot the City owns the first three lines of parking and Councilmember Singer said this is for customers too. Auburn Downtown Association indicated they need parking for employees and parking for apartment residents. They reacted badly to idea of paying for parking. Discussion occurred pertaining to cost of daily parking. Chairman Borden thinks that downtown residents asked for too much in their petition. Planning Director Krauss remarked that City is looking to establish parking permits at a cost. The City never did much maintenance of parking lots, there is no regular source of funds for lots, the cost of building and maintaining is high, staff time is involved, as well as administrative costs. Discussion occurred regarding gravel lots and the City not permitting them and stopping people from parking in them. Planning Director Krauss reminded Committee that the City's gravel lot is temporary. The City has not actively enforced the prohibition of gravel lots as much as it should. The parking lot PAGE 1 MINUTES OF PLANNING AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE JANUARY 27, 2003 next to the Post Office is gravel. Councilmember Singer pointed out parking lot on 277th and Auburn Way North that is dirt and gravel and numerous cars are parked there. Parks Director Faber spoke about four main Parks Department projects. He said Parks staff will be working on the Parks Master Plan Update by the end of the year in order to get State funding. Most of this project will be done in-house like the last Plan. The last Plan was very good. The State still has funds available. He spoke about the possibility of a water access grant for boat launches. Staff is still looking at the river and there are probably some projects that would qualify. Councilmember Brothers believes that Tukwila received grant money and there is opportunity for Auburn to also receive grant money. He sees people on the river in kayaks, rowboats and innertubes. Parks Director Faber said that staff is looking at water approaches to the river because people are using the river for recreational purposes. Councilmember Singer mentioned a couple issues with King County. Parks Director Faber said it is Auburn's turn for county funding. The term vision is how to connect all. He mentioned the 10 mile loop, the park up at the new high school and the link up the hill, and the wildlife corridor. A discussion occurred regarding the status of the hatchery property. Parks Director Faber spoke about a community center link. Planning Director Krauss provided information on the City of Bellevue's objection to an economic development grant for the Safeway distribution center relocating to Auburn. Bellevue objected and said that Auburn was taking jobs from Bellevue. He and Al Hicks went to PSRC office to respond to a complaint from the Bellevue Planning Commission. Mayor Lewis has written Bellevue Mayor explaining that if not for the Auburn site, Safeway would have left the State. Councilmember Singer referred to A Street, and spoke of the need to clean up the commercial zoning area there and make it attractive and possibility of new pedestrian corridor. In response to comments from Councilmember Singer, Planning Director Krauss cautioned that the railroad has the ability to do whatever it wants whenever it wants. One argument that Auburn presented to the Supreme Court was that BNSF owns airlines and trucking companies too and are in competition with Fed Ex. Fed Ex does not have pre-emption status, but BNSF does. If they want to do a trucking company in the rail yard they can do this. The maps are representative of what was discussed at the Council retreat said Planning Director Krauss. The maps show what was commonly agreed to. Chairman Borden agrees that the map does capture a lot of what the Council said. Parks Director Faber suggested need to put the Interurban Trail on the map and show the completed trail in one color and the proposed trail in another color. Chairman Borden commented that the Interurban Trail is unattractive, no landscaping, and overgrown with blackberry bushes. Councilmember Singer suggested the need to improve the trail heads. Planning Director Krauss said that the trail connection at Interurban and Main is a priority. Parks Director Faber mentioned having spurs from the trail that are pedestrian friendly. Councilmember Singer suggested getting the Cascade Bike Club involved to see what they think. Councilmember Brothers suggested having something inviting in order to let cyclists know that the Sunbreak Caf6 is nearby. Chairman Borden pointed out the location of the horse trail and need for connection. She wondered what constitutes a gateway and how to prioritize the gateways. Planning Director Krauss said that the design committee which completed the logo and tagline projects is looking now at the gateways. Councilmember Brothers remarked that a gateway into the downtown area is different than a gateway into town. PAGE 2 MINUTES OF PLANNING AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE JANUARY 27, 2003 Councilmember Singer reported that the consultant used colors for the logo that are not reproducible and staff had to spend time to adjust the colors. Councilmember Brothers said the consultant should know what colors are reproducible and what colors are not reproducible. Chairman Borden thought the Tree City USA designation was going to be part of the gateway project. Parks Director Faber said the idea of Tree City USA designation was presented to the to Park Board, forms were mailed into the organization, and City is waiting to hear from them. Staff is working on the tree selection behind the School District offices, working with PSE on tree selection and determining the right trees for the right areas. A tree inventory can then be done, money is out there, and this can be part of the gateway project. Parks Director Faber then spoke of the need to develop a tree replacement program, and referred to the 70 year old maple trees at Pioneer Cemetery. Councilmember Singer is concerned about the City requiring people to put in trees and has observed people planting dead trees. Planning Director Krauss said that they can bond for tree planting if it is the wrong time of year. Chairman Borden wants to see the Tree City USA program publicized with an Arbor Day event, for instance. She likes Seattle's tree program. Parks Director Faber remarked that Auburn can place Tree City USA signs on the streets, but first the application has to be accepted, one annual event is required, establish a Tree board, and put together a game plan. He will come back to the Committee for direction at the appropriate time. Planning Director Krauss advised that Aaron Nix is working on a monitoring program for Mill Creek. He is working on the Eastpointe detention pond and has come up with good ideas. Councilmember Singer asked if City is going in the direction of underground vaults and Planning Director Krauss commented that underground vaults can be more problematic and there is the issue of land economics also. Chairman Borden suggested that Auburn do zero impact development. The Public Works Committee needs to hear the presentation on zero impact development that the PCDC heard several months ago. Chairman Borden wants a design core element to the gateways, with possibility of variations to this with a consistent theme. Planning Director Krauss agreed with a certain sign or certain image that presents continuity. Chairman Borden referred to the proposed changes to the sign ordinance. When this topic comes to the Committee, she wants a presentation on why the Sign Committee made their decisions. She does not like free standing signs or neon signs. Councilmember Singer remarked that she is on the Sign Committee and predicts that the changes will not be more conservative based on members of the committee. Chairman Borden said that the sign changes will have a big impact. Planning Director Krauss said that the City's desire is to be more flexible. He gave scenario of the high school not be allowed to have a reader board sign announcing events. Businesses want to have sandwich board signs. Chairman Borden and Councilmember Brothers want sandwich board signs prohibited. Councilmember Singer remarked that amortization is the tricky part, how to determine how many years business has to comply, or are all existing signs grandfathered? Planning Director Krauss said that people have to be allowed to get their value out of the sign. Councilmember Brothers remarked that City is bending over backwards to accommodate people. Councilmember Singer said Sign Committee is hoping to have a friendlier ordinance and one that is not conflicting with other sections of the Zoning Ordinance. The ordinance will not out law pole signs completely. ADJOURNMENT: With no further items to come before the Committee, the meeting was adjourned at 6:35 p.m. PAGE 3 MINUTES OF PLANNING AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE JANUARY 27, 2003 PCDC\M IN\01 B-2003 PAGE 4