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Home My WebLink About021314 CITY OF PORT TOWNSEND MINUTES OF THE PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING OF FEBRUARY 13, 2014 CALL TO ORDER The Port Townsend Planning Commission met in regular session on February 13, 2014, in the Council Chambers at 540 Water Street. Chair Monica Mick-Hager called the meeting to order at 6:30 p.m. ROLL CALL Commissioners present at roll call were Kirit Bhansali, Jack Range, Douglas Frick, Monica Mick-Hager, Dwight Nicholson, Nan Evans, and Gee Heckscher. Staff members present were Community Services Director Rick Sepler, Judy Surber Planning Manager/Senior Planner, and Deputy City Clerk Joanna Sanders. Mr. Heckscher joined the meeting at 6:36 p.m. after the approval of minutes. ACCEPTANCE OF AGENDA Motion: Kirit Bhansali moved to approve the agenda as written. Douglas Frick seconded. Vote: motion carried unanimously, 6-0 by voice vote. APPROVAL OF MINUTES - JANUARY 23, 2014 Motion: Kirit Bhansali moved to approve the minutes of January 23, 2014. Jack Range seconded. Vote: motion carried unanimously, 6-0 by voice vote. GENERAL PUBLIC COMMENT (FOR ITEMS NOT ON THE AGENDA) There was no public comment. NEW BUSINESS Public Hearing - Draft III City of Port Townsend Parks, Recreation and Open Space Functional Plan Chair Mick-Hager read the rules for the public hearing. The Commissioners had no interests, financial or property, to disclose. Planning Manager/Senior Planner Judy Surber presented Draft 3 of the Parks Plan. She reviewed agenda packet materials with the background of the planning process. The current Draft 3 is a blend of Drafts 1 and 2, plus public comment. Ms. Surber then distributed and provided an overview of several maps: Parks Facilities, Open Space Inventory, Neighborhood Park Service Areas, and Pocket Park Service Areas. She described core themes outlined in the implementation section of the plan Planning Commission Meeting February 13, 2014 Page 1 of 4 as well as near-term recommendations for the capital improvement program. A summary of the plan appendices was provided in the on-line agenda packet. Public testimony was as follows: Ron Sikes spoke in support of the plan as presented. Rosemary Sikes presented her written comments in support of the plan and reviewed her suggested edits. Brenda McMillan supported approval of the plan. Margaret Lee commented on the insufficient time in which to comment due to a grant deadline. Her concerns included the emphasis in the introduction to the Comprehensive Plan on the importance of open space, yet an open space inventory was not updated until this evening. She asked that references in the plan to a 12- zone master plan for Kah Tai Lagoon Nature Park appear in this draft. Rick Jahnke spoke in support of approving the plan. Parks Recreation and Tree Advisory Board member Debbie Jahnke spoke in support of the plan. She asked for a 6f3 definition to be included in the glossary. Julie Jaman read her written comments, including several editing suggestions. She suggested including a purpose statement to the plan. Jim Todd spoke in support of the plan and his belief that there was sufficient public exposure to the plan. Staff responded to public comment and noted that public comment is accepted through the March 3 Council meeting. Staff said that additional changes could be made as requested by the Planning Commission. Questions from Commissioners were about access to the master plan for Kah Tai and the importance of not delaying approval in order to perfect the plan. Staff responded to questions about the 6f designation and about not including a prioritization and timeline for projects so the City would not be constrained by the plan. Mr. Sepler offered to craft a motion to include grammatical edits and minor corrections as mentioned, including the addition of a 6f definition. More substantive changes might need to be brought back for review. There was also some support for updating the plan consistent with Julie Jaman's comments. Commission discussion/deliberation centered on the purpose of functional planning documents versus master planning documents such as Kah Tai. There was support for incorporating Rosemary Sikes updates in the tables and appendices and support for changing the description of the skateboard board park to say state-of-the-art. There were several comments in support of the comprehensive plan and a desire to meet the grant deadline. Mr. Sepler responded to questions about uses for grant funds. There were also questions about whether to address in future plans trends in obesity, increasing numbers of children born to single mothers, and lack of funding for afterschool programming. In response to a question about where Planning Commission Meeting February 13, 2014 Page 2 of 4 unopened rights of way are addressed, Mr. Sepler responded this would be in the non-motorized transportation plan. The public hearing was closed. Motion. Gee Heckscher moved to approve Draft 3 of the Parks Recreation and Open Space Plan with clarification on the description of the parks as mentioned, to make grammatical corrections and factual errors, revisions to the text that do not change the meaning or intent of the plan, more narrative descriptions in Table 3.3, additions to the glossary to clarify issues on 6f, references to the 12-zone master plan, change world class to state-of-the art and using letters from citizens as the basis for changes. Dwight Nicholson seconded. Vote: motion carried unanimously, 7-0 by voice vote. At 7:54 p.m., the meeting recessed for the purposes of a break. At 8:04 p.m., the meeting resumed. OLD BUSINESS Possible Commission Request to Council regarding Letter from Mr. Ortmeier dated January 22, 2014 for Formation of a Sub-committee The Commission referred to Mr. Sepler's memo regarding Mr. Ortmeier's request to investigate issues associated with the deer population in Port Townsend. There was some concern that animal control is outside the work of the Planning Commission. A question was whether acknowledging animal wildlife (such as Sequim did with the elk herd) might be possible in the Comprehensive Plan. There was support for staff investigating whether another committee in.the community was working on the issue to refer to Mr. Ortmeier. OTHER BUSINESS GMA Comprehensive Plan Primer (Rick Sepler & Judy Surber) Mr. Sepler gave an overview of the 2014 work on the Comprehensive Plan noting that late in the year, there would be joint meetings with City Council to frame comprehensive plan issues. He noted that Association of Washington Cities GMA videos are available to access although it did not work to review the videos at this meeting (awcnet.org). UPCOMING MEETINGS Mr. Sepler reviewed the upcoming meeting schedule including the addition of Howard Street zoning on March 13. February 27: Cancelled March 5: Wednesday 1:30-4:30 Joint City/County Planning Commission Workshop on Population & Housing (Council Chambers) Planning Commission Meeting February 13, 2014 Page 3 of 4 March 13: Marijuana Regulations (Land Use only) March 19: Wednesday 1:30-4:30 Joint City/County Planning Commission Workshop on Transportation & Climate Change (Council Chambers) March 27: Public Hearing on Proposed Marijuana Regulations (Land Use only) April 10: Public Hearing: 2014 Preliminary Docket April 19: Wednesday 1:30-4:30 Joint City/County Planning Commission Workshop on Education and Economic Development (Council Chambers) April 24: Cancelled May 7: Wednesday 1:30-4:30 Joint City/County Planning Commission Workshop Sustainability and Local Food (Council Chambers) COMMUNICATIONS There were none. ADJOURNMENT Motion: Gee Heckscher moved to approve adjourning the meeting. Jack Range seconded. Vote: motion carried unanimously, 7-0 by voice vote. There being no further business, meeting adjourned at 8:22 p.m. Attest: Ji! }"° t t. tl �f Planning Commission Cfiair City Clerk's Office Planning Commission Meeting February 13, 2014 Page 4 of 4