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PC APPROVED Minutes 01-11-18 Minutes Spokane Valley Planning Commission Council Chambers—City [lull January 11,2018 I. Vice Chair Johnson called the meeting to order at 6:02 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: James Johnson Erik Lamb, Deputy City Attorney Danielle Kaschmitter, absent,excused Lori Barlow, Senior Planner Tim Kelley, absent, excused Marty Palaniuk„Planner Mike Phillips Henry Allen, Engineer Michelle Rasmussen Ray Wright„ Senior Traffic Engineer Suzanne. Mathes Gloria Mang., Senior Engineering Manager Matt Walton Rod Higgins, Mayor Deanna Horton, Secretary for the Commission II. AGENDA: Commissioner Rasmussen moved to accept the January 11, 2018 aPciidit as presented. The rote on the motion was five in favor, zero against and the nnintfrm passed III. MINUTES: Commissioner Rasmussen moved to approve the December 14, 2017 minutes as presented. the vote on the motion was jive in favor, zero against, the}notion passes. IV. COMMISSION REPORTS: The Commissioners had no reports. V. ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT: ienior Planner Lori Darlow noted Danielle Kaschrnitter had been appointed to the Planning Commission to replace Heather Graham at the January 9,2018 City Council meeting. She also shared the advanced agenda with the Commissioners and discussed upcoming subjects which will appear before them: Comprehensive Plan amendments and a text amendment to change the one acre requirement for animal keeping back to 40,000 square feet which was changed in the update to the development regulations. VI. PUBLIC COMMENT: Rod Higgins, Spokane Valley Mayor — Mr. Higgins thanked the Commissioners for a job well done last year. He said he had heard the Commissioners felt they might have been underworked, but he assured them their mission was very important lie said the job of the Commission is to screen things for the City Council and it makes their jobs easier. He commented that lately the Council has followed the recommendations of the Planning Commission,which indicates they have done a thorough job. VII. COMMISSION BUSINESS: i. Election of Officers: Secretary Deanna I Iorton reminded the Commission that only Commissioners who had served more than one year would be eligible to serve as the Chair or the Vice (Their of the Commission. Ms. Horton then called for nominations for the office of Chair. Mr. Phillips nominated Ms. Rasmussen, who accepted the nomination. Ms. Rasmussen nominated Mr. Johnson, he declined the nomination. I laving, no other nominations voting by a show of hands, four in favor and one against, Ms. Rasmussen dissenting, Ms. Rasmussen was voted to the office of Planning Commission Chair for 2018. Ms. Horton then accepted nominations for the position of Vice Chair. Mr. Phillips nominated Mr, Johnson, who accepted the nomination. Having no other nominations, voting by a show of hands, five in favor and zero against, Mr.Johnson was elected to the position of Vice Chair for 2018. Ms_. Rasmussen [hen continued to lead the meeting. ii. Planning Commission Findings of Fact for CIA-2017-0003, A proposed amendment to the Spokane Valley Municipal Code regarding subdivision general provisions. 2018.01-11 Planning Commission Minutes Page.2 of 4 Planner Marty Palaniuk explained the Findings of Fact had been dratted based on the recommended changes the Planning Commission had voted on at the public hearing and then incorporated into the amendment to move forward to the City Council. Commissioner Johnson rnoved to approve the Planning Commission Findings of Fact jot. CTA- 2017-003. the vote on the motion was five is favor, zero against inrotion passed. iii. Public Hearing,Street Standards Update Chair Rasmussen opened the public hearing at 6:17 p.m. Engineer Henry Allen explained the City's Street Standards, which are the standards that guide the development of public and private infrastructure. Mr. Allen explained the changes to the Street Standards were initiated to address the Federal Highway Administration's concern regarding Chapter 10.2.1 and the City's ability to maintain a sidewalk if the property owner should fail to do so. The Street Standards are also being updated to eliminate City positions which no longer exist and change them to refer to the City Manager, who has ultimate authority but delegates it to other staff members in the City to perform. Some of the other changes include eliminating the variance process, FAA and Mylar regard drawings, no longer requiring streets to connect to future development, frontage improvements only where a project accesses a street. Chapter 3 is being updated to allow limited traffic impact analysis for SEPA infill areas. There are also proposed changes to the Spokane Valley Municipal Code (SVMC) 20.80.t)l0 and 22.130 to remove references to future acquisition areas and revise SVMC 22.130 to replace eliminated positions, Commissioner Rasmussen questioned why on page 3-14 which references collision history; the word past' was being struck. Senior Traffic Engineer Ray Wright explained the City provides the collision history to the outside engineers when they need to do a traffic analysis and the City always provides the most current information. She also noted that on page 6-3 the word `cults' needs to be changed to cuts,on page 1-2 adopted is in the sentence twice. Chair Rasmussen then open the hearing up for the public to comment.. Yield Donahue,323 S Bowdiish:Ms.Donahue stated she lives at the intersection of 40 Ave and Rowdish Rd. This is a busy intersection and there are many accidents which occur there. She is also concerned about the school children walking along these roads. She feels there should be a traffic control device at this intersection, slowing people on Rowdish, improving 40 .Ave, She also stated she had received a letter regarding snow removal. She said they shovel but then the plow conies along and puts the,it right back on the sidewalk. T'aiil Taylor,323 S Bowdish: Mr. Taylor said the leaves and the gutters did not get cleaned out along the road, so when the snow melts there is no place for the water to go. Ho commented there is too much traffic on that (Howdish) road, it needs a safety control device. He said it is not can we have it,it is do something about it, Seeing no one else who wished to testify, Chair Rasmussen closed the public hearing at 6:37 p.m_ Commissioner Stathos stated she could see the commenter's point of view because 4th Avenue is. busier all the lime. She would like to see more stop lights along it. She said 41' Avenue is how everyone avoids Sprague, but with all the apartments along it now, it is dangerous. Commissioner Johnson said he agreed regarding 4111Avenue. Commissioner Philips commented 10.1 says the City is not responsible for maintenance of the sidewalks. He commented he has a problem with a citizen having to replace the sidewalk if it becomes damaged. He feels it should be part of the City's maintenance program to repair the sidewalks, especially if they are inside the right-of-way or a border easement. He felt maintenance should be explained better_ I Ie also corn merited he has a problem with shoveling the sidewalks and then the plow comes along and puts the snow back and the City turning around and fining someone because there is snow on the sidewalk. Ms. Barlow reminded the Commissioners the reason for the change in the language in this section is due to the comments received from the Federal Highways Administration and without it, it could affect the City's ability to receive grants in the future, 2018-01-11 Planning Comm ission Minutes Page.3of4 Mr. Alien stated that when the Street Standards were adopted, they spoke to many jurisdictions regarding the care of sidewalks, and the idea of citizens maintaining the sidewalk in ti•oiit of their homes or businesses is not unique to our City. The City inherited this language from Spokane County but many other jurisdictions in and around the state have the same requirement. It would be a huge expense and under taking for the City to have to maintain hundreds of miles of sidewalk. Commissioner Walton confirmed the snow shoveling was not in the Street Standards but was a separate ordinance from what was currently being considered, He wondered how the expense for repairing or replacing a sidewalk was determined. Mr. Lamb explained the City is required to get bids for its public works projects and required to accept the lowest bid. Based on this, the citizen would only be billed for the actual work and we would have an invoice for the work which was performed, Commissioner Phillips felt that maintenance was not clearly defined in section 10,2.1. Commissioner Johnson stated that he also felt it did not clearly define maintenance however felt changing it might be better handled in a future update. Mr. Lamb offered adding to the end of the sentence `property owners arc responsible for the maintenance of these features as described below. ' The Commissioners agreed this change would satisfy their concerns, CommissiOrier Johnson moved to approve the staff recommended changes to the municipal code and the Spokane Valley Street Standards as proposed with the following changes, Street Standards section 10.2.1 changing the second sentence of the second paragraph by adding as described below'to the end of the sentence, Street Standards section 1.3.2, third bullet ensure public facilities meet level of service standards adopted in the Cormprehensivc Flair, SVMG 22.130 change Development Services Senior Engineer to City Manager. The vote on the motion was five in favor, zero against, the motionpassed iv. Study Session—Wireless Small Cell Technology Deployment: Mr. Lamb gave a presentation to explain to the Commission wireless small cell technology. Most wireless cell phone traffic is currently handled by the large monopoles, Historically the City has only dealt with the monopoles which have been located on private property. The City was contacted by a Mobilite, company connected with Sprint, regarding small cell sites in late 2015/early 2016. The City joined a consortium of numerous cities in 20]61 to become more educated in what the small cell technology is and how it will affect us. The consortium developed `model franchise' agreements and 'model development regulations' for the deployment of small cell sites. The City has been working with Verizon,MCI Telecom, and Mobilite regarding the use of Spokane Valley rights-of-way for small cell deployment. The City has developed draft franchise agreements and regulations related to small cell deployments. Current 3 or 40 (generation) technology is when a hand held device communicates with the large monopole. The farther you get from the monopole the less reliable the signal is, Monopoles can only accept so much da[a at one time. Small cell technology would be adding antennas in the right- of-ways and help to bring data from farther out to the larger monopoles. Federal law changed to set specific timelines for processing these small cell permits. There are also laws in place which slop cities from prohibiting small cell deployment. State law allows the City to require a master use permit, the City is using franchise agreements as these master permits. Cities are allowed site specific permits for the small cell installations in addition to the mater permits. The lelecomm industry cannot interfere with the normal use of the rights-of-way. Cities cannot regulate services based on content or kind of signals, cannot prohibit placement of wireless facilities within the city. Since the City does not own any of the lighting fixtures in the tight-of- way, ight-ofway,the cell providers have been signing agreements with each of the power providers to use their facilities. The City is expecting a small cell to be an antenna of no more than three cubic feet in volume and the equipment box would he no larger than seventeen cubic feet. Mr.Lamb shared pictures of what it was possible for the small cell deployment to look like. The City can restrict the height, based 2c'lH-in-1 I Planning Commission Minuties Pagc 4 of I on zoning location, impose some design standards which might include stealth shrouding requirements and landscaping for some facilities. Mr. Lamb explained the proposed amendments: • Appendix A, add definitions related specifically to small cell deployments and the new timeline provisions. • SVMC 17.50.030 add that small cell permits are a Type I permit and shall be processed as such, except as otherwise required by federal and state law. • SVMC 19.60.050 amend the permitted use matrix to allow small cell deployment; in all zones subject to the supplemental regulations proposed in new chapters SVMC 2.2.12] and 22.122 ▪ SVMC 22.120 remove any references to small cell services • SVMC 22.121 new chapter providing for master use permits, deployment of small cel] facilities and lays Out the permit application requirements and small cell design and concealment standards. • SVMC 22.122 new chapter providing for mandated permit review times as stated in state car icderal regulations. Commissioner Johnson asked who would be responsible if one of the sites was damaged. Mr. Lamb stated it would be handled just as if it was a power pole or a mail box in the right-of-way. Commissioners asked if providers would be required to co-locate on the same pole. Mr. Lamb said providers would have to prove that the only place they can provide services is where they want to locate their-equipment. Commissioners raised concerns regarding: • the aesthetics of having more equipment in the rights-of-ways. • how close together facilities would need to be located, if they could not co-locate. • if they were wide band or narrow band facilities. • what would the frequency do to honeybees, animals and people. • thieves would damage the sites for wiring. • radiation from the signals being given off these lowered antennas. • the ability to determine what they deployment will look like. Mr. Lamb stated the public hearing for the small cell deployment was scheduled for.January 25, 2018. He would do his best to try and bring answers by the public hearing, VIII. GOOD OF THE ORDER: Commissioners congratulated Commissioner Rasmussen on her appointment to the office of Chair and wished her luck. IX. ADJOURNMENT: Commissioner Johnson moved to adjourn the meeting at t :12 p.m. The vote on the motion was unaxlrrrnous r fimor, the motion passed. _„th//6 _ Michelle Rasmussen, Chair Date signed J111±107k t — Deanna Horton. Secretary