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PC APPROVED Minutes 02-28-13 Spokane Valley Planning Commission APPROVED Minutes Council Chambers — City Hall, 11707 E. Sprague Ave. February 28, 2013 I. CALL TO ORDER Chair Bates called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. II. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE Commissioners, staff and audience stood for the pledge of allegiance III. ROLL CALL COMMISSIONERS Present Absent CITY STAFF Bill Bates-Chair � �- John Hohman, Community Development Director Joe Stoy-Vice Chair Erik Lamb,Deputy City Attorney Steven Neill � - Lori Barlow, Senior Planner Kevin Anderson l° Christina Carlsen Robert McCaslin 1- Can Hinshaw, secretary IV. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Commissioner Stoy made a motion to approve the agenda as presented. This motion was passed unanimously. V. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Commissioner Stoy made a motion to approve the February 14, 2013 minutes as presented. This motion was passed unanimously. VI. PUBLIC COMMENT There was no public comment. VII. COMMISSION REPORTS There was no Commission Reports. VIII. ADMINISTRATIVE REPO i:TS Planning Commission Minutes Page 1 of 4 Community Development Director John Hohman explained that City Hall at the Mall went well with a huge influx of people. He stated it was a good environment. In addition, Mr. Hohman explained that on Tuesday March 5, 2013 he will be doing a report to city Council on the sign code, with an update of the process the City went thru to adopt the new sign regulations. Also, Mr. Hohman will be updating Council on the educational efforts on the new sign regulations& code enforcement process that the city just recently completed. Mr. Hohman stated that the City Council had a workshop on Tuesday, February 26, 2013 and that there were two items that Community Development was involved in: 1. A discussion on manufactured home park zoning. Some residents spoke to Council several times in the fall, looking for a Comprehensive Plan Amendment to provide a specific mobile home park zone that would provide protection for them. They are concerned about cases where a property owner would want to do a different type of development on the property. Right now there is a one year notice that the state requires before they can change the use of a mobile home park. 2. Staff is conducting an ongoing study for City Hall, taking a look at how much space City Hall operations require. Mr. Hohman stated they are looking at different options, both on the Sprague/Appleway corridor and elsewhere within the city, to see what's available. This will be brought back to City Council within the next few months. IX. COMMISSION BUSINESS A. Unfinished Business: Commissioner Stoy made Motion to approve the findings of fact for CTA-01-13. This motion was passed unanimously. B. New Business: Lori Barlow presented a brief overview of CTA-02-13, a proposed amendment to increase the Categorial Exemptions as authorized by the State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA). Ms. Barlow covered the following items: 1. Description of the Code Text Amendment. 2. Backgound for the proposed amendment. 3. Purpose of of SEPA: A tool that identifies the impacts that may result from government decisions permits regulations policies or plans. Information provided allows agencies, applicants and public to understand environmental impacts and to identify mitigation that woud lessen the impacts. 4. State and local agencies conduct SEPA reviews. 5. SEPA review process. 6. Environmental Checklist SEPA isused in the decision making process by utilizing information provided on the Environmental Checklist to identify if the project should be conditioned or denied.. Planning Commission Minutes Page 2 of 4 7. A Categorical Exemption is a Statutory provision that exempts certain projects from SEPA review(RCW 43.21C). 8. Flexible Thresholds. 9. Proposed Amendment: Ms. Barlow stated that in item number four there will be a slight deviation in the language: Up to 30,000 square feet of gross floor area and parking facilities designed for up to 90 parking spaces will be exempt from the environmental review. A sentence will be added that: a standalone parking facility up to 90 parking spaces will also be exempt from environmental review. This is consistent with the WAC. There will be no additional public notice requirements since this revision is just clarifying the intent and not making any substantive changes. Mr. Hohman added that the City has a lot of regulations on the books and SEPA duplicates a lot of efforts. The SEPA process takes six weeks and raising the categorical exemptions will streamline the process by eliminating an unnecessary review step. Increasing the thresholds results in more exempt projects, and reduces staff workload. Commissioner Anderson needed some explanation regarding the SEPA rule and adoption. Ms. Barlow explained that the City is not mandated to increase its thresholds. Ms. Barlow stated that Spokane County, Airway Heights, City of Spokane and Liberty Lake are not going through an amendment process at this time. The other jurisdictions will be waiting for the end of this coming year (2013) to see what other changes may result from the review of the SEPA rules. The City of Spokane Valley may be the first jurisdiction in the State of Washington to increase its flexible thresholds. Commissioner Anderson asked if there would ever be any jurisdictions that would not adopt the rules. Ms. Barlow responded that each jurisdiction has different regulations in place and as part of the process one must establish findings that show they have addressed all of the elements which were noted in the presentation. Ms. Barlow noted that many jurisdictions adopt the minimums. Mr. Hohman explained that Planning Manager Scott Kuhta is participating in a lot of discussions and that there may still be a lot of changes coming in the future. If there are changes, staff will come back and revise them at that time. Commissioner Stoy wanted to know when the new flexible thresholds became available, and if the checklist will be changed. Ms. Barlow stated the new rules were adopted January 28, 2013 and that the checklist will not be changed. Commissioner Stoy asked if all the flexible requirements have been looked at. Ms. Barlow stated yes all of the possible maximum thresholds are being proposed to be increased. .Commissioner McCaslin asked if the thresholds were being loosened because of complaints. Mr. Hohman explained it was not complaints that prompted them; it was a standpoint of some movement in the legislature and would we like to participate. Mr. Hohman further stated that when you look at the economy and fostering economic development the city really wants to be on the forefront of that to eliminate redundancy. Commissioner Stoy stated that in his 30 years doing SEPA's,the biggest complaint was the fees and that there is no standardization. Commissioner Bates asked how the developers will know that new exemptions are in effect. Ms. Barlow stated that with this comes a public hearing, which means publication and noticing would take place Planning Commission Minutes Page 3 of 4 and developers will be alerted to the status thru the pre-app meetings and notification through the Department's e-mail list. Mr. Hohman also discussed that this is specific to the development code and once adopted by ordinance it is what they will be working with. He noted that the SEPA checklist can be found on the website under: Community Development/Planning and Zoning/Applications and Forms/State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA) Checklist. Commissioner Bates asked if there was any way that flexible thresholds can be construed as a developer's agreement like there are with other regulations. Mr. Hohman stated no. X. GOOD OF THE ORDER There was nothing for the good of the order. XIo ADJOURNMENT The being no other business the meeting was adjourned at 7:04 p.m. t9D„tf--e cp_ -------- , Bill Bates, Chairperson i Cari Hinshaw,PC Secretary Date signed -� CT" /--i' 1 Planning Commission Minutes Page 4 of 4