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2010, 07-13 Regular Meeting MinutesMINUTES City of Spokane Valley City Council Regular Meeting Formal Meeting Format Tuesday, July 13, 2010 Mayor Towey called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. Attendance. City Staff Tom Towey, Mayor Mike Jackson, Acting City Manager Gary Schimmels, Deputy Mayor Cary Driskell, Deputy City Attorney Rose Dempsey, Councilmember Ken Thompson, Finance Director Bill Gothmann, Councilmember Kathy McClung, Community Development Dir. Dean Grafos, Councilmember Mike Stone, Parks & Recreation Director Brenda Grassel Councilmember Neil Kersten, Public Works Director Bob McCaslin, Councilmember [arrived 6:10 p.m.] Greg McCormick, Planning Manager Christina Janssen, Assistant Planner Carolbelle Branch, Public Information Officer Chris Bainbridge, City Clerk INVOCATION: In the absence of a Pastor, Mr. Jack Dempsey gave the invocation. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE: Mayor Towey led the Pledge of Allegiance. ROLL CALL: City Clerk Bainbridge called the roll; all councilmembers were present except Councilmember McCaslin. It was moved by Councilmember Grafos, seconded and unanimously agreed to excuse Councilmember McCaslin from tonight's meeting. APPROVAL OF AGENDA: It was moved by Deputy Mayor Schimmels, seconded and unanimously agreed to approve the agenda. INTRODUCTION OF SPECIAL GUESTS AND PRESENTATIONS: n/a COMMITTEE, BOARD, LIAISON SUMMARY REPORTS: Councilmember Gothmann: reported that he met with the City's Lobbyist Ms. Briahna Taylor and discussed the issue of Canadian trucks traveling through our community; mentioned that this legislative session will be addressing significant budget shortfalls and grants awarded but not spent could be in jeopardy; he attended the celebration honoring Dick Behm and his work with FEMA and the floodplain issues; and attended the City's auditor's entrance meeting. Councilmember Dempsex said she attended everything Mr. Gothmann mentioned, and also attended a short Clean Air meeting. Councilmember Grafos: said he met with the Homebuilders Association and discussed some important issues and he asked Mr. Jackson if he would meet with that group and listen to their comments. Mr. Jackson replied he would be happy to do so. Deputy Mayor Schimmels reported that he also attended the auditor's entrance meeting; attended the Operations Committee meeting with the STA (Spokane Transit Authority), and last Thursday had a SRTC (Spokane Regional Transportation Council) board meeting and a committee meeting yesterday; and said he will be leaving town next week. Councilmember Grassel: said she was also invited by the Homebuilders to talk about SARP; and attended the auditor's entrance meeting. Council Regular Meeting 7 -13 -2010 Page 1 of 7 Approved by Council: 07 -27 -2010 MAYOR'S REPORT: reported that the meeting with the lobbyist was very informative; attended the City's state auditor's entrance meeting; said today's budget retreat was very informative and everyone went through a lot of material, and said staff did an excellent job in presenting a clear picture of where we are now and some choices that council will make in future. Mayor Towey then read a proclamation proclaiming July as Parks and Recreation Month; which was received by Parks and Recreation Director Mike Stone, who explained that this a national recognition, and he thanked Council for the support and urged all citizens to take advantage of the wonderful city and region in which we live, and to enjoy the many programs and services provided. Mayor Towey recognized the entrance of Councilmember McCaslin to tonight's meeting. PUBLIC COMMENTS: Mayor Towey invited general public comments. Steve Wilson, 16517 East 24` Lane, 99037: said after listening and discussing what transpired at the meeting last week, he was disappointed, ashamed and embarrassed; said he is not reading from a prepared statement tonight; he told Councilmember Grafos how embarrassing that situation was, and said he heard no apology today; and said that the Boy Scouts come to these meetings and see these kinds of activities that develop here while they focus on kindness, cheerfulness and obedience but they heard nothing like that last week; he apologized to the staff for the minimization of their hard work that seems to take place; and said if Mr. Grafos treats his peers that way, how would he treat a private citizen; said his father was a World War II vet and after reading the comments in the newspaper last week, he said that Mr. Grafos' conduct was unbecoming, and that there was no apology; and said he is not sure the leadership Mr. Grafos is promoting is what he can embrace. Deputy Mayor Schimmels said that they are trying not to attack any one personally on the council, said he won't name any names, but Mr. Wilson should have come to the prior week's meeting and the same situation existed with another person involved, so he needs the whole story. Councilmember McCaslin added that elected officials always hear when a citizen thinks you've made a mistake, and we all make mistakes, but it would be nice to hear something nice once in a while; and that he isn't defending what was going on as he wasn't here. Councilmember Dempsey added that she received a very positive e-mail from Fire Commissioner Nesbit who expressed thanks for what Council does. Mark Henderson, Pool Worlds, 831 S Shelly lake Lane, 99037: concerning the SARP project, said he owns property near the Target Store, 13524 E Sprague and is approaching 35 years there; that during this SARP re- zoning, their property split into two different classifications, and they view that as bad for business and the future value of the land; his property has numerous restrictions on use: no bank, or bowling alley, and said there are numerous restrictions on what you can't have compared with prior to SARP and with the County; he said now it's mixed use avenue for part of it then residential boulevard along Second Avenue, and said he can't use that property for any future business use; that he had plans on how to re- configure it but now because of residential boulevard, those plans are useless; said he worked for over 34 years to buy that property and now the value and usefulness of that property have been severely injured, and if he tried to sell the property the new owner's ability would be severely restricted; he said the SARP regulations will drive business out of the corridor and maybe out of Spokane Valley. Marshall Clark, 2320 N Atlantic Street, 99205 explained that he has property in Spokane Valley and owns Clark Pacific Real Estate Company; said when the revitalization plan came about he wrote to the planning staff and the then current council to ask them to consider some of the impacts some of the changes would have on property; his property is at 6630 E Sprague and has Starbucks and Super Supplements on it in that triangle; he said the trunk line that takes the sewer from the valley goes through his property; he accepted that easement and built on that as best he can avoiding that trunk line; said he explained this to staff when passing new regulations and explained that to the former mayor both verbally and in writing, but said no provision was made; he said if it burned down or were destroyed, the area Council Regular Meeting 7 -13 -2010 Page 2 of 7 Approved by Council: 07 -27 -2010 would have to be built up to the front, but said he couldn't physically do it as would violate the easement; and said he would like to see the ability to build back away from the street and make a code provision to address situations where you can't physically meet the provisions; he said he would like to see Council put the zoning back, or keep the zoning but put back the uses allowed in the B3; said he understands he can't do a bank or a sit -down full service restaurant, and there are a number of uses you used to do but can't do now; said there was a tenant looking in town for ten acres but can't find ten acres of contiguous property; he said a road is planned about every 600 feet and he asked what about if you have a very large parcel; and said again he would like to see pulling back these regulations, and he knows these issues are being worked on. Mayor Towey said he can't go into discussion of the SARP now, that this Council has chosen to step back and take a good look and find the areas that need changing, and he hopes the public will be patient as Council goes through the process, and said he feels once that is done, it will be a lot better. Carlos Landa, 12019 E Sprague, 99206 regarding the couplet between University and Argonne, he said he contacted some of those property owners, and also talked to staff; said he understands those mentioned concerns, and said he's wondering if those people know that they're going to have a one -way street in front of them; he said the comp plan was passed to change it back from University to Argonne; he said permitting and making decisions, getting appraisals in that area are based on the two -way street; the zoning is one issue but the street is the big thing, said he doesn't think any retail will live there and likely the only thing viable in that area is auto row, and as long as the decision hangs overhead, it will be detrimental to the community. Dick Behm, 9405 East Sprague Avenue, 99206: said last week Council surprised him by giving him his own day July 6, 2010, that he was caught by surprise and didn't think he thanked everybody who participated, especially Deanna Griffith who shepherded this thing through and followed it through; and he expressed thanks to Kathy McClung and council and others. Councilmember McCaslin thanked Dick for his work. Troy Dilley, 2400 N Wilbur Road, #150, 99206 he said that the City of Spokane passed an ordinance concerning an ombudsman and asked if we did. Mayor Towey replied that we have not, and City Manager Jackson said that has not been discussed and there has been no event that would prompt a discussion in that regard. 1. CONSENT AGENDA Consists of items considered routine which are approved as a group. Any member of Council may ask that an item be removed from the Consent Agenda to be considered separately. a. Approval of the following claim vouchers: VOUCHER LIST DATE W/VOUCHER NUMBERS: TOTAL AMOUNT 06/24/10 20447 -20466 $120,489.45 06/25/10 20467 - 20500; 618100030 $468,632.94 06/29/10 20501 -20513 $23,836.68 07/01/10 5061 -5074 (park funds) $1,689.00 07/02/10 20521 -20561 $287,346.43 GRAND TOTAL $901,994.50 b. Approval of Payroll for Period Ending June 30, 2010: $359,227.40 It was moved by Deputy Mayor Schimmels, seconded and unanimously agreed to approve the consent agenda. Council Regular Meeting 7 -13 -2010 Page 3 of 7 Approved by Council: 07 -27 -2010 NEW BUSINESS 2. First Reading Proposed Ordinance Extending Time for Franchise Acceptance — Cary Driskell After City Clerk Bainbridge read the ordinance title, it was moved by Deputy Mayor Schimmels and seconded to advance the ordinance granting a second extension of time for acceptance of the cable franchise, to a second reading. Deputy City Attorney Driskell reiterated the situation as previously explained about the complexities in getting all required signatures; and that this will extend the acceptance time to August 11; and that Comcast is putting a package together along with the PEG fee materials, and all will come back together, and this extension is the needed formality since a specific timeframe was set in the franchise. Mayor Towey invited public comment; no comments ere offered. Vote by Acclamation: In Favor: Unanimous. Opposed: None. Abstentions: None. Motion carried. 3. First Reading Proposed Ordinance, Panhandling„ Driskell After City Clerk Bainbridge read the ordinance title, it was moved by Deputy Mayor Schimmels and seconded to advance the ordinance amending solicitation activities to a second reading. Deputy City Attorney Driskell said that this issue has been before Council several times now, with the last time June 15 when a draft ordinance was proposed; and said there will likely be other changes made to what is presented tonight, but that the changes will not be substantive, but just to clarify a more in -depth discussion for the second reading, including a definition of median taken from the WAC (Washington Administrative Code), and language about ride solicitation will be removed as that is covered in the Model Traffic Ordinance which has been previously adopted. He explained that the essential nature of this ordinance would regulate some panhandling, but the core of it would still focus on pedestrians soliciting from vehicle occupants provided no physical contact is made with the road. He further explained that the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals recently rendered an opinion regarding an ordinance from Redondo Beach, California which ordinance had some prohibitions on solicitation that went further then what we have proposed; that it went before a three panel court which issued an opinion upholding as constitutional under the federal Constitution, a city ordinance making it unlawful for any person to stand on a street or highway and solicit, or attempt to solicit, employment, business or contributions from an occupant of any motor vehicle. Mr. Driskell said that the plaintiffs have appealed the decision seeking a review of the three judge panel and if the ordinance is upheld by the Ninth Circuit, then the only appeal remaining is to the United States Supreme Court. Attorney Driskell said until the final appeal of the Redondo Beach case is decided, it is uncertain whether an ordinance prohibiting in- person solicitation would be held constitutional, and said staff recommends if Council wants to copy what Redondo Beach did, Council might want to wait until the full court decision is made, and said our draft ordinance does not include sidewalks at this point. Discussion ensued and Councilmember Gothmann asked about major and minor arterials and collectors and if a principal arterial includes those classifications; and Mr. Driskell said he would have to research to make sure the definition is the busiest classification that is identified. Councilmember Grassel said she feels this is much better than what we currently have and feels this would give more "teeth" in addressing the situation and said she noticed that many cities in Washington have more restrictive solicitation and to her knowledge none have been sued, and would like to see us move ahead and include specific sidewalks similar to the ordinance of Issaquah, and said that would give the police the authority to tell people that this is not going to be allowed as now we don't have such message; and she said people are tired of panhandlers, adding that she feels we don't have to be so overly cautious at this point. Mayor Towey added that he feels what we have now is low risk and this would be moving up to a medium risk and he asked how long it might take the court to decide, and said the ordinance can always be changed later. Attorney Driskell said the court could take twelve months for a decision, and confirmed our ordinance can be changed at any time. Councilmember Dempsey stated her preference for moving this as a medium level instead of going into more stringent regulations. Councilmember Grafos said he would like to move it ahead but include the sidewalks. Deputy City Attorney Driskell said that is an option but there is some risk involved, and if we are sued and it turned out it was a constitutional violation, there would be Council Regular Meeting 7 -13 -2010 Page 4 of 7 Approved by Council: 07 -27 -2010 damages involved. Further discussion included Spokane City's regulations; mention by Mr. Driskell that Redondo Beach is a case where the city was sued, adding that the City of Phoenix has been sued over similar issues and there are many cities which have been sued where it was contended that violation of First Amendments Rights occurred and that Issaquah and Tacoma have not been sued to date, but it doesn't mean they are not at risk. There was also further suggestions of simply changing the phrase "not sidewalks" or changing all similar phrases to "include sidewalks." Council determined to have staff address these issues and bring the ordinance back for a second reading, at which time amendments could be discussed, and for staff to work on a compromise for a second reading that includes more input, or perhaps even bring forth both renditions (with and without sidewalks). Mayor Towey invited public comment. Mike King, 9300 E Sprague: in addressing principal arterials, or arterials and collectors for purpose of safety, he suggested that would not address such things as lemonade stands and he said he would like to hear comments from the Sheriff's Office at the second reading regarding how to enforce this and suggested having a ticket fee steep enough to deter panhandling. Troy Dilley, 2400 N Wilbur: said he is glad Council is stepping up to address this and asked if adopted, would it be enforced. Mayor Towey said he has confidence in the Sheriff's Office and Police Department that they would uphold the law to the best of their ability. Ian Robertson 1716 S Rotchford Drive Spokane Valley: expressed his appreciation to Council for working on this; and said that his group's big push is to educate the public to discourage giving and of the effort to publicize about the many organizations that can help; and he said they have several grocery and hardware stores who will be participating in the bar coding public relations campaign. Carlos Landa, 12109 E Sprague said he has concerns that if our legal staff puts in sidewalks, and Council gets into the free speech issue, that the City could get sued; and said if you get sued you will incur damages; and said he feels Council needs to hear that from staff because if Council says it would move forward anyway and risk the possibility of getting sued and of damages, that Council would be acting somewhat reckless. It was agreed when this issue is brought back, that Chief VanLeuven will be available for input. Vote by Acclamation on the motion to advance the ordinance to a second reading: In Favor: Unanimous. Opposed: None. Abstentions: None. Motion carried. PUBLIC COMMENTS: Mayor Towey invited general public comments; no further comments were offered. ADMINISTRATIVE REPORTS 4 Code Text Amendment CTA -03 -10 (Sera ug a / Appleway) — Christina Janssen Via her PowerPoint presentation, Assistant Planner Janssen went over the proposed code text amendments (CTA 03 -10), which would amend Chapter 19.140 to give the Community Development Director authority to grant administrative exceptions for minor design changes to the Sprague and Appleway Corridors Subarea Plan; to amend Chapter 2.2.2 (Building Use) Sprague and Appleway Corridors Subarea Plan to allow full service restaurants as a permitted use in the Mixed Use Avenue Retail zone, and to amend Table 2.2.2 Sprague and Appleway Corridors Subarea Plan to allow restricted access to "other streets" in the Mixed Use Avenue zone. Councilmember Dempsey asked about making changes to address the triangle portion of property brought up by Marshall Clark during public comments, and Community Development Director McClung said that unless there is other language in the Code which would address that, she would use the provision of "Community Development Director's authority to grant minor exceptions" for that situation. Councilmember McCaslin asked how that would be gauged Council Regular Meeting 7 -13 -2010 Page 5 of 7 Approved by Council: 07 -27 -2010 as "minor" or "major" are subjective terms; and Ms. McClung said that while it is a judgment call, she would base her decisions on her years of experience, and if she was not comfortable with the exception as being "minor" then the applicant would have to use another method instead of the administrative decision method, and if she felt such would be in conflict with the comp plan, or would impact neighboring property, that would not be minor. There were no objections to move forward with this item. 5. Mixed Avenue Report Back to Council — Scott Kuhta Standing in for Senior Planner Kuhta, Community Development Director McClung explained that she is here tonight to report to council the comments received as part of the public meeting held on the topic of the Mixed Use Avenue District Zone. Concerning the previous comment about "putting everything back" prior to the SARP zoning, Director McClung said staff could look at adding more uses, but to put everything back would be a comp plan amendment; and concerning the comment about nonconforming uses and replacing buildings if destroyed by fire, she said those comments are similar to those heard about insurance or mortgage costs, and that could be pursued as a code amendment. Councilmember Grassel asked when Council might get a list of what requires what kind of change, and Director McClung said probably after the November 1 deadline for comp plan amendments, as at that point they would have everything staff has been asked to examine; so council could likely start the process in January, and in addressing Councilmember Grafos' question about when text amendments can be made, Director McClung said that code text amendments can be made at any time and said in a few weeks, staff will bring a motion consideration to council to forward issues to the Planning Commission, as they did previously. After Director McClung went through the PowerPoint presentation, the following issues were addressed: Issue #1, Permitted Uses: Director McClung said that boat sales are pending at the Planning Commission level, full service restaurant was already pending so those two issues have been addressed. Councilmember Grafos said he would like to see vehicle sales in the mixed -use area, and Mayor Towey and Deputy Mayor Schimmels agreed, while Councilmember Dempsey disagreed; thus there were at least three councilmembers who would like to see that proposed change. Issue #2: Nonconforming uses: it was agreed to handle this the way it was handled before and wait until the end to look at nonconforming issues for the entire city since it is a citywide regulation. Issue #3: Setbacks and Parking: the suggested change would be a comp plan change so parking would be allowed in front of buildings. Issue #4, Additions, Expansions, Reconstruction: Director McClung said the comments at the public meeting were not specific as to what change should be made, and that this would be a code text amendment. It was decided to change the trigger to 80% instead of 50% concerning reconstruction. City Manager Jackson asked if this applies only to the SARP and Director McClung confirmed it does. Issue #Architectural Standards. Director McClung said the public meeting comments were generic about being too costly, but she said the changes could be done fairly simply, and if council wanted this addressed, it would be a code text amendment. It was determined to put this on the "back burner" for a while and see if it comes up in any of the remaining community meetings. Issue #6 Prelocated Streets: council decided to look at different options, and Deputy City Attorney Driskell said that Attorney Connelly would want to weigh in on this to ensure there would be a firm legal basis for criteria for requiring streets. Issue #7: Signage. Director McClung said that the comments were generic and previously council decided to address signage citywide. Issue #8: One -way vs. two -way. Director McClung said they received comments in support of what is already in the plan, and it was determined to wait to change as this issue is coming back for ballot issue discussion. Community Development Director McClung said another issue that came up tonight is about making provisions for easements, and she assumes that is not addressed in the code, and if not, it should be; and Council Regular Meeting 7 -13 -2010 Page 6 of 7 Approved by Council: 07 -27 -2010 council concurred that should be added. Director McClung also mentioned she will contact the individual who had the property on two different zones in order to speak to his specific concerns. In response to question, Planning Manager McCormick said the absolute deadline for submitting comp plan changes is November 1, that the code requires a pre - application meeting before they can make that submission, so that would necessitate a pre - application meeting mid - October. Mayor Towey called for a recess at 8:00 p.m. and reconvened the meeting at 8:15 p.m. Councilmember McCaslin did not return after the brief recess. 6. Subarea Plan (SARP) Check -in — Kathy McClung Community Development Director McClung said she has provided Council with everything they have done so far, that there are projects in process and other issues pending, and asked Council to let staff know if they want to change anything; she said the schedule will be pushed back a little as they found they did not account for the timing it takes to transcribe the taping of the meetings. There were no suggestions or comments from council. 7. Greenacres Neighborhood Park Funding — Mike Stone Parks and Recreation Director Stone explained that to date, the City has received $500,000 in direct appropriations from the state for the development of Phase 1; and funding for the completion of phase 1 is not currently available; that phase 1 is estimated to cost $1,580,000; and recently the finance committee discussed several funding options, one of which would be to use the $500,000 state funding, and $200,000 from the civic facilities fund and the remaining balance from the Parks Capital Fund, and he mentioned that amount of money would deplete the parks capital fund. He said under this proposal, we will forgo the park acquisition funding, but said he thinks the Greenacres funding is top priority and the neighborhood is extremely favorable to this project's completion. Council concurred to move this item forward by bringing it back next week for a motion consideration. 8. Advance A . eg_nda There were no suggestions for changes. INFORMATION ONLY: The following items were for information only and were not reported on or discussed: Community Development April /May Report; Transportation Improvement Board Call for Projects; Street Superintendent Position; Establishment of Maintenance /Construction Inspector- Mechanic Position; Law Enforcement Interlocal Agreement; Smart Routes Call for Projects. EXECUTIVE SESSION N/A It was moved by Deputy Mayor Schimmels, seconded and unanimously agreed to adjourn. The meeting adjourned at 8:24 p.m. Christine Bainbridge, City Clerk Council Regular Meeting 7 -13 -2010 Approved by Council: 07 -27 -2010 omas E. bwey, Mayor Page 7 of 7 SIGN -IN SHEET SPOKANE VALLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING DATE: July 13, 2010 GENERAL CITIZEN COMME 'OUR SPEAKING TIME WILL GENERALLY BE LIMITED TO THREE Please sign in if you wish to make Dublic commel.%,,7. NAME PLEASE PRINT TOPIC OF CONCERN YOU WILL SPEAK_ ABOUT YOUR COMPLETE ADDRESS TELEPHONE - 7 Flo Z FA