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HomeMy WebLinkAbout06. 06-15-2023 Planning Commission Meeting MintuesPasco PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES City Hall - Council Chambers 525 North Third Avenue Pasco, Washington THURSDAY, JUNE 15, 2023 6:30 PM CALL TO ORDER City of Pasco Planning Commission meeting was called to order at 6:30 p.m., by Chair Jerry Cochran. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE Chair Cochran led the Pledge of Allegiance. ROLL CALL Commissioners Present: Abel Campos, Mitchell Moffitt, Paul Mendez, Kim Lehrman, Jay Hendler and Jerry Cochran, a quorum was declared. Commissioners Excused: Rosa Torres, Dana Crutchfield, and Rachel Teel Staff Present: Interim Community & Economic Development Director Jacob Gonzalez, and Administrative Assistant II Carmen Patrick. Others Present: With Consor for presentation, Project Manager Clark Worth, Economic Analysis Eric Hovee and Community Outreach Libby Bakke. WELCOME AND ANNOUNCEMENTS Chair Cochran explained the Planning Commission is an advisory board made up of volunteers appointed by City Council. He further explained the purpose of the Planning Commission was to provide recommendations to City Council regarding changes to the City's Comprehensive Plan, Land Use Updates, Block Grant Allocations and Zoning Code. The Planning Commission is tasked with considering the long-term growth and development of the community, the impact of land use decisions on community, livability, economic opportunity, housing affordability, public services, and the environment. Chair Cochran reminded the audience tonight's proceedings were being broadcast live on City of Pasco's Facebook page and on Charter Cable PSC Channel 191 and will be rebroadcast several times during the next month. He stated the meeting was also being recorded and could be watched on City of Pasco's website, which is Pasco-wa.gov. Click on the VIDEO ON DEMAND link and make your selection there. Chair Cochran stated copies of the meeting agenda were available on the back table. He then asked that everyone silence cell phones to prevent interruptions during the meeting. For those present this evening, when you are given the opportunity to address the Commission, please come to the podium, speak clearly into the microphone, and state your name and city of address for the record. Chair Cochran reminded the audience and the Planning Commission that Washington State Law requires public meetings like the one being held this evening not only be fair, but also appear to be fair. In addition, Washington State Law prohibits Planning Commission members from participating in discussions or decisions in which the member may have a direct interest or may be either benefited or harmed by the Planning Commission's decision. An objection to any Planning Commission member hearing any matter on tonight's agenda needs to be aired at this time or it will be waived. Planning Commission Meeting Minutes Page 1 of 5 June 15, 2023 Chair Cochran asked if there were any Planning Commission members who have a declaration at this time regarding any of the items on the agenda. ❖ No declarations were made. Chair Cochran asked if anyone in the audience objected to any Planning Commission member hearing any of the items on the agenda. Al None heard, record shows there were no declarations. Chair Cochran stated the Planning Commission needed and valued public input explaining it helped the Commission understand the issues more clearly and allowed for better recommendations to City Council. Furthermore, in many cases, this could be the only forum for the public to get facts and opinions placed into the official record and City Council will use to make the Commission's decision. He encouraged those present to take full advantage of this opportunity. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Commissioner Hendler moved to approve the Planning Commission meeting minutes of May 18, 2023, Commissioner Lehrman seconded, and the motion carried unanimously. OLD BUSINESS None PUBLIC HEARINGS None WORSHOP • Memo Pasco Economic Development Strategy Jacob Gonzalez greeting the Commission and stated that the City's consulting firm Consor will be providing the presentation. As part of the strategic goals for the 2022-2023 Pasco City Council, they've identified the preparation of an Economic Development Strategy. Mr. Eric Hovee began his presentation of the results of the Economic/Marketing Analysis Overview. He did the presentation in two parts starting with the looking backwards over the last few years, seeing what changes have occurred then he will speak about looking ahead to the market analysis that really combines both data and that he has compiled, as well as stakeholder observations from the survey and interviews. We'll end with some strategic options that are both community and business focused for your consideration in terms of thinking about where the economic development program for the city proceeds from here. Please click on the link to view Power Point Presentation from Consor: https://Pasco.civicweb.net/filep ro/documents/89811/?p review=91000 Questions from Commissioners: Chair Cochran asked about the frequency of the economic development strategy update. Jacob Gonzalez answered that there is no set frequency. Planning Commission Meeting Minutes Page 2 of 5 June 15, 2023 Commissioner Hendler asked how does this very ambitious plan, using the term in the survey as "bursting at the seams" integrate with responsible planning? Clark Worth answered I think that may be at the heart of why two thirds of the people attending that business roundtable on Monday chose that third direction that they really wanted to see. That kind of integration of the community wide, not just economic diversification, but housing, amenities, other dimension transportation. Jacob has been good about raising those issues in the past too, but I was heartened to see it wasn't complete consensus, but certainly a strong majority who supported moving in that direction with the City's economic development program. Commissioner Lehrman asked how did you guys go about dividing up those three options, A, B, C on slide 20? Clark Worth answered that Option A is staying the course. Option B is being more strategic, Option C is a much more inclusive community development, everything from housing, amenities, education, can be a part of it. Commissioner Campos stated my question is more about the actual surveys and everything else based off of the other projects that you've done with other cities. Is it very comparable to as far as the results and the percentage of the community getting involved, the responses back of the surveys returned, is it pretty much the same, is it better or is it low? And if it is low, are we going to continue to look for feedback to make sure that we get this right? Clark Worth answered we actually have more surveying planned for the future for the broader community. In terms of business response, this isn't low. I would say it's more typical than business. People are busy, never quite get around to this thing. We did some things to encourage a response, but we'll end up with around 300 surveys, which is pretty good. Commissioner Moffitt are you saying C is A plus B plus C, which then would be all inclusive? Eric Hovee answered our intent was that the C is more of a cumulative process which encompasses and includes what's in A and B. OTHER BUSINESS • Memo Site Plan Review Process Jacob Gonzalez started, this is just a brief memorandum that staff has provided to the Planning Commission about gauging the Planning Commission's interest in staff proposing and working on drafting an amendment to the Pasco Municipal Code to help revise and refine some of the current and addressing some of the gaps that exist in our site plan review process. Staff is at this point simply wanting to gauge the Planning Commission's interest and us taking on this effort. This body is certainly familiar with the rapid growth of the community, and staff use this as an opportunity for us to create standards for those that don't exist or refine those that currently do and create a process that is predictable and practical for our applicants. Planning Commission Meeting Minutes Page 3 of 5 June 15, 2023 We'll be administering the proposed new process and certainly continuous monitoring and evaluation to make sure that if a new process is adopted, that it is working, and if it is not, that we share that with the appropriate parties and make the necessary changes. So staff simply is interested in the Planning Commission's interest in this effort, and if so, then we will work on engaging with our stakeholders and bringing this back to the Planning Commission as we can. Chair Cochran asked so have you heard specifically also from the developer community on this? Jacob Gonzalez answered we hear it in various comments. I think the primary concern from the development community is that if there is not a predictable process, it is difficult for them to gauge what the risks are. There's already a monetary risk, a risk of whether a project would be successful or not. And one of the things that we can prevent from the administrative or the facilitation side is making sure that whatever process we do have, that it is enforced consistently. Commissioner Lehrman asked if developers would have the opportunity to go back to those individuals who have applied for per permits to see what their experience is? Jacob Gonzalez answered not so much that element. The more of a predictable, mutually agreeable process we can have in place, the more successful both the City can be because of the development community, whether they are large developers or somebody asking for a regular permit for a fence. Commissioner Moffitt asked how do we compare and what are our downsides when it comes to this whole process right now? Jacob Gonzalez answered I think one of the tasks that this department will have over the next several months is the preparation of sort of a monitoring and evaluation of how we do operate, how fast or not we go through the development review process. • Memo Housing Action and Implementation Plan Jacob Gonzalez stated just a quick status update on the effort related to the Housing Action and Implementation Plan. We are currently working on developing draft recommendations and strategies to implement the goals of the Housing Action Implementation Plan. We did complete our community housing survey. We had well over 800 responses from across the community, so we're excited to put that together in our report and share the results with the community. We will also plan a third stakeholder workshop in early July to share with them some of the draft recommended strategies to tackle the housing efforts here. Then the intent is to come back to the Planning Commission with a first public hearing in July and share a draft plan with the Commission and the community and listen to any community feedback and input concerns questions in July, and then come back in August with a second public hearing. And if those comments and concerns have been adequately addressed, then prepare a recommendation for the Planning Commission to City Council in early fall to comply with the requirements of our Department of Commerce grant. Planning Commission Meeting Minutes Page 4 of 5 June 15, 2023 ADJOURNMENT Chair Cochran stated with no other business, I recommend a motion to adjourn. Commissioner Moffitt made the motion to adjourn the meeting, it was seconded by Commissioner Campos. Passed unanimously. Meeting adjourned at 7:46 pm. R �Ttllv sub dt th t M�h� Carmen Patrick, Administrative Assistant II Community & Economic Development Department Planning Commission Meeting Minutes Page 5 of 5 June 15, 2023