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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1989-01-16 Regular MinutesJanuary 16, 1989 7:00 P.M. CALL TO ORDER and PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE ROLL CALL OFFICIALS APPOINTMENTS Police Officers CONSENT AGENDA Ordinance #1499 TUKWILA CITY COUNCIL Regular Meeting M I N U T E S Tukwila City Hall Council Chambers Mayor Mayor Van Dusen called the Regular Meeting of the Tukwila City Council to order and led the audience in the Pledge of Allegiance. MABEL J. HARRIS; JOE H. DUFFIE; MARILYN STOKNES, Council President; EDGAR D. BAUCH; JOAN HERNANDEZ; DENNIS ROBERTSON; CLARENCE MORIWAKI. JOHN COLGROVE, City Attorney; MAXINE ANDERSON, City Clerk; RICK BEELER, Planning Director; ALAN DOERSCHEL, Finance Director; ROSS EARNST, Public Works Director; TOM KEEFE, Fire Chief; JOHN MCFARLAND, City Administrator; RON WALDNER, Police Chief; DON WILLIAMS, Parks and Recreation Director. Mayor Van Dusen issued the oath of office to two new Police Officers ROBERT DEGROOT AND MICHAEL AULD. Chief Waldner presented badges to the new officers. a. Approval of Minutes: December 19, 1988 b. Approval of Vouchers (Final 1988 vouchers and beginning of 1989) Claims Fund Vouchers #37687 Current Fund City Street Arterial Street Fire Equip. Cum. Reserve Land Acq., Bldg., Dev. Water Fund Sewer Fund Water /Sewer Construction Foster Golf Course Equipment Rental Firemen's Pension Claims Fund Vouchers #37811 General Fund City Street Water Fund Sewer Fund Foster Golf Course Equipment Rental Firemen's Pension #37806 99,275.23 51,011.77 58,317.09 333.75 11,573.00 24,902.50 7,038.04 110,701.54 8,033.09 8,521.83 632.16 $380,340.00 #37939 $194,847.69 8,904.00 3,608.04 56,243.57 3,175.68 5,083.92 1,298.00 $273,160.90 c. An ordinance of the City of Tukwila, Wash., amending Ordinance No. 1462 and Chapter 16.52 of the Tukwila Municipal Code to meet regulations for flood plain mana- gement and model flood damage prevention policies as required of jurisdictions participating in the National Flood Insurance Program and repealing Ordinance No. 1498. MOVED BY HARRIS, SECONDED BY STOKNES, THAT THE CONSENT AGENDA BE APPROVED AS SUBMITTED. MOTION CARRIED. TUKWILA CITY COUNCIL, REGULAR MEETING January 16, 1989 Page 2 OLD BUSINESS Discussion on Cascade Zoning Discussion by Council is on whether or not to prohibit resi- dential uses from being permitted in office, commercial, and industrial zones, thereby limiting single and multiple family homes to the zoning districts specifically designed for resi- dential uses. Council Member Bauch said he thinks there are problems in the City, not necessarily in the annexation areas, but in the City in general. This has to do with the amount of multiple housing versus the single family housing. There is the constant pressure to rezone property to multiple residents. The property left is hillside or marginal. Something needs to be done. During the annexation hearings, Council discussed what should be done. He proposed at that time, that the "cascading" be taken out of the office zone. The hazard with allowing the cascading in a P.O. zone is that it cascades immediately down to R.M.H. If we eliminate the cascading out of the P.O., maybe we should bring back all of those zoned properties and let the people decide whether they want a P.O. or a multiple zone. In the commercial zones we should eliminate the multiple except maybe down to R -2. Council Member Robertson stated he listened to the tape of last week's public hearing. He agrees with Council Member Bauch. If someone desires residential in a commercial or office zone, let them apply for a zoning code change. If property is not fit for office, then it should have a zoning change, and it should go through the normal rezoning process. We cannot assume that all property that is zoned commercial/ office is appropriate for residential uses. In general this City has, including areas that may he annexed, more than enough multi family. If you zone something high density or allow apartments to be put on it, they will be put on it because that is the highest dollar value that the landlord can get. But the government has the right to zone the pro- perty to fit the needs of the people. This will make some people happy and some people unhappy. This decision needs to be made before the election. The citizens in the area have a right to take this into consideration when they vote. We need one set of building codes for the whole City. Council Member Moriwaki said we are looking for a balance. He wants accountability and honesty and wants the intent to be clear. People are using Professional Office as a backdoor means to get multi family when they know there would be oppo- sition to multi family if they requested it. This isn't fair to the people who live around that area and would be impacted by a development; it isn't fair to the City who is trying to follow a plan; and it isn't fair to the Council who has to make the decisions and stand by them. It was pointed out to him at a meeting he had attended that elected officials are not there to increase the profit of a developer but to increase the value of the community. Development should be environmentally sensitive and should add value to the com- munity as far as it is fitting and add to the quality of life. We are trying to control the development of our City. Council Member Harris commented that if Council approves changing the cascading zoning, we should give the people who were allocated the P.O. zoning the opportunity to see if they would like to change the zoning to something else. She asked for an inventory of the existing P.O. zoning. She said she would go along with the change in the cascading zoning if it goes up to R -3. C TUKWILA CITY COUNCIL, REGULAR MEETING January 16, 1989 Page 3 OLD BUSINESS Cont. Discussion on Cascade Council Member Duffie agreed that Council should meet with Zoning (cont.) the property owners. Discuss Annexation Planning Council Member Bauch suggested Council pass a resolution of intent to do this after the annexations. Council asked the attorney to come back with a legal opinion on procedure for dealing with individual properties. Council Member Robertson suggested that the ordinance should say that we end cascade zoning of residential zoning into any P.O. and above zoning with the exception of R -1 and R -2. Council agreed with this. Mayor Van Dusen explained the next step in review of the pre annexation planning issue is consideration of anticipated critical service demands. Council's review of these demands for service will permit the staff to begin to tailor more accurate staffing and equipment estimates. The concluding point in the process would be the submission of a supplemen- tal budget and timetable to allow for specific actions by the administration prior to and immediately following the annexa- tion vote on February 7. Council Member Bauch asked about how many new employees the report from the Department of Community Development will require. Rick Beeler explained he was estimating 8 people for all annexations but may have to come back later with a request for more depending on the permit load. Another thing is the requirement for the City to do a Shoreline Master Plan. King County has not done one for the north section of Fire District #1 area. Council member Moriwaki asked about space for new people. Mr. Beeler said the City is looking at the building next door. They are looking at a new permit center which would combine the permits from Public Works, Fire Marshall, Planning, and Building. Ninety percent of the workload in Tukwila now is tenant improvements. It appears it will be about the same in Fire District #1. Council President Stoknes asked if two new Police investiga- tors are enough. Chief Waldner explained that they looked at the known part -one crimes murder, robbery and rape to burglary, and serious theft in the area to be annexed. Two is a conservative estimate. Ross Earnst, Public Works Director, explained that the first person he is requesting under Surface Water is an engineer. The utility permit system has been split between surface water and water /sewer. With the annexation of Fire District #1, all of the areas not in a sewer district will have to come under our sewer utility even though there are no sewers. The Comprehensive Plan will have to be updated. The com- missioners of Water District #25 have said that once they annex, all of Water District #25 will come into the City. They want to join the City's water system. This would put them out of work. The reorganization of the Maintenance Department will change to a Street Division, a section for traffic control devices, and street maintenance. Under uti- lities, it would be divided into water and sewer /surface water. They will be changing locations in the building next door to include a larger area on the east side of the first floor. They do not intend to hire people or purchase equip- ment until they are needed. TUKWILA CITY COUNCIL, REGULAR MEETING January 16, 1989 Page 4 OLD BUSINESS Cont. Discuss Annexation Planning (cont.) REPORTS Martin Luther King's Birthday Pond Property Council Member Bauch asked for the ratio of the assessed valuation of the City, assessed valuation of Fire District #1 and of Riverton /Foster /Thorndyke, and the population of each so he can compare ratios. It would be helpful to look at cities with the same assessed valuation and the same popula- tion to look at staffing levels. Alan Doerschel, Finance Director, commented that the 1990 budget will be the first chance for Council to see the total impact on the City of the annexations. Council Member Robertson asked if the annexations fail, will the new permit process still be used. Mr. Beeler said he believes it would. Report on Centennial Wendy Morgan, 15144 65th Ave. So., #404, reported that the Projects Historical Society is interested in working with the City on the history. Other cities have found that this takes a great deal of volunteer effort. Past history has also showed that to write a history will take longer than one year. One of the significant parts of the process is the gathering of information. The first step is to look at other histories in the area, to look at style, content, and to think about what is important to our area. Once this is determined, we will put out a request for quotations from consultants who are available to write histories. The writer will be selected to work with the volunteers. It will take six months to a year to gather information and put it together in some form. The final product will be a pictorial, narrative history. Another issue is that of archiving documents and making them available to the public. Mayor Van Dusen clarified that the Historical Society is a private organization with the City on the other side which is a public organization which is funding some of this. He has asked the Centennial Committee to draw these two together. The Centennial Committee recommended that a history be writ- ten. He supports this project but wants it to be a first class book. The $25 furnishes seed money to get the help of a consultant. Council Member Duffie reminded Council that last year Council said they would decide what action to take to celebrate Martin Luther King's Birthday. He asked not to have it delayed any longer. John McFarland, City Administrator, explained that last year the State proclaimed Martin Luther King's Birthday as a holi- day. They did not add the holiday to the list of days man datorially assigned by the State to subdivisions. Many cities have designated one of the Floating Holidays as Martin Luther King Day. We are constrained by the bargaining units. Council Member Robertson asked Administration to come up with a list of things to be considered that would be legal. Council Member Bauch suggested the City sponsor a program at City Hall on Martin Luther King Day and excuse all non emergency employees from work to attend the program. The business community could also be invited. Council Member Bauch expressed concern about the development occurring on the pond property. There are deep tracks being made beside the pond. He is concerned about the pre -load TUKWILA CITY COUNCIL, REGULAR MEETING January 16, 1989 Page 5 REPORTS Cont. Pond Property (cont.) going on the area because we don't know what is underneath. He is concerned about the City's liability when they put this pre -load on, and it starts pressing the "muck" out into the pond or out onto Strander Blvd. He hopes every precaution will be made to protect the City. ADJOURNMENT Council Member Hernandez reported that they have had a fact sheet on the annexations written to mail to those citizens that signed the petition against the Fire District #1 annexation. 10:00 p.m. MOVED BY BAUCH, SECONDED BY HARRIS, THAT THE REGULAR MEETING OF THE TUKWILA CITY COUNCIL ADJOURN. MOTION CARRIED. "G 3' L. 'Van Dusen, Mayor G %tin Maxine Anderson, City Clerk COUNCIL MEMBER BAUCH COUNCIL MEMBER STOKNES (Inaudible) COUNCIL MEMBER BAUCH EXCERPT FROM TUKWILA CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF JANUARY 16, 1989 I have a -it's not a report, but it's a problem on my mind. As I come down my road, I look out over the valley at the pond, and I see the deep tracks that are now being made beside the pond. Last week, Rick reported that they had issued the fill permit. I'm very familiar with the Tukwila valley; I saw it before the first load of dirt went in it, and I watched them as they filled, and, as Dennis says, I watched them as they dug out the mud and put in dirt, and I'm concerned about the pre -load that's going on the area next to Strander Boulevard next to the pond. The first thing that -I was shocked to find out that our Planning Director did not require an EIS. I think that this is a gross malfeasance of office as I think that the issues down there needed and required an EIS. To say that you didn't need an EIS -that really shocked me. That's water over the dam, but it's something that makes me suspect of our Planning Director's mode of thinking if he doesn't require an EIS for a project of that magnitude. I don't know but, I mean, that's water over the dam, but my concern about the pre -load on the property is that we don't know what's underneath that and it's undoubtedly, it's muck because I've walked that area down there just within the last year, and I look down in the pot holes and see the methane bubbling up, out of -not out of the pond, but out of the filled area -the methane; so that means that the muck in there is decaying. That means that it's still very -got a lot of organic matter in it. I'm concerned about the City's liability when they put the pre -load on it and they start pressing the muck out and the muck just squeezes like a tube of toothpaste, comes out in the pond or comes out on Strander Boulevard. Running along Strander Boulevard is a high pressure gas line and if that pre -load comes over and breaks the gas line, I think that we got problems so I would hope that the City would do everything that they can do to protect their liability in that -that, that surcharge that's being put on there because that's the last piece of property down there, and it's going to move away and it's muck. It's undoubtedly because just a short distance away a sewer line was put in, and it collapsed because of the muck and so it's not something that is pipe dreams; it's a reality. The pond appeared down there simply because of all the development and the surcharges all around it. I think that we need to do everything that can possibly be done to protect that, and I'll be here to tell you that I told you so when it happens, if you don't do something to protect it. That's it. CE R T I F I CAT 10 N I, Maxine Anderson, City Clerk for the City of Tukwila, Washington, do hereby certify that this copy is an excerpt from the recording of the Tukwila City Council Meeting of January 16, 1989. The original recording of this meeting is on file in the office of the City Clerk. DATED THIS 18TH DAY OF JANUARY, 1989. 'MMaxinAnderson, City Clerk