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HomeMy WebLinkAbout06-19-2014 Planning Commission Minutes-1-   RESCHEDULED MEETING July 14, 2014 PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING CALL TO ORDER: The meeting was called to order at 7:00pm by Chairman Cruz. POSITION MEMBERS PRESENT MEMBERS ABSENT No. 1 VACANT No. 2 Tony Bachart No. 3 Andy Anderson No. 4 Alecia Greenaway No. 5 Joe Cruz No. 6 Loren Polk No. 7 Zahra Khan No. 8 Jana Kempf No. 9 Gabriel Portugal APPEARANCE OF FAIRNESS: Chairman Cruz read a statement about the appearance of fairness for hearings on land use matters. Chairman Cruz asked if any Commission member had anything to declare. Commissioner Polk recused herself from the public hearing item, MF# PLAN2013-003. Chairman Cruz then asked the audience if there were any objections based on a conflict of interest or appearance of fairness question regarding the items to be discussed this evening. There were no objections. ADMINISTERING THE OATH: Chairman Cruz explained that state law requires testimony in quasi-judicial hearings such as held by the Planning Commission be given under oath or affirmation. Chairman Cruz swore in all those desiring to speak. APPROVAL OF MINUTES: Commissioner Greenaway moved, seconded by Commissioner Portugal, that the minutes dated May 15, 2014 be approved as mailed. The motion passed unanimously. OLD BUSINESS: A. Special Permit Location of a Church in a C-3 (General Business) Zone (Templo de Alabanza) (MF# SP 2014-004) Chairman Cruz read the master file number and asked for comments from staff. Shane O’Neill, Planner I, discussed the special permit for the location of a church in a C-3 Zone. He stated that there had been no changes to the staff report or conditions since the previous meeting. -2-   Commissioner Portugal asked about parking improvements. Chairman Cruz responded that parking requirements are included in the approval conditions. Commissioner Bachart moved, seconded by Commissioner Khan, to adopt the findings of fact and conclusions therefrom as contained in the June 19, 2014 staff report. The motion passed unanimously. Commissioner Bachart moved, seconded by Commissioner Khan, based on the findings of fact and conclusions therefrom the Planning Commission recommend the City Council grant a special permit for the location of a church at 1202 Unit B, West Lewis Street (Parcel # 200-000-220), with conditions as listed in the June 19, 2014 staff report. The motion passed unanimously. B. Special Permit Location of a Wireless Communications Facility (AT&T) (MF# SP 2014-005) Chairman Cruz read the master file number and asked for comments from staff. Shane O’Neill, Planner I, discussed the special permit application for the location of a wireless communications facility in a C-1 (Retail Business) Zone. Mr. O’Neill stated that the only change to the staff report has been the language in condition #5 regarding the block wall fencing around the facilities. Staff received the AM Frequency Analysis Report that was completed by request, however wasn’t required by the FCC. The report indicated that there would be little to no interference between the proposed wireless facilities and current AM towers. Commissioner Portugal asked is a study was completed or if the report was the same as a study. Mr. O’Neill clarified that they were the same. Commissioner Greenaway requested clarification that the AM Frequency Analysis Report indicated that there would be little or no effect on the surrounding towers. Mr. O’Neill stated that is correct and is further substantiated in that a report wasn’t even required due to technical reasons. If the special permit is approved the applicant would still be required to follow FCC regulations, as one of their approval conditions. Commissioner Greenaway asked staff what would happen if the proposed facility was approved and did cause interference with the AM station. Rick White, Community & Economic Development Director, responded that as a condition they will be required to fix the problem. Commissioner Kempf moved, seconded by Commissioner Bachart, to adopt the findings of fact and conclusions therefrom as contained in the June 19, 2014 staff report. The -3-   motion passed 7 to 1, with Commissioner Greenaway dissenting. Commissioner Kempf move, seconded by Commissioner Bachart, based on the findings of fact and conclusions as adopted the Planning Commission recommend the City Council grant a special permit to allow wireless communication facilities on tax parcel # 119-701- 412 with conditions as contained in the June 19, 2014 staff report. The motion passed 6 to 2, with Commissioner Greenaway and Commissioner Khan dissenting. C. Rezone Rezone from C-3 (General Business) to R-3 (Medium Density Residential) (Chester & Jaqueline Fortune) (MF# Z 2014-002) Chairman Cruz read the master file number and asked for comments from staff. Shane O’Neill, Planner I, discussed the rezone application from C-3 (General Business) to R-3 (Medium Density Residential). He stated that there had been no changes to the staff report since the previous meeting. Commissioner Kempf moved, seconded by Commissioner Greenaway, to adopt the findings of fact and conclusions as contained in the June 19, 2014 staff report. The motion passed unanimously. Commissioner Kempf moved, seconded by Commissioner Greenaway, based on the findings of fact and conclusions as adopted the Planning Commission recommend the City Council approve the rezone from C-1 to R-3 for Franklin County tax parcel # 113-504-020 and # 113-504-011. The motion passed unanimously. D. Rezone Zoning of Department of Natural Resources Section 16 (MF# Z 2014-001) Chairman Cruz read the master file number and asked for comments from staff. Dave McDonald, City Planner, discussed the Department of Natural Resources rezone application from RT (Residential Transition) to C-1 (Retail Business), RS-1 (Suburban Residential), R-1 (Low Density Residential), R-3 (Medium Density Residential) and O (Office). He stated that there had been no changes to the staff report since the previous meeting. He added that the proposed zoning map that was included in the staff report is the proposed zoning that will be presented to City Council. Commissioner Portugal moved, seconded by Commissioner Kempf, to adopt the findings of fact and conclusions therefrom as contained in the June 19, 2014 staff report. The motion passed 6 to 2, with Commissioner Greenaway and Commissioner Polk dissenting. Commissioner Portugal moved, seconded by Commissioner Kempf, based on the findings of fact and conclusions as adopted the Planning Commission recommend the City Council rezone the DNR and School District property in Section 16 from RT and C-1 to RS-1, R-1, R-3, Office and C-1 as illustrated in the “Proposed Zoning” exhibit attached to the June 19, 2014 staff report. The motion passed 6 to 2, with Commissioner Greenaway and Commissioner Polk dissenting. PUBLIC HEARINGS: -4-   A. Special Permit Location of a Church in a C-1 (Retail Business) Zone (Manuel Diaz) (MF# SP 2014-006) Chairman Cruz read the master file number and asked for comments from staff. Rick White, Community & Economic Development Director, discussed the special permit application for the location of a church in a C-1 (Retail Business) Zone. Churches in any zone require a special permit through provisions in the Municipal Code. In this particular case, this church was first initiated in the early 1990’s and has been a church ever since, however in those days special permits were personal to the applicant rather than the property. The applicant wishes to continue the current use as a church. The previous special permit for the existing church was abandoned and the new applicant needed to submit an application for a special permit for their use and one of the approval conditions would be that the special permit be subject to the property rather than the applicant. Antonio Diaz, 1734 North 5th Avenue, spoke on behalf of his special permit application. Chairman Cruz asked if Mr. Diaz was alright with all of the conditions in the staff report. Mr. Diaz replied that everything was fine. Rosa Perez, 1711 North 6th Avenue, gave her support of this special permit application. Ms. Perez stated that she is a neighbor to this property and feels that the church would improve the neighborhood and keep it safer. With no further comments the public hearing closed. Commissioner Bachart moved, seconded by Commissioner Khan, to close the public hearing and schedule deliberations, the adoption of findings of fact and development of a recommendation for City Council for the July 17, 2014 Planning Commission Meeting. The motion passed unanimously. B. Rezone Rezone from C-3 (General Business) to R-3 (Medium Density Residential) (Solano Enterprises) (MF# Z 2014-003) Chairman Cruz read the master file number and asked for comments from staff. Shane O’Neill, Planner I, discussed the rezone application from C-3 (General Business) to R-3 (Medium Density Residential). The site is located 909 North 3rd Avenue and is nearly surrounded by mostly residential properties with only one commercial property to the north. Most of those residential uses are multi-family or high density. The Comprehensive Plan designates this site for residential uses which allows for zones from RS-20 through R-3. The site zoned as R-3 could accommodate up to 49 units, roughly 14.5 units per acre. Recently the City completed a capital improvement project putting in a roundabout and street frontage improvements directly in front of the site. Residential development on this site would bolster the City’s recent investment along the 4th Avenue Corridor. -5-   Commissioner Khan asked if there would be any requirements to the façade of multi- family residential pertaining to the downtown area. Mr. O’Neill answered that there are no additional design requirements. Dave McDonald, City Planner, added that this site is outside of the boundary of Downtown Pasco Development Area. With no comments the public hearing closed. Commissioner Anderson moved, seconded by Commissioner Greenaway, to close the public hearing on the proposed rezone and initiate deliberations and schedule adoption of findings of fact, conclusions and a recommendation to the City Council for the July 17, 2014 meeting. The motion passed unanimously. C. Plan Sylvester Neighborhood Plan (MF# PLAN 2013-003) Chairman Cruz read the master file number and asked for comments from staff. Rick White, Community & Economic Development Director, discussed the proposed Sylvester Neighborhood Plan. The purpose of the hearing is to culminate with the public effort the staff has put into this project over the past year. The City has met with citizens and property owners over the course of four or five neighborhood meetings developing possible solutions to the problem with the trees in the planting strips causing damage and issues to the sidewalks. The area of focus has been narrowed down to include Park Street between 5th Avenue and 7th Avenue as the highest priority improvement area to use Community Development Block Grant Funds this coming year. An application for 2015 Community Development Block Grant Funds has been submitted and will be discussed at a public hearing on June 24, 2014 to repair the trees and the sidewalks and reinstall trees and dry irrigation lines at each property under the new sidewalk to allow for connections to a water source if the owner chooses to do so. Earl Lunders, 801 West Park Street, spoke on behalf of the proposed plan. He shared concern about finances and if property owners would be responsible to pay for the project as well as taking trees that don’t need to be removed. Chairman Cruz responded that with block grant funds, homeowner’s would not be responsible paying for the project as it either gets funded or it doesn’t. If it doesn’t get funded the project does not move forward. Mr. White added that the proposal would be to place an appropriately sized tree in the planting strip to replace any tree that has been removed. If the current trees can be worked around, the City would like to retain them but the project isn’t designed at this point and there isn’t a guarantee that they can be retained. There are some trees that aren’t a problem at the time but will be in the future and would most likely be replaced at this time to prevent costs in the future. Mr. White briefly discussed the types of trees and design. This project will only occur if funded by block grant funds. Michael Anderson, 811 West Park Street, asked about the schedule and if the 800 block and 900 block of Park Street will be done after this first phase. -6-   Mr. White responded that there isn’t a schedule but the City wants to use the experience of Park Street between 5th Avenue and 7th Avenue to help finalize other portions of the plan. There are other portions in the neighborhood that are anticipated to be included in some kind of improvement at a later time. Clare Cranston, 907 West Nixon Street, discussed the history of the trees in the neighborhood and stressed the importance of keeping as many possible rather than removing them if not necessary. Earl Lunders spoke again and asked what would happen to his irrigation that he already has installed on his property and if it is damaged. Mr. White answered that the City would ensure that his irrigation would still work and if replaced, it would be improved, and the property owner would not have to pay for this work. Jan Connolly, 135 Camargo Lane, gave her support of the plan and thanked the City for their work with the citizens and members of the neighborhood in improving the area. With no further comments the public hearing closed. Commissioner Khan if there would be a way to keep any of the trees for property owners who wish to keep them. Chairman Cruz responded that some of the trees in the removal process would die and could also cause more damage. Mr. White added that without a detailed design or onsite inspection it is hard to answer at this time. Cutting some problem roots may end up killing the tree or the tree could fall over more easily in the long run so it would be better to remove the tree or the tree. Those types of assessments will have to be completed in the field. Commissioner Portugal moved, seconded by Commissioner Greenaway, to close the public hearing and schedule deliberations, the adoption of findings of fact and development of a recommendation for City Council for the July 17, 2014 meeting. The motion passed unanimously. OTHER BUSINESS: A. Memorandum Kurtzman Neighborhood Alley Vacation Process Chairman Cruz read the master file number and asked for comments from staff. Rick White, Community & Development Director, discussed the Kurtzman Neighborhood Alley Vacation Process. Recently this area had several LID (Local Improvement District) projects using some Community Development Block Grant funds to share the costs with property owners making storm drainage, street, curb, gutter and sidewalk improvements. The LID’s have been completed and now that the infrastructure is complete there is a question as to the alley. Most of the alleys are not used for public access and there aren’t -7-   utilities in all of the alleys. Staff would like to consider a holistic approach to vacating all of the alleys which would involve an inventory of all of the utilities, access and recommend to City Council that staff begin work on that. Chairman Cruz asked what would happen once the alleys are vacated. Mr. White responded that they alleys would be split between each abutting property. Many of the alleys are already fenced in by property owners. Commissioner Portugal asked if the property owners in the area are aware of this item. Mr. White responded that the notification would happen at a later time during the process. Commissioner Portugal stated that he has a similar situation where he lives and many of the property owners use the alley for access to get to their garages. Mr. White added that there might be an instance where an alley is used to provide access but in this area he cannot think of any. Commissioner Polk asked for clarification regarding the properties who have already fenced in the alley space. She asked if the fences included the addition land that is in the alley. Mr. White responded yes, many of the alleys are already fenced in. Commissioner Bachart asked if the assessed value of the properties will increase due to the additional land given to them with the alley vacation. Mr. White stated that the assessed value of lots in that area, regardless of size, they all seem to be assessed at the same amount and this holds true until roughly ½ or more of land. Commissioner Polk asked if the Planning Commission decided not to move forward with any sort of neighborhood plan to vacate, if those properties with fences have to remove their fence to make the alley accessible again. Mr. White answered that they would most likely at that point to alley vacations individually. The Planning Commission was all in agreement to move forward with the Kurtzman Alley Vacation Process. WORKSHOP: A. Code Amendment Highway Follow-Through Signs (MF# CA 2011-001) Chairman Cruz read the master file number and asked for comments from staff. Shane O’Neill, Planner I, discussed the code amendment for highway follow-through signs. He explained that previously this code amendment which proposes to incorporate highway follow-through signs into the Pasco Municipal Code only included certain areas of the City. Staff has made expanded the areas of applicability to include all of the freeway -8-   interchanges throughout the community. Currently the City of Pasco has a prohibition on off-premise signs. Some businesses qualify for the WASDOT, On-Highway Logo Program, which are the blue signs that have a series of corporate logos to instruct citizens where to go. Some businesses are not readily apparent once traffic gets off of the highway and without off-premise signs it may be hard to locate the business. Rick White, Community & Economic Development Director, added that staff is requesting the Planning Commission to look at the expansion of applicable locations to allow for follow-through signs within 900 feet of an interchange which was advised by the City Attorney. The question is if that legislation should apply to all of the locations proposed and not just at Road 68 or Road 100. Commissioner Kempf stated that she felt it was appropriate to expand the areas in which off-premise signage would be allowed. The Planning Commission was in agreement with the City Attorney’s recommendation. Mr. White explained that staff will take another look at the proposed code amendment to make sure all city departments are in agreement and will come back to the Planning Commission with a final proposed code amendment. B. Plan Shoreline Master Program (MF# PLAN 2013-003) Chairman Cruz read the master file number and asked for comments from staff. Rick White, Community & Economic Development Director, discussed the Shoreline Master Plan Program update. Mr. White thanked Commissioner Portugal for attending the pre-meeting workshop for the consultant presentation of the outline of the Shoreline Process. In this stage an inventory is being done. It is an inventory of the ecological functions of the Columbia River and Snake River as they occur in the Pasco Jurisdiction and an assessment of zoning, land use, physical constraints and assets that the two rivers pose in a series of reaches and sub-reaches. Beginning in August staff is expecting to come back to the Planning Commission with more details from the consultant. This is a long process and will extend into 2015. Chairman Cruz clarified the Shoreline Master Program process. Mr. White and Chairman Cruz briefly discussed “no net loss” in terms of ecologic function as being an important part of the process. Commissioner Portugal added that this plan is to balance public access to the river as well as ecological function. COMMENTS: With no further discussion or business, the Planning Commission was adjourned at 8:04 p.m. Respectfully submitted, -9-   David McDonald, City Planner