Councilmembers present: Alan Kiest, Mary Jane Goss, Nate Herzog, Roger Olstad, Ed Sterner

Councilmembers excused:  Dwight Thompson, Mayor pro tempore; Carolyn Armanini

Planning Commissioners present:  Judy Herring, chair; Lloyd Skinner, Stephen Plusch, Jeff Foster, Linda Owens

Staff present:  David R. Hutchinson, Mayor; Karen Haines, City Administrator; Michael Ruark, City Attorney; Stephen Bennett, Planning and Building Director; Anita Goddard, Planning Commission Clerk; Dennis Peterson, Police Chief; Susan Stine, City Clerk

Others present: One visitor

CALL TO ORDER

Mayor Hutchinson called the joint meeting of the City Council and the Planning Commission to order at 6:08 p.m.

DRAFT COMPREHENSIVE PLAN UPDATE

Mayor Hutchinson welcomed the members of the Planning Commission and noted that Cmr. Judy Herring has agreed to serve as the commission chair.  Jeff Foster was introduced as the commission’s vice chair.

Chair Herring provided a brief overview of the Planning Commission’s work on the draft Comprehensive Plan.  She noted that the current comprehensive plan was adopted in 1995 in compliance with the Growth Management Act, which also requires that the plan be updated every five years.  Herring said that the Planning Commission has been working on the update for approximately three years and reviewed highlights of the Planning Commission’s public process for the comprehensive plan update.

Herring said that the Planning Commission has reorganized the comprehensive plan document to make it more user-friendly, and she noted that the executive summary provides a useful synopsis of the document.

Herring discussed the relationship of allocated housing target information to the King County County-wide Planning Policies.  She noted the work of Planning Commissioner Sang-won Cho on the revised vision statement.

Herring reviewed the updates to the land use element and noted that the first goal led to the formation of the task force for Sustaining a Livable Lake Forest Park /Town Center study.

Herring noted that a new chapter on environmental quality and shorelines also describes environmental features and includes corresponding goals and policies.  The housing chapter was revised to make it consistent with other chapters.  A new chapter was added on economic development with corresponding goals and policies.  The chapter on human services was revised and expanded; and the two chapters on capital facilities and utilities were reorganized, and components of each were rearranged. 

Herring said that a chapter on recreation and open space was added in response to an amendment to the Growth Management Act in 2002. The chapter on transportation was significantly updated with input from the Transportation Commission.  Updated maps of sensitive areas, water districts, and parks and open space are included.

Herring said that the Planning Commission has worked to develop a comprehensive plan update that will be a great tool for the community and will be easy to read and understand.

Planning and Building Director Stephen Bennett said that the Growth Management Act requires adoption of the comprehensive plan update by December 1, 2004.  He noted that funding for various projects, such as providing sewers to unsewered areas through a Public Works Trust Fund loan, is dependent on timely completion of the comprehensive plan update. He discussed the proposed timeline for the update of the sensitive areas ordinance and the future land use map. 

Bennett noted that the calendar for remaining 2004 council meetings identifies discussion topics and special workshops.  Workshops are scheduled for September 9, 16 and 23 to review elements of the proposed comprehensive plan.  He also noted that the Planning Commission has scheduled an open house to receive input on the future land use map and the proposed update of the sensitive areas ordinance for September.

Bennett said that the October calendar for the Planning Commission meetings includes a special meeting to work on the sensitive areas ordinance update, a public hearing on the future land use map and the proposed sensitive areas ordinance, and a meeting to present the commission’s recommendation on the future land use map and the sensitive areas ordinance.

Bennett noted that the timeline proposes that the November meetings should be scheduled for the first and third Thursdays due to the holidays on November 11 and 25.  He said that he recognizes that remainder of 2004 would be busy and noted that the process for completing the comprehensive plan update would be underway at the same time as the development of the 2005 budget.

Bennett also said that the Transportation Commission has proposed some additional changes to the transportation element, and the Planning Commission will review the Transportation Commission recommendations for inclusion in the comprehensive plan update process.

Cmbr. Kiest discussed the proposed timeline for completion of the comprehensive plan update and suggested a process to address issues that arise while moving forward on the document.

Cmr. Skinner reviewed issues that had been raised during the Planning Commission’s process and noted that the commission is forwarding the comprehensive plan text to the council while the commission continues its work on the future land use map.

Haines noted the Planning Commission’s schedule includes both a public meeting and public hearing on the future land use map and the proposed sensitive areas ordinance.

In response to a question from Cmbr. Sterner, Bennett discussed the state legislature’s role in the final approval of the Public Works Trust Fund loans.

Cmbr. Goss expressed her concern that citizens do not realize the implications of the comprehensive plan update and noted that other issues such as the presidential election may take priority.

Cmbr. Herzog thanked the Planning Commission for their work on the comprehensive plan update.  Herzog said that it would help if the staff could identify the areas that must be in compliance so that the council would be able to prioritize its work on the comprehensive plan update.  He noted that the comprehensive plan could be completed in 2004 as required, and an amendment could be presented in 2005.

Cmbr. Olstad expressed his concern regarding postponing consideration of issues related to the comprehensive plan document.  He noted that the final report of the task force for Sustaining a Livable Lake Forest Park—Town Center is scheduled for the September 23, 2004 council study session.

In response to comments from Cmbr. Sterner, Bennett confirmed that the future land use map and the proposed sensitive areas ordinance would be forwarded to the council prior to adoption of the proposed comprehensive plan.  In response to a question from Sterner, Bennett agreed that zoning would have to be adopted to correspond with the future land use map.  Kiest expressed his concern regarding the addition of zoning code updates to the timeline.

In response to comments from Olstad and Sterner, Bennett discussed the Planning Commission’s approach to development of the future land use map and the use of the city’s maps of environmentally sensitive areas.

Goss said that property owners need to know how changes would affect what can be done with current dwellings.

Cmr. Plusch noted the importance of ensuring that protections for sensitive areas are in place before a future land use map is adopted that would allow increased density.

Haines noted that the work on the sensitive areas ordinance would be limited to the areas that must be updated to comply with requirements of the Growth Management Act.  The city could plan a more comprehensive review of the sensitive areas ordinance next year. 

In response to a question from Olstad, City Attorney Ruark discussed density requirements mandated by the Growth Management Act.  Bennett added that some exceptions could be made for sensitive areas.

Kiest suggested enlisting the help of the Association of Washington Cities to raise the questions related to the Growth Management Act.

Plusch said that he believes that the Planning Commission has developed a justifiable document while taking into account differing opinions.

ADJOURNMENT

There being no further comments, the joint meeting of the City Council and the Planning Commission was adjourned at 7:16 p.m.

Susan Stine, City Clerk

David R. Hutchinson, Mayor

Judy Herring, Planning Commission Chair

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