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HomeMy WebLinkAbout011416 CITY OF PORT TOWNSEND MINUTES OF THE PLANNING COMMISSION REGULAR SESSION OF JANUARY 14, 2016 CALL TO ORDER The Port Townsend Planning Commission met in regular session on January 14, 2016, in the Council Chambers at 540 Water Street. Chair MickHager called the meeting to order at 6:30 p.m. ROLL CALL Commissioners present at roll call were Kirit Bhansali, Nan Evans, Douglas Frick, Rick Jahnke, Monica MickHager, Dwight Nicholson, and Paul Rice. Staff members present were Planning Director Lance Bailey, Planning Manager/Senior Planner Judy Surber, City Attorney Steve Gross, and Deputy Clerk Amber Long. New Commissioner Paul Rice was welcomed by the Planning Commission and introduced himself. ACCEPTANCE OF AGENDA The agenda was unanimously accepted. APPROVAL OF MINUTES - OCTOBER 22, 2015 Motion: Kirit Bhansali moved to approve the minutes of October 22, 2015. Rick Jahnke seconded. Vote: motion carried unanimously, 7-0 by voice vote. GENERAL PUBLIC COMMENT George Yount spoke on behalf of the Friends of the Port of Port Townsend, which organization would like to host a meeting in March that includes representatives of the City and County Planning Commissions, City and County staff, the Port, and the PUD to look at issues facing the Port. Chair MickHager requested that Mr. Yount send the proposed meeting date to City staff. Attendance by Planning Commissioners at the meeting would need to be approved by City Council. CLIMATE CHANGE PREPAREDNESS ON THE OLYMPIC PENINSULA GUEST SPEAKERS, CINDY JAYNE AND KATE DEAN Kate Dean, Director of the North Olympic Peninsula Resource Conservation and Development Council, gave an overview of the project to develop the Climate Planning Commission Meeting January 14, 2016 Page 1 of 4 Change Preparedness Plan. She encouraged staff and the Commission to view the report as a series of tools and recognizes that the recommendations would require years of work. Project Manager Cindy Jayne discussed the aspects of the report specifically related to planning issues and strategies that are most relevant to the Planning Commission, particularly Supplemental Information C. The input already provided to the City by Local 20/20 covers the Comprehensive Plan recommendations that came out of the report, except that the input did not include zoning aspects or shoreline armoring. The RC&D would like to see a general placeholder statement in the Comprehensive Plan indicating that the City wants to have climate change be part of the framework for land use decisions. Staff explained that the language in the docket adopted by City Council is broad about incorporating resiliency and that some issues will be addressed in updates to the Critical Areas Ordinance and the Shoreline Master Program. There is no funding to update the report, but the RC&D will continue to seek funding for related projects and Local 20/20 will help to carry forward the work. NEW BUSINESS GMA Periodic Update —Schedule Planning Manager/Senior Planner Judy Surber presented the draft meetings schedule, which lists when each Comprehensive Plan element will be discussed by the Commission. Each element will be presented as a first touch initially, then as the core topic at the next meeting, and finally as a wrap-up at the following meeting. The Commission will receive a strike-out-and-underline version of each element when it is discussed as a core topic, and staff will come back with revisions for the wrap-up. Each element will be featured on the SpeakUp site as it comes before the Planning Commission (a discussion on the Land Use Element is currently posted). Ultimately there will be public hearings before the Planning Commission and City Council on all elements. GMA Periodic Update — Amendments to the Development Regulations — First Touch Ms. Surber discussed the staff memo and requested the Planning Commission's input on specific docket items. Item 49 (electric vehicle battery charging stations): Staff clarified that Option #2 would include the definition of battery charging stations. The definitions come from the Revised Code of Washington (RCW) with minor modifications. The Planning Commission generally agreed that staff should make the definition as permissive as possible. The Commission would like staff to consider battery charging stations in residential zones at a future date. Planning Commission Meeting January 14, 2016 Page 2 of 4 Item 50 (Howard Street subarea plan): In response to a question, staff clarified that the term "subarea plan" is contained within the State's Growth Management Act. Item 51 (commercial kitchens/food hubs): The preliminary recommendation from staff is to allow commercial kitchens in C-11 general commercial, C-III historic commercial, M/C mixed light manufacturing/commercial, and M-1 light manufacturing zones. To help maintain a lively street front, staff recommended restricting ground- floor commercial kitchens to buildings with a retail component that is accessible to the public, but this restriction would not apply to the M-1 zone. Staff clarified that this revision does not address commercial kitchens in residential zones. Staff requested input on the definition of"food hubs." The Commission was generally not comfortable with the term "produce" and asked staff to come back with broader language that is not restricted to produce from farms and ranches or to edible products. Staff suggested the term "agricultural hub." The Commission generally agreed to be more permissive on the types of products, but was divided on whether to limit where the products come from. According to the docket, the purpose of defining "food hub" is to "support resiliency in the local food system." Staff will look at examples from other jurisdictions and come back to the Commission with alternate language. The Commission directed staff to consider in the future a definition of "commercial school" in public zones. Item 52 (conference center): Staff suggested changing "concession" to "sales," because sales might not be done by a concessionaire. Staff recommended moving away from language in the definition that is specific to Fort Worden. Staff will bring back more suggested language on this topic at the next meeting. Item 53 (short plats): Staff recommended changing the time limitation on final short plat approval from five years to seven, because a lot of work goes into preliminary plat approval, which can be hard on small developers. The suggested change would reduce work on the part of both City staff and developers and it recognizes the fact that most developers in Port Townsend are smaller operations. Staff clarified that three-year extensions would still be allowed with the suggested new time limitation. The Commission generally agreed on the change to seven years. Discussion on a strategy and timeline for moving forward with the future work plan items ("Bookmarks") (Exhibit E, Resolution 15-042) Planning Director Lance Bailey discussed future work plan items ("bookmarks"), which will not come back before the Commission until 2017. As directed by Council, there will not be an annual Comprehensive Plan amendment process in 2016. The Commission should not discuss bookmarked items in such a specific way that docket items are generated until the City has officially opened the 2017 annual amendment process. However, some bookmarked items are not tied to Comprehensive Plan amendment cycle. For example, short-term rentals and the Howard Street subarea plan will come before the Planning Commission later this year. Staff clarified that the future work plan items are not listed in order of priority. OLD BUSINESS - NONE Planning Commission Meeting January 14, 2016 Page 3 of 4 OTHER BUSINESS Election of Officers —Chair and Vice-Chair Chair MickHager called for nominations for Chair. Dwight Nicholson and Douglas Frick were both nominated and neither declined. The Commissioners voted by paper ballot, with Douglas Frick receiving the majority of the votes. Chair MickHager called for nominations for Vice Chair. Monica MickHager was the only nominee and was elected unanimously by voice vote. UPCOMING MEETINGS The next meeting is scheduled for January 28th. COMMUNICATIONS - NONE ADJOURNMENT Motion: Kirit Bhansali moved to adjourn and Paul Rice seconded. Vote: motion carried unanimously, 7-0 by voice vote. There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 9:00 p.m. Attest: Planni g Commission Chair City Clerk's Office Planning Commission Meeting January 14, 2016 Page 4 of 4