Planning 2013-05-21 Minutes - Work Session - Comprehensive Plan Southcenter / Tukwila Urban Center and Transportation Element

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PC Work Session Minutes different centers. Some can do inclusionary housing i.e. you must make 10% of housing affordable. South King County has different market conditions and so incentives will be more appropriate. Lynn concluded discussion of the Southcenter /Urban Center element by reporting that an update of the Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement for the Southcenter Plan is being prepared, and must be completed before the Planning Commission sees the Development Regulations again. Once the Planning Commission approves changes, the entire Southcenter Plan /Development Regulations /Design Manual package will go to the City Council. Transportation Element: Nora introduced Cyndy Knighton of the Tukwila Public Works Department. Cyndy Knighton, Senior Program Manager provided background on the Transportation Element, including how it was developed and, Growth Management Act (GMA), regional requirements and other concerns. As background to the current update of the Transportation Element policies, staff prepared detailed modeling projections with Public Works and Planning working closely to see what will happen in the future. The GMA requires Tukwila to update its Transportation element, and to assess where we are and where we want to be. Our big concern is funding. The Transportation Element is a tool to implement the City's vision, including city growth and regional growth, and other City plans, including the Strategic Plan, Commute Trip Reduction, sub -area plans, and GTEC. Tukwila must also provide infrastructure for non - motorized facilities. The Transportation Element is lock -step with land use. We have already established Level of Service (LOS) for all locally -owned facilities, but are affected by state -owned facilities even though we don't control them. Transit LOS is required even though we don't control the agency. We need to work cooperatively with other agencies. Financing CIP projects is also key. New regional requirements mean that policies must be tweaked, for example, to include a multi -modal LOS for pedestrian, bicycle and transit. We must evaluate our financial capabilities and recognize that the projects we propose to achieve this are fiscally constrained. Multi -year financing plan goes with budget, and raises questions of how additional funding will be raised. GMA requires balancing growth with capacity. Concurrency /Level of Service standard allows us to say that we have to have adequate capability to meet growth targets and where the growth will happen. Tukwila must be able to balance growth, capacity and funding. In 2005, the City established Level of Service Standards, including mostly LOS E in commercial areas, and LOS D for larger residential intersections. Commissioner McLeod asked for an explanation of the LOS lettering system. 4 Rf Z: \DCD \PC minutes- -5.21 & 5.23\5-2 1 -13- -Work Session Minutes.doc 6/20/2013