2018, 03-20 Study Session MINUTES
SPOKANE VALLEY COUNCIL MEETING
STUDY SP.SSION
Spokane Valley City Hail Council Chambers
Spokane Valley,Washington
Mai-ch 20, 2018
Attendance:
Cotine ilrrKeMltltf;e _ Staff
Rod Higgins, Mayor Mark Calhoun City Manager
Brandi Pcetz, Coune.ilnlember John ILohman, Deputy City Manager
Linda Thompson, Councifremher Cary Driskell, Ci[y Attorney
Ben Wick, Couneilmember Erik tarot,, Deputy City Attorney
Sam Wood, Council member Chelsie Taylor, l-inance Director
Arne Woodard, Councilmen]her Mike Stone, Parks & RO:Director
Mark Werner, Police Chief
Bill Helbing, City Engineer
Gloria Mantz tinginccrielg Manager
Absent: Erica Amsden, Senior Engineer
Pam Haley, Deputy Mayor Lori Barlow, Senior Planner
l-lenry Allen, Senior Engineer
Deanna Horton,Administrative Assistant
Carrie Koudelka, Deputy City Clerk
Mayor Higgins called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m-
ROLL CALL: Deputy City Clerk Koudclka called the roll, all Councahnembers were present except
Deputy Mayor Haley. It was moved by Codrncilmernber Woodard, seconded and unanimously agreed to
excuse Deputy Mayor Haley from the meeting,
1, a and Carnahan Right of Way Acquisition Remediation• •Gloria Mantz
Engineering Manager Manta,began her presentation stating that in late November, 2016, the City
issued a purchase and sale agreement for the property at 8th and Carnahan,which closed in January,
2017. She said the City did not follow the laederal Acquisition Act, which requires we Colllow the
Uniform Relocation Act (LIRA) whenever any phase of a project is funded by federal dollars. She
said under the Act, we arc required to pay fair compensation for the purchase of the property,
moving expenses, relocation and closing costs to make the seller "-whole" and the City will not be
able to pursue federal Funds for a project involving the property unless we meet those requirements,
She said the seller has found a property they arc interested in and they are entitled to lull
replacement cost. The price differential for housing replacement and incidentals is approximately
$56,761.46. She said the total cost of the house and the remediation costs exceed the City
Manager's authority, so stall is 'looking lbr consensus to bring this back to Council next week for
a motion consideration. Councilniember Wick asked if we purchased any other properties without
Ibllowing the Act and City Manager Calhoun said this is the only one. It was Ire cranxer.s.0 ref
='ouwii to € ove f Drward for a motion consideration.
2. 8'h Avenue Sidewalk l'hierman to Dickey Erica Amsden, Gloria Mantz
Senior Engineer Amsden said the project is located on 8th Avenue between Dickey and '1`hierman
and currently there is a gravel shoulder!, no sidewalks, numerous residential entrances and failing
stirrmwater structures, She said the project will put a sidewalk oti the north side cit`5th, a paved
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Approved by Council:04-10-2018
shoulder lane for shared use and parking, and new drywells .for sediment control. She said staff is
meeting with residents and sending project mailers to all residents in the surrounding area. She
explained that 8th will he closed to through traffic and there will be temporary driveway closures,
and a temporary pedestrian detour directing them to the south side of 8th Avenue. Bus stops will
be relocated and she said staff is working with STA. Westbound traffic will be routed onto
'l'hierman to 61d` Avenue and eastbound traffic will be routed onto Dickey to I Irh Avenue, then to
Their-man, She said the estimated cost for the project is just under $600,000; it is scheduled to
advertise this Friday for a hid opening on April 6, 2018, Council bid award on April 17,2018, and
construction in mid-May for a target completion date in mid-June. Mayor Higgins asked if staff
has had a discussion with. Central Park .Balks because he thinks that road is not public, and
Councilmember Wood said it looks Like we are going through the Central Park condominiums and
that is not a City street. Ms. Amsdcn said staff will look into that, Councilmember Thompson
asked if'we have talked to the schools about getting kids where they need to go and Ms. Ani den
said the;buses and the kids will be able to get through.
.
Floodplain FEMA Process—Henry Allen
Senior Engineer Allen said during his presentation he will discuss the process for floodplain
revisions- He said under certain conditions, floodplain boundaries can be modified and in certain
conditions, people can build in a Iloodi,lain. Mr. Allen said Spokane Valley has six 100-year
floodplains: Forker Draw, Spokane River, Shelley Lake fed by Saltcse Creek, Chester Creek,
Central Park and Gletmose watershed. IIe said in 1968 the National Flood. Insurance Act was
started, creating the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) to reduce flood loss and provide
protection against potential losses. Two additional acts mandated that federally regulated
institutions require flood insurance for buildings located in a participating NFIP.IIe said to receive
flood insurance, a community must adopt ordinances meeting certain minimum requirements
intended to reduce future flood losses. Mr. Allen said flood hazard naps have been developed all
over the country through engineering analysis to show boundaries of flooding. He said during the
engineering analysis, they look at the channel, put a 100-year flood through the channel and then
determine the Kase flood elevation of the 100-year flood.
Mr. Allen said there are several reasons to revise [loodplains: to provide an accurate risk awareness
for insurance coverage; to correct incorrect flood boundaries; and to reflect changes in land use
and development, new bridges or culverts, and updated topography and hydrology. He said
revisions can he initiated by FEMA or by the public. He said there are four steps to revisions
initiated by FEMA and the whole process takes more than five years: a mapping needs assessment,
project scoping, data development, and processing with a ninety-day appeal period. Mr. Allen
added that revisions to Chester Creek took ten years. He said community initiated map revisions
are broken into "small" and "big" and are either based on a current condition or due to a proposed
condition, Small revisions usually have a process time of two to three months, Councilmember
Woodard asked if a single house or 600-lot project would be considered a small revision;M.L Allen
said a 600-lot project would not fall into the small category, but up to a couple lots could,
Councilrncnther Woodard asked how long it would take to go through the process if a developer
were to put forty houses on Barker and used fill. Mr, Allen said that type of project would be
multiple parcels, often involving substantial charges. IIe said it would follow the same process
but because of the scale it would take longer;up to several years. Ile said FEMA does a lot of in-
depth review and it is a long process,and he added that they arc very detailed because of the hazard
to properties and property owners, Councilli„ember Woodard pointed out that the Painted Mills
update is the next agenda item and asked if that project falls into category number 4 revision due
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to proposed condition,Mr. Allen said that it does.Mr.Woodard asked if that is a project that would
take many years and Mr. Allen responded that it could, but it is hard to tell. IIe said the City is
involved in the review process and as a jurisdiction, we need to sign off that we are comfortable
with the project analysis, that the project includes measures that will reduce floodplain risk and
meet other requirements and then we send it on tee FEMA.
4. Painted Hills Update—John Holman, Lori Barlow, Cary Driskell
Deputy City Manager HoInman said he is here to update Council with the latest steps in the process
relating to the Painted Hills proposed development; he thanked Mr. Allen and Ms. Horton for the
FEMA presentation as it set the stage for this update and the impacts and analysis for moving
forward with the project, Senior Planner Barlow said the project area was a got f'course from 1989
—2012, went bankrupt and was purchased by Black Realty,now NAI Black. She said prior to 1985
it was zoned agricultural; in 1991 the County rezoned the property to Multi-Family, and in 2007
the City rezoned it to Single-Family Residential. She said the City has developed a webpage
containing all inlimnalion available to elate_ The project is a Planned Residential Development
(PRD). proposes 580 units on approximately 99 acres, and is bordered on the east by Madison, on
the south by Thorpe, and on the west by Dishman Mica. She said as proposed, the project contains
several areas with different development including mixed and retail use, and either natural or active
open space. She said the north portion of the proposal will have cottages on approximately five
acres with 52 lots and narrow hot frontages; 206 lots with single family residences will be located
internally on approximately forty acres. She said the project was proposed in 2015 under prior
development regulations and in December 2016, new development regulations were adopted and
the current proposal lot sizes are too large to meet those standards. Continuing, she said in the
south portion of the proposal there will he 42 estate lots on just under twelve acres, uniform in size
and bordering a common space area. She said adjacent to Dishman Mica will be 270 units for
multi-family and mixed use. Currently active and zoned commercial is a tap house and restaurant
on the south end of the proposal. She said zoning has been R3 since 2007 and there have been
changes to the zoning adjacent to the site but riot the proposal property.
Ms_ Barlow said PRDs have a special set of regulations and are allowed in any residential zone so
long as they meet the minimum standard, initially a live-acre piece ol"properly. She said all types
of residential developments are allowed and PRDs allow neighborhood commercial use if the
project is ten or more acres; they allow greater flexibility for design and can eliminate rear- and
:side-yard setbacks to allow the developer options in exchange for providing open space. She said
the underlying zoning regulations dictate the PRD density and the Hearing Examiner makes the
final decision. on the project; therefore,ore, i t does riot go to Planning Commission or Council for any
approvals, Since 2015, the project has received traffic conicu4rren.cy and in .April 2017, some:
improvements to intersections were identified and would be required as part of the proposal, She
said that in August 2017, the SEPA determination was issued indicating a determination of
significance (DS). She said after review of the project it was determined it would have an adverse
impact on the environment and need further analysis. The DS was issued and that started the review
of the impact statement, She said the Iloodplain has been an ongoing issue since 2015 and
discussed between the developer and City staff as they move through the process. Next, she said,
a scoping meeting was conducted in September 2017; a final scoping notice was issued that
identified what was to be discussed in the environmental impact statement (EIS); the developer
was given the draft FAS and the City has not yet received the draft BIS hack. She said from there,
the City sends comments, then issues a final FTS, then moves the project forward to the Hearing
Examiner.
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Mr. Hohmann showed a map of the project and an overlay of the 100-year floodplain and pointed
out that almost the entire project is located within the 1 00-year floodplain and he said the impacts
of the development en the floodplain need to be studied in more detail. He said project proponents
are looking at ways to handle this, mitigation and other options, and he said he is expecting a
supplemental application or a new application and if there is a significant change, they may have
to start again from scratch. He said another important aspect is that.the FEMA floodplain process
is a separate and significant process that they will have to follow and it is a timely process.
City Attorney Driskell said the reason the decision goes through the Hearing Examiner is to ensure
it is decided objectively by someone with specific and proper training and it also takes politics out
of the scenario. fie said the approach of Council is to develop regulations appropriate for the
community and the application is processed pursuant to those regulations. He said he has heard
From citizens that the City should have tried to buy the property and he said the City did try. In
2013, lie said the item went bel'ore Council seeking authorization to go to the foreclosure sale to
bid on the property, however, we received comments from the public indicating someone else was
interested in purchasing the property, they had a good plan for its use and asked Council to stand
down and not make a hid. He said Council voted 4-3 or 4-2 to not bid on the property. He said he
has received fin-ther questions as to why the City does not try to buy the property now and he said
as a reviewing agent, we can't put ourselves in a position where it looks like we have an ulterior
motive to purchase the land. If the developer were to come to the City and ask if we are interested
in purchasing the property, he said we would take that information to Council.
Councilmember Woodard said that during that discussion, it came back that the private market
wanted to pursue the property and by a Council vote 01'4-2, it was determined that the City would
stand down because the public asked Council not to bid. He said there was a lot of discussion on
that topic and he said he thinks we tried to do our due diligence and stay informed. Councilmember
Wick asked who would be responsible for maintaining the mitigating factors put into the plan. Mr.
Hehman said we would need to look at the features put in and the level of oversight needed; he
said thisfloodplain flows every year and would need to he properly managed and nothing has been
resolved on that. IIe said in looking at what the legal requirements would be, there is a lot of risk
that would fall on the City or the homeowners association and discussion of any mitigation
measures would likely go before Council. Mr. Hohman said this is a very complicated floodplain
and will take very detailed analysis to make sure flood solutions arc looked at appropriately.
5. Cell Carrier Franchise Agreements—Cary Driskell
City Attorney Driskell said generally speaking, cities have broad authority to manage right-cel'-
way, sidewalks and streets through adoption of our City code. He said a franchise is an agreement
that gets adopted pursuant to ordinance by Council and the franchise grants the permission for an
agency to operate iai the corridors and rights-of-way ol'the City. He said the philosophy of the City
is not to charge a franchise fee, those lees related to drafting, negotiating and managing the
franchise, and that is reflective of our business-friendly community. He said the proposed.
franchises coming forward are for ten-year periods due to frequent changes in technology. it was
the consensus of Council to advance the proposed.franchise ordinances for first readings.
6. Advance .Agenda—Mayor Higgins
Councilmember Peetz said she would like to discuss recognition of citizens with a key to the city
Of something similar, either quarterly or twice a year. City Manager Calhoun said this topic is on
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Approved by Council_44-10-2018
our advance agenda and staff can bring an administrative report forward fairly soon. He said with
regard to recognition of Katherine Morgan from the Valley Chamber, we can do a proclamation
in a timely manner.
7. Council Check-in—Mayor Higgins
Councilmember Thompson said she appreciates the City accomplishments and the report that was
provided to Council and would like that information to get out to the citizens to recognize the staff
and their teamwork. She said she also appreciates all the background in formation that was provided
tonight.
Councilmember Woodard said the roundabout at Airway Heights was well-designed and works
well and he commented that the Appleway Trail is very nice, the HAWK. lights work well and the
landscaping is starting to grow.
8. City Manager Comments—Mark Calhoun
Mr. Calhoun said he received an email from Briahna Murray that the Governor is considering
vetoing Section 1 of HB-2057, the foreclosure bill regarding abandoned nuisance properties. He
said Mr. Dri:kell will outline the details and ask i i'Council would like to authorize the Mayor to
sign a letter, drafted by Mr. T)riskell, on behalf of the Council asking the Governor to sign the bill
as it was adopted by the legislature. City Attorney Driskell said the most concerning parts of the
bill are new sections 10 and 11 that provide requirements for mortgage companies to care for the
property and if they do not, the City is authorized to care for the property. He said Section 1
primarily deals with situations involving deceased people, which becomes difficult to deal with
because it can be difficult to locate their heirs. Providing for an expedited judicial process would
help the City because the cases we have the most difficulty with are code compliance cases in
which somebody has died and family members are living in the house that has not gone through
probate and it becomes convoluted to work through. He said there are also notice provisions
contained in the language relative to what the City needs to do and he said he thinks it would be
appropriate f or Council to send a letter to the Governor asking that he sign the bill as it is. He saki
it.was negotiated over a couple of years with all of the interest groups,including housing advocates.
He said it is his understanding the housing advocates are now trying to get that part of the bill
vetoed, but he said he thinks the bill works best the way it was written. It was the consensus of
Council that Mr. Driskell draft a tetter on behalf`of the Council asking the G'over'nor to sign the
bill u,s. it was adopted by the legislature.
It was moved by Counci/member Woodard, seconded and unanimously agreed to adtourn.. The
meeting adjourned at 7:36 p�m.
ATMS' L.I . Higg r .- a.
744— /15-e:
l.iristine Bainbridge, City Clerk
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