Page 1 of 6 I. CALL TO ORDER Chairman Pressentin called the meeting to order at 7:02 p.m. II. ROLL CALL Chairman - Pat Pressentin: Present Commissioner - Peter Ronald: Absent Commissioner - Ryan Weller: Present Commissioner - Tim Sorensen: Present Commissioner - John Kane: Absent Commissioner - Clayton Brunt: Absent Commissioner - Moira Bradshaw: Present City Staff: Matthew Blinstrub, Associate Planner; David Nemens, Interim Community Development Director; Amanda Leon, Parks Planner; Raven Campbell, Community Development Intern Commissioner Bradshaw motioned to excuse Commissioner Ronald, Commissioner Sorensen seconded, and the motion passed 4-0. Later in the meeting, before the minutes were discussed, a motion was made by Commissioner Sorensen to excuse commissioners Brunt and Kane. Commissioner Weller seconded, and the motion passed 4-0. III. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE Chairman Pressentin led the Pledge of Allegiance. IV. APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA In an effort to get all present members of the Commission up to speed, Chairman Pressentin motioned to add some introductions of new staff and a summary of the March 24 Joint meeting before moving on to the next items of the agenda. V. NEW STAFF INTRODUCTIONS Interim Community Development Director Nemens and Parks Planner Leon then introduced themselves and described their roles at the City. VI. PUBLIC COMMENT City Council member Tom Munslow, of 1407 SW 197 th St., gave an update to the Commission. He informed them of the hiring of Mark Hoppen as the new City Manager. He also expressed a desire to move ahead with the comprehensive plan to avoid penalties from the state, and thanked the Commission for their work regarding the Comprehensive Plan.
Page 2 of 6 VII. JOINT MEETING SUMMARY Chairman Pressentin summarized the Joint meeting on March 24. He said that the point of the meeting was to introduce Interim Community Development Director Nemens, to summarize the charge of the Comprehensive Plan consultants, Studio Cascade, and to introduce the concept of the comprehensive plan update to Commissioners and Council members. The consensus with regards to the presented schedule was that it was too aggressive and would not allow for adequate time for the Planning Commission to process the information presented. Chairman Pressentin then noted that as long as the State was told a plan for the schedule going forward, the city probably would not be penalized. In addition, some commissioners and council members felt that some issues were not adequately addressed in the presentation, such as sewer hookup requirements, tree preservation, walking, and density design. Chairman Pressentin later asked that the commissioners study the issues list, and add what is missing. Commissioner Sorensen generally agreed with the Chairman s summary. Commissioner Weller then asked about the questionnaire that was sent out in August, and emphasized the need to get to the heart of community concerns. Chairman Pressentin advised him to note omissions. Interim Community Development Director Nemens further added that some of the issues with community concerns had been addressed with the Public Participation Plan. VIII. ADOPTION OF MEETING MINUTES Chairman Pressentin indicated that, due to lack of a Quorum for the minutes from April 17, 2014 to October 16, 2014, only the March 20, 2014 minutes could be adopted. Commissioner Bradshaw moved to adopt the minutes from March 20, 2014, Commissioner Weller seconded, and the motion passed 4-0. IX. PLANNING COMMISSION CHAIR VOTE Due to a lack of members at the meeting, Commissioner Sorenson moved to table the item until the next meeting. Commissioner Bradshaw seconded the motion, and it passed 4-0. X. PUBLIC HEARING None XI. UNFINISHED BUSINESS Comprehensive Plan Update Interim Community Development Director Nemens presented the tentative Comprehensive Plan Update schedule on page 45 of the Planning Commission packet, as well as the proposed public participation plan. He noted changes that had been made to the schedule in response to Planning Commission comments at the recent joint City Council / Planning
Page 3 of 6 Commission workshop. These included delaying Council action on the Progress Resolution to allow the Planning Commission time to review the project schedule before Council action, shifting the Community Open House a month from May to June, and shifting the Saturday Workshop (for members of the Council, commissions, and committees) from June until July. These also included deleting the Planning Commission August meeting. He briefly discussed the purpose for each meeting, with the June Community Open House being more informational and the July Saturday Workshop being more for feedback and interaction. He outlined the process, including the Department of Commerce, SEPA approval, recommendation by the Commission in the fall and adoption by the Council in winter 2015. Chairman Pressentin asked questions about GIS data and the transportation analysis. Interim Community Development Director Nemens clarified that a subconsultant to Studio Cascade was handling the transportation analysis, and that the consultant would develop maps from data provided by the City. Chairman Pressentin then asked questions about public comment opportunities, including the Community Open House, asking for details on specific strategies to be executed, and who would be responsible for coordinating the event. Commissioner Weller also sought clarification on how familiar with the material the commissioners were expected to be by the time of the Community Open House, which is scheduled to take place immediately before the June 18 Planning Commission meeting. Interim Community Development Director Nemens clarified that the Community Open House was being held for the purpose of providing information about the Comprehensive Plan Update project. Preliminary plans for the Community Open House included the use of maps and presentation boards set up at different stations, each focused on different topics. He said that the emphasis is to be on informal conversation, questions, and feedback. Therefore, the commissioners were not expected to be experts on the Comprehensive Plan at that event. He said that City staff and the consultants will prepare materials for the Community Open House. Commissioner Weller asked if this was something akin to a scoping meeting, and Interim Community Development Director Nemens said it was. Chairman Pressentin then expressed concerns about the subjects, and the open-ended nature of the Community Open House and its potential lack of order and direction. He said that he wanted an order and a list of the topics to be discussed at the Community Open House, and that the Commission should be able to provide input on the topics to be discussed. Interim Community Development Director Nemens then clarified that the subjects would be the elements of the Comprehensive Plan, and that there would be a brief introductory presentation at the beginning of the Open House to orient the public. He said that more information about the Open House would be available to the Planning Commission at their
Page 4 of 6 May meeting. Commissioner Bradshaw sought further clarification on what exactly would be at each subject area station. Interim Community Development Director Nemens said that there would be policy papers and possibly preliminary drafts along with display items. Chairman Pressentin then asked questions about the timeline later on in the summer, expressing concerns that, due to the lack of an August meeting, they would not have much time to read and comment on the draft. Interim Community Development Director Nemens then suggested the possibility of scheduling Special meetings and deliberations after the hearings. Commissioner Bradshaw later agreed with Chairman Pressentin s concerns about a lack of time later in the summer for the Planning Commission to review the draft document, make changes, and review the changes. She then suggested changes to the schedule, such as having a greater period of time for Planning Commission review and deliberations. She felt that this would allow for time to work through any controversy that could be generated. Interim Community Development Director Nemens clarified that August would not be the first time Commissioners would review drafts of the update. However, it would be the first time seeing them all in one document. He said that the June and July work sessions would include Commissioner reviews of preliminary drafts. Commissioner Bradshaw then asked about growth projections. Interim Community Development Director Nemens and Chairman Pressentin then summarized feedback on the subject that had been discussed at the Joint meeting, including the number and the source of that estimate. Commissioner Bradshaw then asked for clarification on the presentation of the update, whether it would be an all-new document or a strike/underline of the existing one, and whether or not the city s land use map would change. Interim Community Development Director Nemens said that he would ask the consultant, Bill Grimes, and noted that there probably wouldn t be that many policy changes or Land Use Map changes. Staff agreed that the existing Land Use designations could support the predicted growth. Parks Planner Leon added that the Parks Element had been completely redone, and was a new Element, along with the Shoreline Master Program. Chairman Pressentin then echoed further concerns about the tightness of the schedule, especially in the fall months. His concerns were echoed by Commissioner Weller, and the Chairman later suggested that dates be less emphasized in favor of time spans of about three months. Commissioner Weller made a suggestion to build public participation into the schedule in the fall, when the public and the commission would be able to comment on an actual draft
Page 5 of 6 document, and that the end of the schedule should be extended by about two months, with a final date in either January of February. Specific dates could be filled in as the draft progresses. The other members seemed to generally agree that some more flexibility in dates was needed to provide a quality product. Interim Community Development Director Nemens noted the requests and handed out copies of the Public Participation Plan, followed by some discussion about public outreach. Commissioner Bradshaw asked questions about tools for public engagement with regards to the update, including online surveys, the use of City Scene, and other forms of electronic outreach. Mr. Munslow then agreed that better public outreach could be hard to do, as the public might not understand the purpose or process of the Comprehensive Plan. Chairman Pressentin then asked about the questionnaire and whether or not there would be a second one. Commissioner Bradshaw asked about the length of availability for the next questionnaire. Commissioner Weller asked that the second questionnaire be a better product, and later recommended that the Commission receive a draft of the second questionnaire and have an opportunity to review it before its release. Chairman Pressentin agreed, and further criticized the first questionnaire as being too rhetorical and vague. Interim Community Development Director Nemens clarified that a new one would be going out, and that it would be available for a little less than one month. He aimed for the results to be ready for presentation to the Commission at its July meeting. Commissioner Bradshaw then made some recommendations about the use of bulletin boards at the Parks and QFC to post public notices about the Comprehensive Plan Update to drum up participation. Chairman Pressentin said that the Public Participation Plan should run September through November as needed, and the Council Meeting could be changed to December and January. Commissioner Weller then asked if questionnaires were the best vehicle. Parks Planner Leon then said that the response to the first questionnaire had been fairly large with 211 responses, whereas after flyering the whole neighborhood, she had gotten only two residents to show up at the recent Normandy Road Open House. Thus, the questionnaire seemed to her to be a good tool. Mr. Munslow then commented that City Scene was a good way to reach people, if not one of the better ones. Commissioner Sorenson agreed. Chairman Pressentin then discussed what would be on the May agenda. This included the vote on the position of Planning Commission Chair and approval of the minutes that had not been voted on earlier in the evening.
Page 6 of 6 Interim Community Development Director Nemens clarified that the resolution with the schedule, public participation plan, draft questionnaire, and comments generated from those documents would be available; and that copies of those documents would be included in the Commissioner s packets. He also added that the packet could go out early to allow for extra review time. Code Streamlining / Land Use Procedures Ordinance Interim Community Development Director Nemens announced that as part of the City s Code Streamlining initiative, the staff was preparing a draft Land Use Procedures Ordinance, and that it should be available for the Commission in either May or June. He stated that the intent wasn t to change regulations, but rather to make them clearer and easier to use for the public and for staff. Commissioner Bradshaw said that there was a requirement in the code for two public hearings on major actions, and that the code needed to be changed to allow for just one. She then asked about whether the ordinance would address code enforcement procedures or incorporate work done on those issues in the past. King County Climate City Collaborative Mr. Munslow made a final announcement that the City Council had voted to join the King County Climate City Collaborative on Tuesday night. ADJOURNMENT- 8:55 PM Commissioner Weller moved to adjourn the meeting. Commissioner Sorenson seconded the Motion, which carried 4-0. Pat Pressentin, Chairman Matthew Blinstrub, Associate Planner