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HomeMy WebLinkAbout02-03-2009C17Y OF ~ . * ; ~ WASHINGTON MINUTES FINAL PLANNING COMMISSION February 3, 2009 1. 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. Commission Members present were: Chair Judi Roland, Joan Mason, Ron Copple, Robert Baggett and Dave Peace. Also present were Principal Planner Elizabeth Chamberlain and Planning Secretary Carolyn Brown. Commission members excused were Peter DiTuri, Vice Chair Kevin Chapman, and Michael Hamilton. Audience: Peter Vukshica APPROVAL OF MINUTES The Commissioners reviewed the minutes from the December 2, 2008 meeting. Commissioner Copple moved to approve the minutes from the December 2, 2008 meeting as submitted; seconded by Commissioner Robert Baggett. The motion passed unanimously 4-0. PUBLIC COMMENT Chair Roland thanked Assistant Director Planning, Building and Community Kevin Snyder, and Senior Planner Chris Andersen for coordinating the special Planning Commission meeting. PLANNING DEPARTMENT REPORT Principal Planner Chamberlain reviewed the public meeting on the code update held on January 28 at the Parks, Recreation and Arts Building (PRAB). There was a good turnout and staff is moving forward, however, another special meeting will probably not be scheduled in February. At this time staff will probably wait until the March regular meeting and schedule a study session before the regular meeting. Principal Planner Chamberlain distributed a handout provided by Senior Planner Chris Anderson. Principal Planner Chamberlain provided a brief update on the downtown changes and progress. The new City Hall annex will be on the second floor and part of the third floor of the new building. Commissioner Peace asked the future of the Key Bank. Principal Planner Chamberlain stated the drive-through ATM will stay open until the ATM can be relocated. Eventually Key Bank will be a tenant of the new City Hall annex building. Key Bank will be located on the corner where the existing ATM is currently. Principal Planner Chamberlain said staff will bring a drawing to the next meeting showing the layout. PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES February 3, 2009 Principal Planner Chamberlain spoke briefly on the flood plain moratorium. Back in January the City Council directed staff to assemble an external task force that would work together to bring information to FEMA and fisheries agencies. The first meeting was today, February 3. The format is an open task force, whether property owners or developers, with City environmental staff heading up the task force. Chair Roland stated she had received a letter from Department of Ecology (DOE) regarding FEMA, and the shoreline and a meeting at City Hall at 7:00 on Tuesday, February 10. Principal Planner Chamberlain Public said this is for the hearing the DOE is holding for Shoreline Master program. This is not a federal regulation and not connected to the moratorium. The Shoreline Master program is to regulate uses on the shoreline. PUBLIC HEARINGS None. OTHER BUSINESS • Residential conversions - discussion of draft code changes for single family residential uses to non-residential uses. Principal Planner Chamberlain distributed comments that were submitted by an interested party who could not attend the meeting tonight. She noted that staff has not had a chance to thoroughly analyze the changes suggested by the memo. Principal Planner Chamberlain said they will review the comments received in the packet. The new handout could be reviewed at the next meeting. The first discussion will be focusing on the residential office zone. The intent with this is geared to a smaller conversion zone. Principal Planner Chamberlain briefly covered the changes to the code. Chapter 18.22 in the intent statement, is intended to accommodate smaller scale businesses and offices. It is to guide an adaptive reuse of the existing single family home, not to demolish and rebuild. The goal is preservation of older homes and the character of the neighborhood. Development standards use the process of reverse incentives. Maximum benefit will be received if using existing home. If the process is to tear down and rebuild it is more restrictive. The Planning Commissioners discussed the lot coverage allowed. 35% of whole lot coverage is what is allowed with a tear down. Set backs regarding parking would be a minimum of 10 feet from a street. In a conversion, there would be a credit of one parking space. Principal Planner Chamberlain stated the Council committees had discussed the parking area and how to balance on street parking between business and residents. A parking permit program has been discussed. New construction and utilization of a similar bulk, scale and size to fit in with the existing neighborhood where the property is located. Principal Planner Chamberlain said the Public Works and Planning Directors have been given 10% flexibility to handle odd situations. Discussed how the 10% would be applied and how it would cover the majority of the situations. The Commissioners discussed maximum height in a building. A height of 25 feet, reduced from 35 feet, will allow two story homes. The height of a commercial building is also limited. The Commissioners discussed the difference in the downtown area, which has different mixes. Staff has agreed that by adding the additional language in the intent statement, will make it more difficult for someone to build out of the character of the neighborhood. 3 PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES February 3, 2009 Under the section regulations by zone, staff added the phrase regarding conversion of single family residence to commercial and may use existing healthy landscaping without having to add anything else. Will also allow for keeping the character of the neighborhood. Under general landscape requirements, changing to a commercial use still could require some landscape plan. Staff would need to see a written record of the landscape that will be retained. The Commissioners asked about the section titled Maintenance. Principal Planner Chamberlain stated the City can come in and do the work to maintain the landscaping, if deemed necessary. A landscape bond is required to be posted for big commercial projects. Principal Planner Chamberlain going to recommend a bond not be necessary for smaller projects and will propose language to that effect. There is a requirement for landscaping in parking lots if over a certain threshold. 5 or less parking spaces will not require landscaping in the parking lot. The Commissioners discussed the square foot ratio threshold to parking. 300 square feet of building equate to one parking space. The planning director can authorize alternate landscape methods, such as planters. Ch 18.52 off-street parking: Principal Planner Chamberlain said the Planning Director by use of a special exception may make a determination regarding total space and how much space would really be used, especially if part of the building is a basement or an attic. Chair Roland asked if someone could live on the top floor and use the first floor as business space. Principal Planner Chamberlain this change makes it easier for an in home business to meet Home Office requirements. Special Home Office requirements can be heard by Hearing Examiner. That would depend on how much of the building is business and how much as residence. The Commissioners discussed the option to use pervious surface by a home office, would have to be approved by the City Engineer. This section is to help ease pavement requirements. However, ADA parking is governed by to state requirements and every business has to have an ADA. Parking space. The Special Home Office may trigger the addition of an ADA parking spot. Briefly discussed water quality issues from parking on alternative pervious surfaces. Also, staff is proposing in the RO zone atl parking spaces may be compact, except the required ADA, to allow flexibility. Stacked parking is to be allowed for staff. Also the code is adjusting ADA indicator to be a sign and not painted on the surface. Principal Planner Chamberlain talked about storm drainage and alley access. She stated this particular part of the code was reviewed and approved by Public Works Committee. This will not have go through Planning Commission (PC) as an approving or reviewing process. But staff will bring back to the PC to read. Principal Planner Chamberlain will bring back to Public Hearing on the March 3 regular meeting. • Downtown Urban Center Zone - discussion of draft code changes to address when design guidelines apply to development within the Downtown Urban Center zone. Principal Planner Chamberlain said recently a city business facing Main Street wanted to replace siding and also replaced windows. Currently the code states exterior alterations have to be 25%. The project valuation, in this example, did not trigger the 25%. So the business made substantial changes. PCDC revisited the regulation and wanted this to not happen again. So has directed staff to rewrite the code. The Commissioners discussed requirements of other jurisdictions. If a business fronts a pedestrian street and interior work is done, this doesn't require design review. 4 PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES 3, 2009 Awnings, windows, siding, doorways that face a pedestrian street will require design review. Principal Planner Chamberlain stated this is a fairly quick review process and staff will work in administrative procedures to not delay the project. The Council and Mayor want the downtown to keep consistent. The Commissioners asked about changing old single pane windows to more efficient windows for a weatherization upgrade. Principal Planner Chamberlain stated it will probably trigger a review of a day or two, in order to make sure nothing else will be changed. The Commissioners discussed the formula to determine the assessed value of the land and building. Principal Planner Chamberlain said, for example, a $600,000 alteration could be at 25% of value and if less then that the project would not be required to go through review process. The current recommendation at 10% of assessed valuation, would trigger the review process. The Planning Commission discussed the map provided in packet in reference to the designated pedestrian streets. Pedestrian path 1 is the downtown core - A Street, Division, Auburn Avenue, City Hall to 3rd, Main Street. Pedestrian path 2 is West & East Main, 1St Street NE, and a small part of Auburn Way S. Two pedestrian designations because more strict building requirement for Pedestrian path 1. The City wants higher % retail - restaurant; Pedestrian path 2 would be more offices. Planning Commission to arrive at a recommendation at the March 3 Public Hearing to forward to City Council. • Other Business None ADJOURNMENT There being no further business, the Planning Commission adjourned at 8:00 p.m. 5