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HomeMy WebLinkAbout072215 CITY OF PORT TOWNSEND MINUTES OF THE PLANNING COMMISSION SPECIAL MEETING OF JULY 22, 2015 CALL TO ORDER The Port Townsend Planning Commission met in special session on July 22, 2015, in the Council Chambers at 540 Water Street. Chair Mick-Hager called the meeting to order at 6:31 p.m. ROLL CALL Commissioners present at roll call were Kirit Bhansali, Nan Evans, Rick Jahnke, Monica Mick-Hager, and Dwight Nicholson, with Douglas Frick and Jack Range excused. Staff members present were Planning Director Lance Bailey, Planning Manager/Senior Planner Judy Surber, and Deputy Clerk Amber Long. ACCEPTANCE OF AGENDA Motion: Rick Jahnke moved to approve acceptance of agenda. Kirit Bhansali seconded. Vote: motion carried unanimously, 5-0 by voice vote. APPROVAL OF MINUTES - JUNE 11, 2015 Commissioner Bhansali stated that he remembered being present to vote on the acceptance of agenda. Chair Mick-Hager abstained from voting. Motion: Kirit Bhansali moved to approve minutes of June 11, 2015 meeting as amended. Rick Jahnke seconded. Vote: motion carried unanimously, 4-0 by voice vote. GENERAL PUBLIC COMMENT - NONE NEW BUSINESS Town Meeting Recap Staff reviewed the Town Meeting dot voting summary and showed a clip of the Town Meeting video. About 102 people attended the meeting, with a fairly even distribution of attendees from the four quadrants of the City. Senior Planner/Planning Manager Judy Surber summarized input from facilitators and staff about the Town Meeting. She stated that the City Manager and City Council are supportive of a second Town Meeting, which would likely happen after the work program is adopted, and suggested that the second Town Meeting could feature tables for each City department. Staff hopes to have the information from the Town Meeting and SpeakUp distilled by the August 10th joint meeting. Planning Commission Meeting July 22, 2015 Page 1 of 3 The Commissioners discussed their impressions of the Town Meeting. Chair Mick-Hager wanted it on record that she seconded Robert Gray's suggestion at a City Council meeting that a Town Meeting be held during the day. Staff discussed the reasons for choosing an evening meeting time, including staff availability and accommodating people who work during the day. It was suggested that children be allowed at the Town Meeting, so that daycare is not an issue. Commissioners discussed the SpeakUp site and feedback they have received from members of the public. There was general agreement that the survey was a success. Staff discussed the response so far to the Comprehensive Plan discussions on SpeakUp and reiterated that they close on Friday, July 24th. OLD BUSINESS Discussion of the Planning Commission Assessment of the Comprehensive Plan (per PTMC 20.04.050) Ms. Surber stated that the consultant memo was finalized on June 22, 2015. Staff will email it to the Commissioners and include it in the next packet. In response to a question, staff clarified that the Planning Director will put together a list of the mandatory amendments, recommended amendments, and a work schedule. It will be provided in preliminary form at the joint meeting. The Commissioners will later consider it at a public hearing, then will finalize their recommendation to City Council. The municipal code describes the joint meeting as an optional workshop. Staff would like to receive input from both City Council and the Planning Commission before getting too far into drafting its recommendations. The Commission discussed whether to have a regular meeting the same week as the joint one and ultimately decided to cancel the meeting on August 12th. It was generally agreed that the room set-up of the prior joint meeting was not conducive to discussion. Staff stated that the earliest the Planning Director's recommendation would be provided to the Commission would be September 10th or September 24th, before the Commission gives a recommendation to City Council. In response to questions, staff confirmed that June 2016 is still the date to work toward, but quality should not be sacrificed for the sake of keeping to a deadline. Staff is working on the state-mandated amendments, but many of them are data-driven, which may depend on other departments. A lot of the funding for this year has gone to consultants, and additional funding would not be received until January. The work program that comes from the Director takes into account how the mandated updates affect resources available for the additional amendments. The Commission discussed the second draft the assessment memo and expressed appreciation for the work done by Commissioner Evans. The Commission decided to use this meeting address the major questions and concerns with the assessment memo draft and not typographical edits or wordsmithing suggestions: - p. 6, Preliminary Conclusion #1c - Instead of two scenarios, it was suggested to monitor population growth regularly over 20 years. Staff mentioned that the Office of Financial Management provides updated numbers annually in April. It was generally agreed that two projections is not the best option and #1 c should be deleted from the draft assessment. Planning Commission Meeting July 22, 2015 Page 2 of 3 - p. 7, last paragraph - This section should be revised to reflect that the Outfall Line Replacement has not been done. - p. 8, stormwater - In response to a question, staff stated that the City cannot retroactively require property owners to get up to date with the current manual, but the City applies for grants for areas that need improvements to regional stormwater facilities. Staff will provide language for the draft. - p. 10-12 - At the August 27th meeting, the Commission will review the 1996 assumptions. It was suggested that the "Uncertainty of Assumptions" section from the Comprehensive Plan be added to the draft assessment for the Commission to review. Suggestions from staff included: - p. 3, Public Participation - incorporate Town Meeting input, survey results, public comments, and workgroup input - p. 4, Evaluation Criteria 1 - this data has been updated and will be provided by staff - p. 9, #3 - mention zoning for light manufacturing and multi-family housing - incorporate Changed Circumstances and Emerging Trends memo - adjust population projections - adjust 1996 assumptions - the Commission should review Section 20.04.060 of the Municipal Code - staff will work with the Commission to divide public input into categories based on how it should be addressed (for example, through policy or development regulations) OTHER BUSINESS - NONE UPCOMING MEETINGS There will be a joint meeting with City Council on August 10th and no meeting on the 12th. At the meeting on 27th, the Commission plans to discuss the assessment draft memo in depth and made a request to staff for a workshop-style setting to facilitate discussion. COMMUNICATIONS In response to a question, staff will make sure that public comment #8 is the final version of the letter that was submitted. ADJOURNMENT Motion: Kirit Bhansali moved to adjourn the meeting. Nan Evans seconded. Vote: motion carried unanimously, 5-0 by voice vote. There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 8:21 p.m. Attest: )rd Planning Coma sion hair City Clerk's Office Planning Commission Meeting July 22, 2015 Page 3 of 3