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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1977-10-10 Committee of the Whole MinutesOctober 10, 1977 TUKWILA CITY COUNCIL 7:00 P.M. COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE MEETING CALL TO ORDER ROLL CALL OF COUNCIL MEMBERS DISCUSSION Prop. Ord. Defining "Recrea- tion Space" pro- viding standards regulations for the provision of recreation space in all R -2, R -3, R -4 and RMH Zone Districts Prop. Ord. Reclassifying cer- tain property lo- cated at the NE corner of the in- tersection of 65th Southcenter Blvd from R -4 Zoning Classification to C -1 Classification within the City of Tukwila MINUTES HILL, SAUL, PESICKA, VAN DUSEN, BOHRER. Councilman Traynor arrived at the Meeting at 7:05 P.M. /94 f City Hall Council Chambers Council President Hill called the Committee of the Whole Meeting to order. APPROVAL OF MINUTES MOVED BY SAUL, SECONDED BY PESICKA, THAT THE MINUTES OF THE SEPTEMBER 26, 1977 COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE MEETING BE APPROVED AS PUBLISHED. CARRIED. Council President Hill asked OCD Director Kjell Stoknes to explain the proposed ordinance. Mr. Stoknes said the Commission had looked at the ordinance and felt the intent was proper. Councilman Pesicka asked if you can build apartments or anything if it is zoned that way. If some- one owned commercial property and wanted to build apartments would this still stand? Mr. Stoknes said you could build to a certain density. This would apply if apartments were built in a commercial district. Council President Hill said the Council would go through the proposed ordinance section by section. He said there will be a Public Hearing on the ordinance on October 17, 1977. Mr. Stoknes said the biggest impact of this requirement is the 1,000 square foot minimum and it has a heavy impact on R -2. He said there are legal questions that should be answered by the City Attorney. He said he would seek these legal answers. Mr. Stoknes said when you apply the 1,000 square foot require- ment there would not be a lot of design flexibility. In the R -3 desig- nation you have more units and the 1,000 foot requirement becomes less problem. He continued that the Village Green Apartments have an acre of green space. That does not include the strip that is out in front. The Stardust has one swimming pool, enough for eight units. Only about half of the apartments under this ordinance would qualify. Councilman Saul asked for some comparisons where the recreation space has been provided. Fred Satterstrom, Planning, said the Village Green has 464 feet per unit; Hampton Heights has 120 feet per unit; the LaVista Apartments do not have much. It has depended on the attitude of the developer as to what open space will be given to the apartments. He said they felt this requirement was the minimum amount every individual unit should have. Councilman Pesicka said the parking areas are not enough; if an apartment has two or three bedrooms it is likely they have more than one car. Mr. Satterstrom said parking limits open space more than anything. Council President Hill said the proposed ordinance would be considered at a Public Hearing on October 17, 1977 and the proposed ordinance would be on the agenda of the Regular Council Meeting on October 17, 1977 Kjell Stoknes, OCD Director, explained the Schneider rezone request and indicated the location of the property on a wall map. He said the Planning Commission had recommended approval on this, subject to certain conditions. He said he felt it would be better to define "commercial services" in the ordinance. He said he would suggest the Council limit the use of this property until that time. He said he recommended Section 2.B. be rewritten to read as follows: "Development of the property under the C -1 classification shall be limited to a single office building." He continued that the setbacks in the C -1 zone are not relevant to the office uses and therefore he recommended the following minimum setbacks to this property. He suggested a new Section 2.E. be added to read as follows: "All buildings shall be setback 25 feet from the right -of -way line of Southcenter Boulevard and 65th Avenue South and 10 feet from the right -of -way line of Bluff Street." Mr. Stoknes said the reason this property is being treated differently is because the City does not have an office zone. Council President Hill asked why the City is maintaining Bluff Street, it cannot be opened onto Southcenter. Mr. Stoknes said the streets to the west are steep and dangerous. If the property is ever built on it is likely Bluff Street will be reopened. TUKWILA CITY COUNCIL COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE MEETING October 10, 1977 Page 2 DISCUSSION Contd. Tukwila Noise Program /y 7e Councilman Pesicka said there is a letter written by Mr. and Mrs. Lee R. Phillips stating their objections on the rezone. Mr. M. E. Simonds, audience, said the last he knew the Phillips had dropped any complaints against the rezone request. He said he had no objections to the rezone. His only objection is if the street has to be rebuilt the City should take care of it and he should not have to help pay for that. Council President Hill said with no parking along there 65th Street could be a four lane street. Councilman Traynor said he did not see anything in the Minutes about sidewalks. Mr. Stoknes said Southcenter Boulevard is planned for improvement; being taken care of mostly by grant money. Council President Hill said a 35 foot building would screen Mr. Simond's home from a lot of noise. Councilman Bohrer said there had been some comment about L.I.D. 27. Mr. Stoknes said with respect to an L.I.D. single family dwellings were excluded. If the single family dwellings were rezoned they would have to contribute on an L.I.D. Council Presi- dent Hill said he would like to see some kind of access put in for these people. Mayor Bauch said under the 6 year street plan it showed an overpass over Highway 405. If you have an overpass you have to have some place for it to end. It could end on Bluff Street. Wynn Anderson, audience, said a 25 foot minimum set back had been mentioned. You need to take into consideration the shape of a piece of property like this if you are establishing minimums. This property is in the shape of a triangle. Mr. Stoknes said the Council would have to decide what additional uses can be allowed on the office property. Council President Hill said when he reads this, it says C -1 classification shall be limited to one office building. Mayor Bauch said a medical center with doctor offices could be built and doctors frequently have a pharmacy in their building where they sell only drugs. That would be an incidental use. It could be an architect's office and sell drafting supplies, it could have a lunch counter or sandwich shop. Councilman Saul said when Public Works looks at this they can tell whether or not this can be done. Wynn Anderson, audience, asked for the procedure to establish use within an office. Mr. Stoknes said the owner would come in and explain the use he wants to put in there. The staff would make a ruling on it. If the owner disagreed it can be taken to the Board of Adjustment. They are the arbitrator between Staff and property owner. Councilman Traynor said there seems to have been a designation as to what goes in an office building. Jerry Schneider, audience, said he did not know the type of business that was going in there. It could be anything from a lawyers office to an architects office. He said he would like to know what can go in C -1. Can a barber shop go in? Mayor Bauch said if professional offices are put in, the pharmacy is about the only thing, or an office supply store, that would be incidental to office use. He continued that Section 2.B. of the proposed ordinance spells this out. Councilman Saul suggested Section 2.B. be left as is. MOVED BY BOHRER, SECONDED BY SAUL, THAT A NEW SECTION 2.E. BE ADDED THAT STATES: "ALL BUILDINGS SHALL BE SETBACK 25 FEET FROM THE RIGHT -OF -WAY LINE OF SOUTHCENTER BOULEVARD AND 65TH AVENUE SOUTH AND 10 FEET FROM THE RIGHT -OF -WAY LINE OF BLUFF STREET." CARRIED. MOVED BY TRAYNOR, SECONDED BY SAUL, THAT THE PROPOSED ORDINANCE BE ON THE OCTOBER 17, 1977 AGENDA OF THE REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING. CARRIED. RECESS 8:25 8:35 P.M. MOVED BY SAUL, SECONDED BY PESICKA, THAT THE COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE MEETING RECESS FOR TEN MINUTES. CARRIED. The Committee of the Whole Meeting was called back to order by Council President Hill with all Council Members present as previously listed. Councilman Van Dusen said the Public Health and Safety Committee will start work on the noise ordinance but they need help. It has been suggested they get a work study person who is funded 65 35. He also suggested the Council appropriate $1,000 for this study out of Profes- sional Services. If we have Staff do the study we are going to have to give up something else they are working on. He said he had received TUKWILA CITY COUNCIL COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE MEETING October 10, 1977 Page 3 DISCUSSION Contd. Tukwila Noise Program contd. /77/ reports from some of the students who had worked on the noise survey with Professor Brysee. The rest would be forthcoming. Councilman Van Dusen continued the Council could get a graduate or undergraduate stu- dent and try to get him on the study. If he did not qualify then maybe the City could pay him all of the amount. He said he had not communi- cated with them on this project. He said with respect to Professor Brysee's study the City had been divided into five areas. The reports have not been correlated and put in one report, but that will be done. He said Tukwila does have an excess noise problem. He said with respect to the work study person he would want the person to work with Staff but he thought he should come under the direction of the Committee because of the communication. He said it would have to be a flexible person who could work independently. He suggested that a $1,000 lid be put on the study. He said the Committee was thinking of starting the program in January and have a deadline of June. While this is being worked on, the Committee intends to hold several meetings to get input from the student and community. MOVED BY PESICKA, SECONDED BY SAUL, THAT THE PUBLIC HEALTH AND SAFETY COMMITTEE PROCEED WITH A NOISE STUDY PROGRAM NOT TO EXCEED $1,000. Councilman Van Dusen said they would attempt to get this work study person on a 35 -65 basis. He said we may be able to get someone to work on the program for mileage. Mayor Bauch said some of the students come from Washington State and they would have to be paid mileage from there. It is part of their academic program. Councilman Van Dusen agreed that the University of Washington is not the only source. *CARRIED. Salary Wage Plan Council. President Hill asked John McFarland, Administrative Assistant, to explain the Salary Administration Plan Proposal. Mr. McFarland said the objective of these efforts has been in the design of a method which would allow for the placement of all eligible employees in salary steps commensurate with their experience and performance. Such placement would be primarily a matter of longevity and represent the lower echelon of the of the step scale. A more long -term objective lies in the design of a performance appraisal system which can be applied in the evaluation of employee eligibility for merit increases. The concept of coupling merit to longevity in the upper steps of each salary grade establishes a salary control mechanism that prevents the possibility of all employees being raised to the upper salary levels and forces supervision to distin- guish poor performers from good performers. In addition, it provides the incentive for achievement and increased job performance. He said there are three alternatives. Alternative I provides for the fixation of longevity requirements based on the steps created by Ordinance No. 1019. Currently all employees have been placed at Step 1 of their respective salary grades. Retention in step would represent the training period for each position. A period of two years, coupled with the approval of the department head, would qual- ify an employee for Step 2. Advancement to Step 3 would be administered in a like manner with a three -year longevity requirement. This would place an employee with five years service in the mid -level of the respec- tive salary grade. Advancement to Steps 4 and 5 should represent com- bination of longevity and merit performance. Alternative II is an elongated version of the original salary plan as presented in Ordinance No. 1019. Incremental steps have been establi- shed in the lower ranges with accelerated movement between the steps. This allows for attainment of a mid -range status in four years. This alternative seeks to provide annual increases at the lower end of the scale for those employees who maintain satisfactory job performance while in a growth pattern of assuming increased responsibility. It is more in line with classified salary increases for the uniformed City employees. As with Alternative I, no employee would exceed mid -range status (Step 5), regardless of longevity, without rendering tests per- formance evaluation to determine merit. TUKWILA CITY COUNCIL COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE MEETING October 10, 1977 Page 4 DISCUSSION Contd. Salary Wage Plan contd. Tax Levy ADJOURNMENT 9:50 P.M. /97.2 Alternative III represents a modified adaptation of merit award. By elimination of any longevity requirements after reaching mid range, the employee is allowed to progress to the top of the salary scale within a respective grade, based on individual incentive. This concept may act to intensify employee initiative, however, it also required careful administration and effective management to insure validity and equity. Supervisors must develop procedures for frequent analysis of performance and upward adjustment of job performance standards. Additionally, the elimination of specific steps allows for the award of salary increases based on the degree of meritorious performance further enhancing the motivational aspects of the plan. Mr. McFarland said Alternative I is the most stringent and economical. He said there will be a cost of living issue to be considered. Council- man Traynor said the cost of living raise is above and beyond what the salaries are set at. Mayor Bauch said Alternative I and III are identi- cal except there are five steps in Alternative III. Council President Hill said the Council does not have a performance evaluation. Mr. McFarland said they are working on that now. Councilman Pesicka said it might be nice to have U.S.T.M.E. tell the Council what they would like. Mr. McFarland said he worked with Mr. Satterstrom. He had not ana- lyzed the different alternatives. He said the members took a vote on the general impression and the vote was not favorable to either alterna- tive. He said they felt the step program should be in line with the other groups of City employees, such as the firemen. The step program should be in line with the step programs of other jurisdictions, so the employees would be competitive with other cities. They felt the plan should consider previous experience in a similar job. If a Public Works Director is making a horizontal change to a similar position then he should be placed in a step where he would be if he had been in the other jurisdiction. He said they also felt that there is a practice of putting employees in below the job level. According to the salary plan the person is training for the first two years. He said he thought there are certain positions where the person should have the training before he comes on the job. Most jobs require education and experience prior to getting hired. Otherwise, it seems a person would be hired unquali- fied. Councilman Traynor said he believed there should be nothing auto- matic, everything should be merited. Mr. Satterstrom said he believed so if it is automatic, there would be no incentive. He said he thought merit should be at the beginning and longevity at the end. Council Pres- ident Hill said he could not buy that. Mayor Bauch said a preliminary estimate showed Alternative I would cost 5.1 this year, Alternative II would cost 6.2, Alternative III is some- where in between. He recommended the adoption of Alternative III. He said the budget is $300,000 out of balance. Councilman Bohrer said he was not satisfied with the plan based on merit and longevity for raises. He said he would like to see education and experience considered in posi- tions that are similar. Both of these factors are important when you are looking for someone to move up. He said he would like to see a plan de- veloped that is comparative with union and non -union employees. Mayor Bauch said he concurred with Councilman Bohrer that consideration be given to education and experience. Council President Hill said the matter would be on the agenda of the regular Council Meeting on October 17, 1977. John McFarland said the Hazelnut would be published October 21 and he Hazelnut would like some input. Labor Negotiations Mr. McFarland said the City would be negotiating with Teamsters at 4 P.M. on October 11, 1977 Mayor Bauch said the tax levy has not been established for the City. It should be done by October 5, but the City has not been able to comply be- cause the County has not given us an assessed valuation. This is due to senior citizen exemption. It is possible on October 17 he will ask that the Regular Council Meeting be continued to October 24, 1977. MOVED BY SAUL, SECONDED BY PESICKA, THAT THE COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE MEETING ADJOURN. CARRIED. Norma Booher, Recording Secretary