Planning Commission Meeting Minutes

Transcription

1 Okanogan County OFFICE OF PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT th Ave. N. Suite Okanogan, WA (509) FAX: (509) TTY/Voice Use planning@co.okanogan.wa.us Planning Commission Meeting Minutes A meeting of the Okanogan County Planning Commission was held May 16, 2016 at 7:00 PM. The meeting was held in the Okanogan County Commissioners Hearing Room, 123 5th Ave. N., Okanogan, Washington. PLANNING COMMISSION MEMBERS present included: Chair Albert Roberts, Commission Member Dave Schulz, Commission Member Mark Miller, Commission Member Marlene Rawley, and Commission Member Tamara Porter. OKANOGAN COUNTY STAFF MEMBERS present included: Director of Planning Perry Huston, Natural Resources Planner Angie Hubbard, and Lauren Davidson Administrative Secretary. OTHERS IN ATTENDANCE: Marilyn Brown, Dave Brown, Dick Ewing, John Herzog, Joyce Herzog, Barb Warfield, Jeremy Moberg Approval of Agenda: Approval of May 16 th agenda, Rawley moved Miller Seconded Approval of Minutes: Approval of May 2 nd minutes. Commission Member Schulz stated that he had some issues with the minutes in the Nightly Rental section as being inaccurate. Rawley moved to approve the minutes as they occurred, there were no second. There was discussion amongst the Planning Commission and Director Huston. Commission Member Porter moved to table minutes to add if motion had passed, seconded by Chair Roberts. Old Business Discussion on Zone Code amendment process o Zoning OCC Title 17A Code Amendment Director Huston stated that Staff has come up with a new definition of Accessory Dwelling. Discussed it was confusing to have Accessory Use in all zones, the conditional use permit has been rearranged, planned unit language was pulled out and replaced with what is in the current code and all cluster ordinance has been cut out. Staff also handed out the three alternatives regarding the marijuana operations, as well as the chart regarding how many marijuana operations are in each zone. Commission Member Porter asked for clarification regarding what the term pending on the applications are and if that was affected by our moratorium or not. Director Huston explained that the chart was based on the state status of marijuana operations. Commission Member Schulz asked if the red or blue number was the page number. Natural Resources Planner Hubbard explained that the blue is inserted and that the red notations have been deleted, she also confirmed that the page numbers are in blue. Commission Member Rawley stated that she wishes to address the marijuana operations first. Schulz asked why in the alternatives to the zone code the writers wanted to replace the word 1

2 marijuana with the word cannabis. Director Huston stated that he was not given an explanation for that. Chair Roberts explained that the botanical name for the plant is Cannabis and that the word Marijuana was created as a slang term back in the 1930 s. Commission Member Miller stated that since the state refers to it as cannabis we should recognize it as such as well. Commission Member Rawley moved to call it cannabis and to delete the word marijuana from the proposed code, Commission Member Porter seconded. Unanimous vote, motion carried. Commission Member Porter asked for clarification on the RCWs listed in the alternative text, and whether or not the RCWs define cannabis as agriculture. Director Huston read aloud the RCWs that are listed in the alternative 2. Commission Member Porter explained that she thinks that marijuana is agriculture but that there are arguments that support not treating it as such. Commission Member Schulz stated that he thinks they should take all three alternatives and work through them and make changes to the existing proposed code and incorporate them into one. Purpose and Intent 17A Commission Member Schulz stated it should remain unchanged except the word marijuana changed to cannabis. Commission members agreed to keep the section as written. Types of Marijuana Operations 17A there was discussion regarding code enforcement. Commission Member Rawley asked when they could expect to see some sort of enforcement plan for non-compliant operations. Director Huston stated that he needs to continue discussion with the Board of County Commissioners before he can give a definitive answer. Commission Member Schulz moved to accept 17A as written, Rawley seconded. Unanimous vote, motion carried. Permit Required 17A Commission Member Miller asked if Staff had already changed the Liquor Control Board to say the Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board. Natural Recourses Planner Hubbard stated she would change the wording. Commission Member Schulz asked if any changes had been made. Director Huston stated that nothing had changed to his knowledge. Commission Member Schulz said line 5122 is misleading because it reads as if one category of marijuana operations may be out right permitted while another category of operations would require a CUP. Director Huston explained that it read that way because there are three tiers of marijuana operations and one zone might permit retail while another zone could require a CUP for growing. Commission members agreed that this section can be left as it is. Conditions of Approval 17A Director Huston explained that what the two alternative proposals did were go more in depth with the conditions that will need to be met before approval. Director Huston stated that legal was concerned with being able to pick up the code read it and know what they are supposed to do then it is unconstitutionally vague. Commission Member Porter asked for clarification on section C of alternative option 3 and whether or not cross pollination is a real worry they should consider. Chair Roberts explained concerns regarding cross pollination in all aspects of agricultural operations. Commission Member Miller sated that we should do a CUP because it would put a time stamp on who got in the system and at one point so that if cross pollination does occur it would be easier to track the culprit. Commission Member Miller discussed exempt wells and valid water rights and if they are going to allow the operations to operate on exempt wells. Schulz stated that he agrees with alternative one in this section because it backs up the issues with RCWs and WACs. There was discussion regarding what the WAC said about noise and lights. 2

3 Commission Member Miller stated that Section D in alternative one seems out of place. Director Huston agrees and that he believes it should go in the section on compliance. Miller also thinks the wording for water rights should be changed. Commission Member Miller asked for clarification on what exactly the WAC about odor states, and if the odor will be viewed through the agricultural lenses. Miller stated that he believes the alternative three reads better than the proposed code that we have. Commission Member Miller stated that he doesn t agree with alternative three s wording of valid water right because then that gives an agency an opening to demand paperwork regarding water rights, and an exempt well is difficult to provide documentation on. Director Huston explained to the commission that alternative three and alternative one are vastly different, one of the major differences are that alternative one opens up the use of exempt wells and alternative three s valid water right would not include exempt wells. Commission Member Miller stated that the Planning Commission will have to decide exactly what they are going to do about the water issue, and determine if they will allow the usage of exempt wells. Chair Roberts expressed concerns regarding the lack of meters and the inability to provide proof of how many gallons are being used. Chair Roberts stated that alternative option one is the most rational of the three options and gives both sides a clear defined view on what the operations under the permits are. Rawley asked what the parking regulations would be. Rawley also stated that she likes the way option number one explained water and domestic wells but would like to see the WAC regarding parking and odors. Director Huston explained to the commission members what the WACs said and then stepped away for a few minutes to print off copies of the code for the Planning Commission Members. Commission Member Rawley stated that she things that if a domestic well and can water 20,000 sq feet out of a domestic well it should be included in the code. There was continued discussion regarding water usage among the Planning Commission Members. Chair Alberts pointed out to the commission members that once someone has a water right they cannot be regulated on what they use the water for, whether it be to grow petunias or to grow marijuana. Commission Member Porter stated that she disagrees with that statement and she interprets the code to mean that they can regulate what the water is used for; she also stated that the irrigation district may have the ability to say no to a marijuana operation. Chair Roberts stated that he thinks the applicant should bring Director Huston some sort of proof that he has the water access to manage a marijuana operation. Commission Member Porter agrees with Chair Roberts. Commission Member Miller stated that he does not think we should ask for proof because the Department of Ecology already regulates water so we shouldn t have to. Director Huston explained to the Planning Commission what the WACs were that he had handed out. Director Huston asked if the commission members if they had come to any conclusions on the water issues, whether or not they will require a certificate of water source or water right, or the use of exempt wells within the boundary of the law? Chair Roberts said he believes they are leaning toward alternative option one, but striking out some of the verbiage. Commission Member Miller proposed a motion with the language using the phrase lawful source including exempt wells. Director Huston asked for clarification on the motion asked if Commission Member Miller wanted to move to approve alternative option one, subsection c with all three sections. Commission Member Miller agreed that is correct. Commission Miller withdrew his motion. Commission Member Porter stated she wanted to change the language to state: The project has a lawful source of water and then list 1: from an irrigation district 2: from a water right 3: from an exempt well. Commission Member Rawley stated she liked the wording on two and three, but cut out the language on section one that talks about federal funding. Commission Member Rawley made a motion to cut the verbiage that states anything about federal funding. Commission Member Porter s motion was seconded by Commission Member Schulz. Unanimous vote, motion carried. Commission Member Miller asked director Huston about odors and the WACS regarding such. Commission Member Miller wanted clarification at what point does the public comments affect the 3

4 CUP approval, Miller stated that he remember Director Huston stated that public testimony wasn t a good enough reason to deny a CUP. Director Huston wanted to make it clear in the record that what he had said was mere opposition is not grounds for denial of a CUP. Commission Member Schulz brought up the issue of lawful source of water from an irrigation district and how would one provide proof of such. Director Huston stated that all they need would be confirmation statement from the irrigation district. There was discussion regarding the lights and them pointing downward, and also the lights that come off of a hoop house. There was continued discussion regarding limiting lights and putting roofs over buildings to cover the light emission. Commission Member Miller wanted to add something about hoop houses in the code then asked for clarification on if a hoop house was considered to be outside lighting or inside lighting. Director Huston explained that he believes that a hoop house would be considered a structure. Commission Member Rawley moved to accept section d 1-4 be approved included all references to WAC parking not included. Commission Member Porter Seconded. Unanimous vote, motion carried. License and Other Permits 17A : Rawley moved to accept 050 and 060 as written on alternative option one. Schulz seconded. Unanimous vote motion carried. Lighting 17A : Commission Miller made a motion to accept this as written with the addition of off street parking. Neighborhood Character: 17A Porter made a motion to delete this section. Rawley seconded. Unanimous vote, motion carried Amortization Period: 17A Commission Member Porter suggested they delete the whole paragraph. Rawley moves that all existing operations be grandfathered in. Alberts clarified that new operations would follow the new code. Commission Member Miller Seconded. Commission Members Schulz and Porter voted against it, Chair Roberts voted in favor of the motion. Adjourn: 10:16 SUMMARY OF MOTIONS Approval of May 16th agenda, Rawley moved Miller Seconded Commission Member Porter moved to table minutes to add if motion had passed, seconded by Chair Roberts. Member Rawley moved to call it cannabis and to delete the word marijuana from the proposed code, Commission Member Porter seconded. Unanimous vote, motion carried. Commission Member Schulz moved to accept 17A as written, Rawley seconded. Unanimous vote, motion carried. Member Rawley made a motion to cut the verbiage that states anything about federal funding. Commission Member Porter s motion was seconded by Commission Member Schulz. Unanimous vote, motion carried. 4

5 Commission Member Rawley moved to accept section d 1-4 be approved included all references to WAC parking not included. Commission Member Porter Seconded. Unanimous vote, motion carried. Rawley moved to accept 050 and 060 as written on alternative option one. Schulz seconded. Unanimous vote motion carried. 17A Porter made a motion to delete this section. Rawley seconded. Unanimous vote, motion carried Rawley moves that all existing operations be grandfathered in. Alberts clarified that new operations would follow the new code. Commission Member Miller Seconded. Commission Members Schulz and Porter voted against it, Chair Roberts voted in favor of the motion Prepared by Lauren Davidson Administrative Secretary 5