Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout09-08-2008CITY OF UBURN WASHINGTON PLANNING & COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE September 8, 2008 MINUTES 1. CALL TO ORDER - 5:00 PM, COUNCIL CHAMBERS Chair Lynn Norman called the meeting to order at 5:03 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 Nancy Backus and Member Rich Wagner. Staff members present included: Planning & Building Director Cindy Baker, Principal Planner Elizabeth Chamberlain, Senior Planner Stacey Borland, Environmental Protection Manager Kelly McLain-Aardal, Financial Planning Manager Karen Jester, Assistant Public Works Director Dennis Selle, Assistant City Engineer Ingrid Gaub, and Community Services Project Assistant Kirsten Reynolds. Audience Members included: Greg Watson and Valley Regional Fire Authority Fire Marshall Jeff Stottlemeyer. II. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Member Backus moved to approve the minutes from the August 25, 2008 meeting as submitted, seconded by Member Wagner. Minutes approved unanimously 3-0. III. ACTION A. Resolution No. 4382 Parks Director Daryl Faber spoke about accepting additional property from King County for the Mary Olson Farm. This transfer of property is located just north of the Green River; it will be used for additional parking. There is no money required to do this land transaction; however, a property transfer does need to take place within the next month. Member Wagner asked if there has been any history of dumping on the property. Director Faber inquired about this with the County and got a reply there were no dumping issues. Member Backus moved to forward Resolution No. 4382 on to full Council for approval; seconded by Member Wagner. Motion was approved unanimously 3-0. B. Ordinance No. 6189 Director Faber talked about the need to change this ordinance to allow the reservation of grave space without a specific charge for a 30-day period. By Planning and Community Development Committee Minutes September 8, 2008 making this change it will get the City out of the money lending business. Member Wagner inquired if there would be a large amount of people asking for this service. Director Faber replied that there shouldn't be a problem; they sell 200+ plots each year. Member Backus moved to forward Ord. No. 6189 on to full Council for approval; seconded by Member Wagner. Motion was approved unanimously 3-0. C. Ordinance No. 6198 Principal Planner Elizabeth Chamberlain proposed amending Titles 17, Subdivisions, and Title 18, Zoning, stating that purely administrative and procedural code changes would not be reviewed by the Planning Commission. Staff discussed this change with the Legal Department and took it to the Planning Commission for public hearing at the September 3, 2008 meeting. The Commission agreed to have this process changed but asked to have some language added to clarify the definition of administrative. Staff has improved the definition to what purely administrative means. With this change there are more checks and balances in place. The Committee inquired about noticing requirements. Ms. Chamberlain responded that for the process for noticing will remain the same with publication in the newspaper and for posting notices in three general locations. Member Backus moved to forward Ord. No. 6198 on to full Council for approval; seconded by Member Wagner. Motion was approved unanimously 3-0. D. Resolution No. 4398 Environmental Protection Manager Kelly McLain-Aardal asked the Committee to authorize the Mayor and City Clerk to execute an agreement between the City of Auburn and the lowest qualified bidder for Auburn's Bird Viewing Tower. When a contractor is selected, the Bird Viewing Tower will be constructed in the fall. Member Wagner asked for an explanation of the budget presented. Ms. McLain- Aardal explained the budget is for the entire Environmental Park, bids for the Bird Viewing Tower came in at approximately $125,000 - $150,000. Additionally, there are matching grant funds available for construction use. Member Backus noted there seemed to be an incorrect calculation on the budget status sheet which made several numbers off. This will be corrected before moving forward. There was discussion regarding current parking. There are currently three spaces available at the northern end of the Environmental Park. There is room Page 2 Planning and Community Development Committee Minutes September 8, 2008 to park along the street, near the aerospace building; additional parking is not slated until future expansion of the park. Chair Norman asked about handicap accessibility. Ms. McLain-Aardal explained there is compact gravel at the entrance which acts as asphalt. There will be a ramp located on the south landing of the Bird Viewing Tower; this will take people to the first level. All materials being used are low maintenance. Volunteers will be utilized for maintenance of the facility. Member Backus moved to forward Resolution No. 4398 on to full Council for approval; seconded by Member Wagner. Motion was approved unanimously 3-0. IV. DISCUSSION A. Historical Downtown Ideas/Photos Guest speaker Greg Watson, a teacher at West Auburn High School presented several points of historical matter and ideas that could be incorporated into Auburn's downtown development. Mr. Watson is an expert on Auburn's Native American way of life, Japanese farming culture and the Northern Clay Co. Gladding McBean. Mr. Watson spoke about the coincidence of the downtown development project being called Auburn Junction; Ilalgo, which means junction, is what Native Americans called the Auburn area; they referred to the area as Ilalgo/junction because of the Green and the White Rivers met here at one point. Mr. Watson pointed out this was a great coincidence of history reinventing itself. Auburn's Native American Heritage Mr. Watson stated the language spoken in the area is part of the family of Salish languages. He noted it is important to be aware of stylistic approaches to artwork and should be within the Salish language. Mr. Watson discussed the artwork of Susan Point and showed pictures of intricate basket weaving and suggested that architectural elements could be incorporated into development that mimicked those basket elements. Northern Clay Co. Gladding McBean Made of durable terracotta clay, the material is both beautifully carved and easy to take care for. This historic company was located off A Street and did many public building projects, some still standing today in Seattle and Tacoma. One building remains in Auburn that has some pieces from the Northern Clay Co., the Masonic Lodge. Page 3 Planning and Community Development Committee Minutes September 8, 2008 Japanese Community The Japanese community flourished in Auburn during World War II. They were hard workers in the agricultural community and saw mills. It has been reported that "They grew up on farming and baseball". The White River Buddhist Temple was the only building that had an Asian influence in the building structure. The Temple has since been rebuilt in a European style. Mr. Watson was asked and plans to give this presentation at the next Downtown Redevelopment Committee in two weeks, staff will get him the date and time. B. Ordinance No. 6201 Budget Amendment #16 Financial Planning Manager Karen Jester handed out a budget amendment that included $50,000 added to Planning's budget for annexation census costs and there was an additional $30,000 added to Parks budget for the golf course. There was also a total of $144,000 added for vehicle prep because when vehicles were purchased for annexation positions they were not budgeted appropriately for capitalizing all the prep work needed to place the vehicle into service. There was discussion about the Drug Forfeiture fund budget adjustment; it was clarified this is only for additional graffiti cameras. C. Aggressive Begging Code, Section 9.08.010 Chief Jim Kelly was not present at this meeting to answer questions. The Committee reviewed and discussed the packet materials regarding impeding pedestrian or vehicular traffic. Chair Norman informed the other Committee Members that during the busy commuting times there is a problem with panhandling near Highway 18. There is currently nothing in place that prevents this activity. With this code revision it will be a tool for the Police to use to stop this behavior. When people are approached for the first time they are given a verbal warning to stop this behavior, the second time could constitute jail time and/or result in a misdemeanor. Members Backus and Wagner asked to have Chief Kelly come talk with them further about this matter. Staff will contact Chief Kelly and ask him to attend the next PCD meeting. D. Encouraging Infill Residential Development Assistant Public Works Director Dennis Selle, Assistant City Engineer Ingrid Gaub and Fire Marshall Jeff Stottlemeyer have presented the proposed changes related to residential infill development to the Public Works Committee. Member Wagner talked about the Half Street Policy being silent regarding right of way dedication requirements. Ms. Gaub replied that the intent of the policy is that a dedication would usually not be allowed to be deferred. Director Baker asked about the situation where it may not be possible to obtain the right-of-way for a half street. Mr. Selle stated that the staff is willing to work with applicants in special situations that arise but such situations are very rare. Page 4 Planning and Community Development Committee Minutes September 8, 2008 There are additional deviation options if there are situations where there isn't enough space adjacent to the public road to practically dedicate the additional right-of way, i.e., such as a privately owned building located too close, the City would try to get the right of way when they can but may defer it until future re- development of the property occurs. If staff finds that a particular situation occurs frequently, staff would come back to the Committee for additional guidance on this matter. Chair Norman asked for clarification within the access tract changes concerning residential units having fire sprinklers, she stated the language was confusing and asked staff to clarify if this is only for the new buildings or for all buildings accessing the tracts. Mr. Stottlemeyer clarified that it would only be a requirement for the new residence. Staff will modify the language to make this clearer before returning to the Public Works Committee for final approval of the design standard revisions. E. Healthcare District Overlay Phase 1 The Committee last discussed this issue in August. In response, staff did another field survey on the Healthcare District Analysis Area. Senior Planner Stacey Borland gave an overview of a map that identified current land uses in the Healthcare District Analysis Area and residential office zoned area north of 3rd Street NE. Staff found a concentration of medical uses near the Auburn Regional Medical Center. Director Baker added that staff will be working closely with Public Works on more specifics related to stormwater improvements. The Committee was provided a smaller map of the Phase 1 area, which is between 3rd Street NE and 7th Street NE. The Committee asked about the A/B Corridor and how that impacted this area. Discussion about the wetland impacts and staff working with the Army Corps of Engineers ensued. Staff analyzed extension of the area north to 15th Street NE. Staff noted that established industrial businesses, Fred Meyer, a senior housing facility, the expansion of Mohawk Plastics, existing wetlands in the area, and the 75' height limitation near the airport make it difficult to extend the healthcare district north. There is a vacant site owned by Multicare, however there is very little connection with the hospital or the residential area to include the site as part of the overlay district. Chair Norman spoke about the importance of having the neighborhood remain residential as the area converts to businesses. There was a brief discussion around what requirements must be met when converting an individual house into a business. Ms. Borland discussed the code change to allow for a healthcare district as an overlay. The Committee also reviewed the list of incentives prepared by staff relating to the overlay area. Page 5 Planning and Community Development Committee Minutes September 8, 2008 There was discussion about parking issues in the area. Parking is largely determined by the square footage of the building structure. One of the suggested incentives was to round down when the required parking ended up fractional. The Committee didn't agree with rounding down the required amount of parking spaces but they did like the compact space concept. Director Baker talked about having a shuttle as a solution to the lack of parking. Chair Norman expressed that wouldn't solve the lack of parking in the area; perhaps having an additional area for off site employee parking may be the answer. Chair Norman asked for a recommendation on how to deal with the parking issues with out destroying the neighborhood with control and guidance. Member Wagner talking about storm water requirements; he stated it is still worth looking into pervious pavement. Director Baker suggested a bioswale system that the City could construct that would serve the storm drainage needs of the area. Chair Norman commented requirements need to work for both residents and business owners, maybe using the Fred Meyer parking lot for off site parking. Member Wagner commented that A Street would need to be punched through to the Fred Meyer parking lot. Discussion took place about residential preservation and creating a good balance with having the options to convert homes into businesses. The Committee was in agreement that they should invite the neighborhood to a meeting. There will be a presentation from the Council's perspective and then time will be permitted for the neighborhood to ask questions and make comments. If nothing is done, it is likely that this neighborhood will convert over time naturally to more businesses and potentially there will be many issues with parking and lack of protection for the neighborhood. Council's goal is to preserve houses in the neighborhood. An invitation will be sent to the neighbors inviting them to attend a special PCD meeting to participate, the meeting will need to start at 6:00 p.m. or 7:00 p.m. Major issues recapped included: parking issues need to be solved, compact car spaces are okay, tandem parking okay (only for employee and owners), continue work with Public Works around storm drainage issues, not in favor of the traffic impact fee reduction, not in favor of rounding down of parking space requirements and in favor of making the Special Exception process administrative. V. INFORMATION A. Director's Official Decisions and Report • The Assistant Director will start work on Wednesday, September 10th; he will be in charge of permit processing and code update. • The City was able to salvage some of the clay tiles from Del's Farm Supply, the tiles are being stored for future use at GSA. • The agreement with Alpert is nearing completion. Page 6 Planning and Community Development Committee Minutes September 8, 2008 • Plans for the garage have come in and are in review. • Director Baker will be attending the Planning Director's conference later this week. • All Planning staff has completed the required FEMA training. • Meeting next week with BHC to review the code revisions. B. PCDC Status Matrix Member Wagner asked what was happening with the Diversity Consultant position. Chair Norman replied that Community Services Manager Duanna Richards has been working to put together another Stakeholder meeting on September 23rd that includes the original consultants and the community members that were interviewed. C. Information • Citizen Survey Questions - due December 15th V. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business to come before the Planning and Community Development Committee, Chair Norman adjourned the meeting at 7:07 p.m. APPROVED T IS 2,2- DAY OF e i Lyn No an, Chair Kirsten Reynolds, Co unity Services Project Assistant Page 7.