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HomeMy WebLinkAbout071408CITY OF PORT TOWNSEND CITY COUNCIL MINUTES OF THE WORKSHOP MEETING OF JULY 14, 2008 CALL TO ORDER The City Council of the City of Port Townsend met in workshop session the fourteenth day of July 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, David King, Laurie Medlicott, George Randels, Catharine Robinson, Michelle Sandoval and Mark Welch. Brent Butler arrived at 6:40. Staff members present were City Manager David Timmons, City Attorney John Watts, DSD Director Leonard Yarberry, Public Works Director Ken Clow, Planning Director Rick Sepler, Land Use Development Specialist Suzanne Wassmer, and City Clerk Pam Kolacy. SIGN CODE -REVIEW OF PLANNING COMMISSION RECOMMENDATIONS Planning Director Rick Sepler reviewed the packet material and discussed the history of the current sign code and the process to date. He stated that the intent tonight is not to go through the ordinance but to provide a general overview of the key sign-related issues as identified by the Council, the Ad Hoc Sign Code Committee and the Planning Commission and proposed approaches that have been developed to address them. Mr. Sepler and Ms. Wassmer reviewed photos of several non-conforming signs to illustrate the enforcement issues posed. At this time most enforcement has been suspended pending the outcome of the proposed legislation. Regarding sandwich boards, it was noted that currently about 60% of sandwich boards are not permitted. At this time, no enforcement is being done. Consideration has been given to amortization; if the ultimate goal ends up being elimination of sandwich boards, the present legal signs would be allowed to remain for a specific period of time; current illegal signs would have to be removed. Informational kiosks have been proposed which would identify businesses on a block; this would be an alternative to sandwich boards. A fee would be assessed for having a business name on the kiosk; however, the fee could be waived or reduced to provide an incentive to remove sandwich boards earlier than the designated moratorium time. Other incentives may be proposed to encourage removal of currently legal signs. City Council lMorkshop Page 1 July 14, 2008 The issue of advertising upper story businesses must be addressed; it was noted that sandwich board signs can be redundant when right in front of a store and may actually compete with the store's window display. The signs also create visual clutter and may present a safety hazard. Kris Nelson (Planning Commission) stated that while there is support at the committee and Planning Commission level for elimination of most sandwich board signs, a program to address advertising concerns should be fully in place prior to phasing out signs. Mr. Welch said that it is important to have concurrence from the business community and to develop alternatives. Mr. Randels stated that once illegal signs are addressed and signs which are non- conforming are phased out, the volume of signs will go down; at that time the Council may decide that a certain volume is acceptable. Mrs. Medlicott stated that signs can rise to the level of being public safety hazards. She added that there should be plenty of public notice before illegal signs are removed. Mr. Timmons noted that there are two tracks to the process, one for designing the standards and another for maintaining an effective level of enforcement. Mr. Randels asked if there could be another look at permit costs as they seem low. He also asked if maintenance standards will be included in the code. Ms. Wassmer stated that maintenance standards have been addressed. There was discussion of signs in residential areas, such as home occupation and real estate. Mr. Sepler noted that there are no changes proposed to the home occupation regulations. Mr. Sepler noted that most "mixed use" has not been constructed yet and regulations such as a minimum amount of signage per storefront may be factored in (rather than a set overall allowance for signage no matter how many businesses are present). Mr. Randels noted that he is not in favor of the committee unanimity requirement for design review of large projects; he believes this vests too much power in one individual and would like to review that requirement. Mr. Randels also stated that competitive economic factors are relevant; particularly in the case of signs that were permitted by mistake while other businesses applied for the same type of sign and were denied. He stated that instead of arbitrarily City Council Workshop Page 2 July 74, 2008 allowing some signs due to city error and denying others, perhaps the rules should be rewritten to accommodate all signs with the same degree of nonconformity. Mr. Sepler stated the Council would have one more workshop, then a public hearing before acting on an ordinance. At that workshop, the Council will go through the proposed ordinance. He asked that any Councilors who have questions about the ordinance contact staff. Mr. Timmons added there will be a companion piece to the ordinance regarding enforcement. Mr. Randels asked for information on the standards other cities have adopted for light placement, type and intensity. Mr. King asked for any information about what methods of improving advertising opportunities for upper story businesses have been used in other places; it is helpful to know what alternatives are available. Mr. Butler asked about the impact of sign code enforcement during the bridge closure; whether this would be bad timing due to economic factors. Ms. Sandoval noted that there were many business owners on the Ad Hoc committee and they were all in favor of enforcement; other jurisdictions have much tighter controls on enforcement. RECESS Mayor Sandoval declared a recess at 8:10 p.m. for the purpose of a break. RECONVENE The meeting was reconvened at 8:20 p.m. DSD Director Leonard Yarberry reviewed his memo dated July 10, 2008 and provided a brief report summing up code enforcement activity for the first six months of the year. The activity is contained in a data base which can generate reports. In response to Ms. Sandoval's question, enforcement activity is proactive on stop work orders, but staff is not acting proactively on other matters like junk cars, etc. Mr. King asked that efforts be made to turn "data" into "information." Ms. Sandoval stated that education is important and would like to have citizens know that permits are usually required and that everyone needs to check when they are beginning a project. Mr. Timmons stated that other jurisdictions have had success setting up a hearing examiner model so that a third party acting as a judge can render a verdict about what an appropriate fine or penalty will be for a particular violation. City Councr! Workshop Page 3 July ?4, 2008 Mr. Timmons stated that there are few complaints about transient accommodations and another approach would be to make them legal and collect fees. Mr. Yarberry also said that a code regulation regarding prohibitions relating to inoperable vehicles would be much less difficult than treating them under the "nuisance" category. Ms. Sandoval stated that staffing for this program is a budget issue and will need to come before Council in the 2009 budget process. Regarding right of way issues, Mr. Watts noted that there are different types of issues for commercial and residential areas. Ms. Sandoval stated she hopes the city can begin to address this issue in the fall. Mr. Yarberry stated that among the many complicated issues are fences, street ends, landscaping; Ms. Sandoval added others that come up frequently include community gardens, deer fences, and timber management. Regarding the sign code, Mr. Yarberry stated that the first six months will be the most difficult as the public information program is launched and outreach to business owners is accomplished. He estimated that this will require about a half time person. He added that when the sign code was initiated and enforced in University Place, business ended up thriving, particularly because this was done in conjunction with an economic redevelopment package. Mr. Watts noted that he will process the housekeeping issues (definition of "violation" and penalty for cutting significant trees) addressed in his memo and forward to an upcoming Council meeting. ADJOURN There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 9:14 p.m. Attest: ~ / ~ Gvl'Yi-« /~I Pamela Kolacy, MMC City Clerk City Council Workshop Page 4 July 74, 2008