HomeMy WebLinkAbout042816 CITY OF PORT TOWNSEND
MINUTES OF THE PLANNING COMMISSION REGULAR SESSION OF APRIL 28,
2016
CALL TO ORDER
The Port Townsend Planning Commission met in regular session on April 28, 2016, in
the Council Chambers at 540 Water Street. Chair Frick called the meeting to order at
6:30 p.m.
ROLL CALL
Commissioners present at roll call were Kirit Bhansali, Douglas Frick, Rick Jahnke,
Monica MickHager, Dwight Nicholson, and Paul Rice, with Nan Evans excused.
Staff members present were Planning Director Lance Bailey, Senior Planner/Planning
Manager Judy Surber, Public Works Director Ken Clow, City Engineer
David Peterson, and Deputy Clerk Amber Long.
ACCEPTANCE OF AGENDA
Motion: Kirit Bhansali moved to accept the agenda. Paul Rice seconded.
Vote: motion carried unanimously, 6-0 by voice vote.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES - APRIL 14, 2016
Motion: Monica MickHager moved to approve the minutes of April 14, 2016. Paul
Rice seconded.
Vote: motion carried unanimously, 5-0 by voice vote. Kirit Bhansali abstained.
GENERAL PUBLIC COMMENT - NONE
PUBLIC HEARING
Proposed Interim Provisions for Merging of Medical and Recreational (1-502)
Marijuana Regulations
Chair Frick read the rules of procedure for the public hearing. Mr. Frick disclosed a
partial financial interest in a retail store in Jefferson County (not within City limits).
Staff confirmed that there should be no conflict. No other
Commissioners declared a financial or property interest in the matter.
Senior Planner John McDonagh gave the staff presentation, summarizing the
proposed changes to the marijuana regulations. He pointed out changes that had
been made to the proposed ordinance exhibits since the Planning Commission had
previously reviewed them: the definitions in Exhibit A were rearranged
alphabetically, and staff removed the reference to collective gardens in Exhibit B.
Planning Commission Meeting April 28, 2016 Page 1 of 5
Mr. Frick called for public testimony, but there was none. Staff answered questions
from the Commission about the definition of"designated provider," the current 300-
foot buffer for collective gardens, and commercial uses in the mixed-use zoning
district. The Commission pointed out that on Exhibit A, the definition of"marijuana-
infused products" appears twice and suggested that staff delete the first one.
As there were no clarifying questions from the public, Mr. Frick closed the public
testimony portion of the hearing. There was no further Commission discussion.
Motion: Rick Jahnke moved to approve the proposed interim provisions for merging
of medical and recreational (1-502) marijuana regulations. Dwight Nicholson
seconded.
Vote: motion carried unanimously, 6-0 by voice vote.
OLD BUSINESS
GMA Periodic Update — Comprehensive Plan Capital Facilities & Utilities
Elements
City Engineer David Peterson and Public Works Director Ken Clow summarized the
update process for the Capital Facilities Element, which has now been split into
Utilities and Capital Facilities. The Commission discussed the Utilities Element
draft page by page and had questions answered by staff. The Commissioners
expressed appreciation for work done on this element and its readability. Staff
noted that references to the Water System Plan and the Wastewater Plan will be
made consistent. In addition to suggested edits from the prior meeting, the
following changes will be made by staff:
Page 7-3: Staff will complete the Challenges and Opportunities section.
Page 7-4: Delete the comma before "relocate" in Policy 9.5.
Page 7-7: Staff will rework the language in Policy 12.5, moving or replacing "as
needed."
Page 7-8: In Policy 13.2, add "instream" between "existing" and "water flows."
Page 7-12: Staff may need to rewrite Policy 18.2(b)/18.1.5 based on a recent court
decision. In Policy 18.3, change "through" to "by using."
Page 7-15: In the last paragraph under Stormwater Utility, change "redevelops" to
"develops."
Page 7-17: In Policy 24.2, delete "and" at the end of the sentence.
The Commission then discussed the Capital Facilities Element page by page. Staff
explained that much of the original text, specifically calculation information, has
been deleted in this draft. The inventory that was added (starting on page 7-7) is
required for the update. Follow-up issues for staff includes:
Page 7-4: Strike the heading for the now-deleted "Purpose" section.
Page 7-7: Staff will work on the wording of the sentence at the top of the page
beginning "Endangered species listings could have..." In the inventory, staff
will consider removing the reference to a specific number of career firefighters.
Staff will check with the Police Chief about the Police section of the inventory.
There was an extensive discussion of the term "problem solving" used in the Police
Planning Commission Meeting April 28, 2016 Page 2 of 5
section.
Page 7-9: Commissioners clarified that North Beach County Park is not currently
maintained by the County, as stated in the Parks and Recreation section. Staff will
check on the number of parks, as the figure in the element draft (24) is
different than what is in the Parks Functional Plan (19). There was general
agreement to add a reference to the fact that the County owns the Fairgrounds.
Page 7-11: Following a discussion about planning for future water needs, there was
general agreement to change "City customer demands" in the table to "customer
demands."
Page 7-13: In the Stormwater and Surface Water item in the table, add a reference
to "conveyance." Staff explained why library level of standards were deleted
and parks level of service standards remained in the table.
Public Comment: Debbie Jahnke explained why there might be a discrepancy in
the park count between the Capital Facilities Element draft and the Parks
Functional Plan. She recommended mentioning "access" and "equitable
distribution" in the parks level of service standard.
Mr. Frick asked that Ms. Jahnke send proposed wording to staff, who will look into
pulling language out of Parks Functional Plan.
The meeting went into recess at 8:13 p.m. and resumed at 8:19 p.m.
GMA Periodic Update — Comprehensive Plan Economic Development Element
and Remaining Chapters
Senior Planner/Planning Manager Judy Surber gave an overview of the proposed
changes to the Economic Development Element. She highlighted some of the
changes in the draft and mentioned that staff will be replacing the word "artisan"
with "craft" in the next version. The Commission discussed the draft Economic
Development Element page by page. There was a brief discussion of comments
made through the SpeakUp Port Townsend site. Follow-up items for staff include:
Page 1: There was general agreement to reword the last sentence of the second
paragraph to read: "Over the long term, our economy needs to be balanced,
diverse, and nimble enough to recover from extreme weather events, energy
issues, and economic challenges."
Pages 1 & 2: Under Growth Management Act Requirements, move the sentence
starting "Although the GMA..." to the beginning of the section and clarify the
language regarding mandatory elements.
Page 2: In the second italicized section, change "/or" to "for."
Page 3: In the first sentence on the page, change "coordinating" to "coordination
of and add "as" after"as well." In #2 under Challenges and Opportunities,
change the first "and" to "an."
Page 4: In list item #4, add "average" to the end of the first sentence. In the next
line, delete "that" after "63%." Staff will check on the phrase "traded sector" as
used in #4. In #7, delete the comma in the last line, and in #8, add "effects" after
"climate change" or change to "effects of climate change." In the second-to-last
paragraph, change "Jefferson Health" to "Jefferson Healthcare."
Page 6: In Policy 1.1, change "Project" to "Program." After a discussion, it was
generally agreed not to make 1.1 more broad, because 1.2 is generalized. In Policy
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1.5, there was agreement to make "public development authority" plural (and
change the wording of the sentence to match grammatically).
Page 7: In Policy 4.1, change "Chapter 01" to "Chapter 3."
Page 9: Change the numbering of the first "Policy 6.5" to "Policy 6.3." Fix
the formatting of Policy 7.8.
Page 13: There was agreement to generalize and condense the "Note" in
brackets at the center of the page.
Page 15: In list item #9, strike "within the next 9 years." In the last sentence of the
second-to-last paragraph, change "200" to "300."
Page 18: In list item #1 under Tourism, make "Tourism Advisory Group" all
lowercase. Staff will check on the statement in list item #4 under Tourism.
Page 21: Staff will check on the job figures in the first paragraph under Measuring
Our Success.
Ms. Surber gave an overview of suggested updates to the Introduction (Chapter II)
to the Comprehensive Plan. The Commission discussed the draft Introduction page
by page. Commissioners expressed appreciation for the new graphic on page 7.
Follow-up items for staff include:
Page 2: There was general agreement to use "is anticipated" instead of"should
occur" in the first bulleted item of the What is the Comprehensive Plan? section. In
the second bulleted item, add "systems"'after "transportation."
Page 5: Staff will check on the wording of the last paragraph on the page.
Page 6: In the second line on the page, delete the extra "the."
Page 9: Remove "on this page" from the last sentence of the Age section.
Page 10: In the third sentence of the first new paragraph, change "9.0% higher" to
"62% higher." Staff will make sure that the two references to "23.6%" are correct.
Page 11: Staff will double-check the information source for the listing of top
industries.
Page 12: Add "Development" between "Economic" and "Element" at the end of the
first paragraph.
Page 14: Staff will look at information from 1996 for the seven "building
blocks" (only six are listed).
Page 16: Staff will check the RC&D report for information on sea level rise. There
was a question whether the statement in the paragraph beginning "Global scale
environmental..." should be changed to "...sea level rise of several feet..."
Public Comment: Debbie Jahnke noted that the Hovee study uses the term
"traded sectors." She also pointed out a typo on page 16: in the last sentence of
the first new paragraph, "federal policy level" should be changed to "federalop verty
level."
NEW BUSINESS - NONE
OTHER BUSINESS - NONE
UPCOMING MEETINGS
Planning Director Lance Bailey discussed postponing the tentative special meeting on
May 19th due to Rhododendron Festival. After a discussion, it was generally agreed
to change the meeting to Wednesday, May 18th.
Planning Commission Meeting April 28, 2016 Page 4 of 5
COMMUNICATIONS - NONE
ADJOURNMENT
There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 9:37 p.m.
Attest:
Planning Commission Chair
City Clerk's Office
Planning Commission Meeting April 28, 2016 Page 5 of 5