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Home My WebLink About01-22-2007CLTY OF UBU~ WASHINGTON PLANNING ~ COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE January 22, 2007 MINUTES CALL TO ORDER - 5:00 PM, COUNCIL CHAMBERS Chair Lynn Norman 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: Chair Lynn Norman, Member Rich Wagner, and Member Nancy Backus. Also present were Planning, Building .and Community Development Director Michael Davolio, Community Development Administrator David Osaki, Development Services Coordinator Steve Pilcher, Parks Director Daryl Faber, Environmental Protection Manager Aaron Nix, Planner Stacey Borland, Economic Development Planner AI Hicks, Mayor Pete Lewis and Planning Secretary Kirsten Reynolds. Audience Members included: None APPROVAL OF MINUTES • January 8, 2007 Member Backus moved to approve the minutes from the January 8, 2007 meeting as submitted, Member Wagner seconded the motion. Minutes approved unanimously 3-0. III. ACTION • Ordinance No. 6077 -Environmental Appeal Fee Development Services Coordinator Steve Pilcher discussed taking the environmental appeal fee and the School Impact fee administrative charge out of the code and placing them in the fee schedule (adopted by resolution). This will make adjustments to these fees easier to accomplish on an annual basis. The school impact fee administrative charge would increase up to $65.00, consistent with what King County charges. Member Backus moved to forward Ordinance No. 6078 on to Council for approval; seconded by Member Wagner. Motion was approved unanimously 3-0. Ordinance No. 6078 -Public Notice Boards Development Services Coordinator Steve Pilcher noted the proposal will result in the selling of signs used for advertising land use actions. Currently, the signs are "rented" to applicants, Page 1 Planning and Community Development Committee Minutes ~ January 22, 2007 which have proved problematic. The proposal will also result in the elimination of the use of the large, 4' x 8' notice board signs. The signs are difficult to transport for applicants and the department has seen them vandalized frequently. General discussion occurred regarding the placement of public notice boards, in particular the importance of the public's accessibility to public notice boards. Member Backus moved to forward Ordinance No. 6078 on to Council for approval; seconded by Member Wagner. Motion was approved unanimously 3-0. • Downtown Design Standards Development Services Coordinator Steve Pitcher presented a revised Downtown Urban Center Design Standards, which had been modified per the most recent direction of the Committee. There was discussion about the minimum distance allowed between driveway curb cuts; staff will clarify and bring back revised language to the next meeting. Also, there were concems regarding verbiage of landscaping for surveillance purposes; a suggestion was made to have it read that landscaping would be maintained as concerns of visibility. The use of neon signs was also discussed. The Committee wanted the assurance that neon signs located in the DUC zone would remain attractive and not become overwhelming eye sores. More defined vocabulary will be added to ensure any neon signage will be within the allowance; signage will be allowed as an integral architectural feature. It was agreed staff would make language changes and bring back to the next meeting. IV. DISCUSSION • Theater Plan Update Parks Director Daryl Faber presented an update on the Theater Plan. BCRA was contacted for a theater analysis; BCRA has done other theater upgrading/renovating in the past. Parks staff is reviewing some of the cosmetic upgrades that could be done prior to April 1. Theater seating will not be available before the "soft opening" on April 1St, 2007. Jim Heinbeck, a new staff member was recreantly hired to coordinate day to day operations. Heinbeck will focus on ticket sales and renovations. He has experience working with the Parks Department and knowledge in theater operations. To assist with the visioning of the theater a man named Steve Wright was contacted, he is very knowledgeable in theater renovations. There may be a Teen/youth program in place during the summer. There is no set plan for exactly what the theater will be doing as the main attraction as of yet. Page 2 Planning and Community Development Committee Minutes January 22, 2007 Access Easements to Critical Area Planner, Stacey Borland. discussed how access easements to critical areas are addressed in City Code and summarized City Council's decision on the Spencer Place preliminary plat. A vast majority of critical area tracts dedicated to the City are connected to public right of way. Borland prepared a memo identifying options for what the City Council can do if a situation similar to the Spencer Place plat arises in the future. • Wayfinding/Gateways Economic Development Planner, AI Hicks had a visual presentation and map locator where the wayfinding/gateway placements were being purposed. There were 13 key locations identified throughout the City. Some challenges for placement were mounting and locations within a right of way. Discussion for placement feasibility and obtaining easements to right of ways took place. The Auburn Downtown Association members are invested in this project and would really like to see progress and implementation of this project happen. Estimates on the signage came in very high so Public Works will be examined to produce them. The Committee raised concems that these signs need to be ADA compliant and ensure design consistency. There will be another update in April. • Shoreline Master Program Update Environmental Protection Manager, Aaron Nix updated the Committee on the Coastal Zone Management Grant award by the Department of Ecology. The proposed shoreline plan has been simplified from four to three shoreline boundary designations. The next stage is to take this plan to the Planning Commission and get it approved by the city council in late June or early July. Nix discussed the general concept of single family residential uses in the shoreline. There may be concerns with current residents residing with in the purposed areas. It was noted that former Councilmember Fred Poe serves on the Ad Hoc Citizen's Advisory Committee developing the draft shoreline program. The Committee asked staff to show more detailed maps at the next meeting on February 12th 2007. _ • Hearing Examiner Michael Davolio, Director of Planning, Building & Community informed the Committee there were five applications received for the Hearing Examiner opening. Phil Olbrechts was chosen as the number one candidate. Mr. Olbrechts was invited to the January 29, 2007 City Council Committee of the Whole meeting to introduce himself. Negotiations are currently underway with an understanding that he will charge the City an hourly rate. He also has staff that would produce transcripts of the hearings. Page 3 Planning and Community Development Committee Minutes January 22, 2007 • Graffiti Director Davolio passed out pictures of graffiti in the City. One of the pictures displayed a fence that was originally tagged with graffiti and covered with different graffiti/art that the owner had done to cover the original tagging. This topic held a great deal of discussion among the Committee and staff. Current code identifies graffiti as defacing personal property. The Committee questioned what should be allowed and who should make these decisions on how to regulate it in code. Staff will talk with the City Attorney regarding the wording of an ordinance that could potentially come forward. Aside of this discussion, the Mayor shared that the Police Department is bringing forward a spray can ordinance that will require :people to be 18 or older to purchase spray paint. V, INFORMATION • PCDC Matrix Status . o Shoreline Update on February 12, 2006 -Aaron Nix o Sidewalk Update o Community Center o Rescheduling the White River Museum VI. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business to come before the Planning and Community Development Committee, Chair Norman adjourned the meeting at 6:50 p.m. APPROVED THE ~ DAY OF l~O~t~C~ .~- _ Kirst eynolds, cr ary Page 4