HomeMy WebLinkAbout2248 Emergency Interim Property Setbacks and Land Use Controls on Properties in Port Townsend Comprehensive Planning AreaORDINANCE NO. ~z~
AN ORDINANCE ESTABLISHING INTERIM PROPERTY SETBACKS
AND LAND USE CONTROLS ON PROPERTIES IN THE CITY OF
PORT TO~SEND'S COMPREHENSIVE PLANNING AREA; PROVID-
ING APROCEDURE FOR VARIANCES; DECLARING AN EMERGENCY;
AND ESTABLISHING AN EFFECTIVE DATE
After due consideration, the City Council finds and recites that:
(1) The City of Port Townsend has experienced and will con-
tinue to experience extraordinary population and traffic growth, re-
sulting in. competing demands for residential development and new
arterial traffic services, and requiring land use planning and regu-
lation. Existing arterial rights-of-way are inadequate to accommo-
date projected vehicular and pedestrian traffic, based upon con-
tinued development of parcels which are already platted for residen-
tial development. ~,~ere rights-of-way exist, in numerous locations
insufficient width has been dedicated to accommodate safe bicycle
and pedestrian travel in addition to motor vehicle travel and parking.
(2) The 1981 Comprehensive Plan encourages the City's arterial
street system to be commensurate with existing and future land use
and development patterns. The purpose of these interim controls is
to augment and update the transportation policies of the 1981 Com-
prehensive Plan and fulfill the mandate of the 1990 Growth Manage-
ment Act. It will update and~provide more detailed policy guide-
lines for land use and a comprehensive transportation network to
better serve existing and future development.
(3) Incremental development under existing zoning, particularly.
that which is exempt under SEPA, has resulted in buildings directly
adjacent to roadways. In effect, due to increased traffic growth,
these roads now serve as de facto major arterials without the road
capacity necessary for the public health, safety and welfare of Port
Townsend and its residents.
(4) The City of Port Townsend and the Washington State Depart-
ment of Transportation are seeking solutions to severe traffic con-
festion frequently experienced on State Route 20/Sims Way, and in-
creasing residential, commercial and visitor use necessitates coor-
dinating roadway improvements with this planning process.
(5) On-going development would preclude consideration of sig-
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nificant and potentially desirable land use alternatives and new ar-
terial routes; set a development pattern that may not be in the pub-
lic interest; be inconsistent with the goals and policies of the
SCare Growth Management Act and the proposed Comprehensive Plan; and
promote hazardous traffic situations and City liability.
(6) The City Council finds that its planning and transporta-
tion circulation options would be severely limited or even fore-
closed if the City allowed certain development before final adoption
of the Transportation Plan.
(7) This interim Ordinance to regulate the development of land
is warranted as a temporary emergency measure to safeguard the pub-
lic welfare pending adoption of the new Transportation'Plan; as a
safeguard against the loss of planning alternatives presented to the
public in the community planning process; to avoid creating danger-
ous traffic conditions; and to preserve for future needs property
which the City may have to acquire for the provision of adequate
~City street rights-of-way.
(8) In times of rapid change, the interests of the public are
better served if elected representatives are able to consider impor-
tant policy decisions in a deliberate, fully informed manner, rather
than under extraordinary pressures of permit applications which may
be accelerated by public consideration of upcoming regulatory changes.
(9) For these reasons, the City Council determines and declares
that an emergency exists such that the interim setback regulations
set forth below should be imolemented.
THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF'~ORT TOk~SEND DO ORDAIN AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1 Title of Ordinance. This Ordinance shall be knovm
as the "Arterial Street Interim Setback Ordinance" and may be cited
as such.
Section 2 Interim Setbacks. Notwithstanding any other provi-
sion of any other Ordinance or provision of the Port Townsend Muni-
cipal Code, for a period of two hundred and seventy (270) days fol-
lowing the effective date of this Ordinance, no building or struc-
ture or any part thereof shall be erected, constructed or placed.:
A. Within sixty (60) feet of the centerline of the
Discovery Bay Road right-of-way; or
B. Within sixty (60) feet of the centerline of the
Howard Street right-of-way wherever the Howard Street right-of-way
exists between Sims Way and Tenth Street and between Discovery Bay
Road and Thirty-Ninth Street; or
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C. Within that portion of Block 4 of the Swan Park
Addition to the City of Port To~send which lies Northeast of a
straight line extending Southeasterly from the Northwestern corner
of said Block 4 to a point on the Eastern boundary of said Block 4
which is three hundred (300) feet South of the Northeastern corner
of that same said Block 4; or
D. Within sixty (60) feet South of the centerline
of the Tenth Street right-of-way where the Tenth Street right-of-way
abuts Block 4 of the Swan Park Addition to the City of Port Town-
send; or
E. Within sixty (60) feet of the centerline of the
Rainier Street right-of-way wherever such right-of-way'exists North
of Block 4 of the Swan Park Addition to the City of Port Townsend;
or
F. Within one hundred (100) feet East of the East-
ern boundary of Blocks 2 and 4 of McBride's Addition to the City of
Port Townsend; or
Go Within sixty (60) feet of the Eastern boundary
of Blocks 3 and 4 of the Gottstein's Addition to the City of Port
Townsend; or
H. Within sixty (60) feet of a straight line con-
necting the Northeastern corner of Block 3 of Gottstein's Addition
to the centerline of Bell Street at its intersection with the cen-
terline of the alley between Lots 1 and 27 of Block 33 of the Fowler
Park Addition to the City of Port Townsend; or
I. Within sixt~ (60) feet of the centerline of the
Bell Street right-of-way ~wherever the Bell Street right-of-way
exists between Peary Avenue and Cook Avenue; or
J. Within sixty (60) feet of the centerline of the
San Juan Avenue right-of-way wherever the San Juan Avenue right-of-
way exists North of Discovery Bay Road (F Street).
Section 3 Administrative Variances Procedure. The Director
of the Planning and Building Department of the City shall have the
authority to grant a variance from the setback requirements of Sec-
tion 2 of this Ordinance, after consideration of all factors per-
taining to the request, in accordance with the following procedures:
A. The owner shall submit to the City's Planning
and Building Director an application for the variance on forms pro-
vided by the Director, together with a non-refundable application
fee of One Hundred Seventy-Five Dollars ($175.00).
B. The Director shall first review the application
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'for completeness. If the application is incomplete, the Director
shall promptly return it to the applicant and indicate those items
which are incomplete.
C. Within fifteen (15) days of receipt of a com-
plete application, the Director shall make a preliminary determina-
tion of whether to deny, grant or grant with conditions the applica-
tion. In making its determination, the Director may only grant a
variance based upon Findings of Fact setting forth and showing that
the following conditions exist:
(1) That the proposal complies with all other
applicable Ordinances of the City;
(2) That gra~ting of the variance and construc-
tion pursuant thereto will not cause:
(a) Any obstruction to or within any exist-
ing or reasonably anticipated arterial street;
(b) Interference with or prejudice any
existing, proposed or reasonably anticipated Transportation Plan for
which these interim controls have been established.
(3) That granting the variance will not confer a
special privilege to the subject property that is or would be denied
similarly situated lands.
(4) That granting the variance will not be ma-
terially detrimental to the public welfare or injurious to the other
property or improvements in the,vicinity, and is consistent with the
purpose and intent of this Ordinance.
(5) That the reasons set for~ in the applica-
tion justify granting the same, and that the variance is the minimum
variance that will make possible the reasonable use of the land.
D. In granting any variance, the Director may pre-
scribe appropriate conditions and safeguards that will ensure that
the purpose and intent of this Ordinance shall not be violated.
E. Within five (5) days of making its preliminary
decision, the Director shall cause to be mailed a notice of its pre-
liminary decision to the owner or reputed owner of the properties
within two hundred (200) feet of the subject property, as shown by
the property tax records of the Jefferson County Treasurer, and by
posting a copy of the notice in a conspicuous place upon the subject
property and at Port Townsend City Hall. The notice shall identify
the applicant; the street address or legal description of the prop-
erty; the variance requested; and the preliminary decision, indicat-
ing that written comments or objections will be received by the
Director for a period of five (5) days following the date of mailing.
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F. Within five (5) days of expiration of the com-
ment period, the Director shall consider any comments or objections
made and render a final decision. Such decision shall be final and
binding unless appealed to the City Council by filing a written re-
quest for appeal within fifteen (15) days of the final decision date
with the City Clerk. In the event of an appeal, the City Council
will review the findings, conclusions and decision by the Director,
together with any written material submitted by the Director, and
may take public comment. The Council shall affirm the decision, un-
less it finds the decision to be clearly erroneous, arbitrary and
capricious, or contrary to law, in which case the Council may modify
the decision or any conditions in connection therewith, or remand
the same to the Director.
G. No action to set aside or modify the decision of
the City Council may be brought in any Court or other tribunal un-
less the action shall be filed within thirty (30) days of the effec-
tive date of the decision.
Section 4 Severability, In the event that any one or more of
the provisions of this Ordinance shall for any reason be held to be
invalid, such invalidity shall not affect or invalidate any other
provision of this Ordinance, but this Ordinance shall be construed
and enforced as if such invalid provision had not been contained
therein; provided that any provision which shall for any reason be
hald by reason of its extent to be invalid shall be deemed to be in
effect to the extent permitted by law.
Section 5 Effective Date. This Ordinance shall be effective
upon its passage, approval and five (5) days after its publication
in the manner permitted by law. -~
Read for the first, second and third times, passed by the City
Council for the City of Port Townsend, and approved and signed by
the Mayor Ju~--~--1B-, 1991.
Davi~A. Grove, City Clerk
App,,dyed as t~ form:
Ko±th C. Harper, t2±ty Attorney
Passed by the City Council:
Signed by the Mayor:
Published:
Effective Date:
1991
Mayor Brent Shirley
, 1991
, 1991
1991
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