Loading...
PC APPROVED Minutes 08-25-16 Minutes Spokane Valley Planning Commission Council Chambers—City Hall August 25,2016 I. Commissioner Graham called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. Commissioners, staff and audience stood for the pledge of allegiance. Secretary Deanna Horton took roll and the following members and staff were present: Kevin Anderson Erik Lamb, Deputy City Attorney Heather Graham. Mike Basinger, Economic Development Coordinator James Johnson Gloria Mantz, Economic Development Engineer Tim Kelley Deanna Horton, Secretary of the Commission Mike Phillips Michelle Rasmussen Suzanne Stathos Commissioner Graham welcomed Michelle Rasmussen to the Commission. Ms. Rasmussen was appointed by the Mayor at the August 23, 2016 City Council meeting. IL Agenda: Commissioner Anderson moved to accept the August 28, 2016 agenda as presented. The vote was seven in favor, zero against and the motion passed. III. Minutes: Commissioner Phillips moved to approve the August 11, 2016 minutes as presented. The vote to approve the minutes was seven in favor, zero against and the motion passed. IV. COMMISSION REPORTS: Commissioner Kelley reported he discussed zoning changes with a citizen. V. ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT: Economic Development Coordinator, Mike Basinger stated the schedule for the Planning Commission for their recommendation for the Comprehensive Plan was ready for the Planning Commission. He stated Ms. Horton would forward a hard copy next week. He shared that the Open House, which is open for all Planning Commissioners to attend, is scheduled for September 8, 2016. Mr. Basinger also said staff will be bringing the Comprehensive Plan and the proposed changes to the development regulations forward at the same time. He said staff felt it would be too confusing to try and help people understand some of the relational setbacks if they were brought forward separately. Meetings will be as follows, Study Session -- September 22, Public Hearing -- September 29, deliberations -- October 5, (which has been corrected to October 6) — October 13 - deliberations, recommendation and adopting the findings of fact. Mr. Basinger said he had inquired about noticing on the mobile application and lie said the mobile application was not developed to be able to handle notifications. Commissioner Anderson asked if the Commissioners would be getting the documents ahead of the regular packet, which is distributed one week in advance of the regular meeting. Mr. Basinger stated he hoped this would be possible. He said staff and consultants are working hard to have the documents ready as soon as possible and as soon as they are ready, lie will make sure that the Commissioners have them to review. Commissioner Stathos asked if there would be an issue if she were to testify in front of the City Council as a citizen, not as a member of the Planning Commission. Deputy City Attorney Erik Lamb said at the point the Planning Commission's recommendation is forwarded to the City Council, then Ms. Stathos could appear before the City Council, as an individual citizen. Commissioner Kelley asked if the Commissioners were able to attend the Open House. Mr. Basinger said the Commissioners are encouraged to attend the Open House as a part of the process and hear what interests the community members. VI. PUBLIC COMMENT: There was no public comment. VII. COMMISSION BUSINESS: a) Study Session: Comprehensive Plan Update — Overview to Proposed changes to Spokane Valley Municipal Code (SVMC) Title 17 General Provisions, Title 19 Zoning Regulations, 08-25-16 Planning Commission Minutes Page 2 of 4 Title 21 Environmental Controls, Title 22 Design and Development Standards and Appendix A—Definitions Economic Development Engineer Gloria Mantz stated she would be reviewing the general proposed changes to the development regulations in the SVMC Titles 17 General Provisions, Title 19 Zoning Regulations, Title 21 Environmental Controls and Title 22 Design Standards. Ms. Mantz said staff was not ready to bring forward the specific changes to the SVMC however she was going to give an overview of the changes which were being proposed. Commissioner Graham asked what the statistics were of people responding to the housing types at the Visioning meetings and what kind of housing types were offered. Mr. Basinger said he would research the specifics and come back with the information. Commissioner Johnson said he noticed that at the April 15, 2015 meeting one of the Housing boards discussed the need for a variety of housing types but also said Goal LU-2 which is in the Land Use element should be moved to the Housing element. What was important was offering a variety of housing types and maintaining densities, but he feels we are reducing densities. He felt this would reduce the number of housing types available. Ms. Martz said the density is not being proposed to be reduced. It is currently being proposed to be maintained at six units per acre, as it is now. The proposal is to reduce the lot size to allow for flexibility. Commissioner Johnson clarified he was. referring to multifamily. Mr. Basinger said with the combination of the Medium Density and High Density zones, there will be one multifamily zone which will offer the flexibility of both zones. The Existing Conditions Report showed the City cannot support development in the Medium Density zone. Commissioner Johnson said he understood the report has suggested this, but lie had offered allowing up to 16 units per acre to improve the payout for the medium density, but not allow the higher 22 units per acre against some of the Low Density areas in the City. If there is only one multifamily zone which allows up to 22 units, why would anyone develop to less than the allowable? Commissioner Anderson said if 22 units per acre was the maximum allowable, why would a developer do anything less than the maximum allowable units? Commissioner Kelley said it would depend on the amount of land, adding infrastructure, parking, open space and then how many units would be able to be put on that land. Commissioner Johnson said it seemed the places the change is being considered, are pretty open, so he wasn't sure why it would not be developed to the maximum density. Commissioner Kelley said the City Council has said, leave it up to the developer to make that determination how much they want to develop and how much money they are willing to invest. Commissioner Johnson said he is concerned about the City having too many rental properties. He said the City should encourage home ownership, which encourages stability in families. He feels maintaining the Medium Density to allow row houses, town houses and cottage houses would encourage more home ownership and encourage more stability in the community. Mr. Basinger said staff is going to discuss the transitions a little bit tonight, but staff is pressing the consultants to get the transitions ready for the development regulations so they can be understood with the rest of the complete package and are hoping they will bring some comfort to those who live near the multifamily developments. Staff tried to make sure the multifamily zones were located near services, transportation, more walkable and so on. The zone landed between 4111 Avenue and Sprague. Commissioner Stathos asked why it was not cost effective to build 12 units per acre. Commissioner Kelley offered there would need to be a 6-7% or whatever return on the investment on the land and infrastructure. If they built the apartment complexes and sell them and they only get a 3-4% return on the investment, then they don't build them. Commissioner Johnson said medium density does not have to be only rental property and that we are no longer planning for the last eight years of recession, we are planning for the next 20 years of growth. Commissioner Rasmussen asked if there had been any studies regarding millennials and boomers and what their preferences are. She said they are finding kids at Eastern don't want to own homes. Mr. Basinger said there has not been a big demand for the medium density, even before the City incorporated. The trend has been not owning homes, cars, saving a bit of money, and being close to transit, but what is being seen in Spokane Valley is the trend to not own a home. Spokane Transit Authority (STA) would like to increase the route system, but the Sprague Avenue has the second highest ridership, with Eastern being the first, which is why higher density is being suggested nearer Sprague Avenue. Commissioner Graham asked if the statistics were 08-25-16 Planning Commission Minutes Pagc 3 of 4 skewed, because that route is just about all that is available. Commissioner Graham said Liberty Lake has a mix of housing types, including town houses and why would it work in their community and not work in this cormuunityand suggested we push them toward the town homes and give the developers data that it works for other communities. Commissioner Kelley offered that the income level in Liberty Lake tends to be higher than Spokane Valley. Ms. Martz said there will be many minor changes to clean up language to make it consistent throughout the code. The changes will be to implement the new Comprehensive Plan, for statutory requirements and to streamline the regulations. In SVMC Title 17, General Provisions, the changes will be to develop a stronger interpretation process, to maintain vested rights, to remove the rebuttal period, modify sign requirements for Public Hearing Notice and Hearing Examiner change of conditions. One of the changes for example would be the owner's right to wave the comment waiting period. Commissioners asked what this meant. Ms. Mantz explained there are times in a public process when there is a public comment period, then the comments are sent to the property owner. There is a 14 day period for the owner to respond to the comments received. There is currently no way for the property owner to waive that 14 day period. Staff is proposing to add an option to allow the property owner to waive this 14 day period, if they should so choose, and speed up the process just a little bit. Commissioners wanted to know what it meant to modify the sign requirements for a Public Hearing notice. The code is specific about the size of the lettering and the spacing above and beyond the RCWs. The proposal is to take it back to the statutory requirements. Commissioner Anderson asked if there would be a change to the 400 foot rule for noticing surrounding property owners during a land action. At this time it is not being looked at. Spokane Valley Municipal Code Title 19 Zoning will receive the bulk of the changes because of the changes to the Comprehensive Plan. The Title will be reorganized, adding and removing language to support the changes in zoning districts, and modify the Permitted Use Matrix to align with the zoning districts and streamlining it to make it easier to use. Staff will be adding language to accommodate different housing types, and changes to the residential development standards which have been discussed at previous meetings; as well as adding language for mobile food vendors and creating transitional standards between residential zones and commercial and industrial zones. Ms. Martz showed several slides which explained how changing the residential standards could help a property owner get more standard looking lots, possibly an extra lot, and yet maintain the density at six units per acre. One slide showed lots which could be apply for administrative exceptions because they would be below the residential standards, but with new regulations they would not. The Commissioners continued to comment about the smaller lots not maintaining the neighborhood character. In Title 21 there will be updates to comply with statutory requirements. There will be an update to the Critical Areas Ordinance, providing consistency with the Shoreline Master Plan. Simplifying regulations to account for only the wetland types in the City actually has and updated methods and references to reflect the best available science. In Title 22 Staff will be reviewing Off Street Parking and Loading, and Landscaping. The Title will be reorganized and simplification will be the key. Staff will change the regulations to allow the property developer to provide the type of loading facilities which are needed for each development; and the clearview requirements will be cleaned up and refer to the standards which are set in the City's Street Standards. Ms. Mantz commented that due to a recent court decision, the City would not be making any changes to the sign regulations. Appendix A is the Definitions for the development code and any unnecessary definitions will be removed. The Use Category definitions will be strengthened and combined zones will allow for flexibility. Commissioner Johnson asked if neighborhood commercial was being considered on one corner, why would not every corner in an intersection? Mr. Basinger stated he would be looking into this idea and adding this suggestion to the Land Use Map as appropriate. 08-25-I6 Planning Commission Minutes Page 4 of 4 VIII. GOOD OF THE ORDER: Commissioner Graham asked if a service, such as Blackboard, could be used to send out text alerts regarding notices to the public. IX. ADJOURNMENT: Commissioner Kelley moved to adjourn the meeting at 7:19 p.m. The vote on the motion was unanimous in favor,motion passed. Heather Graham, Chair Date signed 1� fli't Deanna Horton, Secretary