HomeMy WebLinkAboutPlanning 2012-02-23 ITEM 5 - CODE AMENDMENTS - STAFF REPORTr I i
STAFF REPORT
TO THE PLANNING COMMISSION
Prepared February 26, 2012
FILE NUMBERS
PL12 -001, L12 -001 Code Amendments
E12 -001 SEPA Checklist
'liar Hui crton, AI(Ivor
.Ica'ckPca'ce, Director
REQUEST: Housekeeping Code Amendments. Planning Commission will hold a
public hearing on the proposed amendments and make
recommendations to the City Council for review and adoption.
PUBLIC HEARING: The public hearing was held on January 26, 2012 and continued until
February 23, 2012. The Notice of January Public Hearing was published
in the Seattle Times on January 12, 2012. Additionally notice for the
February hearing was mailed to all property owners and tenants of C /LI
on February 9, 2012.
LOCATION: City wide
STAFF: Minnie Dhaliwal, Planning Supervisor
ATTACHMENTS: A. Zoning Map
B. Draft Ordinance including all the proposed amendments except site
specific rezones and categorization of manufacturing uses. The
ordinance has two exhibits: Exhibit A Fig 18 -3 and Exhibit B Fig 18 -7
C. Public comments received by Feb 16, 2012. Any additional
comments received after this date will be provided at the hearing.
Please remember to bring Attachment I of the staff report dated January 17, 2012 for
discussion regarding manufacturing uses.
DISCUSSION
At the last meeting Planning Commission discussed all the proposed code amendments and
asked staff to address the items listed below:
Provide more clarification on the role of the Commissioners pertaining to site specific
rezone process where the Planning Commission holds the public meeting. Also, provide
clarification on whether this option will involve making a recommendation to the City
Council.
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Staff discussed this matter with the City Attorney and it was clarified that if it is a public
meeting then the purpose of the meeting will be only information sharing and there
cannot be a formal recommendation of the Planning Commission to the City Council
under this option. Therefore, if a recommendation to the City Council is desired then staff
recommends option 2B outlined in the previous staff report. Under this option site specific
rezones will be Type 4 land use decision where the Planning Commission will hold an
open record hearing before making a recommendation to the City Council and City
Council will then hold a closed record hearing before making a final decision and the
appeals of the City Council will go to Superior Court. This option meets both State Law
requirements of one open record hearing as well as the requirement that the
Comprehensive Plan cannot be amended more than once a year unless it qualifies as an
emergency.
2. It was decided to notify the property owners of the proposed changes to the
manufacturing uses in the C /LI zone. There was concern expressed about one particular
use in C /LI zone, which is "Manufacturing, processing and /or assembling of electrical or
mechanical equipment, vehicles and machines including, but not limited to, heavy and
light machinery, tools, airplanes, boats or other transportation vehicles and equipment
There was discussion whether this use should be allowed outright, made a conditional
use or not allowed at all. It was decided to notify the property owners before making a
final decision. Property owners and tenants were notified by mail. Attachment C includes
the written comments received by Feb 16, 2012. If any additional comments are received
they will be provided at the hearing. Verbal concerns were received from about five
property owners and some of them are planning to come to the hearing to testify.
The use in question is permitted in C /LI, LI, HI, MIC /L, MIC /H and it is a conditional use in
TVS. C /LI lists other uses with moderate to substantial off -site impact as conditional uses,
but this use is permitted outright. It should also be noted that C /LI zone is relatively
spread out throughout the city and majority of the zone is not near residential areas. Most
of this zone is east of Interurban Ave and West Valley Hwy. See Attachment A for the
location of C /LI zone relative to residential zones. Staff has outlined the following options
for the Planning Commission to address this use in C /LI zone:
a) Add the subheading but make no other changes and keep it as a permitted use. This
option was detailed in Attachment I of the previous staff report.
b) Do not add the subheading and make no changes.
C) Change it from permitted to a conditional use. This option will not make existing uses
non conforming, but any expansion of the existing uses will be required to obtain a
conditional use permit.
3. Following text changes were requested:
a) Amend the single family design standards to allow the replacement of a single
wide mobile home with a newer and larger manufactured home, but only allow it
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once for each property. Additionally, the Planning Commission expressed desire to
add some qualifying language addressing what the community is gaining from
allowing this waiver. Section 41 of the attached draft ordinance (Attachment B
page 22/23) includes this change.
b) Correct the name of Duwamish Hill Preserve. This has been corrected in Section 4
of the draft ordinance (pg. 4).
C) Add the word "at" to the building height definition. This change is included in
Section 9 of the draft ordinance 9 (pg. 7).
d) Add the phrase "or its successor" after Department of Early Learning. This change
is included in Section 13 of the draft ordinance (pg. 9).
e) Landscape Plan Requirements section- add the clarifying language "dead or dying
trees as determined by a certified arborist This change is included in Section 17
of the draft ordinance (pg. 11).
f) Delete the loading space requirements section. This change is reflected in Section
19 of the draft ordinance (pg. 12).
g) Change the word `restriping" to "reconfiguring" and add some thresholds to clarify
what is considered "reconfiguring" such as adding /deleting parking spaces;
changes to interior parking lot landscaping; or changes to fire lanes. This change
is reflected in Section 20 of the draft ordinance (pg. 13).
REQUESTED ACTION
Hold the public hearing on the proposed changes, review each proposed change, choose an
option if multiple choices are given, and make recommendations to the City Council.
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