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HomeMy WebLinkAbout08-08-2000MINUTES OF THE PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING AUGUST 8, 200~___Q0 The regular meeting of the Planning Commission was held on August 8, 2000 at 7:00 p.m. in the Council Chambers of the Auburn City Hall. Those in attendance were as follows: MEMBERS: Garna Jones, Dave Peace, Karen Ekrem, Bill Taylor, Peter DiTuri, Dan Rollins, Fred Helser STAFF: Shirley Aird, Betty Sanders, David Osaki, and Carolyn Brown The following members were absent: Dave Peace The meeting was called to order by Karen Ekrem. APPROVAL OF MINUTES: It was concurred by the Planning Commission that the minutes of the July 6, 2000 meeting is approved as mailed. PUBLIC HEARINGS: The public hearing was opened by vice-chair Karen Ekrem. Associate Planner Shirley Aird presented maps of annexation areas. She stated that she would be doing the staff report and holding the public hearing on both annexation zonings together. In order for the annexations to proceed the City cannot keep the current King County zoning designations. The area needs to be consistent with zoning in the rest of Auburn. The City has taken the base zoning and staff has applied the Auburn zoning that is the most similar to the existing King County zoning. For example, Cobble Creek has two zones: under King County it is R4 zoning, which allows 4 units per acre, and R1, which allows one unit per acre. City equivalent would be LHR1 which is approximately 4-5 units per acre, R-1 would be equivalent to LHRS a 35,000 square foot minimum lot that is about an acre. 1. Miller Annexation Zoninq Associated Planner Aird pointed out the area on maps on the overhead. The annexation site is near the Green River Community College. The City is now in the process of gathering the necessary signatures. 60% of the homeowners are needed for validation. At this time the Miller annexation ~ approximately 20% of the needed signatures. Associate Planner Aird stated that in the Miller Annexation the land has many more uses. R-6 to RLHR2 about 6-7 units per acre, City has LHP1, which is Public/Quasi Public, and King County does not have a public use designation. LHR4 would be a combination of two King County zones. However, the Design and Development standards for existing development, are the same in King County and in Auburn. This is the first Public Hearing and it is regarding the zoning change only. It will be at least a month before the second public hearing will be held. If enough signatures are gathered then the City will proceed with the second public hearing. A question was asked if a date has been set for the second public hearing, Associate Planner Aird will be first or second City Council meeting date in September. -1- MINUTES OF THE PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING AUGUST 8, ?00~0 Member Dan Rollins asked if Green River Community College has expressed an interest in being annexed to the City. Associate Planner Aird said she has talked to the property manager and they are interested. The College is on untaxed property and they will be able to annex whenever they are adjacent to the City limits. There were no public comments. Also, there were no written comments per Associate Planner Aird. The Public Hearing was closed for this zoning change. 2. Holt/Cobble Creek Annexation Zoning Henry VanderPol, who lives in Cobble Creek, spoke regarding the number of votes (signatures). The site of the annexation is near the Auburn Municipal Golf Course. Associate Planner Aird said that the City is currently at 40% of the required accessed valuations and they need 60%. There were no other public comments and the Public Hearing was closed. Committee to vote on the Public Hearing regarding the zoning changes. Next Public Hearing will be before the City council. Bill Taylor moved to recommend City Council approval. Seconded by Fred Helser. Recommend accepting the amendments to the zoning map in order to accommodate the annexation of the portions of the Lea Hill. Motion carried with all in favor. DISCUSSION: 1. Downtown Plan-Height Issues Associate Planner Betty Sanders gave the planning Commission a summary of the Downtown Plan's organization, contents and the process to date. This included the work done by the Downtown Task Force and a discussion on assets and barriers to development that had been identified during the planning process. The issue of building height in downtown was discussed. Planner Sanders presented the planning commissio~ information on building height including the alternatives originally presented to the Downtown Task Force and the recommendation ultimately made by the Downtown Task Force. Most planning commissioners generally felt that increasing the height limits downtown was necessary to encourage economic development and downtown revitalization. The planning commissioners favored no height limits. Rather, practical and other regulatory constraints (market, airport clear zone, lot size) existed that would serve to appropriately limit building height. Design guidelines that ensure the city get the buildings that look and feel the way we want were appropriate. There was some discussion about alleys and how we deal with height along alleys. -2- MINUTES OF THE PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING AUGUST 8, 2000 At least one commissioner felt that we should wait until there's a proposal on the books before we allow buildings to build up higher. People in the community have said that we need to maintain our small town character. People want a "personal" feeling on Main Street and we're not ready for a big city atmosphere. Planner Sanders indicated staff will take a look at the airport clear zone issues, and may be identifying possible incentives that allow for greater building height. Planner Sanders then discussed policies in the Downtown Plan up to the section on Street Improvement/Transportation policies. More information on the urban centers concept was requested. 2. Comprehensive Plan Amendments Principal Planner Dave Osaki outlined the forthcoming comprehensive plan amendment schedule and then briefly went through each of the nine privately initiated applications that had been submitted. The Planning Commission expressed some interest in more information on the application involving properties at 'M' Street SE and 6"~ Street SE. There was also brief discussion on traffic issues at the intersection of 41" Street and 'A' Street SE involving another application. Planning Commission in general was interested in the 'H' Street area and the zoning issues. Told them about Planner Sean Martin's zoning changes being referred to the PCD committee in part because of thai issue/area. With no further items to come before the Commission the meeting was adjourned at 9:00 p.m. PC\MIN08-2000 -3-