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HomeMy WebLinkAbout07-07-2009 C~noF PLANNING COMMISSION July 7, 2009 'WASHINGTON MINUTES 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, Vice Chair Kevin Chapman, Ron Copple, Peter Di Turi, Michael Hamilton, and Joan Mason. Commissioners Dave Peace and Bob Baggett were excused. Also present were: Assistant Planning Director Kevin Snyder, Principal Planner Elizabeth Chamberlain, Principal Planner Jeff Dixon, and Senior Planner Chris Andersen. II. APPROVAL OF MINUTES March 3. 2009 Commissioner Copple moved and Commissioner DiTuri seconded to approve the minutes as presented. The motion passed unanimously 6-0. Mav 5, 2009 Commissioner DiTuri moved and Commissioner Copple seconded to approve the minutes as presented. The motion passed unanimously 6-0. Mav 7. 2009 Commissioner Copple moved and Commissioner Mason seconded to approve the minutes as presented. The motion passed unanimously 6-0. III. PUBLIC COMMENT There were no public present for comments. IV. PLANNING DEPARTMENT REPORT Principal Planner Elizabeth Chamberlain updated the Commission on the downtown construction. Completion of the medical office building and parking garage is scheduled for October 2009 and the Auburn Professional Plaza is scheduled approximately November 2009. In response to Commission's question, the current Key Bank building is not slated for demolition. The City has applied for a$3 million Economic Development PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES JULY 7, 2009 Administration (EDA) grant for the Promenade, which is primarily a street and utility infrastructure and street widening project. Part of this project funding will also be through the State's Local Revitalization Funding (LRF) program which would be a match to the EDA grant and the EDA grant would be a match to the LRF. A public hearing at the July 20, 2009 City Council meeting will be held to receive comments about establishing a Revitalization Area. The revitalization area is also the same boundary as the City's designated urban center. Commission asked for an update on two other downtown projects - the StratFord property, also known as the Sunbreak block, and Cavanaugh's. Ms. Chamberlain reported that the City has an agreement that if the Stratford Company does not submit plans by a certain date, the City has first option to purchase back the property. The Cavanaugh block is still on the market and staff has not heard of any pending sale. It is being leased to the hospital for construction parking. These two properties would be developed cohesively under the adopted Auburn Junction Design Guidelines. Assistant Planning Director Kevin Snyder provided an update on other Department activities. The Permit Center lost a Permit Technician position during the recent City layoffs. Over 80 building permits were issued in the previous week. This is down from the previous year, but is still a significant number. The Code Compliance Division staff lost one position during the recent City layoffs as well. The remaining two Code Enforcement Officers are managing about 200 cases - new and old - each a month. Assistant Planning Director Snyder and Senior Planner Andersen spoke to the Planning Commission regarding the effects resulting from the recently implemented code amendments. Senior Planner Andersen noted that there are several developers who have reported more viable and developable projects resulting from the increased regulatory flexibility. Principal Planner Jeff Dixon provided an update on the Howard Hanson Dam restrictions and the potential flood situation. Mr. Dixon distributed an updated, city-produced flood map that shows where potential flooding from the Green River could occur. The flooding primarily impacts the north end of Auburn. Press releases indicate that the Army Corp of Engineers is unable to discover exactly what the problem is with the earthen portion of the dam and they are continuing to investigate the problem and potential repairs. With the restriction, the Corp will only allow approximately one-third of the normal capacity behind the dam. The City's Emergency Preparedness Manager has been working with all departments on preparing an Emergency Response Plan in the event of flooding. It is anticipated that this Plan will be in place by this fall. Mr. Dixon answered Commissioner's questions about other possible flooding events and areas. Staff provided and update on the status of the Les Gove Community Center at the Commission's request. V. PUBLIC HEARINGS There were no items for public hearing. Page 2 PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES JULY 7, 2009 VI. OTHER BUSINESS A. Code Update Project Assistant Planning Director Snyder and Senior Planner Andersen reported on the Phase II status for the Code Update Project. They summarized the discussion with the Planning and Community Development Committee on June 30, 2009 regarding the draft work program priorities, task workloads and project schedule for Phase II of the Code Update Project. Assistant Planning Director Snyder and Senior Planner Andersen advised that the Planning and Community Development Committee was scheduled to provide overall direction and prioritization at its July 13, 2009 regular meeting. B. Population and Employment Targets Principal Planner Elizabeth Chamberlain summarized the PowerPoint presentation with the Commission regarding the 2009 Housing and Job Growth Targets allocation process. Latest Office of Financial Management (OFM) indicated King and Pierce counties are growing faster over long-term than previous forecasts. Ms. Chamberlain reviewed how the growth targets are allocated for both King and Pierce counties. The Growth Targets are adopted in King County via Countywide Planning Policies (CPPs). The Pierce County Regional Council makes a recommendation to Pierce County Council who makes the decision. The current targets cover the planning period of 2002 to 2022; proposed target update pushes the planning period out an additional nine years to 2031. This round of housing and job targets is allocated to the cities and towns based on the regional geographies outlined in Puget Sound Regional Council's Vision 2040 are broken into the following categories: 1. Metro cities 2. Core suburban cities - consists -of ten King County and three Pierce County jurisdictions, including Auburn, with designated "Urban Centers" 3. Large suburban cities 4. Small cities 5. Urban unincorporated subareas 6. Rural By going through the process of housing and job targets now it sets the framework for the required update to the Countywide Planning Policies to be consistent with Vision 2040 by 2010 and for the cities and towns to update their comprehensive plans in 2011. Ms. Chamberlain also reviewed the re-analysis of the core cities' urban centers. There was an assumption that the core cities underestimated the capacity within their urban centers in 2007 Buildable Lands Report and this exercise was to determine if that assumption was correct. Suburban Cities Association re-analyzed four jurisdictions' urban centers and determined that it was very likely the urban centers' capacities were underestimated. This analysis will serve the cities in determining what level of housing units and jobs it can reasonably accommodate. Page 3 PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES JULY 7, 2009 Staff then presented the methodology on how the proposed new housing units and job targets were derived. Staff updated the Commission on the Planning and Community Development Committee's concerns that with this target process, housing units and jobs are not tied to any infrastructure level of service and that funding is not available to make the necessary infrastructure investments. C. 2009 Comprehensive Plan Amendments The City updates its Comprehensive Plan annually and processes city-initiated amendments and private-initiated amendments. Four private-initiated amendments were received - one text and three map amendments. Principal Planner Chamberlain stated that the docket is comprised mostly of policy text amendments related to the recent update of Title 18 (Zoning). Additional changes include minor revisions to the City's shoreline policies and regulations to address the re-adoption of the Shoreline Master Program. The Commission reviewed the proposed docket and proposed changes, and provided staff with comments. VII. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business to come before the Planning Commission, Chair Roland adjourned the meeting at 8:45 p.m. Page 4