Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout11202001CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PORT TOWNSEND MINUTES OF THE SPECIAL SESSION OF NOVEMBER 20, 2001 The City Council of the City of Port Townsend met in regular session this twentieth day of November, 2001, at 6:30 in the Port Townsend Council Chambers of City Hall, Mayor Geoff Masci presiding. ROLL CALL AND PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE Councilmembers present at roll call were Joe Finnie, Allen Frank, Syd Lipton, Geoff Masci, and Alan Youse. Mr. Lipton and Mr. Wolcott were excused. Staff members present were City Manager David Timmons, City Attorney John Watts, Building & Community Development Director Jeff Randall, and City Clerk Pam Kolacy. Mr. Frank and Mr. Garrison confirmed that they had listened to the audio tape recording of the public heating that morning. Jeff Randall reviewed the staff presentation. He said that there are some references in Ordinance 2784 to C-IV zoning that are not stricken; council has the option of reverting to the Planning Commission recommendation that all references to C-IV zoning be removed from the Plan. The change from Glen Cove Area FUGA to LAMRID has been incorporated into the ordinance, also with the Planning Commission's concurrence. Public Comment Nancy Dorgan: stated she is unclear about the new version of ordinance and reiterated that she cannot support C-IV zoning designation in the city limits or in a Glen Cove expansion. Jeff Kelety: stated he hoped that the amendments have stricken all references to C-IV zoning. He spoke against accommodating large scale retail stores in the city. Frieda Fenn: quoted from the 1997 Growth Management Hearings Board case, specifically the City Attorney's brief regarding regional retail businesses. Lyn Hersey: recited history of the PT2020 visioning process and summarized the preponderance of answers to some of the questions including limited job opportunities as the biggest drawback to living in the community, aversion to addressing tourism needs before local needs, desire for shopping facilities for affordable basics for locals, desire to control growth and attract diversified industries for local employment base while reducing dependency on tourism. She noted the planning process is a 20 year process and we are not even half way into it. City Council Special Meeting Page 1 November 20, 2001 Alice King stated she loves the downtown and doesn't understand how establishing a C- IV zoning designation would help the vibrant downtown. She stated a C-IV zone would draw business away from the downtown area. Jim Todd stated he would support the ordinance is C-IV has been eliminated. Joey Pippia urged the council to follow the recommendations from Planning Commission and the city staff. Richard Berg read written comments which had previously been distributed to the council opposing C-IV zoning. John Lockwood stated that large retail stores do not fit the community's vision. He summarized the 1996 survey again. In general, he encouraged the council to adopt the amendment and not allow the city to expand and extend into rural areas. Robert Greenway stated his desire for more clarity on the proposed ordinance. He spoke against C-IV zoning. He stated regional commercial zoning is a crux and turning point of the character of the town and its shape and ambiance. He said it would be a failure of imagination to assume that we have to get jobs in a situation of commercial developments. Phil Dinsmore thanked the council for considering the first amendment proposed and approved by Planning Commission and staff and hoped it will be approved. Staff response Jeff Randall stated that the document before the council is the result of the motion at the close of the November 5 hearing which directed staff to draft mn ordinance adopting the amendment with the references to C-IV included. If the council chooses to strike C-IV again it is an easy modification. Mr. Watts noted that a reference remains to C-IV on page 3 which needs to be struck. Motion: Mr. Finnie moved for adoption of Ordinance 2784 as amended to remove all references to C-IV zoning included on pages 3, 6 and 8. Mr. Youse seconded. There was considerable discussion about the initiation of the amendments 4 (proposed by People for a Livable Community and 5 (proposed by staff), and whether staff was "lobbied" by the group. Mr. Randall explained the staffs concern that the PLC proposed amendment was a sweeping change which affected many existing policies; therefore staff suggested another amendment to review current policies regarding Glen Cove and look at it in relation to county policies. The council docketed both amendments; at that time the staff amendment was just a brief statement. It evolved to its present form through public meetings with the Planning Commission. City Council Special Meeting Page 2 November 20, 2001 Mr. Frank asked about broad based community input. Mr. Randall noted that it was a typical one-year amendment cycle which does not normally involve large scale surveys. Mr. Garrison stated he cannot support a piecemeal approach to major changes to the Comprehensive Plan. He stated his belief that the council should wait until next year's comprehensive five-year revision process. Mr. Youse stated the Comprehensive Plan will always have flaws and continue to change though some changes will improve the plan and some will flaw it further. He added that it is not damaging to be cautious. Mr. Randall noted that a tremendous amount of staff resources have been spent processing the amendments. The plan could be rewritten indefinitely but at some point changes need to be implemented. He stated that it might be good for the council to look at some policies for docketing interim Comprehensive Plan issues so that only specific time sensitive issues appear between the major review years. Mr: Masci stated that he thought at the beginning this was a staff reaction to a citizen initiative and he couldn't see the need for any of it. He noted that the document over time represents a community and is not a static document. The Comprehensive Plan revision process in 2002 is going to be incredibly truncated and will consume a huge amount of staff time. He supports the ordinance but feels this has been an exercise in wheel spinning and wasted a great deal of staff time that could have been directed toward a better use of government and public funds. Mr. Finnie stated that the proposed change probably does neither good nor harm and characterized it as a tempest in a teapot, driven by the emotions of the moment in Port Townsend. He noted that the truth of the matter is that the community and small business owners, including himself, are concerned about large retail stores locating in Port Townsend but the present issue is simply ego in politics. He posed a series of questions to Mr. Randall showing that standards are in place to prevent that which everyone fears - location of a big box retailer. Mr. Frank stated his desire to let the Comprehensive Plan mature before making sweeping changes; stated it would be a bad precedent for council to react to the emotion of the moment when it does no harm or good. He asked how many more times staff will have to spend thousands of hours on projects like this. He hopes the work won't go to waste but that changes can be done comprehensively, not in a piecemeal manner. Mr. Youse stated there has been much public participation, some say by a narrow group, but the forums have been open to all. He stated that adoption won't create any harm and will make a lot of people feel good. He sees merit to the argument that this would be a bad precedent but stated that since the five year review is coming up next year, this might be a suitable precursor. City Council Special Meeting Page 3 November 20, 2001 Vote: The motion to adopt Ordinance 2784failed, 3-2, by roll call vote, with Mr. Garrison and Mr. Frank opposed (Four votes - majority of the full council - required for passage.) ADJOURN There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 7:50 p.m. Attest Pam Kolacy, CMC City Clerk City Council Special Meeting Page 4 November 20, 2001