HomeMy WebLinkAbout033108 WorkshopCITY OF PORT TOWNSEND
CITY COUNCIL
MINUTES OF THE WORKSHOP MEETING OF MARCH 31, 2008
CALL TO ORDER
The City Council of the City of Port Townsend met in workshop session the thirty-
first day of March 2008 at 6:30 p.m. in the Council Chambers of City Hall, Mayor
Michelle Sandoval presiding.
ROLL CALL
Council members present at roll call were, Brent Butler, David King, Laurie Medlicott,
George Randels, Catharine Robinson, and Michelle Sandoval. Mark Welch was
excused.
Staff members present were City Manager David Timmons, City Attorney John
Watts, DSD Director Leonard Yarberry, Public Works Director Ken Clow, Senior
Planner Pat lolavera, Police Chief Conner Daily, and City Clerk Pam Kolacy.
PROCLAMATION
Mayor Sandoval read a proclamation declaring April 2008 as Child Abuse
Prevention Month. Kelly Matlock, Anne Winegar, and Karren Obermyer were
present to accept the proclamation.
CODE ENFORCEMENT ORDINANCE AMENDMENTS: ORDINANCE 2952
City Attorney John Watts reviewed the packet material, noting that extensive public
meetings have been held to discuss the topic, including six Community
Development/Land Use Committee meetings and five Council meetings.
Mr. Watts noted the new language on page 11 of Exhibit A, which provides that a
stop work order may be applied to a specific violation without causing all other work
at the particular site to stop. He added that the City has started implementing some
more pro-active procedures, such as allowing Police officers to provide stop work
orders after hours or on weekends when DSD staff is not available.
Mr. Watts reviewed other changes to the document that were made in response to
the last workshop meeting. He also discussed his attached memo of March 25,
2008 which supports discretion as opposed to mandatory fines. He stated that fines
mandated by a legislative body would be unprecedented according to his research.
Ms. Sandoval said that Port Townsend is growing and when you have more people
in the same amount of space there are more "rubs" and issues. She stated her
concern that the town's values are protected without having the small town
atmosphere disrupted.
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Mr. Randels read a letter from Council member Welch into the record. Mr. Welch
asked that the Council avoid adopting inflexible legal and administrative enforcement
procedures.
In response to Mr. King's comment, Mr. Watts confirmed that the CD/LU Committee
recommendation was that the enforcement regulations apply to all City codes, not
just land use and the language would change for those sections of the Code as well.
Mr. King asked if the proposed expanded log of enforcement situations which will be
kept by staff and reviewed by Council, could be incorporated into the Code. He
added that he would support this.
Ms. Robinson asked if, in the "enhanced penalty" table on page 6 of Exhibit A, (C)
"Damage to property" applied to both public and private property. Mr. Watts
confirmed that it did.
Mr. Watts noted that an unfunded mandate from the state requires that the City
Building Official now respond to tenant complaints about substandard housing; an
inspection must be done and provided to the tenant and landlord.
In response to a question from Mrs. Medlicott, Mr. Timmons stated that the Police-
issued stop work orders are intended to retain status quo on a project until someone
from the DSD Department can assess the situation.
Mrs. Medlicott stated she is still uncomfortable with leaving some "should's in place
rather than making all of the references "shall.°
Mr. Watts explained that it was felt reasonable to have "shall" for certain specific
circumstances relating to critical areas and shorelines but not for every other
situation where there was activity done without a permit.
Mrs. Medlicott and Mr. King proposed that the last line of the first paragraph in
20.10.001 (Policy) read "Abatement or remediation, including restoration of a
situation to pre-activity condition is a primary goal in all cases
and pursued when appropriate and feasible.
Mr. Randels asked whether the $1,000 criminal penalty fine is a daily penalty. Mr.
Watts stated that although a civil penalty order can be a single order that applies in
the future, the criminal penalty is a citation alleging a single violation on a single day;
criminal prosecution cannot be ongoing.
Mr. Randels stated that whether or not the log is incorporated into the text of the
ordinance, a "source of complaint" category should be added (i.e., "citizen" "staff").
Ms. Sandoval asked about those land use issues handled by planners and not
considered complaints but part of an ongoing permit process; she stated that with
City Council Workshop Page 2 March 31, 2008
larger projects damage could be greater but if there is no tracking and if these
activities are not logged, how will the Council know about them.
Mr. Yarberry noted that many permits may be in play for one project and those are
tracked through the permit process by means of inspection logs; code enforcement
cases are a stand alone situation.
Mr. Randels stated that for log purposes, any time a significant penalty such as stop
work order or fine is issued, that action should be part of the log.
Ms. Sandoval asked if there can be some way of tracking what is going on with a
project that is being done according to the permit but that the public may perceive to
be different from what they expected to see "on the ground." Ms. lolavera stated this
is a different yet parallel discussion and may involve new regulations such as
requirements for bonding, vesting, etc.
Ms. Robinson noted that the enforcement log will be reviewed by the Council on a
quarterly basis and if the Council is hearing from the public about a project not on
the log, they will be able to follow up and find out why it isn't there.
Mr. Timmons noted that the appeal process is rarely used in Port Townsend by
citizens who disagree with interpretations of projects and project requirements.
In response to Mr. Butler's questions about providing more definitions, Mr. Watts
stated his belief that terms such as "remediation," "abatement," and "restoration" are
reasonably understood when it comes to interpretation.
Mr. Butler asked if there are any manuals or other materials for people who do not
hire professionals to do their projects. Ms. lolavera replied that the DSD Department
intends to put together a primer for development and also to review the City codes
which are faulty in places (example: what constitutes "complete" application). She
added that work has been diverted by other aspects of the staffs workload.
Ms. Robinson emphasized the need for public education; she suggested that all
permits should be posted in an accessible place on site so other can tell what sort of
work is going on and also that if they do something similar a permit is required.
ADJOURN
There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 8:12 p.m.
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Pam Kolacy, MMC, City Cler
City Councrt Workshop Page 3 March 31, 2008