HomeMy WebLinkAbout07-28-2008CITY OF
OBURN
WASHINGTON
PLANNING & COMMUNITY
DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE
July 28, 2008
MINUTES
CALL TO ORDER
Chair Lynn Norman called the meeting to order at 5:01 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 and Member Wagner. Member Nancy Backus was
excused.
Staff members present included: Principal Planner Jeff Dixon, Communications Manager
Dana Hinman, Community Services Manager Duanna Richards, Human Services Manager
Michael Hursh, Assistant Public Works Director Dennis Selle, Assistant City Engineer Ingrid
Gaub, and Planning Secretary Renee Tobias.
Audience Members included: Valley Regional Fire Authority (VRFA) Fire Marshal Jeff
Stottlemyre and Robert Whale.
II. APPROVAL OF MINUTES
June 23, 2008
Member Wagner moved to approve the minutes from the June 23, 2008 meeting as
submitted; Chair Norman concurred.
Minutes approved unanimously 2-0.
July 14, 2008
Correction from Member Wagner to delete the last sentence of Section W.A., first
paragraph.
Member Wagner moved to approve the minutes from the July 14, 2008 meeting as
amended; Chair Norman concurred.
Minutes approved unanimously 2-0.
III. Discussion (moved to top of agenda by Chair Norman)
A. Community Services Quarterly Update
Community Services Manager Duanna Richards shared the four main goals of the
Community Services Division and how they have been met.
Some of the highlights included scheduling 15 neighborhood meetings and the Mayor or
staff attending several meetings with various faith and ethnic communities and Block
Watch groups.
In the effort to reach out to and involve Auburn's diverse communities in the community at
large, the City has joined National League of Cities' Partnership for Working Toward
Inclusive Communities. Introductions and communications with various faith and ethnic
community leaders have begun. A multicultural roundtable has been developed with the
first monthly meeting on June 3, 2008 with 10-12 attendees.
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July 28, 2008
B. Encouraging infill residential development
At the July 14, PCD meeting, the Committee asked that the VRFA be represented at the
next meeting to discuss some specific topics around fire access requirements and to
discuss the use of sprinkler systems for in-fill residential development. To reintroduce the
discussion from the last meeting, Assistant City Engineer Ingrid Gaub provided examples
of the issues; a panhandle lot or a 30' easement access set in previous platting actions in
the recently annexed areas. In addition, accesses in these areas may be longer than 150',
therefore requiring a turnaround, whether an access road, serving more than one lot,
should be 24' or 34' in width for pavement, and if a residence has a fire sprinkler system,
would the distance requirement to the fire hydrant change or reduce.
VRFA Fire Marshal Jeff Stottlemyre provided an overview of sprinkler systems and levels
of protection for single family, multifamily and commercial buildings and stated that they
are designed to hold the fire in check to allow occupants to escape and the fire department
to respond. Additionally, the city has adopted Chapter 5 of the International Fire Code,
which addresses access requirements when a driveway is serving more then two
residences.
The code states that when an access has more than two residential occupancies, the
access road of 20' is required; if the access from a public way is more than 150', a
turnaround is required. To reduce the amount of acreage used for this, owners can install
a residential sprinkler in lieu of the turnaround requirement.
A residential sprinkler system can be required by the Fire Agency when access is difficult,
such as a steep grade; if a residence cannot show they can provide 1,000 gallons/minute
of water for houses less than 3,600 sq. ft; or 1,500 gallons/minute for homes larger than
3,600 sq. ft.
Principal Planner Jeff Dixon responded to a question about the review process. The Fire
Department reviews all short plat requests either during the pre-application meeting, during
environmental reviews, or at the land use actions application stage. Comments from the
fire agency are incorporated into the process and decisions on the applications.
Mr. Stottlemyre stated that code requires hydrant spacing every 600' for residential and
300' for commercial. If a current hydrant is not within these requirements, the property
owner is required to install a new hydrant. Costs can be expensive to do this depending
on the need to extend the water line to meet this requirement. A question arose if a
residence has a fire protection system, could the 600' requirement be waived. Mr.
Stottlemyre stated that the sprinkler requirement and hydrant requirement are independent
of each other. Fire service could consider a code change to waive the hydrant requirement
if a house has a fire sprinkler system.
Ms. Gaub stated that the Public Works Design Standards approved by the Council last
year require the wider access pavement of 24' or 34' if it is serving more then one
residence, whereas the fire code applies access requirements when there are more than
two residences served.
Member Wagner asked staff to look at various standards, i.e., rural and access tract
standards, to see if there is a reasonable combination of requirements when adding only
one more residence to an area. Ms. Gaub stated that if the Design Standards were
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Planning and Community Development Committee Minutes
July 28, 2008
revised to be more in line with the fire code so that access standards are not triggered by
either when only 2 residences are being served, then the costs to develop an additional
residence would be easier to develop.
Staff was asked to prepare a document for the next Committee meeting indicating the
proposed changes to the design standards related to access tracts to align with the trigger
of more then two residences being served as required by the fire code. In addition,
possible revisions to the fire code will be discussed related to fire hydrant requirements
and sprinkler systems.
IV. ACTION
A. Resolution No. 4385 - 10 Year Plan to End Homelessness
The City has already participated and is actively involved in the regional 10 Year Plan.
Endorsement of the Plan will officially recognize Auburn's support along with 85 other
jurisdictions that have passed similar resolutions.
Committee asked for a list of cities involved in the Plan and the timeline of what is being
targeted for accomplishments by 2014; Human Services Manager Michael Hursh will
provide.
Member Wagner moved to forward Resolution No. 4385 on to full Council for approval
and asked Mr. Hursh to provide additional information prior to the agenda item coming
to council; Chair Norman concurred.
Motion was approved unanimously 2-0.
B. Resolution No. 4386 - HOME Interlocal Agreement
The City participates in the King County HOME Investment Partnerships Program
Consortium. This cooperation allows for Auburn's interests and potential projects to be
qualified for HOME funding through the US Dept. of Housing & Urban Development. The
renewal of the agreement will serve for our involvement through 2011.
Member Wagner moved to forward Resolution No. 4386 on to full Council for approval;
Chair Norman concurred.
Motion was approved unanimously 2-0.
C. Resolution No. 4374 - Approving and authorizing execution of an Interlocal
Agreement with Pierce County
Request for Council to execute an Interlocal agreement with Pierce County, thereby
amending the Pierce County Countywide Planning Policies to address the adoption of
VISION 2040 and Puget Sound Regional Council's criteria for the designation of regional
centers. Sixty percent (60%) of the jurisdictions representing seventy-five (75%) of the
population is needed to amend the Countywide Planning Policies.
Member Wagner moved to forward Resolution No. 4374 on to full Council for approval;
Chair Norman concurred.
Motion was approved unanimously 2-0.
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V. DISCUSSION (con't)
C. Citizen Survey
Communications Manager Dana Hinman addressed questions and areas of concern on
the recent citizen survey results. The responsibility for the survey was moved from
Finance to the Communications Department and that the survey consultant had changed.
This was the fourth annual survey and the questions were relatively the same as previous
years which allowed comparison and analysis of evolution on particular topics; this year,
newly annexed areas were added to the survey samples. The Committee asked for more
information on the analytical techniques and process used for the survey results. It was
noted that the city has increased efforts for communications to the community but some
survey results confirm this, while others do not.
Committee asked for a representative from the survey company to make a presentation at
the next PCD meeting on August 11, 2008.
VI. INFORMATION
A. Director's Official Decisions and Report - None
B. PCDC Status Matrix - No changes
C. Information
• Chair Norman followed up on a previous committee discussion of temporary storage
units and noted a particular instance of a container partially within the right-of-way on
Lea Hill. It was suggested that the temporary storage company obtains the permit
rather than the homeowner.
• The Committee inquired about the update cycle for the Downtown Plan. It was noted
that there has been considerable changes in the downtown area that may warrant
revision; the plan could be supplemented to reflect current issues in downtown. Staff
reported that the Plan may contain a recommendation on the update frequency and will
confirm.
Committee discussed that the community is not receiving information about the City's
vision for downtown; some citizens have stated they do not understand how the city
operates under constraints and how long it takes to get projects going. There was
discussion about different ways to better inform the community. Member Wagner
inquired whether the Plan included any recommendations for the role of the Auburn
Downtown Association (ADA). It was generally acknowledged that it did not
Chair Norman described the various bike racks observed by the Downtown
Redevelopment committee in the Portland Pearl District. Two newspaper articles were
shared, 1) about the difficulty in locating racks to secure bikes in Seattle, and 2)
Sustainable Ballard seeking amateur bike rack designs that proved to have unique
designs. It was suggested similar approach and designs could be implemented
downtown through the Arts Commission.
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July 28, 2008
VII. ADJOURNMENT
There being no further business to come before the Planning and Community Development
Committee, Chair Norman adjourned the meeting at 6:38 p.m.
APPROVED THIS v? DAY OF d?V
Lynn N an, Chair
Renee S. Tobias, Secretary
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