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HomeMy WebLinkAbout12-02-2008ACITY OF ~ B_WFINAL PLANNING COMMISSION December 2, 2008 MINUTES CALL TO ORDER Chair Judi Roland called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. in the Council Chambers located on the first floor of Auburn City Hall, 25 West Main Street, Auburn, WA. Commissioners present were: Chair Judi Roland, Vice Chair Kevin Chapman, Dave Peace, Peter DiTuri, Ron Copple, Robert Baggett, Michael Hamilton, and Joan Mason. Staff members present included: Assistant Director of Planning, Building and Community Kevin Snyder and Planning Secretary Carolyn Brown. Audience: Five members from a U of W class. 1. APPROVAL OF MINUTES - October 7, 2008 Commissioner Mason made the motion to approve the minutes from October 7, 2008; seconded by Commissioner DiTuri. Motion approved 7-0. II. PUBLIC COMMENT • None III. PLANNING DEPARTMENT REPORT • Update Planning Commission on Planning Department activities was provided by Assistant Planning Director Kevin Snyder. He stated Planning Director Baker will be out of the office until early January, 2009. He added that the Planning and Building Department is busy but with reduced volume and projects. The projects coming in are smaller with no sub-divisions or plats at this time. On January 14, 2009 at 6:00 pm, in the Auburn City Hall, there will be a short course on Local Planning. The state agency will bring in staff and training staff. This will also cover the role of the Planning Commission and the legal basis of planning in Washington State. This will be an opportunity to come together with staff and elected officials from other jurisdictions. The Commissioners will receive an email with confirmation of time and date. On November 17, 2008, City Council enacted moratorium in the 100 year flood plain. This was due to a recent biological opinion by the National Marine Fisheries. Current FEMA regulations, as they pertain to regulations to flood plains, are not adequate to address endangered species. The way flood plain regulations work is FEMA creates models and these are adopted by local jurisdiction. The City of Auburn's regulations mirror the FEMA regulations and could open the City to legal actions. The City is currently working with FEMA to identify the next steps and FEMA is working to create a new model ordinance. The ordinance is limiting Planninq Commission Meetinq Minutes December 6, 2008 development in the flood plain in and around Auburn. A development company can build if they can demonstrate that the development will not cause impact. The City Council will hold a public hearing on January 5, 2009. A public information meeting will be on December 10 at the Parks, Recreation and Arts Building. The City will notify all current property owners in the flood plain and any owners in the new mapped FEMA area of the meeting. Questions will be answered from 6:30 to 8:00 pm. Commissioner Peace asked how much development is in that area. Assistant Planning Director Snyder said the City will have to evaluate on a case by case approach. The project could be as small as a tenant improvement, a short plat request or a remodel. An internal staff committee will review requests. If the property has even a piece of property in the area in question, the whole property is considered impacted. This only affects the currently designated 100 year plan. The proposed maps show a much greater impact area. Property owners in these areas will be notified via mail and there will be a notice in the Auburn Reporter. Assistant Planning Director Snyder stated development in progress does not have to stop. The City is making people aware of the proposed action. The City has a contact person at FEMA for questions. If an application was complete before September 22, 2008 it should not be affected. Any applications after that date could be affected. Assistant Chair Chapman had a question about the Robertson property in NE Auburn, the Auburn golf course and the work on the new levees. These properties could all be affected. The FEMA models will have to be analyzed for impact. Mr. Chapman asked about the Mill Creek area. Assistant Planning Director Snyder answered that is not under the proposed mapping. The AEP will move forward and will not be immediately impacted by this issue. Assistant Planning Director Snyder is not sure if this can be resolved in the 6 month time period. Hopefully there will be an understanding by then. Assistant Planning Director Snyder added this FEMA project is specific to the Puget Sound area. A law suit was filed by the National Wildlife as a third party law suit. Maps will be available as a hand out at the meeting, and a Power Point presentation, with an overview. Assistant Planning Director Snyder will provide a map to the PC members. Mr. Chapman asked about the Segale pit (Ikon). Assistant Planning Director Snyder stated the ruling affects the issuance of permits and does not affect on going business or activities. Other items of interest to the PC, the City Council adopted the Comprehensive Plan amendments as recommended by PC. On December 15, 2008, school impact fees are going to City Council. There will a ground breaking for the Birding Tower at the AEP on December 15, 2008, with the goal for the tower to be open to the public by February 2009. Page 3 Planning Commission Meeting Minutes December 6, 2008 Assistant Planning Director Snyder said residential conversions to business have a planning process going on at this time, primarily in the downtown area. Parcels in this area are already built out. This is a process independent of the code update, but is taking place at the same time. The process should be complete and through PC and City Council by the first quarter of 2009. This item will go to PCDC in December 2008, then to PC in January 2009. The City is looking for flexibility where possible. Residential conversions need to be ADA compliant, and egress and ingress compliance. Commissioner Mason asked if the short course will be in lieu of the regular meeting. Assistant Planning Director Snyder said the PC will probably still meet on January 6, 2009 the regular meeting time to be briefed on status of residential conversion. The City is prioritizing the residential conversion so it can move forward. Mr. Snyder is project manager for the City on the code update project. The underlying basis was the removal of City Council from quasi-judicial status. Projects that used to go to City Council will now go to Hearing Examiner. This is to address liability issues. The City Council directed staff to make certain the people are getting the best service with the most correct methods and there are two phases. Phase one is focused on the residential section of the code, and Public Works is streets, clearing, grading, and storm water. The City wants the code to be more user friendly. As it is now, it is difficult to get through and understand. Staff is developing the use of tables, pictures, graphs and want to reduce vagueness and inconsistencies in the code. Address compliance will be within the comprehensive plan and state regulations. The City formed a citizen advisory committee to begin the process and the goal was too get a broad cross section of the community for the committee. November 5, 2008 was the first advisory group meeting. There will be more meetings before the process is ready to come before the PC and City Council. The second phase is the commercial properties and this will finish off with the engineering design standards. PC may see issues raised in the code sections. In October 2008, there have been various meetings with committees, stake holders, and staff. Based on feed back staff will focus on the areas that were discussed. Chair Roland pointed out the meeting is scheduled to be held on January 14 2009, the same day as the short course is scheduled. Assistant Planning Director Snyder will make a note and probably change the date of the open house, not the short course for the PC. He said he will notify the PC. Commissioner DiTuri noted the City will have to make an interpretation as to the significance as to what the code is now and how it relates. A similar matrix format will be used as was used in the comprehensive plan review. Assistant Planning Director Snyder said one is zoning designations, such as R-1, R-2. More jurisdictions have moved to a lot based designation or a density based. Page 4 Planning Commission Meeting Minutes December 6, 2008 Commissioner DiTuri wanted to know if this will be available to a citizen to go online and find links or other information to clarify or substantiate the information. Assistant Planning Director Snyder the City is working to explore the capacity to use hyperlinks in the City web. A matrix style is easier to use in the hyperlink format. Part of the consultant's contract is to review other jurisdictions and their process and web site. After approved by City Council and accepted by resolution, the City will need to develop a scheduled process to look at updates and formalize the monitoring process. Chair Roland asked for more information on the January 6, 2009 meeting. The agenda should include residential conversions update and a briefing on the citizen committee on the code update. The residential conversions will be a separate Public Hearing, within the 1 St quarter of the year. The PC will probably have a work session before the Public Hearing. PC discussed development standards, PUDs, and if the transformation is clear. Assistant Planning Director Snyder stated the City Council repealed the development agreement part of the code. One task is to determine what the option is; one is a PUD ordinance built in to zoning standards. The City Council is concerned with unmarked flexibility and should be earned. The PC discussed how parameters will be set and the role of the PC as the City Council is interested in the defined parameters. Staff will have to research a way that is beneficial to the community but will attract the developers and a key issue will be what appropriate parameters for creativity are. Defined flexibility and these issues came out of the first meetings with the stake holders as they want flexibility to allow for development. However, PCDC stated boundaries have to be set. The PC briefly discussed the new move to allow parking on the non-paved parking area of parking strips. Assistant Planning Director Snyder said the intent is to address an ongoing problem with people already parking on these strips. The City Council has allowed this 6 month program to see how it works. Assistant Planning Director Snyder people getting ticketed and came to City Council to appeal the parking. Assistant Planning Director Snyder voiced staffs appreciation for the time dedicated to the work that is done by the Planning Commission members. PUBLIC HEARINGS • None VI. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business, the Planning Commission adjourned at 8:03 p.m. Page 5