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HomeMy WebLinkAbout12-02-2003MINUTES OF THE PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING DECEMBER 2, 2003 The regular meeting of the Planning Commission was held on December 2, 2003 at 7:00 p.m. in the Council Chambers of the Auburn City Hall. The regular meeting was preceded by a study session that began at 6:30 p.m. Those in attendance were as follows: MEMBERS: Dave Peace, Ronald Douglass, Renee Larsen, Yvonne Ward and Kevin Chapman STAFF: David Osaki, Jeff Dixon, Eric Hagen, Emily Terrell and Patti Zook The following members were absent: Garna Jones and Karen Ekrem The meeting was called to order by Vice Chair Dave Peace Study Session @ 6:30 · Northeast Auburn Special Area Plan - Update Senior Planner Dixon spoke with Planning Commission about the Plan a year ago. The Comprehensive Plan identifies a number of special plan areas. He pointed out the location of the Plan area and zoning in the area. There were discussions in the past with several property owners and no agreement was reached about how to proceed in developing the area. The property owner for the drive in theater approached the City about developing a project on their property. Robertson Properties, owner, signed an agreement for development of special area plan to include an ElS. The area is unique and bounded by three different arterials. Some right of way has been obtained. The plan area is 85 acres, and Robertson properties is about 55 acres of this total. Senior Planner Dixon talked about the proposed I Street extension and the ElS will study access points to 277th Street. An adjacent property owner wants to develop property to the east of this plan area as residential. The ElS will look at different alignments for I Street. Senior Planner Dixon mentioned what is studied in an ElS. There was a kick off meeting in November 2002 (attended by approximately 20 people) to embark on the ElS process. In January, 2003 staff put out the official ElS scoping notice and held a public scoping meeting (attended by approximately 12 people) to take comments about what to study in the ElS. The consultant has been conducting an analysis of these issues, traffic and stormwater and is nearing completion. Developer is pursuing three different development options and he explained them. ElS is alsorequired to analyze a no action alternative. He showed overhead of possible project configurations for the three alternatives. In response to Commissioner Larsen comment, Senior Planner Dixon said that land uses adjacent to the I Street roadway may be more appropriate for commercial versus residential uses because the City does not want multiple driveways to the arterial. In response to Commissioner Chapman comments, Senior Planner Dixon said development square footage numbers are supposed to be the maximum allowed. There could be a blend of the three alternatives such as residential, office and commercial. The site will require significant infrastructure improvements. In response to Commissioner Ward comments, Senior Planner Dixon said public comment is encouraged at issuance of the draft ElS which will have a 30 day public comment period. There is opportunity for extension of the comment period if the City receives comments asking for extension. Comment period could extend to 45 days total. Commissioner Ward requests that City provide lots of notice to citizens and issuance at holiday time is problematic. Senior Planner Dixon said developer is eager to get document issued and for project to move forward. The City is trying to be sensitive to property owner's needs and what makes sense for public comment and to strike balance. The hired consultant team includes a traffic engineer to do analysis for the ElS. The consultant is hired by the City -1- MINUTES OF THE PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING DECEMBER 2, 2003 and paid for by the developer. The developer will have own traffic engineer looking out for their interests. Senior Planner Dixon mentioned that staff will come back to Planning Commission after the final ElS is issued and Planning Commission will hold a public hearing on these requirements and make a recommendation to City Council. In response to Commissioner Chapman inquires, Senior Planner Dixon said that for this project the City of Auburn may come up with a new zoning designation such as previously done for Terrace View and Lea Hill. The designation could be similar to C-3, Heavy Commercial uses and development standards, but may have greater pedestrian orientation requirements. The concept is unique zoning designation for this area and different than current zoning classifications; perhaps a new zone or an overlay. There is not currently an existing zoning designation that allows a mix of uses that the property owner wants. Regular Meeting @ 7:15 APPROVAL OF MINUTES · Minutes of October 14, 2003 Meeting Commissioner Ward referred to page 5, above CPM #10, and said the motion passed 4-2. Pg 12 -2nd full paragraph, initials 'VH' should be typed out for Virginia Haugen. Commissioner Chapman made a motion, seconded by Commissioner Douglass, to approve the minutes with the correction as discussed. The motion passed. · November 5, 2003 Meeting Commissioner Ward referred to page 3, and is sure the Chair did not second the motion. Commissioner Ward made a motion, seconded by Commissioner Douglass, to approve the minutes with correction as discussed. The motion passed. DISCUSSION · Auburn Transportation Plan Community Development Administrator Osaki spoke about the substantial projects coming up next year. Staff is working on a new transportation plan and he introduced Emily Terrell, Transportation Planner and Grants Manager. She is managing the new transportation plan for the City. Commissioner Douglass is a member of the citizens group. Transportation Planner Terrell is working on scheduling neighborhood meetings. The last update of the plan was in 1997. An open house was held September 23 and the Reaching Out Fair is in October. She showed an overhead of projects since 1997. She is speaking to interest groups such as Washington Trucking Association, Sound Transit, Auburn Downtown Association, and Rotary Club. She showed overheads of needs assessment. The highest traffic volume is on 15th Street NW which carries the population of Auburn each day. No State counts are available for Highway 167. The Non-Motorized Plan is being folded into this transportation plan. City policies are not useful in programming transportation improvements. Part of City Council's vision is to have multi-use lanes, bike lanes and to connect recreation loops. The map will eventually include sidewalks. In response to Commissioner Ward's inquiries, she said sidewalks are listed on paper, but not in map form. She spoke about ADA accessibility issues for sidewalks. The City has applied for grants for mapping software. Transportation Planner Terrell continued by saying City is looking at transit also. Lea Hill and Lakeland are not well designed for buses or bus routes, but are good for van pools. King County Metro is not increasing any routes in Auburn. Sound Transit will be increasing rail service to six-nine per day. In response to Commissioner Ward inquiries, Transportation Planner Terrell said that City is working on different scenarios and eventually there will be more commuter trains. The Transportation Plan is done -2- MINUTES OF THE PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING DECEMBER 2, 2003 every six years. Bus traffic and commuter rail traffic are not the same people. The City tries to get interconnections whenever possible. Transportation Planner Terrell showed additional overheads and spoke about pass-through traffic and that many roads are functioning as arterials whether they were built that way or not. She pointed out the Highway 164 bypass and spoke about the need for a roadway of some type and reopening Academy Drive which has been closed for several years and needs geotechnical studies. She spoke about discussions with the Tribe. She attends local, regional and state meetings and PSRC is discussing how to do transportation studies with and emphasis on urban centers. Transportation Planner Terrell pointed out areas on overhead where roads are expected to receive growth in traffic and that roads remain busy even with planned improvements. The City is very vocal in state and federal processes. The City wants to be ready with a plan and property in place so when funds are earmarked and process comes around again there is a grant opportunity to apply for. City and Tribe agree that Hwy 164 needs improvement. Transportation Planner Terrell mentioned the new large parking garage being built by the Tribe and said that it shouldn't take two hours to get from the amphitheater to Dogwood. If the Tribe had a transportation plan it would be eligible for Indian reservation funds and could pool with other monies. The City has tried to assist the Tribe and is waiting for their response about working together. Transportation Planner Terrell is speaking to different venues to get comments and she asked Planning Commission to help get the word out. She asked Planning Commission to contact her with the names of neighborhood groups. The 1997 Transportation Plan is available for review. · Sensitive Areas Ordinance Senior Planner Dixon reminded Planning Commission that time was spent in the summer going through the different sections and a couple sections were reviewed at each meeting. Planning Commission revisions were incorporated into the SAO edition received at the last Planning Commission meeting. The chapters were restructured to be in conformance with the City Code to include the correct formatting with section heads and numbering. Planning Commission and staff were talking about how to implement the new regulations for sensitive areas. Staff initially had the assistance of a consultant to help formulate the draft regulations which are required by the GMA. Policies in the Comprehensive Plan speak to developing these regulations and specific standards to address management of sensitive resources. The regulations will provide efficiencies in the development review process which now relies heavily on SEPA to incorporate mitigation measures. The SAO will have stand alone regulations to allow efficiency and speed and it is not envisioned to be an additional permit or additional review process, but will proceed concurrently. The regulations will provide consistency in decision making and allow predictability for developers. The City will be managing resources by having processes in place. He spoke about goals in compliance with the Endangered Species Act. In early 2004, the City anticipates having a series of open houses, and provide additional notification of the draft regulations on the City's web site, in newspaper articles, and at the library. Staff will come back to Planning Commission for a public hearing on the SAO with Planning Commission recommendation and City Council decision. Senior Planner Dixon mentioned the updated wetland inventory and stream maps will be presented to Planning Commission. PLANNING DEPARTMENT REPORT · Upcoming Public Hearing Community Development Administrator Osaki commented that the adult use provisions are on track for a public hearing in January. He was in contact with the South County Journal about doing an article. -3- MINUTES OF THE PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING DECEMBER 2, 2003 · Introduction Community Development Administrator Osaki introduced Eric Hagen, Environmental Projection Manager, who is involved in environmental resource issues and is helping on the Sensitive Areas Ordinance. · Short Course in Local Planning Community Development Administrator Osaki advised that on January 29 is a 'Short Course in Local Planning' sponsored by the City of Auburn. He described the course. New City Council members are also invited as well as Planning Commissioners from other cities such as Kent and Federal Way. A short discussion occurred on recommended topics for the course. ADJOURNMENT With no further items to come before the Commission the meeting was adjourned at 8:10 pm. PC~GND\MIN 12-2003 -4-