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HomeMy WebLinkAbout052616 CITY OF PORT TOWNSEND MINUTES OF THE PLANNING COMMISSION REGULAR SESSION OF MAY 26, 2016 CALL TO ORDER The Port Townsend Planning Commission met in regular session on May 26, 2016, in the City Council Chambers at 540 Water Street. Chair Frick called the meeting to order at 6:31 p.m. ROLL CALL Commissioners present at roll call were Nan Evans, Douglas Frick, Rick Jahnke, Monica MickHager, Dwight Nicholson, and Paul Rice, with Kirit Bhansali excused. Staff members present were Planning Director Lance Bailey, Senior Planner/Planning Manager Judy Surber, City Attorney Steve Gross, Public Works Director Ken Clow, City Engineer David Peterson, and Deputy Clerk Amber Long. ACCEPTANCE OF AGENDA Motion: Monica MickHager moved to accept the agenda. Nan Evans seconded. Vote: motion carried unanimously, 6-0 by voice vote. APPROVAL OF MINUTES - MAY 12, 2016 Motion: Rick Jahnke moved to approve the minutes of May 12, 2016. Monica MickHager seconded. Vote: motion carried unanimously, 6-0 by voice vote. GENERAL PUBLIC COMMENT Barbara Morey spoke about affordable housing. OLD BUSINESS GMA Periodic Update — Temporary Encampments (Docket Item #24) — PTMC Amendment Senior Planner/Planning Manager Judy Surber discussed changes that staff has made to draft language for PTMC Chapter 17.60 based on discussion at the prior meeting. Public Comment: Frank Hoffman spoke in favor of expanding the types of agencies that can sponsor an encampment. Commissioners asked clarifying questions of staff on the proposed language. There was general agreement to change "the sponsor and the managing agency" to "the Planning Commission Meeting May 26, 2016 Page 1 of 4 sponsor or the managing agency" in the second sentence of item H (page 3 of Attachment A). Motion. Monica MickHager moved to direct staff to prepare the draft PTMC amendments for the Commission's further consideration at a noticed public hearing. Paul Rice seconded. Vote: motion carried unanimously, 6-0 by voice vote. GMA Periodic Update — Commercial Kitchens & Food Hubs (Docket Item #51) — PTMC Amendment Ms. Surber gave a recap of the discussion so far on Docket Item 51 (commercial kitchens and food hubs). At the prior meeting, the Planning Commission questioned whether it was necessary to include a provision for retail sales on the ground floor of commercial kitchens. The staff recommendation has now been revised based on that discussion. Staff reiterated that amendments to the municipal code are not made based on one particular property, but are focused on forwarding the community vision. Public Comment: Candace Peterson owns a licensed commercial kitchen and requested that the "pedestrian-oriented business" requirement not be applied to the C-1 zoning district. Jeff Gallant spoke about commercial kitchens within residential zones. Staff responded to the public comments. The Commission then engaged in discussion about the proposed "pedestrian-oriented" requirement for commercial kitchens. Staff encouraged the Commission to review and consider the definition of"pedestrian- oriented business," specifically regarding signage and window display. Motion: Nan Evans moved to relocate "C-1-- neighborhood commercial"from the first box on the amended tables for PTMC 17.20.020, 17.18.020, and 17.22.020 to the second box, in the same category as MIC and C-11, where it would be a permitted use. Rick Jahnke seconded. Vote: motion carried unanimously, 6-0 by voice vote. Motion: Monica MickHager moved to direct staff to prepare draft PTMC amendments with the change previously approved by vote. Nan Evans seconded. Vote: motion carried unanimously, 6-0 by voice vote. GMA Periodic Update — Complete Draft of the Comprehensive Plan Ms. Surber gave a general overview of the process of drafting the proposed periodic update amendments to the Comprehensive Plan. This is the first opportunity the Commission has had to look at the draft Plan as a whole. Staff has asked the Commission to look for consistency among the element chapters. Staff thanked the Planning Commission for helping to keep the update process on schedule. Planning Commission Meeting May 26, 2016 Page 2 of 4 Public Comment: Jeff Randall asked whether anything in the Housing Element would prohibit a future housing levy. Staff responded that it would not. Cynthia Koan, Chair of Jefferson County Planning Commission, congratulated the City Planning Commission for its work on the Comprehensive Plan. For the benefit of the public present at the meeting, Commissioner MickHager explained that a subcommittee was formed at the prior meeting to prioritize "bookmarks" (optional items) that were not on the final docket adopted by City Council. Commissioner Jahnke requested for the record that an item be added to the running list: revision of the sentence beginning, "Additionally, reducing seasonality..." in the Tourism section of the Economic Development Element (page 9-17). Additional changes to the drafts could be made based on public testimony at the hearing on June 9th, and staff will continue to make typographical and formatting corrections. Commissioners expressed interest in attending City Council meetings when the periodic update is discussed. Motion: Dwight Nicholson moved to direct staff to proceed with the public hearing on June 9, 2016. Paul Rice seconded. Vote: motion carried unanimously, 6-0 by voice vote. NEW BUSINESS Short-Term Rentals/Vacation Rentals/Transient Accommodations Code Revisions Planning Director Lance Bailey explained that City Council has tasked the Planning Commission to consider the issue of non-owner occupied short-term rentals and drew the Commission's attention to the questions in the staff memo. The Planning Commission is also being asked to help consolidate code language regarding owner- occupied short-term rentals. Mr. Bailey spoke generally about the public comments received so far on the issue, many of which have been received through the City's SpeakUp PT website. He showed portions of a webinar about the "sharing economy" in the City of Durango, Colorado. Mr. Bailey discussed the housing inventory that was completed as part of the Comprehensive Plan update process and brought attention to issues that are especially significant in Port Townsend to set a local context for the discussion. Public Comment: Deborah Pedersen spoke against allowing non-owner occupied short-term rentals and in favor of looking into other options for increasing affordable housing. She also spoke against a pilot program. Jon Langdon spoke against allowing the conversion of ADUs to short-term rentals. He also spoke against the proposed pilot program. Planning Commission Meeting May 26, 2016 Page 3 of 4 Cynthia Koan agreed with Deborah Pedersen. Jeff Randall spoke against allowing non-owner occupied short-term rentals and against the pilot program. Debbie Jahnke spoke about the short-term rental issue in the context of other issues on the agenda. She spoke against allowing non-owner occupied short-term rentals. Mark Cooper spoke against allowing non-owner occupied short-term rentals. City Attorney Steve Gross explained that the draft language included in the packet was based on the Durango model and intended only as a tool to help focus the discussion. Regarding enforcement, staff explained that the City has just recently hired a Code Compliance Officer, who will be addressing short-term rental violations in addition to other code issues. Staff answered questions from the Commission on what is being asked of them by Council and what form the recommendation will take. During discussion, Commissioners pointed out that the changing terminology has likely caused confusion and expressed some uncertainty about the dialogue so far on this issue that has led to it being tasked to the Planning Commission. For the meeting on June 23rd, the Commission has requested follow-up from staff on the following: - Highlight items from the housing study to help the Commission navigate the discussion - Information on vacation accommodation capacity in Port Townsend (number of beds available) - More background information on the discussion so far by Council (staff recommended that Commissioners and the public go to City's website and search for meeting videos and packet materials regarding transient accommodations/vacation rentals/short-term rentals). OTHER BUSINESS - NONE UPCOMING MEETINGS The next meeting will be the GMA Periodic Update public hearing on June 9th. COMMUNICATIONS - NONE ADJOURNMENT There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 9:39 p.m. Attest: Planning Commission Chair City Clerk's Office Planning Commission Meeting May 26, 2016 Page 4 of 4