HomeMy WebLinkAbout021116 CITY OF PORT TOWNSEND
MINUTES OF THE PLANNING COMMISSION OF FEBRUARY 11, 2016
CALL TO ORDER
The Port Townsend Planning Commission met in regular session on February 11, 2016, in
the Council Chambers are 540 Water Street. Chair Frick called the meeting to order at
6:32 p.m.
ROLL CALL
Commissioners present at roll call were Kirit Bhansali, Nan Evans, Douglas Frick, Rick
Jahnke, and Dwight Nicholson, with Monica MickHager and Paul Rice excused.
Staff members present were Planning Director Lance Bailey, Senior Planner/Planning
Manager Judy Surber, City Attorney Steve Gross, City Engineer David Peterson, Public
Works Director Ken Clow, Assistant City Engineer Samantha Trone, and Deputy Clerk
Amber Long.
ACCEPTANCE OF AGENDA
The Commission agreed to staffs suggestion that New Business be moved to precede Old
Business.
Motion: Dwight Nicholson moved to approve acceptance of the agenda as amended. Rick
Jahnke seconded.
Vote: motion carried unanimously, 5-0 by voice vote.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES - JANUARY 28, 2016
Motion: Nan Evans moved to amend the minutes of January 28, 2016, to reflect that
Debbie Jahnke had requested in her public comment that an explanation be made to the
Parks, Recreation, and Tree Advisory Board about why certain recommended changes to
the Land Use Element were not made. Rick Jahnke seconded. Kirit Bhansali abstained.
Vote: motion carried unanimously, 4-0 by voice vote.
Motion: Nan Evans moved to approve the minutes of January 28, 2016, as amended. Kirit
Bhansali seconded.
Vote: motion carried unanimously, 5-0 by voice vote.
NEW BUSINESS
GMA Periodic Update — Comprehensive Plan Transportation Element— First Touch
City Engineer David Peterson gave the staff presentation. Based on Comprehensive
Plan samples from other jurisdictions, staff is currently working on a new layout for the
Planning Commission Meeting February 11, 2016 Page 1 of 4
plan, including additional maps. The draft inventory is an example of the new layout, and
the other elements will be made to look consistent. Regarding docket item #3, staff will
be condensing the Transportation Element to remove duplicated policies, but not delete
relevant information. Most other elements do not have as much introductory language as
the Transportation Element. Mr. Peterson gave an overview of formatting changes that
staff would like to make. For example, staff is proposing to delete the "Policy Direction
for Future Transportation Needs" section and use certain paragraphs from it as
introductions to the policies themselves. Staff is working on the line-in/line-out version,
but an additional meeting may be needed to discuss it.
The Commissioners expressed support for making the element more readable. In
connection with docket item #35, staff clarified that a parking study will not be done as
part of the plan update. The Commission should consider what policy direction to set on
this issue. This docket item references comment letter#22, which will be included in the
next meeting packet to aid with discussion.
GENERAL PUBLIC COMMENT
The Chair noted that general public comment had not yet occurred and opened up the
meeting to comments from the public.
Debbie Jahnke commented that not all City parks are shown on the Non-motorized Priority
Projects map. There are trails through many of the parks that are missing. The golf course
is not a "park" in the Parks Plan, so it should be a different color on the map.
Staff responded that the map was not intended to include everything, but more parks could
be added if the Planning Commission feels that they should be shown. Staff is looking into
a way to make these maps usable for the public in the online version of the Comprehensive
Plan.
OLD BUSINESS
GMA Periodic Update —Amendments to Development Regulations —Wrap Up
Senior Planner/Planning Manager Judy Surber briefly discussed questions that came up
during the last meeting and research staff has done to answer them. Regarding docket
item #49, the Commission discussed how much detail to include in the definitions and
how restrictive to be, given that the technology is evolving. Staff explained that
the narrative provided in the staff report will not be part of the definitions and Peter
Moulton at Department of Commerce has reviewed the definitions. Staff clarified that a
stand-alone "rapid charging station" looks like a service station, requires D/C, and thus is
proposed to be treated the same as a service station and allowed in the commercial
districts. Level 1 and 2 are less intrusive and do not require as much infrastructure. The
Commission agreed that staff does not need to provide more descriptions or any
photographs of rapid charging stations. In response to a question, staff explained
that battery exchange stations were excluded because they do not exist currently; they
will be left as accessory to a boat or auto repair service. Public Works Director Ken
Clow informed the Commission that the City is planning to install a rapid charging station
at the Visitor's Center.
Planning Commission Meeting February 11, 2016 Page 2 of 4
Ms. Surber explained that food hubs and commercial kitchens have been left in the draft
language as a conditional use in C-II and confirmed that the main issue with food hubs is
truck traffic.
Motion: Kirit Bhansali moved to direct staff to prepare the draft PTMC amendments for
the Commission's further consideration at a noticed public hearing. Nan Evans
seconded.
Vote: motion carried unanimously, 5-0 by voice vote.
GMA Periodic Update — Comprehensive Plan Land Use Element— Core Topic
Ms. Surber gave an overview of the latest revisions to the Land Use Element draft.
Staff focused on resiliency in these revisions and added employment projections, as
required by the Growth Management Act, and updated population projections.
Planning Director Lance Bailey spoke about changes to the draft related to Howard
Street. Staff and the Commission discussed the meaning of"local or city-wide" in
the context of the C-II/MU and C-II zoning districts. The Commission generally agreed
with staffs added language to the C-II/MU description ("primarily intended, but not limited
to"), with the removal of"local or city-wide market area" from the C-II description, and
with a suggestion to rename C-II/MU "General Commercial Mixed-Use Centers" for
greater consistency with C-II.
Mr. Bailey discussed suggested revisions to Policy 10.9 (docket item #15) and answered
questions from the Commission. There was general agreement not to refer specifically
to the Hovee Economic Study, because it is a short-lived document. Mr. Bailey read the
Working Vision Statement from the Hovee Economic Study, and the Commission
requested that staff rework Policy 10.9 to incorporate some of this language.
The Commission agreed to make the following additional changes to the Land Use
Element draft:
p. 1 - add "...and adaptability to changing circumstances" to the end of the first
paragraph.
p. 6 - staff will correct an inconsistency in the Compound Annual Growth rates listed in
the text and the table and will add the 2016 population figure to the text above the table.
p. 20 - add generic language under Overall Land Use Goals about looking for planning
tools that may help the City mitigate and adapt to climate change, similar to the
statement in Policy 2.3.2.
p. 27 - the headings for Policies 5 and 6 may need to be changed.
p. 29 - staff should either change the heading from "Greenhouse Gas Reduction"
to "Mitigation and Adaption" or move the policy to under Stormwater.
p. 32 (Policies 10.8 and 10.8.1) - staff will look for a better location than under
Commercial Lands for the reference to a training school/college campus.
p. 38 - in Policy 14.2, clarify that "infrastructure tiering structure" refers to tiers as defined
in the Engineering Design Standards.
p. 44 - add a new Implementation Strategy (#8) using language such as "pursuing
funding to implement or apply new best practices."
Planning Commission Meeting February 11, 2016 Page 3 of 4
OTHER BUSINESS
The Commission gave positive feedback on the method staff has been using to review
each Comprehensive Plan element.
UPCOMING MEETINGS - NONE
COMMUNICATIONS - NONE
ADJOURNMENT
Motion: Kirit Bhansali moved to adjourn the meeting. Dwight Nicholson seconded.
Vote: motion carried unanimously, 5-0 by voice vote.
There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 9:13 p.m.
Attest:
Planning Commission Chair
City Clerk's Office
Planning Commission Meeting February 11, 2016 Page 4 of 4