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PC APPROVED Minutes 07-07-11.pdf Spokane Valley Planning Commission APPROVED Minutes Council Chambers — City Hall, 11707 E. Sprague Ave. July 7, 2011 L CALL TO ORDER Chair Carroll called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. IL PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE Commissioners, staff and audience stood for the pledge of allegiance IIL ROLL CALL Commissioners Bates, Carroll, Hall, Mann, Neill and Stoy were present. Commissioner Sands was absent. Commissioner Mann made a motion to excuse Commissioner Sands from the July 7, 2011 meeting which was seconded and unanimously approved. Staff in attendance: Scott Kuhta, Planner Manager; Mike Basinger, Senior Planner; Mary May, Engineering Technician; Dean Grafos, Councilmember; Deanna Griffith, Administrative Assistant IV. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Commissioner Mann made a motion to approve the July 7, 2011 agenda as presented. This motion was seconded and passed unanimously. V. APPROVAL OF MINUTES There were no minutes to approve. VL PUBLIC COMMENT There was no public comment. VIL COMIVIISSION REPORTS Commissioner Mann stated he attended a Built Green workshop at the Spokane Home Builders Association. VIIL ADMINISTRATIVE REPORTS Planning Manger Kuhta stated that staff had briefed the City Council regarding the sign and the landscaping sections of the municipal code. Mr. Kuhta also stated that the Goals and Policies of the Shoreline Master Plan were ready for a review by the City Council and would be coming to the Planning Commission soon. IX. COMMISSION BUSINESS A. Unfinished Business: There was no unfinished business. B. New Business: Public Hearing for the Chapter 11, Bike and Pedestrian Master Program. 07-07-ll Planning Commission Minutes Page 1 of 9 Senior Planner Mike Basinger made a presentation to the Planning Commission regarding the adding of an additional chapter to the Comprehensive Plan with regards to the proposed Bike and Pedestrian Master Program. Mr. Basinger explained the information contained in the program and how the plan could benefit the City and the City's future. Commissioners asked questions about the program, the grant which funded the process to write the program, the EECBG (the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant). Engineering Technician Mary May explained the City applied for and received $824,000 with projects that would demonstrate energy conservation the bike plan was one part of the grant. Commissioner Neill had a question regarding timelines, and if the way they were written would mandate the City to have to commit to having the projects done at a committed time, some seem to have quite a bit of expense behind them. Staff also mentioned that man� of the projects listed were performed by our partners, for instance the safety projects are done by the SCOPE office and the Health District. There were also questions about how projects are funded, and chosen projects are chosen, some must be on the Transportation Improvement Program, which is updated ever� year. Another question was if this Bike and Pedestrian Plan is approved b� the Commission and Council, and added to the Comprehensive Plan, does that make us better suited to be able to awarded grants, and the answer was, yes it would. After this discussion Chair Carroll opened the public hearing at 6:41 p.m. and read the rules of the public hearing. Richard Harmon, 17610 E Mission: Mr Harmon stated he was concerned about the finishing of Mission Ave between Barker and Indiana. Mr. Harmon stated that the neighborhood would like to see a shared use path and would like for the City to discuss with the neighbors how the road and path will be finished. Kim Brewer, 7918 E Heroy: Ms. Brewer stated that Argonne is listed in a City survey as one of the most dangerous streets for bikes. Ms. Brewer stated she had been in a collision with another cyclist on a blind corner of the trail on Argonne and believes places like that should be monitored more closely. Ms. Brewer stated she hopes the Cit�will cooperate on issues like this with the County. Helene Dewy, 717 S Bartholomew: Ms. Dewey stated she works for the Spokane County Regional Health District. Ms. Dewey said she had been working with the planners on the Safe Routes to School program and she had brought a letter of support from the Chief inedical Officer Mr. Joel McCullough, which Ms. Dewey read into the record. Ms. Dewey also shared that the Health District had also received its own grant to focus on bike and pedestrian safety and work is currently going on throughout the County. Richard Bryant, 12025 E. 31gt Ave. Mr. Bryant stated he was keeping in touch with Mr. Basinger over the plan, he was also involved with trying to bring light rail to the valley. Mr. Bryant stated he felt that several elements would be very beneficial to the City. Mr. Bryant shared some bicycle experience from a trip Germany. Mr. Bryant stated he had been speaking to Rails to Trails and they would like to bring trails here. Mr. Bryant said he believed the plan was very workable. 07-07-ll Planning Commission Minutes Page 2 of 9 Wyatt Larson, 3126 W. Riverside but work at the Mountain Gear warehouse: Mr. Larson stated he had been following the plan personally, as well as a business entity which supports bicycling and bicycle commuting. Mr. Larson stated that implementation of the plan would allow a greater amount of people to be able to commute to work by bike. Mr. Larson said the grid work, the north, south and east, west routes have been researched and bike boulevards would be an inexpensive way to get started. Mr. Larson said he was a proponent of the plan because it would help his employees be able to get to commute to work easier and possibly promote more four season riders. Dick Denney, 1516 S Virginia: Mr. Denney stated he would like to support the plan. Mr. Denney said he felt staff had done a thorough job in the outreach to the community. He shared he had participated in several personally. Mr. Denney stated the Valley had a serious connectivity problem. He was an active recreation rider. This plan would allow the council to have long term planning and allow this community become adaptable to be more bike and pedestrian friendly for both recreation and commuting. Sheila Gates-Ping, 116 N Clinton Rd: Ms. Gates-Ping stated she was supportive of the plan. She was pleased to see new development include new bike improvements. Ms. Ping shared she, her husband and several of their cycling friends had attended the workshops held by staff. Ms. Ping said she worked downtown and would like to be able to commute if the facilities were safer, more direct to places. She shared that raised roads would be safer for cyclists. Commissioners asked if she rode her bike to wark currently, and she answered that no, because there zs not sa.f'e direct route. Sprague is the most direct route, less mileage, however it is not safe to ride on. Going down Evergreen to the Trail is not convenient in time wise ta get to town and to work. Scott Polurs, 4802 N Farr Rd: Mr. Polurs stated he was a 40 year commuter from the Valley to town and he knew the roads of the Valley. He shared that he was not a rider that worried too much about traffic. However, he did have a complaint which was bicycles are invisible to traffic signals. Mr. Polurs said it causes a cyclist to make choices which could be unsafe or reflect badly on the biking community and he felt they already get enough blame for road issues. Commissioners asked how many months a year Mr. Polurs road a year, based on the weather, could be as many as 11 months. Commissioners also asked him if he had a suggestion regarding traffic signals, of which he did not really. Commissioners asked him what his suggestions for which roads needed improvement. Mr. Polurs explained he did not have specific roads however his biggest issue would be north/south access. Then questioned him if he knew how many year round commuters, like him there were and if the improvements were made to the road how many more did he feel there would be. He said he road at 4:00 am and he might see S-6 riders and maybe you would get a few more, but those would be from downtown to the valley, there would and could be many more that are just trying to get to the store, or somewhere closer to home. Karl Otterstrom: 1811 E 34th Ave/: Mr. Otterstrom shared he was the planning director for the Spokane Transit Authority (STA). Mr. Otterstrom stated he 07-07-ll Planning Commission Minutes Page 3 of 9 appreciated the opportunity to participate in the plan and to offer STA's support for the plan. He supports the capital projects, safety measures and the basic principals if the plan itself. Mr. Otterstrom stated he not only a avid bus rider but a devoted pedestrian as well, He walked, many places, even in this city and based on walking behavior people wallc more when there are more things to wallc to, more places to wallc. Transit also extends the reach of the pedestrian. Transit supports the pedestrian as the other way around. Research says that people who live within a quarter mile of the transit lines, while they might not be able to reach beyond their own area without other methods of transportation however when they have access to transit they now have a much larger reach of resources at their fingers. Mr. Otterstrom stated he appreciated the collaboration and support of staff and supported the Plan. Commissioners asked Mr. Otterstrom with the increase of bikers and bike commuters was there any thought of increasing the number of racks on the front of the bus? Mr. Otterstrom stated they had been considering it, had posted a survey on the STA website, and one of the things that came up was would ride more if there were extra racks however, they did find that they were not turning away that many riders because the racks were full. Cammissioners inquired if he had looked into how the bike routes line up with the transzt routes, he explained he had not but that several of the riders had said they don't like riding on the busy streets which is what transit routes usuaZly are. Mary Pollard, 17216 E Baldwin,: Ms. Pollard stated she was representing the North Greenacres Neighborhood. Ms. Pollard started with a thanks to Mr. Basinger and Ms, May for the hard work dedicated to putting the plan together. Ms Pollard stated that the meeting held for their neighborhood was informative and the staff listened to the neighborhood concerns. Ms. Pollard stated that the consultant at the open house told her he thought that bike �anes on Mission could be considered too dangerous. Ms. Pollard stated she expected to see Mission designated as a shared use path on the map but still was showing bike lanes. She was requesting the map be amended to change Mission back to the shared use path designation. Ms Pollard shared with Mission being designated a regional transportation route, something must be done to protect the children from having to bike in the streets. She reflected that consultant had told her the map would reflect this designation and she was disappointed to see it was not in place. Ms. Pollard expressed that she understood the constraints of right-of-way however she was disturbed to discover that Public Works had changed the designation back to just bike lanes. Ms Pollard made the suggestion of another color on the map that would allow flexibility for more than one option on a road such as cycle tracks or shared use paths. The neighbors want a path like the Centennial Trail has. Ms Pollard stated that although the Barker Center is not currently being used for anything more than a kindergarten at the moment, historically it has served as more and feels that the neighborhood should not be left off the Safe Routes to School and the long range planning. Ms. Pollard stated the neighborhood supported the bike blvd on Long Ave. Ms. Pollard shared after a question from Commissioners about sidewalks on `Barker that the neighbors are unhappy with the City for the way they have placed the bike lanes on Barker Road, feeling they are unsafe. 07-07-ll Planning Commission Minutes Page 4 of 9 Mark Mimms, 15127 E. 26t'' Ave: Mr. Mimms stated he was an avid cyclist, and leads a group ride every Wed. night. He and his companions are all supporters of the plan. Mr. Mimms said this is Bike and Pedestrian plan and there were plenty of suggested improvements for both in the plan. Mr. Mimms explained he does not have a problem getting out on the streets and the Valley does have nice streets for riding as opposed to the City of Spokane which has broken up streets. Mr. Mimms stated he felt the biggest issue for cyclists was the road culture. He explained we are a car society, and bikes are not appreciated. Mr. Mimms shared that most of the recreational cyclists he knows will not ride on the roads alone. He felt the safest thing is more riders so that drivers know the bikes belong there. He stated the plan priorities based on feedback received from the community. Frank Ping, 116 N Clinton Rd: Mr. Ping stated he was a proponent of the plan. Mr. Ping explained he felt strongly about many of the thoughts shared so far this evening, and would not repeat them, but did want to share he participated in the Wed. night group rides which at times can have up to 50 riders. He said he was aware of another group that rode on Wed night which could be on average 30 people, and there are other days where there are other organized rides as well. Katie Farris, 19103 N Coffman Rd.: Ms. Farris stated she was a teacher in the Central Valley School District. She shared they have been running a bike safety program for the last three years now in cooperation with the Health District and recently working with SCOPE, as well as branching out to parent education. Ms. Farris explained she felt it was important for the kids to have bike safety so they can ride to and from school more safely. Ms Farris shared her school also participated in the mapping of the Safe Rou�es to School. Eric Moose, 1404 N Locust: Mr. Moose stated he was a four season commuter, who works for a Spokane Valley company. He shared he had participated in the workshops and had submitted some suggestions for the plan and was pleased to see they had been included in the plan. Mr. Moose said he would like to see a program in which the installation of public bike racks (similar to those in the International `District) could be streamlined so it would not take so long to get them. Seeing no one else who wished to testify, Chairman Carroll closed the public hearing at 7:38 p.m. Commission took at break at 7:38 p.m. and returned at 7:55 p.m. Commissioner Hall made a motion to adopt the findings in the staff report and recommend approval of the amendment to modify the Comprehensive Plan and add Chapter 1 l, Bike and Pedestrian Element. Commissioner Neill stated he was concerned that the statements under the implementation under Sections 11.4.1, 11.4.2, 11.4.3, could be misconstrued as a mandate. Saying we will get this implemented within one year. Mr Neill said he would like to see the wording changed to reflect something more in line of"as City resources allow" so that these things don't take priority over projects that could come which would be deemed more important. 07-07-ll Planning Commission Minutes Page 5 of 9 Commissioner Hall asked if the funds came from another source than the City would that give pause. Commissioner Neill stated he still felt that specific time lines would create a mandate for the City to have to comply. Commissioner Carroll asked staff for the reasoning behind placing the timelines in the plan. Mr. Basinger stated he thought that to give the City goals not to hold it to any kind of mandate. Commissioner Bates requested confirmation from staff the Bike and Ped Plan needed to be in the Comprehensive Plan in order to move forward to apply for grants. Mr. Basinger did confirm this fact. Mr. Bates said he was fine with that, but that he was not in favor of just putting things in a Comprehensive Plan just because we might need it in 20 year Transportation Improvement Plan worked just fine, and that most businesses only worked off of a five year plan. Mr. Bates said that a 20-year plan was a vision and he did not feel that everything in the well written Bike Plan needed to be in the Comprehensive Plan. He did say he was concerned the City would only be able to change it once a year. Mr. Bates also said he felt it was an excellent plan, staff had put extra effort into it and the workshops had been excellent. Although he did not feel the plan should be amended at the moment, he also said he did not feel that implementation was addressed in the plan. He also felt that motorists had not been addressed in the plan. Commissioner Carroll asked Commissioner bates what his concerns were. He said there far too many bike routes in the plan to accomplish in five or six years, there isn't any funding as of yet he was aware of, and he was concerned about regulations the City would be placing on businesses. He said he would rather see coordination with the TIP and on short term projects. Commissioner Mann shared he stated in was in support of the plan. However he expressed his concern over the costs and although he was aware the document was a vision, he felt the Commission would be remiss if they sent it forward to council without some kind of costs estimates associated with it. Mr. Mann stated he felt that although it was a vision, he was uncomfortable with "as resources allow" because based on that resources would never allow. He is in favor of setting goals with timelines. He expressed that if we did not make the timelines, it did not mean we had failed but it gave something to work for. Commissioner Mann shared that he also agreed with the neighbors in regard to Mission Ave. and once Mission is through to Indiana the traffic count would increase and he felt there needed to be something in order to keep people safer as they rode. He also said, how would this get paid for, bikes don't pay gas tax, don't pay use taxes and so he was concerned about how it would get paid for. Commissioner Hall congratulated staff on and excellent document and on the collaboration with the Health District. The school district work was very remarkable and he said he wasn't sure this kind of thing had been done before, in other places, this kind of plan, especially Safe Routes to SchooL It will take a long time to implement this plan since it is a long term plan. Commissioner Hall stated he felt this does need to be in the Comprehensive Plan, he has looked at the prioritization list and agrees with the methodology behind it, as long as they timelines don't hold the city to any mandates. Commissioner Hall stated he felt the City needed to begin to project being a forward thinking community. 07-07-ll Planning Commission Minutes Page 6 of 9 There was a discussion about cycle tracks and how it is a new concept so none have been proposed in the city as of yet. Commissioner Stoy questioned having to buy right-of-way to create a bike path in. He was concerned over some of the costs. He said he felt it was a good plan. Commissioner Stoy said he supported needed more direct paths. Commissioner Carroll stated that plans which are based on more detail for long range plans which get modified often to adapt work better than having a plan that has little detail in them. He also said he was concerned however about availability of funds for non-road projects. He shared he was concerned about north south connectivity, the Mission Ave safety issues, and concerned over sidewalks on Barker road near the school. Commissioner Carroll asked what would be the best way in order for the Commission to get answers to their questions. Mr. Basinger said he felt he could answer all of the questions the Commissioners had brought up. He stated there had been many north south routes added to the plan. He shared several examples. Mr. Basinger shared some examples of how having the Bike and Pedestrian Plan as a chapter in the Comprehensive Plan would help with funding opportunities if they came up. He shared that the plan was nothing more than a plan and did not place the City in any kind of financial position to have to commit money to any project it did not have Sr. Planner Basinger stated that he had made sure there was nothing in the plan which would encumber the City, it would only reflect City's vision. The benchmarks listed in the plan are not binding, they only layout a guideline in the options of accomp�ishing goals if desired. Mr Basinger stated the funding sources are listed in the document and staff tried to list as many funding sources as possible. Mr Basinger explained at this time no one, especially the Federal Government, is going to give the City funding for anything other than multimodal transportation and safety. Commissioner Carroll asked how much would the items cost. Commissioner Neill expressed concern regarding some of the costs stated in the appendix regarding, cycle tracks, for example, thinking them to be cost prohibited. Commissioner Neill stated the costing is listed in the appendix. Commissioner Mann asked if we implemented all of this, what would be the comprehensive estimate of the cost? Mr. Basinger stated he thought staff could produce an estimate however, doing everything on the list would be very expensive. Staff does not expect the City would only be doing what we would be able to find funding for at any one time. Engineering Technician Mary May spoke regarding table 11.4.5 looking at the different elements and how they would relate to the TIP and how funding could be secured as projects became available. Commissioner Hall stated there is a difference between what something might cost and what it is worth to the citizens of Spokane Valley. If the City applies and receives a grant then there would be no cost to the citizens, out of pocket. If they would want the project bad enough, then funding of another kind could be found, but it might mean some out of pocket expenses. Mr. Hall said he was not sure if 07-07-ll Planning Commission Minutes Page 7 of 9 there was an answer to the question being asked. He share that this plan will be implemented in any number of ways, there is nothing which states this is a mandate. This is a starting point. Let's look 40-50 years into the future and see where we would like things to be. He continued then starting there and moving backwards what decisions does the Commission need to make today and tomorrow that will make this work, or get in the way of making this work That is what vision is all about. If the vision is there and you have a choice in the future on a development and you could do it one way or another and one will work with the plan and the other doesn't, let's do the one that will not get in the way of the vision. If there is no plan in place, then there is no guide to make a decision with. Mr. Hall shared he knew it would be expensive, but he was not hung up on it, as there were ways to fund it and it would not all be done at one time, but without a plan, there would be no funding. Mr. Basinger shared if we don't have a plan then we would lose out to on those funding opportunities we might have had a chance with otherwise. Mr. Basinger also said this would become a part of the TIP, which the City Council approves and it is a guidance document which will address the community's needs. Commissioner Bates stated he understood this plan would be incorporated as part of TIP. City Council would approve it and they would worry about the cost, work closely with Public Works to incorporate more projects to do some things at the same time, which would make more sense and save money. Planning Manager Kuhta said the Comprehensive Plan also has an arterial street plan but the City would n ever be able to build out all the streets at one time and it guides the TIP. The BPMP wou�d be a companion piece to that. The true costs will not come up until the City has actual projects. Commissioner Bates shared the TIP does include some bike and sidewalk facilities. SR Planner Basinger explained how the TIP is reviewed every year b� Public Works. This plan will assist the City in getting a piece of the federal dollars to which we all contribute to. Commissioner Carroll stated there were still two issues unanswered, safety problem along Mission and the time frame in which we address it. Sr. Traffic Engineer Inga Note stated current status of the Mission Road project is that Public Works has the funding for design of the roadway. Due to other projects design work has not begun, however they expect to begin in the fa1L Ms. Note stated staff expects to be doing neighborhood meetings to discuss the amenities they would like to see. Ms Note stated that although there have been discussions regarding a shared use path in the area, they are not generally in locations with driveways or heavy traffic or cross streets due to safety concerns. Commissioner Carroll now asked about time lines listed in the plan. Mr. Basinger stated staff wanted to list some type of benchmarks in the plan however the purpose was to only have to goals to work towards. Commissioner Stoy asked what is the deadline was for obtaining funding for these projects. Ms. May responded the EECBG has a three year time frame, Nov. 2012 is when the grant funds have to be used. The grant money is slated for the preparation of the plan itsel£ The timeline for any of the projects listed in the plan do not have any due dates or time lines. Mr. Kuhta shared there are no pending grants in which are waiting for the adoption of this plan in order for us to apply for them. 07-07-ll Planning Commission Minutes Page 8 of 9 Commissioner Neill moved amend the original motion to change the verbiage "time frame implementation" from one year to as resources allow. Commissioner Hall stated he did not see a time frame in the plan that the amendment was replacing or making better. Commissioner Hall stated he thought the concern was an unfunded mandate, to which Commissioner Neill agreed. Mr. Hall said he did not see that anywhere in the plan. Commissioner Bates shared that in some places it states `one year.' Commissioner Neill shared that in nine places it states "Implementation: one year". Mr. Neill said, some of the projects staff is already working on, however he did not see why changing the wording would make any difference. Mr Neill shared his concern is, if the plan states one year, then the projects concerned must be done in one year, he said he just did not want it put in a way that would force the City to have to do something. Commissioner Bates if it says one year, does it mean it has to be done? It still must be approved by the City Council and funds appropriated, is this not true. Mr. Basinger stated most of the ideas listed do not require any funding, for instance, continue to require bicycle racks with new development. Most things state, consider or continue, and so it states something we are already doing. The vote on the amendment is 1 in favor, S against, motion fails. Commissioner Carroll asked to have the original motion re-read. Ms. Griffith restated the motion "to adopt the findings and staff report and recommend approval to the City Council to amend the Comprehensive Plan text to include Chapter 11 the Bike and Pedestrian Element." The vote the motion is 6 in favor and 0 against. Motion passes. GOOD OF THE ORDER There was nothing for the good of the order X. ADJOURNMENT The being no other business the meeting was adjourned at 8:51 p.m. SUBMITTED: APPROVED: Deanna Griffith, Administrative Assistant John G. Carroll, Chairperson 07-07-ll Planning Commission Minutes Page 9 of 9