HomeMy WebLinkAbout1995-07-31 Committee of the Whole MinutesJuly 31 1995
6:00 p.m.
CALL TO ORDER Council President Ekberg called the Committee of The Whole
Meeting to order and led the audience in the Pledge of Allegiance.
ROLL CALL
OFFICIALS
CITIZEN'S COMMENTS None.
TUKWILA CITY COUNCIL
COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE MEETING
MINUTES
Tukwila City Hall
Council Chambers
JOE DUFFIE; JOAN HERNANDEZ; ALLEN EKBERG, Council
President; DENNIS ROBERTSON; STEVE MULLET; PAM
CARTER; JIM HAGGERTON.
JOHN MCFARLAND, City Administrator; LINDA COHEN,
CITY ATTORNEY; LUCY LAUTERBACH, Council Analyst;
STEVE LANCASTER, DCD Director; JACK PACE, Senior
Planner; ROSS EARNST, Public Works Director; RANDY
BERG, Project Manager; RON CAMERON, City Engineer; DON
WILLIAMS, Parks and Recreation Director.
SPECIAL ISSUES
Discussion of New Community Mayor Rants explained that the results of the Community Center
bids bid openings were not particularly encouraging. The two low
bidders have asked to have their submissions withdrawn due to
bidding error. The third lowest bid, while responsive, exceeds the
engineer's estimate by $400.000. Mayor Rants continued that the
Community Center represents the center -piece of our
Neighborhood Revitalization Strategy. He's concerned that if we
attempt to redesign or scale down the quality of the project, we will
quickly regret that decision. We are building a center that will
stand for 50 years or more. Economizing construction today will
result in higher operating and maintenance costs in the future.
Every effort will be made to identify potential, meaningful cost
savings with the contractor. The Finance Director is working to
develop options within the Six Year Capital Plan that will lessen
the impacts of the project. This will not be a simple task and will
require us to carefully assess this project in light of all the capital
projects we would like to accomplish in the next few years. He
said he believes we can build a Community Center that we can all
be proud of, while maintaining fiscal responsibility in our overall
capital program. Therefore, it is his recommendation that the
Council authorizes the Administration to move ahead with the
Committee of The Whole Meeting Minutes
July 31, 1995
Page 2
New Community Center
bids (Cont'd)
Amend Agenda
REPORTS
Comp Plan Deliberations
ADJOURNMENT
10:15 p.m.
project, awarding the bid to Berschauer Phillips Construction in the
amount of $7,392,951; include up to $117,752 in "deductibles,"
making a possible bid award of $7,275,199.
Don Williams, Parks Recreation Director, commented that
several options concerning the bid award had been reviewed: 1)
award the bid; 2) delay bid award; 3) add additional funding;
redesign the building. Williams said we need to keep cost as low
as possible and still provide a facility in a timely manner that will
include the elements the community expects and that the BAR will
approve.
After a very extensive and lengthy discussion, it was the consensus
of the Council to go with Option #1 -to award the bid to
Berschauer Phillips Construction Co., in the amount of $7,275,199;
then forward to the next Regular Council for possible approval.
It was the consensus of the Council to amend the agenda to have
Reports precede the Comp Plan Deliberations.
Mayor Rants reported that he had attended and was appointed to
serve as representative on the steering committee for future funding
of parks and open space with King County, City of Seattle, and
Suburban Cities.
Councilmember Hernandez reported that she had attended the
Night Out Against Crime at Foster High School. It was well
attended and well represented by the staff and the community. The
City's new VISTA volunteer, Jennifer, spoke on behalf of the City
and did a very nice job.
Refer to Verbatim Transcript attached.
MOVED BY DUFFIE, SECONDED BY MULLET, TO
ADJOURN THE MEETING. MOTION CARRIED.
kberg, C ncil President
G-
Celia Square, DeAty City Clerk
Deliberations on the Comprehensive Plan
July 31, 1995
Those Present: Mayor Rants; Councilmembers, Allan
Ekberg, Council President; Dennis Robertson; Steve
Mullet; Pam Carter; Jim Haggerton.
Those Absent: Joe Duffie.
Staff Present: Jack Pace, Senior Planner; Vernon
Umetsu, Associate Planner; Ann Siegenthaler, Associate
Planner; Lucy Lauterbach, Council Aid; John McFarland,
City Administrator.
MR. EKBERG. I was informed that on Thursday
night when we meet we will be able to meet here in
this room instead in the conference room.
MS. HERNANDEZ: Tuesday and Thursday here?
MR. EKBERG: Tuesday and Thursday. Okay.
Well, we have before us, probably, logistically, one
of the more difficult things we'll have to work with.
And that's the large scale maps they have before us.
And I thought I would solicit, going around
the room, ideas that we can use to work these maps and
try to figure from the rest of us what our thoughts
are, and put that down on paper, and make a game plan.
MR. MULLET: Color crayons.
MR. ROBERTSON: Wide ones.
MR. EKBERG: The one thing I thought about,
and I'll start the ball rolling, would be to go
through a map, a section at a time based on the map,
one of maps before us. Try not to jump around the
borders of Tukwila, if you will. Comments, Dennis?
MR. ROBERTSON: Can I try something
different? To spend five minutes of each map and go
back and forth. Seriously, I think if tonight we went
through each map, basically, seeing, having a
recording of every area that some one of the eight
counsel members is interested in discussing or
changing let's put it that way, but not discussing.
Almost like you would do a consensus agenda.
We're going to go through and mark the areas on all
four maps. So we will have an idea how big a battle
we're going to have, and what the issues really are.
I don't know if there is only 3 issues, or 76, or
whatever.
If you went through the maps. And we just
took turns on one map at a time, telling you what maps
we wanted to discuss and mark with a florescent
marker, are something, to mark on it. And then we're
all done; stop and take a breather, and see how much
we really have, and then lay it out.
But I'd, kind of, like to know what the
issues really are, and where the council sits before
we get into prolonged debate on a particular point.
MS. HERNANDEZ: That's true, Dennis, but I
don't know where some of the issues are until I have
some answers to some questions. So I need some staff
assistance in answering some questions before I move
into the phase that you're talking about.
MR. ROBERTSON: What I would suggest, all you
have to do, is, say, there's an issue, an area, one of
ones that's marked off, that you'd like to discuss.
Then you might want more information on it. We can
ask staff for that. But we can go through and pick
all of those areas. Anyway, that was one approach.
MS. HERNANDEZ: Well, I think what's
important to me, which I don't know how to find the
answer for just by looking at these maps is what the
current zoning is. To me, that would make a
difference, what the current zoning is.
We're looking at proposed zoning, but we are
not being told what's the current zoning. I guess, if
I pulled that out and compared, I could. But just
looking at these alone doesn't tell you that. That's
one thing. I want to know how we are going to resolve
that
Allan?
MR. ROBERTSON: Where did you find that map,
MR. EKBERG: Where did I find that map? This
map here was sitting on a side table in the back of
the room at one of the meetings I attended as a
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council member. This is a previous Comp Plan map
based on Ann, help me out here, based on zoning.
MS. SIEGENTHALER: You, the counsel, have
been given previously the existing Comprehensive Plan
map at that scale which, I believe, is one inch equals
a thousand. You also have you asked staff to
provided you with an 11 by 17 reduced colored map of
the existing Comprehensive Plan, too. You do have
that.
So you can compare your two small plans,
existing Comprehensive Plan, and the Planning
Commission's proposed Comprehensive Plan map. I can
go get you, now, prior to your discussion, copies of
the existing Comprehensive Plan map at that one inch
equals a thousand scale if that will help in your
discussion tonight.
MR. ROBERTSON:
before we leave tonight,
MS. HERNANDEZ:
one of the colored ones,
at home.
ones.
MS. SIEGENTHALER: Does anyone need one of
the small 11 by 17, the colored existing Comp Plan
maps?
too.
We would like one of those
anyway.
I need one, and I also need
because I, evidently, left it
MR. ROBERTSON: I'll give one of my colored
MS. HERNANDEZ: And I'd like another one of
MR. MULLET: I'm sure I have it at home, but
I'd like another one.
MS. SIEGENTHALER: I ll get them to you so
you have them prior to the map discussion tonight.
MS. HERNANDEZ: And just the only other thing
I wanted to mention. In the land -use designations, I
was wondering why, here, the key is PE for public
recreation, but on the map it says PR.
MS. SIEGENTHALER: I think I can answer your
question now, or I can wait until the rest of the
council brings up your questions.
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MR. EKBERG: Tell us now.
MS. SIEGENTT'HALER: And your question was?
MS. HERNANDEZ: Why is the land -use
designation that PE is for public recreation, but on
the map it looks like they've used the PR.
MS. SIEGEN'THALER: The PE is a typographic
error, it should be PR.
MR. HAGGERTON: That's was easy to explain.
MR. CARTER: Allan, I think a combination of
your brilliant idea, and Dennis's brilliant idea would
probably work best. If we identified put the
little dots or marks on the map and give us an overall
idea, and then we can break it down into manageable
chunks.
Because, for instance, map number 1 is
practically all MIC. So there's probably not as many
issues. You get down to some of the other maps,
there's likely to be more issues. It maybe a couple
issues that take a long time out of those many issues.
So I think it would give us a better idea.
Then if they can develop a schedule so that we know
for the next week what we are going to be talking
about. Then we can do our preparation instead of all
become instant experts on everything.
MR. EKBERG: So the thing is to facilitate
this combined approach. If Ann or Jack would get a
copy of each one of these maps here, a large
scale -map, and hang it on the wall throughout the
room.
And, maybe, Lucy, if you had any of those
stickers, those yellow dots and red dot stickers, we
can all have some of those. And then, individually or
collectively, we can put dots on the map, like where
issues are we'd like to talk about.
Then from that, we can, or I could go offline
and get staff support, possibly figure out which
issues to talk about first.
MR. ROBERTSON: You could almost put it up
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there, and where the dots are we work our way down.
MS. CARTER: I had another question on
procedure. I thought we were considering our draft
EIS briefing tonight.
MR. EKBERG: We'11 get there.
MS. CARTER: Oh, we are.
MR. PACE: That's what I was going to ask, we
can give that presentation now, and then Vernon can
leave early.
MR. EKBERG: What I want to be clear on, what
we expect is the opportunity to go to maps that are
posted on the wall. It could be out of the foyer,
that might be easier, and then have dots available to
post on those maps. So we can come back and discuss
those. With that, Vernon please go forward.
MR. UMETSU: Thank you. Tonight I'd like to
give you a very short briefing on the Comprehensive
Plan Environment Impact Statement or EIS. The
proposed action in the EIS is the Planning
Commission's recommendation to the City Council for
growth management Comprehensive Plan.
Given the schedule, the way things were being
completed, that was the most complete articulation of
City policy that we had at the time when we had to
start on the this Comprehensive Plan. That was back
in January.
The existing Comprehensive Plan was used as
an alternative action whose impacts would be
contrasted with the proposed Comp Plan, and the
results of our analyzes are summarized on the
introductory page number 8 which is a summary table of
impacts mitigating measures and alternative impacts.
The Comprehensive Plan that you have been
reviewing is relatively general when compared with the
implementation and the implementing actions such as
road construction, couuuercial buildings, residential
buildings, industrial buildings. And so the analyses
is commensurately generalized in this environmental
impact statement, and that's why we called a
non project EIS.
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Now, the specific implementing actions for
this EIS, such as the road construction, such as
industrial building, and commercial building. Those
will be subject to their own detailed environmental
review when those projects are sufficiently designed
to allow for this close impacting analyses, and that's
your standard SEPA review that almost all projects go
through.
Once you have completed your review of the
Comprehensive Plan, we'll review it, and I should note
that any significant changes from the proposed action
will be reviewed by the City's designated SEPA
responsible official, who is Steve Lancaster, to
determine whether further environment review and /or
public comment periods are appropriate.
At this time, the draft impact statement has
been issued. It was issued on June 27th. The comment
period was extended from July 27th, by request from
Seattle City Light, to August llth. This would be
followed by the publication of the final impact
statement, which we anticipate to be somewhere around
September 25th.
There is to be a ten -day appeal period for
that FEIS. Then we would be done with all of your
environment impact analyses by October 5th, well
within the anticipated November 6th adoption date. At
this time are there any questions that I can answer
about the EIS or the process that we've used?
MR. EKBERG: Council?
MS. HERNANDEZ: Just that, do you have any
idea if we made any major changes that might require
it to be more extensively reviewed?
MR. UMETSU: It's hard for me to say what all
the changes have been because I haven't really been
here for all the changes. But what we will do is take
a look at all those changes and evaluate them with
respect to several dimensions.
First of all, what is the effect on our
statutory environments? How does it effect our
regional role as required by the GMA policies and the
King County planning policies that have been adopted?
And, finally, is it subject to regulation anyway? If
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the changes are not subject to regulations, perhaps
they are as significant.
MR. PACE: One thing I'd like to add to
council you have three documents that are being
reviewed by various people. You have the
Environmental Impact Statement, the City staff has
prepared to the State agency a review of the draft
plan.
They'll provide comments to you as well as we
submitted a draft and packet of material to the
Regional Planning Agency. They will provide comments.
What staff as trying to do is take these three
independent review comments, and coordinated them so
that they are done prior to your public hearing.
So when, you have your public hearing, you
can see all the various comments at one time. So
you're not getting piece -meal comments, one from the
SEPA, one from the State agencies, and one from the
regional agency. So that's our goal. So you have one
time and place to look at various comments and assess
what those comments are and make a decision.
Because maybe the State agency may say, we
want you to go left, while the regional agency wants
you to go to the right. Somebody else will say, we
want you to go up. We are trying to coordinate those
comments so you're being as effective and efficient as
possible in trying to deal with the variety of
comments that come in.
MR. EKBERG: Pam?
MS. CARTER: I have a problem with the
language that used about the schools, on page 85.
Okay, the top paragraph, it says: It should also be
noted that South Central Schools accept students from
outside district boundaries, this includes students
dismissed or expelled from other school districts.
That is what all public school districts do
in this State. There is a choice law now, and all
districts must accept out -of- districts students if
there's one space available in the schools. And they
may only refuse students if they pose a threat to the
health or safety of staff and other students.
So, this makes it sound like South Central
Schools are going out of their way to let in
troublemakers. Which is not the way it is. Certain
students that are expelled, for instance, for bringing
a handgun to school, the district is not required to
take them in.
But if its a student that's been dismissed
or expelled from another school district, South
Central evaluates them on a case -by -case basis. And I
think that's what most other school districts do. So
this gives the mistaken impression that they are
letting a lot of bad apples in.
MR. UMETSU: We can amend that by adding in:
As required by State law. We can amend that.
MS. CARTER: Well, and it's also that
sentence. It should be noted that they accept
students from outside district boundaries. That
sounds like we're one of the few districts that do
that. As I say, all districts are required to do that
by law.
MR. ROBERTSON: Why would you even bother
saying anything? What does that have to do with the
Comp Plan, that whole statement, with the Comp Plan
process?
MR. UMETSU: It goes to the question: Can
you collect can the school petition the City to
collect impact fees for facility development because
they are close to capacity in certain primarily
grades? I don't know whether you can do that.
If you are accepting students from out of
district and then saying that I'm close to capacity;
therefore, Mr. Developer, you owe me impact fees.
That was what we're looking at that question.
MS. CARTER: All districts have do that. So
far as I know, there haven't been any challenges where
a district has said, we don't have room and someone
has said, oh, yes, you do, you can put another desk in
there. And South Central has closed certain grade
levels to new out -of- district students. It needs some
other sort of wording there.
MR. MULLET: I think it can just be left out.
I don't think it has any pertinence here since all
school districts do exactly the same thing.
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account.
MR. UMETSU: Okay. I will take that into
MS. CARTER: And then further down, below the
table, it says, "No facility expansions are projected
in the district's six -year Capital Improvement
Program." I don't believe they have a six -year
Capital Improvement Program, but they do have a
long -range facilities plan.
There are no dates tied to the remodeling and
expansion of Thorndike and Tukwila. But those are
forecasting long range. It's just they have to wait
until time is favorable to float a bond issue and get
the voters to approve that.
So it's not that they haven't done any
planning; they do have a plan but there's not a
definite timetable.
MR. MULLET: Actually, since I chaired that
facility committee that set up that plan, the plan was
that when Sho;.lwalter and Cascadeview are done, those
are the two oldest schools, that Thorndike and Tukwila
will be brought onboard for remodeling.
And so that's basically what they were
waiting for is to get the two done we're doing now.
Actually, they've already been looked at so the review
has been done. It's just the phasing to get the
bonding and construction started. I'm sure we'll be
leaping right into it just as soon as Cascadeview and
Shoalwalter are done.
MS. CARTER: Find someone else to run.
MR. UMETSU: So you're looking at Thornlike
Elementary and what was the other one? Tukwila
Elementary will be upgraded in the near future. Okay.
MR. MULLET: Pending voter approval.
MS. CARTER: On page 87, the second
paragraph, there's another statement there, the last
sentence: In addition, the district's resources have
also been encumbered by accepting dismissed or
expelled students from other school districts. I
think that sentence could go.
9
And on page 88, the last bullet: Where
proposed mitigation. It says that the districts
should prepare a long -range facilities strategic plan.
They do have a facilities plan.
MR. MULLET: Yes.
MS. CARTER: Then if I could continue, I had
problem on page 108 with the proposed intersection and
arterial capacity improvements shown in Table 17.
Now, I understand this was taken from the
transportation element background report, because I
looked it up and found the table there, and these were
identified in the 1988 -1989 study.
However, it seems to me there's some things
on here that I heard council say they weren't really
interested in doing. For instance, the widening of
South 178th, "Construct a three -lane street with grade
for buses." I thought I had heard the council
definitely say they were not interested in that.
So I'm having a problem with this table being
put in here this way. And a citizen could easily
think these are the priorities that the council has
set for intersection and arterial improvements.
MR. EKBERG: What does the rest of council
think about that?
MS. HERNANDEZ: I think they might have been
at this time, but this doesn't have a date on it. So
it's kind of hard to tell. We did make this change.
MS. CARTER: It's like seven lanes for
Pacific Highway.
MR. HAGGERTON: What is our schedule to go
through this in detail?
correct.
MR. ROBERTSON: Has this been sent out yet?
MR. UMETSU: This has been issued; that is
MR. ROBERTSON: There's no sense going
through it in detail.
MR. UMETSU: It's been issued, and what we
expect is that we will receive comments, both from the
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council, as you wish, as a group or as an individual;
and from all of the jurisdictions, which we have
received some comments so far.
MR. HAGGERTON: So what are you doing after
you receive those comments?
MR. UMETSU: We will go through these. We'll
respond to all of them and modify this document as
necessary, and then issue a final impact statement.
MR. HAGGERTON: What's the schedule on that?
MR. UMETSU: We're anticipating issuing the
final impact statement September 25th, approximately.
Comments are due by August llth.
MR. EKBERG: Okay.
MR. MULLET: Vernon, can I just ask a general
question? Where did you get the information from
South Central Schools?
MR. UMETSU: Our consultant contacted the
administrative services section of the South Central
School District, and they talked to the representive
there. I couldn't tell you exactly who that was, but
I could find out easily.
MR. MULLET: I would appreciate that. There
is definitely some bad information. There is very
poor information. And as I said, I was on that Board
for almost two years. I guarantee you that was done,
but it's and I can understand if you contacted them
and got bad information. I would like to know who
that was at the school level.
MR. UMETSU: Okay.
MR. EKBERG: Other comments? Okay.
MR. UMETSU: If I might ask, what would be a
good resource to go and recheck this Table 17,
arterial movements? Would that be your six -year DIP
or 'the CIP?
MR. ROBERTSON: CIP is what we're hoping to
get back into this very shortly. I don't know how it
fits in within your timeline.
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MR. UMETSU: We can just go back and check
what was the most recent, the 1994 or 1995 DIP or CIP.
MR. MULLET: Only problem is we canceled
everything after 1995 last year.
MR. UMETSU: Okay.
MR. MULLET: So we basically started over.
Some of the things will naturally come back in again.
But when we started the neighborhood revitalization
project, we wanted to take a fresh look at all funding
as we got into it to make sure we were able to move
through it.
And so some of the transportation projects
will be moved, too, depending on what money is needed
and what other projects restarted. So it is a fresh
look this year. It's kind of difficult to say which
ones are going to be in and which ones are going to go
out at this time.
MR. UMETSU: We have made provisions for the
annual updating of this table and of the
transportation element of the Comprehensive Plan. So,
you know, as you adopted those, it would be adopted by
reference into the Comp Plan.
MR. EKBERG: Any other comments? Okay.
Thank you. Thanks.
MR. HAGGERTON: If there was no other
comments about that, I've got a question for you. We
received a book on the Preliminary Development
Regulations. Now, I heard a comment before we started
our meeting tonight that that book had been pulled
back for further review. And my question is: Should
we waste our time reviewing that yet or not? I've got
enough stuff to read.
MR. PACE: I have good news for you. You
don't need to review it.
MR. HAGGERTON: That's all I need to now.
MR. PACE: We are rescheduling the open
houses on the public hearing. There are some
corrections that need to be made. So we're taking
care of those before those are given out. We will
save the time and energy.
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MR. ROBERTSON: We're what? Rescheduling?
MR. PACE: The open house and public hearing
to make some corrections in that document to minimize
some confusion.
MR. ROBERTSON: What does the new schedule
look like?
MR. PACE: The regional public hearing was
scheduled for August 10th, We're doing it on the
24th.
MR. ROBERTSON: Two weeks?
MR. PACE: Yes.
MR. ROBERTSON: When do you expect to get
this to the council then?
MR. PACE: We're still shooting to get it to
the council sometime in September. We're making
adjustments.
MR. ROBERTSON: Sometime in September? The
commitment was the first week in September.
MR. PACE: We're still trying. We have Rick
redoing the schedule. I'm not seeing it revised. We
are working with the Planning Commission to change
some of your meeting schedules, so we can still try to
do this thing ahead.
MR. MCFARLAND: The Planning Commission
commitment is to get it to the council on the original
date. They are going to do everything they can to do
that. So at this point, as far as we're concerned,
we're still going to meet this original date.
MR. ROBERTSON: Which is what? Which
original date are you discussing?
MR. MCFARLAND: The first week in September.
MR. ROBERTSON: Okay. What happened?
MR. MCFARLAND: A combination of things, as
near has we can determine. The biggest problem was a
failure of the data base in the computer that we were
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using to publish this document resulted in the failure
of some information to get merged.
That, and the timeline which, basically, had
the printer standing at the counter to pick up the
plan, to get it out, and meet the timeline, resulted
in an ineffective review of the document in draft, at
least the final draft, before it was published.
Unfortunately, those things combined to create these
errors.
Many of them are very minor. But there are a
few errors that, in fact, are substantive, where some
tables were left out, some information that was to be
deleted was not deleted or added was not added. In
the technical editing over the weekend by a number of
people, these things have been picked up.
We're now publishing errata sheets. And
rather than trying to coordinate a series of errata
sheets with this huge document, we felt it was better
to make sure they are fully integrated and in a
reasonable format, so people can read them and
understand them.
A lot of discussion went on this morning on
options, and we felt this was the best way to go to
keep the integrity of the process and still try to
meet the schedule this was agreed upon to the council.
MR. ROBERTSON: Two points. It would have
been nice if the administration would have come
forward and stated this at the start of the meeting
instead of it coming out as a casual comment.
MR. MCFARLAND: Agreed.
MR. ROBERTSON: Two, this is a fairly serious
commitment and I'm not going to speak for the rest of
the council, but I've done two things based upon that
date. One is I've been working pretty long hard
evenings lately. I understand mistakes and screw ups
and computer errors, but they are almost always caused
by people.
MR. MCFARLAND: It was human error. It was a
failure to merge, but it should have been caught; it
wasn't.
MR. ROBERTSON: Second, I made a decision on
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whether to run or not, based upon the commitment that
this would be done the first of September. I would
expect to see that this commitment, to have it done by
the first of September, honored.
MR. MCFARLAND: As I said we spent several
hours this morning Jack, myself, Rick,
representatives from the Planning Commission, the
mayor trying to find ways to make sure that we meet
that commitment. And I think we felt confident when
we left that meeting that we would meet that
commitment.
Which is probably why we didn't burden you
with any kind of warning order to say that we might
not. We feel that the same level of intensity to meet
that commitment has probably doubled now because of
these other problems.
If it gets to the point where it looks like
we're not going do meet that date, council will be a
first to know. At this point we don't feel we're
going to miss that date. We think we can still do it.
MR. HAGGERTON: Will we get a book to replace
the one to start reviewing the preliminary draft? Do
you have any idea on that?
MR. PACE: Not yet. I'll have an idea about
the middle of this week, then I can have John brief
you next week.
MR. HAGGERTON: As it stands right now, I can
lay this aside and not worry about it until I get
another book?
MR. PACE: Yes.
MR. MCFARLAND: Nobody feels good about this.
I think in some ways it is a product of just the
amount of work we're compressing, all of us. The
council, the staff, the voluntary boards, and
commission compressing into a very, very short period
of time, and it just points out the need for
continuing oversight on this process.
We're going to miss things. What we don't
want to miss are big structural things that make a
huge difference. I'm sure we're going to miss a lot
of small things that we can come back and clean up.
15
We just need to make sure we don't miss big things
that move the plan in the direction that the council
does not want to move the plan. And that's what we're
trying to clean up right now.
Unfortunately, there are half a dozen things
that are either contained or not contained in that
document that need to be corrected. So that's what
we're going to concentrate on. Some of the little
things we've already decided we're not going do bother
with; they're inconsequential. So that was the crises
de jour this morning.
MR. EKBERG: Okay. Any comments or
questions? Vernon, do you have any questions before
we excuse you?
MR. UMETSU: No. Thank you.
MR. EKBERG: Thank you for your time. Behind
us we have maps on the wall. We have stickers. What
we can do right now is, for those who are comfortable
doing it, go up and put a sticker on the map where you
think you might have an issue that you would like to
talk about. Then we'll move through the maps.
Maybe starting at the north end first to get
a feel of what we are going to do, and then we'll
break. And we'll come back tomorrow and start
deliberation on other sections. We may get through
the north and the south tonight. Let's take a feeling
for it and see where we are. Tonight we have two
colors. I don't think any color matters.
MS. CARTER: To clarify, this isn't a
popularity contest if he puts a dot on something, I
don't need to put my dot.
[Brief recess taken.]
MR. EKBERG: We will reconvene. What we
would like to do, as you can see, Lucy is numbering
each dot on the map. So when we talk about the map
we're talking about a number. What will happen
between tonight and tomorrow is staff will get these
photocopied, and we will have these as our documents
to work from. So any maps you have now, keep them,
16
and we'll be working off these and off the numbers on
these, and so we're talking the same language.
Ann has two issues: One of business; one is
a glossary issue, and another one is the write -up for
the process for changing the Comprehensive Plan
document. She'd like to bring those out right now.
MS. SIEGENTHALER: These are two handouts
that address some council issues raised previously.
You have asked staff for some additional glossary
revisions, which wF have for you in the first handout.
And the council had also asked, under the Roles and
Responsibilities discussion, that staff take the
policy on monitoring and updating the plan and develop
a new section for the Comprehensive Plan.
And that is what we have done in the second
handout. If you're able to look at those tonight or
sometime before tomorrow night, it would be very
helpful for staff. If you can give us feedback on
those, and if you have any changes you might want in
your draft highlighted version this Friday. Thank
you.
MR. EKBERG: I would suggest that we move
through the glossary revisions like we did the last
time we looked at them. We can move through those
relatively quickly and digest them has they are put up
before us right now. Is everyone okay with that?
Okay. So let's turn to the handout, dated
July 28, on Comprehensive Plan glossary Revisions.
Okay. Regarding gross acre. Let's take a second to
look at it. Ann, for my understanding and
clarification or Jack gross area and the site
development scale, basically, it's total site from
border to border.
MS.SIEGENTHALER: That is correct, within the
property border.
MR. ROBERTSON: I would suggest instead of
saying at the site development scale, we say "at the
site development level."
MR. EKBERG: Okay.
MS. HERNANDEZ: I like that.
17
MR. ROBERTSON: In fact, in the next one,
too. I'd say at the area wide planning level. In
fact, I'd put "level" everywhere you've got "scale."
MR. EKBERG: Let's stay on glossary. Okay,
on the gross acre, one, section one, anyplace there's
"scale," we'll replace it with "level." On the
question regarding the area -wide planning level,
streams, and lakes, and things of that nature, would
they be included in this gross acreage or excluded?
MS. SIEGENTHALER: Your question is whether
or not streams or lakes would be included in gross
acres? The answer is that, typically, they would be
included.
MR. EKBERG: Will be included. All right.
Any other thoughts on gross acre glossary definition?
How about net acre. Let's look at that one. Once
again, we'll change "scale" to "level."
MR. MULLET: So to follow up on your
question, Allan, under "net acre" it say "total
acreage, less transferred, that transferred to public
ownership." I'm assuming that wet lands, unless
they're transferred to public ownership, would still
be included in the net acre.
MS. SIEGENTHALER: That's correct.
MR. EKBERG: What would be an example of
something that would be transferred to public
ownership?
MS. SIEGENTHALER: A road right -of -way, for
example, or a wet land that is transferred to the City
for a detention facility, for example, or a trail
easement.
MAYOR RANTS: How about out right purchasing?
The City purchased upper 144th and Academy.
MS. SIEGENTHALER: Yes.
MR. HAGGERTON: But the net acreage includes
all easements?
MS. SIEGENTHALER: Yes. Easements are
included in net acre but dedications or donations or
sale to the public entity would not be included.
18
MR. EKBERG: Would this be correct if we put
in parentheses after the word "transferred" what you
just said, Ann? Dedications, donations, sales. Would
that be correct? Would we be missing another transfer
vehicle?
MS. SIEGENTHALER: That would help clarify
what you mean by "transfer to the public."
MR. EKBERG: Maybe "E," period, "G," period,
comma, and then the examples. Okay, after the word
transfer, we put in parens, "E," period, "G," period,
"dedications donations, sale," end parens. As
examples of what transfer represents.
MR. HAGGERTON: We had that one project where
this was a very important item, that dedication of the
trail right -of -way. I can't remember what the parcel
was, but I think it was a pretty important part of
that project.
MR. EKBERG: On the last sentence, here, "the
net acre typically includes easement areas." Would
that be included in the measurements or excluded in
the measurements? Which side of the equation is that
on?
MS. SIEGENTHALER: Easement areas would be
included in net acre as part of the total acreage
acreage?
MR. EKBERG: Would be a total developable
MS. SIEGENTHALER: Yes.
MR. EKBERG: Other questions on number two?
MR. HAGGERTON: Seems strange that it's that
way, though, to have easements included in there
because you're talking about buildable square footage
of an acre. But part of that square footage is
easement, which is controlled.
MS. CARTER: Well, isn't it usable, not
buildable? You can use that easement area by putting
in a lawn.
MS. SIEGENTRALER: Also the easement area as
usable area for the development. For example, it may
19
be a private roadway easement, but if it's dedicated
or sold to public ownership, then it's no longer
usable by that property owner. It is no longer part
of that property. So easements are included in that
acreage. Right -of -way dedications are excluded.
MR. EKBERG: All right. Let's go on to the
next one. Shorelines elements, 3, physical access.
MR. ROBERTSON: Would parking lots be
considered a part of that physical access?
MS. SIEGENT'HALER: You could consider those
parking lots physical access.
MR. ROBERTSON: Good. Then I would suggest
we delete bicycle racks and replace that with parking
lots. Bicycle racks seem kind of a small thing to
list but parking lots aren't.
I have another question that, "or direct
contact with the water." The way it is written at the
end, wouldn't it be better to say with direct contact
to the water?
MR. MULLET: Number one, we have very little
direct contact with the water anywhere along the river
anyway because there's a 15 to 20 foot bank there.
MR. ROBERTSON: Okay. All right.
MR. EKBERG: Everyone okay with physical
access? Okay. Let's go on to the number 4, visual
access. Okay with that one?
MR. ROBERTSON: Yes.
MR. EKBERG: Okay. Let's go on to cultural
access. Everyone okay with that one? Let's go on the
6th one, natural area, non public.
MR. HAGGERTON: I think that's about the best
we've ever had on cultural access. It's kind of been
a thorn to really identify, but that's pretty good.
MR. EKBERG: Let's go on to the 6th one:
Natural area, non public public.
MR. ROBERTSON: Why do you say vary in size
there when we didn't anywhere else. I would rather
20
leave the size an issue for the developmental
regulations. So just say: An area adjacent.
that?
MR. EKBERG: I agree. Everyone okay with
MR. MULLET- Yes.
MR. ROBERTSON: Yes. The last sentence, the
two words of the last line says, "ornamental
plantings." Would it be better to say "non- native
plantings in a habitat are allowed."
MS. SIEGENTHA.LER: You could use the word
"non- native," ornamental usually takes non native
MR. ROBERTSON: I rather use "non- native,"
because I've got this visualization of someone
planting roses and all kinds of things like that.
MR. EKBERG: So what's your comment, again,
Dennis, please?
MR. ROBERTSON: Replace the word "ornamental"
in the last line with the word "non- native."
MR. MULLET: You can could have a wild rose,
and it could enhance the habitat.
MR. ROBERTSON: Yes, but I've seen your
flower garden, and I don't want that on my river.
MR. EKBERG: I'm kind of concerned, I might
be concerned with having the actual area, comma,
non public. Would it matter if we reversed it and
said non public natural area?
MS. SIEGRN BALER: Perhaps I can answer that
question in a direct way by telling you why this
definition is here. We had discussed under the
shoreline element the idea of allowing the term that
was used was "limited access natural areas," in lieu
of providing cultural, physical, visual access.
There was a lot of discussion and concern
with how to use that term "limited access natural
areas," particularly when we already used the teL[IL
"natural area" under the definition of physical
access.
21
So the term non public natural area is
intended to replace limited access natural area. You
may find a better term for that, but the idea was
distinguish that from those public natural areas.
MR. EKBERG: I think what you just said links
it well for me. When you describe this, you described
it as non public natural area. I think with what we
want to do is inverse the relationship between
non public and natural on the document. Do you see
that? Ann, do you follow me? We'll have that read as
non public natural area.
MS. CARTER: Do you think when people see the
term in the policy, and they go to look it up in the
glossary, which are they going to look for, is what
you want.
MR. EKBERG: Well, I would have them all
"non- public natural area," and, hopefully, that will
be capitalized within the document.
MS. HERNANDEZ: I got so use to the term
"limited access natural area," now I'm having a hard
time identifying with "non- public natural area." I
wondered if the public will think they're prohibited,
like, they'll be trespassing if they intrude on this
area.
MR. ROBERTSON: It won't bother the
fishermen.
MR. HAGGERTON: I kind of think that's what
that is intended for, there are some businesses, I
guess, it relates to homeowners also. Those areas
aren't really designed to be public, but those people
are required to have that vegetation, either native or
non native allowed in plantings to maintain their part
of the bank.
MS. HERNANDEZ: So would public access
actually be prohibited? Is it just discouraged, or is
it actually prohibited?
MR. HAGGERTON: I'm not sure you can say
prohibited, but it is discouraged on some of that
property.
MS. CARTER: And this doesn't address that.
It just says this isn't developed for human use. So
22
it could apply in two different areas. It could apply
in an area that was private property that they didn't
want people on. It could apply in an area that was
publicly owned, but it didn't have any structures. It
wasn't maintained for human use.
MR. EKBERG: Would it help if we said it has
no structures for public human use, or something to
that effect. We're not excluding human use. We're
excluding public.
use.
MR. ROBERTSON: I think it would be no human
MR. EKBERG: I think we had talked about
someone being able to cut through this limited access
area down to the water.
MR. ROBERTSON: Sure, if it was private
property. They still couldn't have a structure there
they couldn't put
MS. CARTER: A gazebo or whatever there.
MS. HERNANDEZ: I think that's clear. I
don't have a problem with any structure. I just
wonder if we're going to have a problem like they did
on the water front, on the salt water front, where
people said you can't stop me from walking here if I
want to.
MR. ROBERTSON: When you say, "non- public"
that kind of implies it.
MR. HAGGERTON: Have we clearly stated where
a property owner could go to get direction on
non native plantings?
MS. SIEGENTHALER: No, but that would be
something, typically, a development regulation
MR. HAGGERTON: That's going to be in there,
because I have had that question asked.
MS. SIEGENTHALER: We'll give some guidance
on that at that point.
MR. EKBERG: So we have a primary purpose of
wild life habitat, but could a secondary, or another
purpose, be visual access? Because if we have this
23
established across the river, it may mean visual
access to somebody.
MR. ROBERTSON: I don't think we need to say
it here but it would be.
MS. CARTER: I think I don't know that we
need to state it, but I think the other purpose is
maintenance of the bank.
MR. ROBERTSON: Yes.
MR. EKBERG: Okay. So we have now for 6 is:
Non public natural area. An area adjacent to the
riverbank that is not developed and has no structure
for human use., but where vegetation is maintained for
the primary purpose of wild life habitat. Native
vegetation predominance but non native plantings that
enhance habitat are allowed.
MR. HAGGERTON: Still, I have a little
concern how that's going to relate to the glossary.
It seems to me that natural area should be first,
because that is what people are going to be looking
for.
MR. ROBERTSON: But if we said "non- public
natural areas.!'
MR. HAGGERTON: Well, it will appear shortly
after natural areas. It'll be close enough to the
same thing. They will be able to see that.
MR. EKBERG: Thanks.
MS. SIEGENTHALER: The next thing I'll ask
you about, if you want to go through the maintenance
of the plan right now, and take a few minutes to read
this, or do you want to talk about it tomorrow?
MR. ROBERTSON: I'm dissatisfied with it.
This is wide open. I realize you were going to go
talk to the attorney and ask the land -use attorney why
he wants the process for maintaining the plan in the
ordinance in the adopting ordinance or the
developmental code. It says: Establish specific
process in the developmental code. The only reason, I
just would kind of like to know why.
MS. SIEGKNTHALER: Your question if I might
24
paraphrase is why would the specific process for
updating the Comprehensive Plan be in the development
phase and not in the Comprehensive Plan?
MR. ROBERTSON: Yes.
MR. PACE: It's best to keep your plan
somewhat general so it maximizes flexibility for the
council to make changes in its ordinances. If you
have everything very detailed in the Comp Plan,
anytime you want to make an adjustment, you have to
wait a year for that one period when you decide to
make any changes.
What the attorney is advising you is to
maximize the City, to you the council, the flexibility
to better put those perimeters in the zoning code.
MR. ROBERTSON: Is that the only reason?
MR. PACE: That was the major reason we had a
staff person working with the council was to provide
some flexibility to the council and administration to
deal with these of these issue.
MR. ROBERTSON: I guess I'd like to counter
that with, this is a Comprehensive Land Use Plan, not
a normal ordinance or resolution. This is a planning
document. It's certainly shouldn't changed very
frequently. And shouldn't be intended to change.
I would think once allowing a dual process
as it was proposed but once a year at a fixed time
and every five years, but any significant change was a
five year thing. I'm horrified by the thought of a
council going through something like this every year.
There are lots of other things that council and staff
need to do that aren't getting done right now.
MR. PACE: Again, the attorney's advice was
to go with this wording. This would meet the he
felt the State requirements while at the same time
providing some flexibility for the City in actually
coming up with the mechanical detailed working through
the developmental regulations.
MR. EKBERG: I kind of have a concern about
this, too. I'm concerned from the aspect of we may
have multiple regulations on the book. And at any
point in time we may be looking at one piece of the
25
big puzzle. The Comp Plan is a big puzzle. So we
change that one piece in March, we change another
piece in July, and a third piece in October without
actually, conceptually, thinking about the whole plan
in general.
Therefore, my thought would be to see all
those different pieces of the puzzle coming together
at one point in time for one combined deliberation.
So when we change that puzzle, we change it concisely
through all the elements. I'm afraid if we piece -meal
it, we'll probably lose the essence of the Comp Plan.
MR. MULLET: Allan, I agree with you, but it
seems that proposal that Dennis read the other night,
what we had talked about in front of the attorney and
everything; once that goes in to the developmental
regulations, you're concerns are gone because it,
basically, said we were only going to review once a
year.
MR. EKBERG: That's assuming that each
development regulation employs the same process
policy, which we're not guaranteed at this point. By
putting the process policy in the Comp Plan we are
guaranteed that. Back to my statement, we can do one
regulation revision in March; one in July.
MR. MULLET: Read this one down here. That
covers everything that has to do with monitoring the
Comp Plan. Establish specific processes and
developmental codes for monitoring and evaluating and
updating the Comprehensive Plan and regulations.
MR. EKBERG: According to that one code or
that one regulation, not globally in my opinion.
MR. EKBERG: If we want to read that to read
globally, then we should put that in the Comprehensive
Plan so it is global and provide the direction to
staff to have that happen.
MR. ROBERTSON: What developmental regulation
and when would you plan for this to be done?
MR. PACE: My understanding of the discussion
that the attorney explained to you he's looking at
doing that in the package. Either we can do it in the
MR. MULLET: I read that to say globally.
26
package that the Planning Commission gives to you, or
do it when you do Bond 1724 and those changes next
year.
I think right now, to be honest, I'd like
some direction from council if this wording is okay.
That is one decision. Second decision, if there are
any changes? Third would be if the council wants to
see some wording in this council's Planning Commission
draft and not wait until next year, that would be a
third comment.
MR. ROBERTSON: There are three parts to
this. The first one, "periodic re- evaluation of Comp
Plan designations and policies." I don't like the
word "periodic." I guess, I'd like to see something
more structured.
Why is that there? What's the difference
between that clause and the third clause that reads
what is it trying to accomplish different from the one
that reads: Establish specific process and
Development Code for monitoring, evaluating, etc.
What's the difference between those two?
MS. SIEGENTHALER: There are two things that
this policy implementation strategies really
addresses. One, is the timing of the date of the
plan, and the second issue is the process. And the
specific process is something that, again, the
attorney advises that it would be best to deal with
that in the Development Code, and that process, once
you decide on this process, then that applies to all
of those updates.
The timing of the updates has much to do with
the statutes. Much of that we don't have control
over, and in fact, the attorney has reviewed this
wording to make sure that we comply with the latest
requirements, which are under RCW 3671 A, and that's
why that citation is in here.
We know at present that we need to have some
policy for monitoring the plan in our Comprehensive
Plan that addresses the requirement that we not update
it more frequently than once per year except as
allowed in the new legislation. And he's included
that citation here, so those the timing issue.
MR. ROBERTSON: What. does the new legislation
27
allow?
MS SIEGENTHALER: That included, I believe,
the requirement to make sure that the Shoreline Plan
Master Program matches the Comprehensive Plan, so
forth. And I'm not sure where this legislation is
going. I'm not sure if it's something that will
change.
So the attorney has advised us to use the
citation in our plan so that we know that this policy
in our plan will be always consistent with the State
statutes. Then the process, the specific details of
how you go through that process, will be worked out in
the Development Code.
MR. ROBERTSON: If we put the process in the
Development Code, does it have to go through a review
and a public hearing by the Planning Commission?
MS. SIEGENTHALER: The answer to that
question depends on whatever review the Development
Regulations goes through, that process will also go
through. And I'm not sure, maybe Jack can answer what
the plans are for the rest of the Development Code.
MR. PACE: Let's say you want to ask the
Planning Commission, for whatever reason, that does
not need to go back to the Planning Commission. I
understand your question correctly so let's say you
get a document, the Planning Commission says, here's
our recommendations you wanted to change some things
and take some things out. That does not need to go
back through.
MR. ROBERTSON: So, it does not have to go to
the Planning Commission. That means if we agreed to
do it in the developmental regulations, and we wanted
to do it with the set of Development Regulations,
we're going to get the first week in September, that
we could add this to it.
MR. PACE: Yes. Let's take another example
let's say the Planning Commission is not making any
changes
MR. ROBERTSON: I don't want another example;
is what I said correct?
MR. PACE: That is going to be correct. What
28
I would like from you is some direction not just the
Comp Plan wording. If I know this is something you
want moved up, I can make arrangements with our
attorney to have some wording done.
MR. MULLET: I would like to say there was a
document prepared and handed out at the last meeting.
I agreed with that document as the version of the
process. I don't know if it was intended to be the
finite word on it or not. It was some thoughts we had
talked about, and Dennis wrote down, and I agree with
that as a direction. I know Dennis agrees with it.
MS. SIEGENTHALER: Would you like us to have
the land -use attorney look at that handout, and
address the process outlined in that handout and how
that would fit in the Development Regulations?
MR. MULLET: He sat right here and addressed
it when we talked about it. He said it sounded like
it wasn't a problem. I guess we just need him to
really read it.
MR. EKBERG: Why don't we request staff to
have the lawyer look at that document, draft that in
whatever legally is required, and present that back to
the council.
MR. ROBERTSON: As part of the developmental
regulations?
MR. EKBERG: I would like to see it on the
Comprehensive Plan.
MR. ROBERTSON: I would still prefer to see
it there myself.
MR. EKBERG: For instance, the question I
have is update plans as the community needs change.
Well, who would make that determination that the
community needs change? If it isn't council, who else
is there?
I think that's why it needs to be derived by
some decision by the elective people of the future
City of Tukwila, not us in particular, to change what
that Comprehensive Plan is. Joan, what do you think?
MS. HERNANDEZ: Yes. I believe I'd like
if I was on the council I'd certainly like to be part
29
of the making of that decision. And I think it's
important that it does become part of policy in the
Comp Plan for that reason.
But I also am concerned that this is the
first attempt that we've done to update the
Comprehensive Plan in a long time. I would like to,
certainly, allow for the fact there may be some
circumstances that we are unaware of that we might
need to address.
I do agree, also, with your suggestion,
Allan, that if we do it, that we do it all at one
time. Not more than once a year, and we do that all
at one time. We do have to allow a process that we do
review it at least once a year. So that when those
issues do come up, that we can forward them and set
them aside in a process that would come up for
consideration at least once a year.
MR. ROBERTSON: I agree.
MR. HAGGERTON: I didn't hear Dennis's
earlier conversation. I was trying to read some sense
into this. I think the addition of a word in there
would make me more comfortable.
The State recommends that each City
established an annual review of the changes to
Development Regulations in the Comprehensive Plan. It
sounds like you're going to review the whole plan once
a year.
We talked about a system where any changes to
the plan would be accumulated, and at least once a
year those would be reviewed as if we needed to update
the plan.
MR. EKBERG: Where are you reading that in
particular, under issues?
MR. MULLET: 15.1.16.
MS. CARTER: I think he's on page 2.
MR. HAGGERTON: First paragraph, page 2. The
third sentence: The State recommends that each City
establish an annual review of the Development
Regulations and the Comprehensive Plan to measure and
evaluate.
30
That sounds like you have to review the
complete plan once a year. In fact, that's exactly
what it says. All we want to do is review the changes
to the plan that we may deem necessary to modify the
plan.
There may just be a very short list every
year. We certainly don't want to review the whole
Comprehensive Plan and Development Regulations every
year.
MS. CARTER: That would be consider cruel and
unusual punishment.
MAYOR RANTS: I'll agree with that one.
MR. ROBERTSON: By quoting that, that
implies, and I'll even go back to re- evaluate the
whole thing, you're going to see if it's actually
working toward the State's goal for the GMA's goals.
1 don't know what that means, but, geez, nothing could
make this longer could it?
MR. EKBERG: I have a thought. I
we've asked staff to do is have the lawyer
with the implementation strategy. I think
that are here as implementation strategies
definitely become policies.
think what
come back
the words
can
The re- evaluation of the Comprehensive Plan
designations and policies as required by RCW. That
can be a policy, and the next one could be a policy
re- evaluation of implementing the Development
Regulations related to the City's long range plan.
That could be a policy.
And then we'd scratch the third
have an implementation strategy based on
lawyer comes back with for the consensus
policy in the document.
one, and we
what the
for the
MS. CARTER: I don't really see them as
policies. If we're going to do it this way, the
policy of monitoring, evaluating, and updating.
That's the policy. We want a do housekeeping. How do
you do housekeeping? You do housekeeping by
periodically looking at it, and t1'en leaving a process
to go through. So I think those are properly
strategies.
31
MR. ROBERTSON: So you have the first two
strategies, and then the fourth one is a strategy.
But the third one would be
MS. CARTER: That is a strategy, too. It
says you've got to have a process to do this.
MR. ROBERTSON: We actually are saying that
the policy be part of the document itself.
MR. EKBERG: I would scratch the third one.
MR. ROBERTSON: By the way, if the process
didn't work, there would be nothing to stop the
council at end of the first year from changing the
process system.
MR. EKBERG: Sure.
MR. ROBERTSON: Can I ask what the data base
above the land use and demographics would include? Is
that more demographics then we're currently gathering
now?
SIEGENTHALER: That's what that implies.
Yes, that you would have an on -going collection of
land -use data, that of demographics. We have some of
that now.
MR. EKBERG: We spent a lot of time cutting
out demographic types of things in the document, as I
remember. We don't want to study every individual in
the City to find that skill base that they might have.
MR. ROBERTSON: I'm not sure, if this means
more than what were going now. I'm not sure I would
want to spend the money to do that.
MAYOR RANTS: Can I make a observation here?
Some of this, it seems to me, in the GMA and State
wording is intended to fully employ every planner that
ever comes out of college for the next twenty years
with the number of reviews that we have to go through,
and the way it's stated.
It does need to be simplified. I think that
as we make these complaints to legislators, some of
this might resolve a little bit over the years. And I
don't know mean to embarrass you that you need
full -time time employment because you have it now. I
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know how much you have.
MR. EKBERG: Also, on that same note, data is
updated land use is that geo -base system we hear about
once in a while, but it's not employed yet?
MS. SIEGENTHALER: It does not need to take
any particular form such as a GIS system. It can be
simply the manual systems that we have now. But if
it's not an implementation strategy you feel
appropriate here, we can certainly delete that. The
real key in this list of implementation strategies is
the third one regarding the process. The rest are
simply elaborations of that policy.
think?
MR. EKBERG: I understand. What do you guys
MS. CARTER: I don't know that that last one
on the data base is a necessary implementation
strategy to the policy of monitoring. Because I think
in other parts of the document, we've talked about
evaluating something, gathering the statistics, and
whether it's a level of service, etc., so I don't
really think it needs to be here.
MR. EKBERG: I agree with you, Pam.
MR. ROBERTSON: Okay. I would like to go
back okay, I agree with that.
MR. EKBERG: What we talked about for
implementation strategies, the first two we'll keep.
The third one we'll strike and replace it with an
actual policy that we have talked about. The fourth
one we'll strike.
MR. ROBERTSON: I want to go back to page two
the one that Ji«uny pointed out. What I'd like to do
is take the first sentence from each paragraph and
combined them into a paragraph and throw the last of
each paragraph away. Take the two first sentences.
MR. EKBERG: Read them to us, Dennis.
MR. ROBERTSON: Okay. That would read: The
GMA recognizes that, periodically, developmental
regulations need to be up dated sorry. I want to
take the first two sentences. As regulations must be
consistent with Comprehensive Plan, some changes of
33
the plan will be needed.
The GMA also states that amendments to the
plan shall not be considered more frequently then once
every year except in cases of emergency, period. The
reason to do what I just said, is it gives what we
want to do. I'm hoping the GMA will change the part
about having to measure and evaluate progress and all
that other kind of stuff. But in any case, the GMA
states all kinds of things that we are not listing
here.
I don't think we have to think these, too, or
the stuff that's there. So again, if we made a
paragraph the way I said we do have to periodically
update the plan, and our regulations must also be
consistent with the Comp Plan, and the amendments
can't be more frequent than once every year accept in
cases of emergency. And let it go at that.
MS. CARTER: I see what you're doing. I
agree with that, except I question your ending your
last sentence after the word "emergency," and not
quoting all the reasons they give in that RCW.
MR. ROBERTSON: For one thing they adopted a
subarea plan. We don't do subarea plans. We never
have in the City, we don't have subareas. I don't
want to hint at something we don't do. If we took
subarea out, so we just said: Except in cases of
emergency, comma, or amend the Shoreline Master
Program. Well, I'd agree with that.
MS. HERNANDEZ: I think we should leave that
in there: The Shoreline Master Program. Isn't that
something we need to do north of the City? We need to
adopt King County's plan, and we need to develop our
own.
MS. CARTER: I think what I'm seeing
quotation marks at the beginning before "amendments"
there's no closing quotations. I think maybe if we
take the quotations out.
MR. ROBERTSON: Would you be happy, then,
starting the whole thing over again, if we said: The
GMA recognizes that, periodically, Development
Regulations need to be updated. As regulations must
be consistent with the Comprehensive Plan, some
changes in the plan will be needed.
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The GMA also states that amendments to the
plan should not be considered more frequently then
once every year, except in cases of emergency, or to
amend the Shoreline Master Program, RCW 36.78.130.
MS. CARTER: Sounds good to me. Doesn't
sound as much like it's written by a lawyer.
MR. ROBERTSON: We got rid of we pretended
the part we don't like doesn't exist.
MR. HAGGERTON: I have a feeling that the
State may have been a concern. We plan to review the
changes, annually. That's one of their criteria.
MR. ROBERTSON: What we actually do, this is
the just text leading into the part that really
matters. But I just hate to see the text hint at
something we really don't want to do, subarea plans or
that point you made, Jim, goals. So we will do it.
changes?
MR. EKBERG: So is everybody okay with those
MR. MULLET: Yes.
MR. EKBERG: Ann or Jack, are you clear on
what we've asked you to do? Maybe you could tell us,
so we're all clear.
MS. SIEGENTHALER: The council has agreed
that we'll have a separate section in the
Comprehensive Plan called Maintenance of the Plan.
And you looked at purpose and issue sections, those
are okay, with the exception of some changes that you
made tonight.
The policy 15.1.16 about monitoring and
evaluating the Comprehensive Plan, you're going to
leave that as is. I'm not clear what you've decided
on the implementation strategies.
MR. EKBERG: I'll re- emphasize that. On the
implementation strategies, the first and second
identified strategies will remain, and the fourth
would be stricken, and the third, technically, would
be stricken.
And what would occur, based on a conversation
35
with the attorney, basically, is to provide him the
written document that we had here in the council, ask
him to write that in implementation strategy format,
and bring that back to the council.
MS SIEGBNTHALER: I also heard the council
ask if we would work with the land -use attorney on the
handout that Mr. Robertson passed out and prepare a
section that could fit appropriately in the
developmental regulations.
MR. EKBERG: No. That's the document that I
was referring to that was handed out before the
council is Dennis Robertson's write -up. That's the
write -up we wanted the land -use attorney to review,
and take from that and create implementation
strategies to be incorporated into this section of the
document.
In essence, what we're saying is do not
deploy a process within the regulations and
Development Regulations themselves for this change.
MR..PACE: May I make one correction to that?
The land -use attorney is on vacation for two weeks; to
keep the document produced so you can review it, we
may be not be able to get him to be review the work.
MS SIEGENTHALER: What we can do, though, we
will have the changes you've made tonight, and then
the supplemental implementation strategy that you've
asked him to look at and rewrite, we'll have for you
to look at as soon as we can after the attorney gets
back.
MR. EKBERG: But I would expect and ask, I
think you guys are on track about what you're saying,
is any work we've done up to this point in time,
getting the document published and back to the
council, we do not want to impact. This we can stand
alone with and have available at the final public
hearing as necessary. Okay? So we don't impact our
schedule.
MS CARTER: Since we're now talking about
using this procedure as policy.
MR. ROBERTSON: Using it as a base to write.
MS CARTER: As a base to write. Do we really
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need the attorney to write that, or wouldn't staff be
able to propose wording that he could look at later,
because most of this Comp Plan hasn't been written by
the attorney. They've written the text before.
MR. ROBERTSON: They could write it.
MS CARTER: Without impacting, as you said,
the draft going to the printer.
MS HERNANDEZ: I think that should be
acceptable, because he'll eventually review everything
in the end.
MAYOR RANTS: I think they have a better idea
of what you want than the land -use attorney will have.
MR. EKBERG: Okay. So we'll have staff do
that then again. Just to be clear, the work on this
section of the document, we don't need to have it
impact the deliverable date of August 4th for the rest
of the information. Good work. We are closing in on
9:00.
Ann, were there other issues you want to have
brought to your attention tonight?
MS SIEGENTKALER: I don't have any other
issues regarding the text. Just to recap what we're
going to do on the maps. We've numbered the dots that
the council has placed on the maps. Staff will make
sure you get your copies of these to work with before
tomorrow night's discussion. And then we'll talk
about the map areas, identifying them has numbers.
I also heard council say they had questions
on what the existing Comprehensive Plan designations
are. So you now have the small Comprehensive Plan
map, the existing map, and I've also distributed to
you the large Comprehensive Plan map, one inch equals
a thousand, that you asked for.
Hopefully, they will help you answer the
questions, if not, staff can go through those with you
tomorrow.
MS CARTER: Allan, I just noticed on this
Maintenance of the Plan that we were given, the
proposal, I hesitated when I made my suggestion about
staff rewriting it, because I was confused as to
whether this was a goal or policy we wanted them to
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write.
I realize we have no goal for this element.
Look on page 3, goals and policies. 15.1.16, that is
a policy. We should have 15.1; that's a goal. That
would be, what, something like a updated plan that
meets the needs, etc.?
MR. ROBERTSON: If you took the paragraph, we
just create a page 2 and reword that slightly, it
becomes a goal. Basically, it says: The City
recognizes that the periodic development I don't
know, write a goal from that.
MS. CARTER: She can figure it out.
MR. ROBERTSON: But the points are there. It
has to be periodic. It has to be a GMA requirement.
No more frequently then once a year unless it's an
emergency.
MS SIEGBNTHALER: Okay Thank you.
MR. EKBERG: Any other information you want
to share before we break?.
MAYOR RANTS: Allan, yes, please. A few
things I'd like to remind you about the ribbon cutting
for Minkler, corner of Minkler and West Hanover, at
10:00 o'clock. So if you can make that one. I don't
know how you're going to handle this one.
Tomorrow night is the Block Watch meetings
for the Night Out Against Crime. There are 16 block
watches that begin at 5:00 o'clock and run until 10:00
o'clock. If you haven't got a list of that, I'm sure
Lucy can get one in your box for you.
The police and fire department have spent a
tremendous amount of energy pulling together this and
the churches, for these black watches, for the
Bar -B -Q, the neighborhood Bar -B -Q that went on at
Foster this evening. They've done a magnificent job.
If you can find any time possibly tomorrow evening to
go to one of those, to show your support, I think you
should try to do that.
MR. ROBERTSON: What time do they start?
MAYOR RANTS: 5:00 o'clock.
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MS CARTER: I think it would have been nice
if we had been provided that information. I assumed
that they started later, and since I knew we were
meeting, I thought we weren't able to go.
today.
MAYOR RANTS: I just recieved an updated list
MR. ROBERTSON: Do you have a list of that?
MAYOR RANTS: Do you have a copy of that? I
can't remember if I took it home for tomorrow night or
whether I left it on my desk.
MS. CARTER: Because last week I was planning
on going to them until somebody pointed out we had a
meeting tomorrow night.
MAYOR RANTS: The third issue if I can,
I'll try to get that for you. The third issue, if I
can, developmental regulations. I think you asked
John, and John told you what the problems are. My
commitment is to follow that schedule we've agreed
upon that you've there.
There is a clitch, and it is a heads up.
That was the information that was for you tonight,
only information. My commitment is that's going
forward, and we will stick on that schedule. Okay.
MR. ROBERTSON: Okay.
MAYOR RANTS: I'm driving a lot of people
crazy right now saying you promised me, and I expect
that to happen.
MS CARTER: The other thing was, it's nice to
know that we don't have to waste our time studying
that. And so it would be nice if we're notified of
the fact that that draft will be redone. So, as soon
as we know it, because otherwise
MR. PACE: I didn't know you had even
recieved a copy.
MR. EKBERG: What occurred was a businessman
in the community, who was at the meeting when we
started at 6:00, brought this up to a couple of
council member's attention. We had an meeting for an
39
hour and a half, we still hadn't had any discussion
with on.
MAYOR RANTS: This information was brought to
me by the Planning Commission this weekend.
MR. EKBERG: There's one community activity,
starting at 4:00 o'clock tomorrow, which you would
probably be able to attend. I believe Allentown is
having their Bar -B -Q and their picnic at 4:00 o'clock.
I know my black watch has its kick off at 7:00. I
might go out for that and come back in twenty minutes
just to say, "Hi," and come back. That's the only two
things I know about.
MAYOR RANTS: I say that because it's support
to the community, and I think it's important.
MR. EKBERG: Meeting adjourned.
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