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HomeMy WebLinkAbout102306 Special CITY OF PORT TOWNSEND CITY COUNCIL MINUTES OF THE SPECIAL MEETING OF OCTOBER 23, 2006 CALL TO ORDER AND PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE The City Council of the City of Port Townsend met in special session this twenty- third day of October 2006, at 8:00 p.m. in the Port Townsend temporary Council Chambers in the Port Townsend Fire Station conference room, Mayor Mark Welch presiding. ROLL CALL Council members present at roll call were Frank Benskin, Geoff Masci, Laurie Medlicott, Catharine Robinson, Scott Walker and Mark Welch. Michelle Sandoval was excused. Geoff Masci arrived at 7:30 p.m. Staff members present were City Manager David Timmons, City Attorney John Watts, Public Works Director Ken Clow, and City Clerk Pam Kolacy. ROSECRANS TERRACE APPEAL Mayor Welch stated the matter was before Council to take action on a proposed decision in the Rosecrans Terrace appeals. He stated hearing and argument had occurred on Sept. 25, and following the hearing that evening, Council recessed to deliberate. He stated that Council had concerns with the proposed PUD. He said that Council directed the City Manager to develop, from the record, a Revised Site Plan that addressed Council concerns, and that was consistent with the City's PUD approval criteria. The City Manager and Planning Director prepared a Revised Site Plan, very similar to one alternative identified by Appellant Langlois. Council met in executive session to review it, and directed special counsel Mr. DiJulio to prepare a decision document for Council to approve the PUD as modified by the Revised Site Plan. He stated the Revised Site Plan addressed the concerns Council had with the original PUD proposal. The Revised Site Plan provides for significant public amenities beyond anything that would be obtained through a conventional plat process, and beyond what was proposed in the PUD submittal that the Hearing Examiner denied. Among other things: . It provides for significantly more, and contiguous, and better quality, open space. . The revised plan also provides significantly more open space as a buffer between the building sites in Rosecrans Terrace and adjacent neighbors. Buffers are generally 20', and not the couple of feet in the original plan. . The revised plan also provides that each building site is adjacent or in close proximity to open space. City Councii Special Business Mtg Page 1 October 23, 2006 . The plan eliminates flag lots which, in the original plan, have driveways running close to and between homes to access lots that don't front on a public street. To accomplish this, the plan reduces the size of lots, but does so in a manner that makes for a PUD of high quality. He commented on Council authority - when there is an appeal - to revise a Hearing Examiner decision, and stated when the Laurel Heights plat was appealed to Council, the Council approved the plat, but added conditions that had to be met. He stated the Council is doing the same thing in this case although the modifications are more significant. He thanked the parties for an extremely thorough and capable job of defining and arguing the issues. He reminded Councilors, that because there is further opportunity for appeal to the Council, this matter remains a quasi-judicial proceeding before Council, and Councilors should continue to not have ex parte contact with the parties. The appeal rights are set forth in the decision document. Motion: Mayor Welch moved to approve the Findings, Conclusion and Order document before Council tonight, and to authorize that the Mayor sign it on behalf of the Council. Benskin seconded. Councilor Robinson stated she would not support adoption of the proposed Findings, Conclusion and Order document. She objected to the process by which it was done in executive session and stated it is not the job of the Council to design a project, and that the Council is not the best arbiter of a design process. She said she would have preferred that the usual design process be followed. She stated she would support the Hearing Examiner ruling. She added she was not comfortable with the suggestion in the document that the open space requirement for the Laurel Heights project supports that public benefit in the Rosecrans project. She stated the Laurel Heights open space should not be linked to the Rosecrans project. Vote: the motion carried, 4-2, by voice vote (Walker and Robinson opposed). EXECUTIVE SESSION The Mayor announced at 8:07 p.m. that the Council would go into executive session to discuss potential litigation, that the session would last approximately fifteen minutes, and that no action would be taken following the session. RECONVENE The meeting was reconvened at 8:25. City Councii Special Business Mtg Page 2 October 23, 2006 ADJOURN There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 8:26 p.m. /8Jt: ,- / /' 3,' q,,'. ,', /' ~_. //I{,~ >- ')' ,~. .;- / -? I.. -'-.- -..-.::-X. ~ ;,..//(- ,.-.1" " > ~-." (- ) Pam Kolacy, CMC '., City Clerk City Council Special Business Mtg Page 3 October 23, 2006