HomeMy WebLinkAbout111022CITY OF PORT TOWNSEND
MINUTES OF THE PLANNING COMMTSSION REGULAR SESSION OF NOVEMBER
10,2022
CALL TO ORDER
The Planning Commission met in regular session on November ',l0, 2022, in the City
Council chamber at 540 Water Street. Chair Lois Stanford called the meeting to order at
6:29 pm.
ROLL CALL
Commissioners present at roll callwere Samantha Bair-Jones, Neil Nelson, Rick
Jahnke, Viki Sonntag, Lois Stanford, Robert Doyle and Andreas Andreadis
ACCEPTANCE OF AGENDA
Change date from Wednesday to Thursday. Once changed agenda accepted by
consent.
APPROVA OF MINUTES - OCTO R 27.2022
Corrections to minutes: typo 3rd page, commissioner Rick Jahnke name is missing the
"h" in section above New Business. Also, on page three, 2nd complete paragraph,
change the word "tapered" and use "tabled". And add the amendment'description in the
discussion in the paragraph. On first page, under roll call, make "commissioner: plural.
GENERAL PUBLIC COMMENT FOR ITEMS NOT ON AGENDA. LIMITED TO 5
MINUTES PER PERSON. PLEASE BEGIN BY STATING YOUR NAME AND
ADDRESS. GENERAL PUBLIC COMMENT IS NOT A PUBLIC HEARING.
COMMENTS MADE DURING THIS TIME WILL NOT BE PART OF THE HEARING
RECORD.
No public comments
NEW BUSINESS
Presentation: MRSC: Making "Missing Middle" Housing Work in WA State (Director
Bolin)
https://cityofpt.granicus.com/NletaViewer.php?view_id=4&clip_id:2501&meta-id=208279
Emma Bolin, the city's planning, and community director, gave a presentation on,
"Making "Missing Middle" Housing Work in WA State." The director stated that this
meeting was to begin the roadmap on the 2023 councilwork plan for affordable infill
housing. The community director mentioned that MRSC, Municipal Research and
Service Center, helps connect local governments with policies resources. The planning
team did case studies with other city's planning staff such as Bellingham, Kirkland,
Olympia, Spokane, and Wenatchee. Discussion ensued about the regulatory
approaches to increase building capacity efforts. Procedural efforts to streamline the
permitting process. And the financial use of the affordable tools with the city, like the
multifamily tax exemption program, that allows exemption from paying property taxes for
a certain period at a certain affordability level. The city's planning director stated that an
interim ordinance is not subject to appeal. lt is for a six month's timeframe and can be
extended to a year. And proceeds to state that they will be working with the consultant
for the short-term plan from Spokane. Also mentioned in the discussion was the city of
Anacortes, WA and how the city has used simple design treatments to give the
appearance of a conforming neighborhood. The community director explained that
some of the changes to the current multifamily tax exemption program could be
expanding the time on current properties using the program and could also allow groups
of buildings on a single lot, instead of one building per lot. Ms. Bolin then explained the
application process. The commissioners discuss the use of 4 plex homes, and RCW
36.70a.600 code which mentions offering homeowners a combination of financing,
design permitting and construction support to convert single family homes into duplexes
or bigger plex homes. One of the final statements made by Ms. Bolin in this part of the
discussion was that she needs to get the long-range planner and a team to start
strategizing how to implement planning. The city's planning and community director,
Emma Bolin listed three phases of the short-term goals. Phase one will be looking at
priority and strategy. This will include a night to hear the community ideas and have
stakeholders' interviews. Phase two will be to list the codes options that can be used.
Phase three would be to develop a final draft on March 27,2023.
UPCOMING MEETINGS 11/,24 CANCEL LED 1217 JOINT CITY/COUNTY
PLANNING COMMI ION MEETING 1218 SIMS GA AND BOATYARD
EXPANSION PROJECT EARING ffENTATIVE}
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Attest
ADJOURN
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Planning Commission Chair
City Clerk's Office