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Home My WebLink About01-10-2005 --- PLANNING & COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE January 10, 2005 MINUTES I. CALL TO ORDER Chair Sue Singer called the meeting to order at 5:00 p.m. in the Council Chambers located on the first floor of Auburn City Hall, 25 West Main Street, Auburn, WA. Committee members present were: Member Bill Peloza (for Member Lynn Norman - was excused) Member Nancy Backus; Also present were Planning and Community Development Director Paul Krauss; Parks and Recreation Director Daryl Faber; Community Development Administrator David Osaki; Senior Planner Jeff Dixon; Storm Utility Engineer Tim Carlaw; Transportation Planner Joe Welsh, Fire Marshall Dave Smith; Mr. Osaki, and Assistant Planning Secretary Carolyn Brown. Others present were Dennis Johnson, Freman6e Development; Shupe Holmberg, Baima and Holmberg; Mark Hancock, Segale Development; Garrett Huffman, King County Master Builders; John Minavian, Robertson Properties; Terry Dannish, Attorney for Robertson Properties; Julie Molen, with Auburn Family Week; and other concerned citizens. II. APPROVAL OF MINUTES A. Minutes of the December 13, 2004 Meeting. Minu~es approved with one correction on page two, 4th line, inserted the word "gives" before the words King County Minutes of the special December 20, 2004 Public Hearing. Minutes approved as read. Member Peloza moved to accept the minutes. Chair Singer seconded. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. 2-0 Page 1 Plannin~ & Communitr-Ðevelopment Committee Minutes B. Review and update matrix III. ACTION A. RESOLUTION NO. 3798 for the development agreement subject to conditions, based upon the findings and conclusions. (WSC04-0013 - reviewed by Council Dec 20) Mr. Osaki reiterated that a public hearing on Resolution No. 3798 was held on 12-13-04 by the by the Planning and Community Development (PCDC) meeting. The resolution was then sent on to the 12-20-04 City Council meeting where the motion to approve failed to pass the Council. City Attorney Dan Heid advised that the affect of the Council action was to remand the item back to committee. The resolution is schedule both on the 01-10-05 Public Works Committee and the PCDC agendas. Mr. Osaki noted several issues were raised regarding this proposed 20-lot plat The applicant has prepared and submitted three additional site plans to try and address the issues. Mr. Osaki gave a synopsis of the comments voiced at the Public Works committee. Councilmember Rich Wagner indicated that he still opposes the application. He is concerned about the King County zoning that is allowed as opposed to the City of Auburn zoning. King County requires less lot width, and allows for more impervious surfaces. Member Wagner stated that the City of Auburn· has the option not to extend the utility services to developments outside of the city limits if there is a conflict Also, there were some concerns on how staff is determining cul-de-sac lengths. Councilmember Thordarson also has concerns about the ability to provide a useful pedestrian connection to the adjoining Hazelwood Elementary school grounds and about secondary access. Chair Singer asked Traffic Planner Joe Welsh to address traffic patterns. Mr. Welsh stated there is a private easement on 1220d Place SE to 304th. Traffic had concerns regarding a gravel road, limited sight distance, and fire access. The applicant has redesigned the site. Fire Marshall Dave Smith stated the new code allows a "hammerhead" turn around. With a Page 2 Plannin~ & CommuniÞrDevelopment Committee Minutes "hammerhead" design there is adequate room to turn a fire truck. Mr. Osaki added that Councilrnember Gene Cerino is not sure whether or not to support the application at this time and indicated that he intends to give it more consideration between now and the next Council meeting. Mr. Osaki stated that the recommendations to City Council as the development agreement was originally drafted lacks the improvement of the area between the cul-de-sacs at 12200 Avenue and 1220d Place SE. However, the Applicant is willing to prepare an al- weather hard-surface connection to allow emergency vehicles to access 1220d Place-SE. Mr. Welsh answered a question about the street width and stated that it is a twelve-foot lane. Fire Marshall Smith said that no parking would be allowed on one side of the road. Mr. Osaki added - that, based on the conditions originally included in the development agreement, the fire lanes shall be posted per City Ordinance. Member Peloza asked if the school district provided any comments regarding the pedestrian connection. Mr. Welsh said that he had talked to the school district and they prefer to have the children come in to school off a main street entrance as they have concerns about security and safety. Also, the school district will be going through redistricting. It is likely that the . children in. this proposed plat will attend school at Hazelwood Elementary but will instead will attend school on the east side of 124th Avenue SE. Still the question needs to be asked about another connectivity since these schools function like parks for neighborhoods. Chair Singer stated that her concern is with the secondary access on 1220d and that matching up with 121st would be preferable. Member Backus is concerned with the plan as it appears. Chair Singer said the reason most councilmembers voted against this application was the issue raised by the fire department as to the turn-around. Chair Singer invited Dennis Johnson, Freman6e Development to address. Mr. Johnson stated that he met with City staff last week to discuss the change to meet compliance with City standards. Page 3 Plannin~ & Communi~evelopment Committee Minutes , ... Chair Singer noted that the committee is still hearing about the private access issue and it's use by emergency vehicles. The Committee discussed density and a possible future connection with- another development to the north. Also, there was brief discussion on the topography of the area and drainage. An audience member asked for an interpretation of half-street improvements. There were other questions from the audience but Chair Singer stated those would need to be addressed through King County. Chair Singer asked staff to clarify that they have agreed that the development meets staff's approval. Member Backus moved to forward the resolution for water and sewer application WSC04-0013 on to full Council with a recommendation that a new proposal be submitted for a new access on 121st Place SE and a temporary turn-around hammerhead, also, a secondary access be approved. Member Peloza stated the developer would come back with a new set of site plans. Shupe Holmberg said he would bring the new site plans to the City Council meeting. Chair Singer also would like to add a recommendation that King County expedite a new second access. Mayor Lewis added if the school district concurs to the secondary access. Chair Singer concurred. Member Backus moved to accept as amended, Member Peloza seconded to approve Resolution No. 3798. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. 3-0 B. Resolution No. 3805 - Amendments to the Pierce Countywide Planning Policies. Councilmember Peloza moved to accept, Chair Singer seconded to approve Resolution No. 3805. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. 2-0 Page 4 Plannin~ & Communitv'Development Committee Minutes B. Resolution No. 3802 - An agreement with Bonnie Tours to act as travel agent for the City's Senior Center Program. Member Peloza moved to accept, Chair Singer seconded to approve Resolution No. 3802. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. 2-0 C. Public Art Site Choice Parks and Recreation Director Daryl Faber gave a brief background on this agenda item. He repòrted that after a city tour with city engineers, there were seven sites discussed. Along with the Arts Commission, staff prioritized the sites and over the next two years will work on art projects. Auburn Way South and F Street SE will be the Les Gove Gateway. At the M Street grade separation the City wants to get involved early on to incorporate art into the walls of the roadway. Each year $30,000 is-budgeted for artwork funding. Chair Singer asked if Way Finding Signage and Public Art is being discussed at the same time. Mr. Faber stated that staff is considering the same sites and will work cooperatively to be sure the end results are satisfactory. Member Peloza asked about the underpass at Auburn Way South and Highway 18 and the fact that there has been some discussion in the past to look into adding art at that location. Chair Singer added that location is in connection with the gateway signing Mr. Faber said the gateway projects are not public projects and funded separately. Member Peloza moved to approve the recommended public art sitès"·for 2006. Chair Singer seconded. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. 2-0 IV. DISCUSSION A. CPA04-0003- NE Auburn IRPG Special Area Plan Senior Planner Jeff Dixon presented the information. The Draft EIS was distributed in July 2004. Page 5 Plannin~ & CommunitvÐevelopment Committee Minutes , ... The NE Auburn Special Area Plan is similar to other special area plans previously adopted by the City. Planner Dixon provided a large map and pointed out the area. The review and recommendations fall into 6 different subject· areas: 1. Overall vision 2. Land use 3. Traffic and circulation 4. Storm water management 5. Floodplain management 6.Urban design and Public Amenities. This is intended to be a high quality pedestrian oriented development Mr. Dixon presented changing the comprehensive plan designations. A new zoning designation of C-4 zoning can implement plan policy direction. B. CPA04-0002-NE Auburn/RPG Comprehensive Plan Text and Map Amendments. Mr. Dixon briefly discussed the text and maps in the agenda packet C. ZOA04-0004 - NE AUburn/RPGZoningCode Text and Map" Amendments. Mr. Dixon stated that Exhibit 10 in the zoning code amendments discloses what is allowed and prohibited. In one instance it allows gas stations only as an accessory use. Exhibit 14 is the Planned Action ordinance and development agreement The Planned Action ordinance is a new tool authorized by state law that allows a jurisdiction to go through the SEPA process once for the master plan and then subsequent development does not need to go through the SEPA process again. Chair Singer asked if this is like a Planned Unit Development (PUD). Mr. Dixon answered a Planned Action ordinance is different from the PUD in that it can allow development without an additional SEPA review. Mayor Lewis added that it brings a lot to the city. Member Peloza asked what are the total number of residential units in this area. Mr. Dixon said at this time there are 3 different land use plans. One mixed use alternative is for 500 units on no more than 50% of the site~ Each use will have design guidelines. At this time the Development Agreement is still being developed. The development agreement need only be considered by the City Council and does not require Planning Commission review. Page 6 Plannin~ & Communitv-Ðevelopment Committee Minutes Member Peloza asked if there would be phasing through a master plan. Planner Dixon answered this will be on going until 2020. Chair Singer asked is there is a proposed start date. Mr. Krauss stated when it is adopted by the City Council. Mayor Lewis added that there should be a start date and "no later than" date. Mr. Krauss said a start date could be added as a condition. He also added that there is the potential of bringing to the City Council an LID for roads and utilities to support this and other projects in the area. Chair Singer asked if staff needs anything from the City Council at this time. Mr. Krauss said the project would come back to committee when the development agreement is closer a final draft and' more details are available on. the Development Agreement. Mr. Krauss added the Planning Commission recommended approval, but the final decision ultimately falls to City Council. D. Pilot Project for King County Adoption of Auburn Development Standards in West Hill PAA. King County has approached the cities of Federal Way and Auburn to discuss joint development standards in their respective Potential Annexation Areas (PAA's). The pilot project area is for Federal Way's eastern PAA and the West Hill PAA for Auburn. City staff has had phone conversations with King County staff. The hand out provided to the committee is a draft working plan. To date, the study will focus on public facilities standards including, types of streets, stormwater, park dedications, etc. Chair Singer asked about density and size of lots. Mr. Osaki said those issues will likely not be discussed. Mr. Osaki added that the first meeting should be end of next week and at that time the groups will meet and compare information. Mr. Osaki stated that this is a tentative outline so if anyone has concerns and ideas let staff know them. Chair Singer added that Council member Wagner has concerns about the 3~-foot wide lots. Chair Singer said she would speak with Councilmember Wagner. Also, she would like the committee to have quick updates between meetings. Page 7 Plannin~ & Communitv'Development Committee Minutes E. Auburn Family Week Julie Molen, Chairman for Auburn Family Week discussed their program and the activities scheduled for 2005. There will be a Music Festival scheduled on March 20, 2005. Thursday night, March 24, 2005, there will be musical entertainment and various groups will entertain. The program is called The Many Faces of Auburn. There will be blue ribbons distributed around town to support families. The main purpose of the program is to strengthen the family. The group feels that a strong family = a strong community. Ms. Molen said her purpose here tonight is: (1) to announce the Family Fun Run, which will be held at Game Farm Park and (2) be mentioned in the city media. They would also like to know what would the group need to do to be sponsored by the City. They would like to be able to send a notice of some kind in the utility bills. The Auburn Reporter is supportive of the Auburn Family Week. Ms. Molen feels the group provides a function that serves the community well and deserves to be embraced by the City. Member Peloza asked how many people attended last year. Ms. Molen said there was really no way to count attendance but each venue was busy. Member Peloza said probably several hundred then. Chair Singer asked if the group advertised with a banner on Main Street? Ms. Mole.n said they will this year and they are also trying to get PT A's to be involved this year. The group would like to introduce a parenting workshop in each PT A and continue it as an annual event Chair Singer moved to ask the City Attorney's office to draft an ordinance to support and co- sponsor Family Week. Member Peloza seconded. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. 2-0 F. Critical Areas Ordinance Mr. Osaki said the draft ordinance that was distributed to the committee encompasses the changes up to now. The strike out! underline without shading are the Planning Commission's recommended changes and the shaded changes reflect proposed amendments other than those recommended by the Page 8 Plannin~ & CommuniÞFDevelopment Committee Minutes Planning Commission. The memorandum in the agenda packet indicates who is suggesting the shaded change. The Public Works Committee (PWC) indicated that it would like Public Agency and Utilities Exemptions to go to the City Council rather than to the Hearing Examiner. The committee discussed the role of the Hearing Examiner and the role of the City Council and preferred to have the requests go to the Hearing Examiner, Mr. Osaki led a discussion on buffer widths and averaging. Mr. Krauss indicated that staff has tried to build the ordinance as flexible as possible and with balance. The PC DC has been provided a matrix developed by staff. One of the outstanding issues is the use of wetland buffers for a storm drainage facilities pond and whether or not to allow storm drainage ponds to intrude into buffer areas. Chair Singer had several question on the matrix and staff and committee members worked and discussed several issues. One item discussed by Chair Singer was a fee..in-lieu of system. Mr. Krauss said the past the City has relied more on wetland mitigation or "brokering" and by doing so we minimized financial and legal risks for the City while facilitating development Chair Singer said the PCD would explore wetland banking this year. Environmental Manager Aaron Nix added that wetland banking is a Department of Ecology Pilot program being developed right now. Chair Singer would like to add to the committee matrix a study to look at fee-in-lieu of and wetland "brokering". Discussion followed regarding wetland delineations, and allowing mitigation outside the city limits. The Planning Commission discussed the same issues and would like to see any compensation stay within the City. The committee discussed how security deposits and bonding works. Page 9 Plannin~ & CommuniWDevelopment Committee Minutes Chair Singer asked to add low impact development (LID) techniques to the committee matrix. Mr. Krauss added this issue should be to the PW Design and Construction Standards. Chair Singer asked staff about grading being prohibited in critical areas during certain times of the year. Staff discussed the issues associated with grading and fills in geologic hazard areas during the season between October and April. Chair Singer handed' out comments on stormwater in wetland buffers provided by Denny Holt Mr. Dixon then described buffer area functions. . He discussed how storm drainage ponds have water quality functions. Planner Dixon also noted that there are changing design standards to allow vaults (under ground water storage). Member Peloza asked if a problem could be solved through a variance process. Mr. Krauss answered yes, in some instances. Stream buffer averaging was discussed and a question was raised why the City does not use the new proposed DNR stream typing system. Mr. Dixon stated that it hasn't yet been adopted. Mr. Garrett Huffman said he would like to resubmit his letters to the committee that he sent to Planning Commission regarding buffers for high impact land uses. Mr. Krauss said staff would work on the definitions of high and low impact land uses and to tie the definition back to the Comprehensive Plan terminology. Lengthy discussion followed regarding best available science white paper discussion on minimum buffer widths for streams. Mr. Osaki reiterated the draft ordinance currently allows a 25% reduction and with a buffer not less than 40 feet on a class 3 stream. Chair Singer added that the City has a variance procedure in place and Mr. Krauss has flexibility to make a determination. There was then discussion on the variance and hearing examiner process. Member Peloza recommended that Mark Hancock provide a white paper, from his consultant, to the City for review. Chair Singer would like to see the Critical Areas Ordinance (CAO) move forward to the City Council. The committee discussed the Page 10 Plannin~ & Communitv'Ðevelopment Committee Minutes 35% reduction/flexibility for stream buffers and also would like giving the Planning Director a little more than 10% flexibility. Chair Singer said to change stream buffer averaging from "not more than 25%: to "not more than 34%" for class III streams, resulting in a minimum 32.5 foot buffer at any point The issue of use of buffer areas for storm water management will be brought back in the future if the increased buffer averaging is not flexible enough to solve design issues. Wetland banking and fee-in-lieu..of are to be added to matrix for future work. G. Update on Ordinance No. 5882, Amending Chapter 5.22 and providing for residential housing business license and crime free strategies & fees. Chair Singer asked that this update be given to the committee via e-mail V. INFORMATION A. PCDC Status Matrix (include the matrix with agenda toPCDC) Chair Singer will meet with Mr. Krauss. VI. OLD BUSINESS VII. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business to come before the Planning and Community Development Committee, the meeting was adjourned at 9: 10 p.m. APPROVED THE ;ì S I DAY OF J~ os;- ~dn~ Sue Singer, Ctfáir ~~ Carolyn B own, Assistant Secretary Page 11