Planning 2019-04-11 Item 3 - Adoption of 3/28/19 Minutes

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City of Tukwila Planning Commission PLANNING COMMISSION (PC) MINUTES Date: March 28, 2019 Time: 6:30 PM Location: Council Chambers Present: Chair Dennis Martinez; Vice Chair Heidi Walters; Commissioners Sharon Mann, Mike Hansen, Karen Simmons and Dixie Stark Absent: Commissioner Louise Strander Staff: Department of Community Development (DCD) Deputy Director Nora Gierloff, and Planning Commission Secretary Wynetta Bivens Adopt Commissioner Stark made a motion to adopt the February 28, 2019 Minutes: minutes. Commissioner Watters seconded the motion. Motion passed. Chair Martinez opened the public hearing and swore in those wishing to provide testimony. CASE NUMBER: L18-0075 Shoreline Master Program (SMP) Update APPLICANT: The City of Tukwila and Department of Ecology Nora Gierloff, Deputy Director, DCD, gave the presentation for staff. She provided an overview of the proposed changes. She said two combined changes are being made, 1) Critical Areas Ordinance, for which the review process has started, and 2) Shoreline Regulations, the focus tonight is only on the SMP. These changes are combined because there are often critical areas within the shoreline jurisdiction. Therefore, the changes need to be made concurrently and adopted together. Washington State requires a periodic review of the regulations to make sure they are current with state law and best available science. The review of the SMP is due, which provides the opportunity to make sure the statewide regulations are current. Also, some streamlining, and house -keeping changes will be done to make the ordinance more usable and understandable, It's been several years since the last updates. She said the City can create the local SMP, but it needs to be in alignment with the State goals of the Shoreline Management Act. The Commissioners were asked to think about how the use of shorelines can be maximized for the greatest amount of people,, as well as preserving the habitats, the ecological environment and economic possibilities for future generations. The reason why the State has a say in what the City is doing along the Green River is because it is considered a shoreline of statewide significance. The City is working jointly with the Department of Ecology on the policy updates and are discussing proposed changes and coordination with them. PROPOSED CHANGES: • Re -write the SMP to streamline history in the document and make additional changes. • Remove the regulations, goals and policies from the SMP since they are in the Comprehensive Plan and Zoning Code. • Update the transition zone map. • Update the references to the Revised Code of Washington and Washington Administrative Code References. • Edit the Zoning Code to be consistent with State regulation. • Housekeeping and consolidate tables. • Allow more flexibility for recreational structures in the buffer. • Adopt King County's trail width standards of 12 ft. with two ft. shoulders on both sides. • Clarify that people can remove invasive species, such as blackberries along the river.