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HomeMy WebLinkAbout04-28-2003MINUTES OF PLANNING AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE APRIL 28, 2003 The regular meeting of the Planning and Community Development Committee was held April 28, 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, David Osaki, Al Hicks, Sean Martin, Bill Mandeville, Larry Dahl and Patti Zook The meeting was called to order by Committee Chair Borden at 5:00 p.m. ACTION: 1. Approval of Minutes of April 14, 2003 Meeting Councilmember Brothers made a motion, seconded by Chairman Borden, to approve the minutes. 2. Lakeland Heights Pedestrian Improvements Chairman Borden and Councilmember Brothers each talked to another Councilmember about this matter. Staff provided information at the last Committee meeting and staff information parallels discussion at the last meeting. Councilmember Brothers commended public comment and public involvement in this matter. Construction Manager Dahl distributed a cross section drawing and described in detail. There is a two tier stairway with large comfortable landing. The stairs have six inch rise with 14 inch tread. There is a single railing in the middle because the stairs are eight feet wide. Lot 25 is sold and closed; lot 24 has a bid and work should be done before the lots are developed. Staff will provide information to the developer and contractor, but no final cost is yet determined. Cost is estimated to be $12,000-$14,000 to do work on pavement. Cost is estimated to be $17,000 to remove the existing stairs. Paving in Area C is not included. Chairman Borden believes the developer should go along with City recommendation. Community Development Administrator Osaki believes action would be to modify the pedestrian stairs, less step Tract B, creating Tract C link to utility tract, and remove stairs. The City owns Tract C so no Hearing Examiner action is needed. For Tract A there is a question of long term desires because it could be vacated to the owners of lots 7 and 8. The plat vacation process is time consuming. Councilmember Singer made a motion, seconded by Councilmember Brothers, to do the plat vacation process. Chairman Borden concurred. Construction Manager Dahl reiterated that Council wants the utility easement also paved and that developer is to remove stairs due to their unsatisfactory condition. DISCUSSION: 1. Text Amendments Related to Parking in Yards Planner Martin received guidance from the Municipal Services and this Committee who wanted to see flexibility in areas used for additional parking, exemption to surfacing requirements for a single vehicle, limits on the amount of front yard area that can be used for additional parking and clarifying the restrictions on parking within required front yard and side yard setback areas. Chairman Borden asked for clarification of 18.52.050 which was provided. Planner Martin pointed out 15.52.020 which defines parking requirements and number of parking stalls for each land use Using examples, Planner Martin provided clarification of item 18.52.060 D. He then used examples to illustrate 15.52.120 for the Committee. Councilmember Singer thinks the proposal is less restrictive and question is how far to go with regulations. PAGE 1 MINUTES OF PLANNING AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE APRIL 28, 2003 Discussion occurred related to parking possibilities using different scenarios. Committee stressed that they do not want people to park on the grass. If you must park on the lawn, a pad should be paved, but do not pave the entire yard. The driveway should count as impervious surface. RVs should not be permitted to park on the front yards. Planning and Community Development Director Krauss believes a goal for the City is to respect itself, keep minimum standards, and paving yards is not classy. Most cities are not liberal about this. Councilmember Singer believes that paving yards lower property values and a City goal is to increase property values. Chairman Borden referred to 18.52.05 F which seems liberal compared to other city ordinances that the Committee reviewed. Councilmember Singer has talked with people and 9 of 10 want stricter regulations regarding parking in yards. Chairman Borden is not opposed to stricter regulations. Planning and Community Development Director Krauss said that residential streets allow on-street parking. RVs cannot be parked on the street for more than 12 hours. Councilmember Singer suggested talking with Councilmembers Poe and Barber and get their input. She believes the 50% rule makes the process more complicated. Planning and Community Development Director Krauss spoke about Councilmember Wagner's concerns. Chairman Borden wondered what restricts someone from enlarging their driveway. Planning and Community Development Director Krauss has seen where person paves additional pad for an additional vehicle. Councilmember Brothers stressed that no concrete front yards be permitted. Planning and Community Development Director Krauss advised Committee that staff develop additional language and prepare a sketch to better illustrate some of the ideas. Chairman Borden wants to review ordinances from other cities and receive input from other Councilmembers. She was focusing on impervious areas and is wondering if City Engineer is considering allowing all-weather surfaces. Planning and Community Development Director Krauss said that the surfaces need to be paved to protect groundwater. Councilmember Singer is concerned about issue of what the City does versus what the City is telling its residents to do. Planning and Community Development Director Krauss said that the Planning Director exemption would be with guidance as to when a deviation can be granted on a case by case basis. These deviations would be written into the formal ordinance. The property owner would have to prove hardship and the decision would be appealable. Chairman Borden confirmed that this topic will be discussed at a future Committee meeting. 2. Ordinance No. **** - New Chapter 3.94 - Multi-Family Property Tax Exemption Planning and Community Development Director Krauss informed the Committee that a few years ago the State started this process which was only applied in cities with population of 200,000. Small cities lobbied the Legislature which then lowered the requirement to cities with population of 30,000. This ordinance would encourage multi-family housing to be developed in downtown. He spoke about a proposal by a downtown business owner that would contain condos with parking on the first floor. If the City offers this exemption, this should encourage such development. There is little mechanism in the State to encourage development. Development would be quality market rate housing, not Iow income housing. PAGE 2 MINUTES OF PLANNING AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE APRIL 28, 2003 Economic Development Manager Hicks said the ordinance would provide abatement of property taxes over a period of time. A question is should the City encourage development in the entire downtown area or a smaller area. Councilmember Singer said the urban center area should be considered in order to encourage density requirements. In response to Councilmember Brothers question, Planning and Community Development Director Krauss said that Kent, Federal Way and Tacoma are already using the property tax exemption. Chairman Borden wondered if the proposal is only for new development and Economic Development Manager Hicks said to create new housing, but it also speaks to vacant and under utilized property if it is rehabilitated. The RCW Chapter talks about rehabilitation, but this is not a requirement. Councilmember Singer wondered if the City could say 100% of current value for rehabilitation. Planning and Community Development Director Krauss said there are not a lot of buildings that would be eligible for rehab. Councilmember Brothers likes the idea, but is wondered if the City has this program, what will it be foregoing in revenue. He sees the proposal as an urban renewal tool with some spin off and rebuilding of the downtown core. Mayor said that the idea is that the residential portion of building is exempt from taxes in order to promote residential on top of commercial in downtown. Planning and Community Development Director Krauss said that staff is still fine tuning the language. The ordinance will also go to the Finance Committee. He expects the ordinance will be ready for adoption in one month. ADJOURNMENT: With no further items to come before the Committee, the meeting was adjourned at 6:30 p.m. PCDC\MIN\04B-2003 PAGE 3