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PC APPROVED Minutes 05-26-16 Minutes Spokane Valley Planning Commission Council Chambers—City Hall, May 26 2016 Chair Graham called the meeting to order at 6:03 p.m. Commissioners, staff and audience stood for the pledge of allegiance. Administrative Assistant Deanna Horton took roll and the following members and staff were present: Kevin Anderson John Hohman,Community&Economic Development Director Heather Graham Erik Lamb, Deputy City Attorney James Johnson Gabe Gallinger, Development Services Manager Tim Kelley Mike Basinger, Economic Development Coordinator Mike Phillips Henry Allen, Development Services Engineer Suzanne Stathos Adam Jackson, Development Services Asst. Engineer Joe Stoy Chaz Bates, Economic Development Specialist Deanna Horton, Secretary of the Commission Commissioner Stoy moved to accept the May 26, 2016 agenda as presented. The vote was seven in favor, zero against and the motion passed. Commissioner Stoy moved to approve the May 12, 2016 minutes as presented. The vote was seven in favor, zero against and the motion passed. COMMISSION REPORTS: The Commissioners had no report. ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT: Community& Economic Development Director John Hohman said he wanted to clarify what he had said the night of the May 3, 2016 joint City Council/Planning Commission meeting. Mr. Hohman handed out a transcript of what he said at that meeting, "I would like to remind the City Council, we have actively been working on the Comprehensive Plan. This is the 12'x'visit we have had since the beginning of the year. If you remember we have had the retail improvement study, we talked about tourism, we talked about water districts, we have talked about a number of things. The Planning Commission has been a bit behind in that regard, (in receiving the presentations regarding completed studies) but we do intend to bring all of those presentations forward (to them). But the Planning Commission had some very important legislation that they were working on in relation to marijuana uses, so they have been preoccupied for the last several months on that. But once that has moved forward, next Tuesday night you will have a presentation on the retail improvement, then the water districts will follow. So anything that we have had with council, the Planning Commission will receive as well. It will be just a little bit off set, but I think we can catch up pretty quickly here." Mr. Hohman said the words in parentheses had been added for clarification. He said staff have been working on Comprehensive Plan, taking presentations to City Council, but have not had the same presentations made to the Planning Commission. Staff will be bringing those forward so that the Commission has the same information as the Council does. Mr. Hohman said the staff and Planning Commission are a team, they provide support to each other,and he would never disparage the work the Commission was doing. If ever in the future anyone has a question about something he has said, or any other staff member has said, please free to call him at any time and talk to him. He said this evening's meeting is more of going back to basics to understand the Comprehensive Plan and where it came from, what is in it and where it is going, because when it starts to come before the Commission it will be a new document instead of a redlined version of the old Comprehensive Plan. Commissioner Graham later thanked Mr. Hohman for addressing the concerns expressed at the previous meeting. She said she did not understand why the Comprehensive Plan had been moving along but then had stopped. She appreciated the information and understanding where the Comprehensive Plan was now. Mr. Hohman said again, if any of the Commissioners have a question about anything which is going on, they should not hesitate to contact him and talk to him. PUBLIC COMMENT: There were no public comments. 05-26-16 Planning Commission Minutes Page 2 of 5 COMMISSION BUSINESS: A. Planning Commission Findings for CTA-2016-0001 - Proposed amendments to Spokane Valley Municipal Code(SVMC) 19.85 Marijuana Uses,19.120.050 Permitted Use Matrix and Appendix A Definitions Deputy City Attorney Erik Lamb explained the background leading up to the recommendation which the Planning Commission is forwarding to the City Council. The Planning Commission worked for several months on this subject to develop the proposal. A public hearing was held April 14,2016 and the Commission informally agreed to modify the original proposal. On May 12,2016 a new public hearing was held which produced the current recommendation. Commissioner Stoy moved to approve the Planning Commission findings of fact. The vote on this motion was six in favor, one against with Commissioner Kelley dissenting. B. Study Session: Comprehensive Plan—Comprehensive Planning Mr.Hohman explained he was going to talk about the basics,talk about the current plan,and where the plan is are going. Through the work the Economic Development division has been working on, including the retail improvement plan,the tourism study, and the marketing plan,the topic of land use continued to come to the top. After speaking to several focus groups,we have reinforced what we already knew,office zones aren't working, Medium Density Residential isn't working,and this is crossing over to the City's economic development. The new Plan will be a wholesale rewrite in a completely different format from the old one. It will be more user friendly, with more basic language, but people will not be able to compare the old and new side by side. Economic Development Coordinator Mike Basinger explained to the Commissioners how the City's first Comprehensive Plan was developed, the background, the Growth Management Act (GMA)requirements,Comprehensive Plan basics and what is currently in the City's plan and why it must be updated. Mr. Basinger clarified there would be many opportunities for the public to comment on the new Plan. Commissioner Johnson asked why the City Council was asking to have the Plan completed before the end of the year,as this only allows for four months to review,take public comment and forward a recommendation to the Council. Mr. Hohman explained the Council had actually asked to have it done before the end of 2015. However in the middle of last year the work came to a stop because the City was waiting for a population allocation for growth from Spokane County. This number is generated by the Spokane County Commissioners. In 2013 the Board of County Commissioners(BoCC)issued a number; however the methodology they used came into question. In May or June of 2015 the BoCC lost their challenge regarding their methodology. From June to October 2015 an effort was made to generate a new number. In early November 2015 the Planning Technical Advisory Committee(PTAC)worked with Department of Commerce to come up with a good number. The PTAC presented it to the Steering Committee of Elected Officials (SCEO), which all BoCC Commissioners are members. The SCEO voted to recommend the number from the PTAC. The BoCC feels this number does not allow for enough projected growth,and the BoCC has not approved a number. After speaking to the Department of Commerce, to our attorneys,to special council the City decided to move forward with the number which was approved by the SCEO. We feel this number would be defensible. Commissioner Johnson asked what number the BoCC was suggesting. Mr. Hohman said it was the Office of Financial Management medium population plus 12 percent. The County is still in discussions regarding this number. Mr. Basinger explained the Comprehensive Plan basics. The GMA requires certain elements and a land use map. The included elements must be consistent with the land use map. GMA requires a public participation process, and they look for that process. The City will turn to the document to guide where development should go, it is a tool to support grants. If the City has certain language in its Plan which will support certain elements and projects types this, in turn will support this as a framework for capital improvements, including Public Works Transportation Improvement Plan, which would support certain grants,among others. Grants for street improvements are how we get our share of the gasoline taxes back, for example. 05-26-16 Planning Commission Minutes Page 3 of 5 The required elements are: • Land Use — Where the projected population would be accommodated, land use designations, potential annexation areas, historic and cultural resources. The land use element is supplemented land use map. Commissioner Graham asked where the potential annexation areas would be considered and how would it be handled. Mr.Basinger offered they would most likely be to the north or south of the City since east and west are impacted by other jurisdictions. The State does have a defined process for annexation. It would need to be incorporated into the Comprehensive Plan and then development regulations would need to be written for how it would be handled. Commissioner Anderson asked about the need for annexation. Mr. Basinger said over time there will be a need for space to provide for future development,it also gives the City more control over the development. Commercial areas pay for themselves. Mr. Hohman offered the legal team is currently working on a presentation regarding annexation,which staff will bring to the Commission after it is presented to the Council. • Transportation - Provide for the movement of people and goods, classification of streets and concurrency. The classification determines our level of federal funding. The modes of transportation which are planned for are important. There are concerns with some rail traffic, which drives the Bridging the Valley requests but then for economic development it is important to get a rail spur to bring in manufacturing. We must plan for transit and we are working with Spokane Transit Authority (STA) so that the timing of routes is better, and to provide shelters along Sprague. We must provide choices for people to commute, car, bike,walk, bus, however people want to get around. • Capital Facilities— Public facilities and services to support future growth. Since the City does not own any of its own facilities,water, sewer,fire,we contract for these services,we make sure the other provider's goals are lining up with ours. The City has level of service standards for each of these providers and we review each of these standards and their plans to make sure these levels of standards are able to accommodate our citizens and the projected growth. • Housing — Planning for housing to accommodate different demographic and socio- economic groups. Encourage housing near services, provide a variety of housing options, and provide techniques to ensure efficient use of land. Commissioner Stathos questioned the statistics of younger people not wanting a home and yard, feeling more multifamily housing is not good for the area. She said there is not enough available affordable housing in the area. Mr. Basinger stated the studies show younger people leave the area but return in later life. The median age in the City is about 40 years old. There was some discussion regarding the economy of home ownership, the supply of housing, the change in mindset of home ownership over living in multifamily developments,younger people moving away after school and returning later to raise families,the housing stock in the Valley being more expensive due to larger lots, and density bonuses for affordable housing, • Utilities—Knowing the location of existing utilities, working with the City's providers to have as much data as possible. Working with the electrical and gas providers to have as much information as they are willing to share with the City. The water and sewer are maintained in the Capital Facilities chapter. • Economic Development—The City realizes this chapter was weak and in the new Plan will be developed to support many of the new strategic platforms the City will embark on. This will drive all of the new marketing, branding,and economic development strategies which the City is currently developing. • Natural Environment—Many of the plans the City has already put so much work into and developed will be referenced, such as the Shoreline Master Plan, Parks Master Plan, and the same consultant who helped develop the Shoreline plan is helping to work on this chapter. • The Neighborhood chapter will be incorporated into the land use chapter. The City has not been in a positon to be able to assist in developing subarea planning for the neighborhoods. There needs to be some careful consideration before any more planning can be done in these areas. 05-26-16 Planning Commission Minutes Page 4 of 5 • Bike and Pedestrian Plan—This is a great plan with some great ideas. The City was the first to provide buffered bike lanes,people want to use them,this plan has enabled the City to go after grants and enabled people to look at the City differently, but this plan belongs in the transportation element. Next generation Comprehensive Plan (Comp Plan)will be unique to the City, offer flexibility, be understandable, action oriented, it will drive the City work program, focused on analytics, drive economic development. It will be a streamlined document, and will not look like the old Comp Plan at all. After the Comp Plan has been approved, staff will be reviewing the development regulations to make sure they support the Comp Plan. Some of the thoughts moving forward regarding the Comp Plan are to consolidate some of the zoning districts: Office/Garden Office/Community Commercial into Mixed Use,combine Medium Density Residential with High Density Residential, combine R-2/R-3/R-4 and consider a 5,000 square foot lot minimum, combine Light and Heavy Industrial zones. When the Commissioners asked the rationale behind reducing the minimum lot size in the residential areas, Mr. Basinger responded that Spokane County is developing at 5,000 square foot lots right outside of the City borders. This would be consistent with development in the area, the stakeholders have said that anything larger does not make it "pencil out." Mr. Basinger said in a development it difficult to tell the difference between 5,000, 6,000 or a 7,500 square foot lot, but to someone who is trying to make some money it could mean one or two more lots. Many of the rezones the City has processed have been changing from R-2 to R-3 or R-4, mostly R-4. If the property is adjacent to the R-4 zone, the Hearing Examiner has to allow it based on the current regulations. Commissioner Stoy commented 5,000 was a standard city lot size. Some of the other Commissioners had comments regarding the lot size, saying the Valley is known for `larger lots," were we going to go through and take the homes off a 10,000 square foot lot and turn it into two lots? Mr. Basinger said, the reality is the larger lots are not going to get rezoned; the majority is already zoned for 10,000 and this will not change,this was designed more for infill lots. C. Study Session: Water Districts Discussion Development Engineer Henry Allen explained to the Commission that for the Comp Plan update the question arose as to what are all of our water districts doing,how important our water resources and water quality and quantity are to the City. Do the water purveyors have the ability to keep adding development and capacity, so the City decided to look into this information. Development Engineer Adam Jackson stated that there are 16 water districts which serve the City. Eight of them are contained within the City, while the boundaries of the others reach outside the City limits. Three only serve a particular area and cannot be expanded; Kaiser, Pinecroft Mobile Home Park and Holiday Mobile Home Park. Mr.Jackson provided the statistics for each water district for their service population,annual water rights capacity, residential land capacity and water service area. One of the water districts seems to be at their capacity and others have plenty of capacity. It is important this information is in the Comp Plan, but staff is still working to determine what level of detail will be placed in the plan. Although this is a planning issue which we can't control we do need to know what is out there and what the City's limits are, if there are any. Mr. Hohman added there has been a bill in the state legislature, which did not pass the last session but is expected to pass in the future, to allow the water districts to convert their irrigation rights into municipal rights. There will have to be a study to determine how much water is available, and where it is coming from but it must be adjudicated with Idaho. This is a touchy subject and a much discussed topic between the water districts and the Department of Ecology. Mr.Lamb explained one of the reasons for collecting this information is a requirement for development concurrency and without it, development can't move forward. It was an issue for the City to know what the different water districts are doing. 05-26-16 Planning Commission Minutes Page 5 of 5 GOOD OF THE ORDER:Mr.Hohman shared the ground breaking for City Hall would be Thursday June 9, 2016 at the site of the new City Hall, located at the corner of Sprague and Dartmouth. ADJOURNMENT: Commissioner Kelley moved to adjourn the meeting at 8:16 p.m. The vote on the motion was unanimous in favor, motion passed. rel^ 44-0 (P q ! Chair Heather Graham Date signed U-krinc9 Secretary Deanna Horton