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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCity Council Meeting - Council - Minutes - 03/04/2003 • KEN T WASHIHGTON Kent Washington March 4, 2003 The regular meeting of the Kent City Council was called to order at 7 : 00 p.m. by Mayor White. Councilmembers present: Clark, Epperly, Orr, White, Woods, and Yingling. Others present : Chief Administrative Officer Martin, City Attorney Brubaker, Police Chief Crawford, Public Works Director Wickstrom, Parks, Recreation and Community Services Director Hodgson, Community Development Director Satterstrom, Information Technology Director Mulholland, Finance Director Miller. Councilmember Peterson was excused from the meeting . Approximately 85 people were in attendance. The flag salute was led by Cub Scout Pack 504 . (CFN-198) CHANGES TO THE AGENDA From Council, Administration or Staff. Public Communications Items 4F and 4G, Consent Calendar Items 6D and 6E, Other Business Item 7B, and Executive Session Items 12A and 12B were added to the agenda. Bids Item 8A was removed from the agenda. A correction was made to Consent Calendar Item 6C. (CFN-198) From the Public. Continued Communications Item 11A was added at the request of Bob O' Brien. PUBLIC COMMUNICATIONS Employee of the Month. Mayor White announced that the Employee of the Month for March is Chris Beagle, Technical Services Supervisor. He noted that it is a pleasure to have someone of Chris' caliber in this City. Information Technology Director Mulholland added that Chris wears many hats as a Technical Services Supervisor and is responsible for PC and laptop programs in all the City' s buildings, and is respected by everyone. Beagle stated that he en]oys working at the City and with the people throughout the City. (CFN-147) King County Council Member Julia Patterson Update. Council Member Patterson explained that King County. Council District 13 has portions of the cities of Tukwila, Burien, SeaTac, Kent, Auburn, and all of Normandy Park, with 130, 000 people. She discussed issues affecting the area, such as housing, traffic, and business . Patterson noted the County' s budget deficit and explained the reasons for it and issues which were affected. She outlined some of their new policies and pointed out that 1 Kent City Council Minutes March 4 , 2003 PUBLIC COMMUNICATIONS some may benefit Kent . Patterson stated that she sponsored an ordinance creating the Commission on Governance, a nine person commission that will study King County' s government, including what services it should be providing, what it' s revenue sources should be, what the government should look like, whether it should be partisan, and so forth. She explained the Regional Transportation Investment District, and said she' s been serving as an alternate member on the Regional Transportation Investment District making sure that South King County needs are being met in that package . Patterson stated that her office has been coordinating very carefully with Peter von Reichbauer' s office to do everything possible with your help and with the help from our community, to make sure that a Level 3 sex offender facility does not go to South King County. Patterson concluded by saying that she is proud to have Kent in her district and she is here to serve. Orr expressed appreciation for Patterson' s efforts on the sexual predator siting issue, and noted that the Hearing is March 29 . (CFN-198) Employee of the Year. Mayor White announced Mike Lane, Sr. System Analyst, as the Employee of the Year for 2002 . He noted that Mike' s ingenuity and drive typifies his commitment to deliver quality solutions to his customers and gets the job done . Information Technology Director Mulholland noted that Mike is the Permitting System' s go-to guy and that Mike helped integrate the document imaging system with the permit system; led the project to provide Touch Tone Inspections, worked with the Web master to have that information posted on the web; and worked with Customer Service in the selection and imple- mentation of a new cashiering system. She said Mike truly deserves this honor. Lane noted that the teamwork and enthusiasm that comes from the top is incredible, and thanked everyone . (CFN-147) 2001 Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) Annual Report Award. Mayor White read a Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting for its 2 Kent City Council Minutes March 4 , 2003 PUBLIC COMMUNICATIONS comprehensive annual financial report for the fiscal year which ended December 31, 2001 and presented it to Assistant Finance Director John Hillman. Finance Director Miller recognized the Mayor and the Council for encouraging Finance to be involved in this program, as it shows the commitment of the leaders in their accountability to the citizens . She recognized the person who really puts this report together, John Hillman, noting that he gives a 110% all the time . (CFN-155&186) Proclamation - Red Cross Month. Mayor White read a proclamation noting that the American Red Cross has been helping citizens of King County for more than 100 years, by providing training and information to make individuals, schools and business safer. He proclaimed the month of March 2003 as "Red Cross Month" in the City of Kent and encouraged all citizens to join in honoring the men and women, staff and volunteers, of this out- standing organization. A representative from the Red Cross accepted the proclamation and stated that they are offering free CPR lessons at Highline Community College on May 22nd. (CFN-155) (ADDED) Safe Havens Grant. Councilmember Woods stated that the City of Kent is very fortunate to be one of only four governmental entities nation wide to receive a Safe Haven Demonstration Initiative Grant in the amount of $500, 000 . She noted that three other grantees include the City of Chicago, State of Michigan and Santa Clara County, California, and that the grant will allow City human services staff, along with partnering agencies, to develop and operate a supervised visitation and exchange center that is expected to open in 2004 . John Hodgson, Parks Director, noted that this grant will help provide a respectable, safe opportunity for children to be with parents in a safe environment . He commended Dinah Wilson for making this happen. I 3 t Kent City Council Minutes March 4, 2003 PUBLIC COMMUNICATIONS Katherin Johnson, Manager of Housing & Human Services, commended Wilson, noting that she is very committed to domestic violence issues and making our children' s life safer. She thanked the Mayor and Council for their support, and the City Attorney' s Office and Sharon Hayden, for their efforts to make Kent a safe place. Dinah Wilson, thanked Hodgson, Johnson, Hayden, and all Community Partners for their support . It was really easy to do this because they were so supportive and so encouraging they basically, when I brought the idea to them they 3ust said go with it and that was all the incentive I needed because I knew it was important initiative for us to try to get for our city. I've been working with domestic violence arena for a long time so I really know the issues that go into supervised visitation and the kids' really need this and to me it was a tragedy that we didn' t have this in our community because we know the courts have to have somewhere to send our children when they order supervised visits . I want to thank Sharon for her support and I really want to thank the community partners because they were very supportive to us when we applied for this grant : Chaya, the YWCA South King County Branch, Communities Against Rape & Abuse (CARA) , King County Coalition Against Domestic Violence, Washington State Coalition Against Domestic Violence and a really important partner is the King County Superior Court and look forward to making this happen and having a site here in Kent . (CFN-118) (ADDED) Introduction of Appointee. Mayor White introduced Jim Edwards as his appointee to the Kent Drinking Driver Task Force. (CFN-122) CONSENT CALENDAR WOODS MOVED to approve Consent Calendar Items A through E, including the correction to Item C. Clark seconded and the motion carried. MINUTES (CONSENT CALENDAR - ITEM 6A) (CFN-198) Approval of Minutes . Approval of the minutes of the regular Council meeting of February 18, 2003 . 4 Kent City Council Minutes March 4, 2003 REZONE (OTHER BUSINESS - ITEM 7A) (CFN-121) Coblentz Rezone (RZ-2002-4) . This request by Michael and Betty Coblentz is to rezone approximately 12 . 58 acres of property from SR-8, Single Family Residential, to MR-T16, Multifamily Residential Townhouse. The property is located at 22320 88th Avenue South near SR 167 . The Kent Hearing Examiner held a public hearing on January 23 , 2003 and issued Findings, Conclusions and a conditional recommendation for approval on February 5, 2003 . Matt Gilbert, Planner, explained that Mr. & Mrs. Coblentz request this rezone as the second of a two-step process towards establishing a multi-family townhome zoning on the property. He added that informational language in Condition One of the Hearing Examiner' s recommendation has been included to ensure that any future developer on this site is aware of the fact that a concurrency analysis may be required at the time of development for this site . ORR MOVED to accept the Findings, Conclusions and Recommendations of the Hearing Examiner on the Coblentz Rezone (RZ2002-4) , and to direct the City Attorney to prepare the necessary ordinance . Woods seconded and motion carried. EASEMENT (OTHER BUSINESS - ITEM 7B) (CFN-171) (ADDED ITEM) Easement Release. Public Works Director Wickstrom spoke in the interest of saving time for a future home owner who' s closing on a house, and is subject to this release agreement . He explained that the house was built over a storm sewer, and as a result the builder has now relocated the storm sewer, has provided the additional easement for the alignment and asked that a portion of that easement be released. Wickstrom noted that the builder takes the liability for any potential damage that the abandoned sewer would have with respect to the house in the future and recommended that the Mayor be authorized to execute the release and liability release also. 5 Kent City Council Minutes March 4, 2003 EASEMENT WOODS MOVED to authorize the Mayor to execute the respective document for the release of a portion of a city easement on lot 8 of the plat of South Ridge Estates subject to the concurrence of the terms and conditions thereof by the Public Works Director and City Attorney. Orr seconded and motion carried. COMPREHENSIVE PLAN (OTHER BUSINESS - ITEM 73) (CFN-377) 2002 Annual Comprehensive Plan Amendments. By City ordinance, amendments to the Kent Comprehensive Plan are processed collectively once every year. Applications for six (6) plan amendments were received by September 3 , 2002 which was the deadline for 2002 plan amendments . Four (4) of these applications proposed changes to both the comprehensive plan and the land use and zoning maps . The Land Use and Planning Board held a public hearing on January 27, 2003 . Charlene Anderson, Planning Services, briefly reviewed the subject and she noted that the criteria used for analyzing the amendments included won' t adversely affect the public health safety and general welfare, it' s based on new information or circumstances have changed since adoption of the comp plan, and its consistent with the goals and policies of the comp and maintains concurrency among the land use, transportation and capital facilities elements. She added that for rezones or changes to the zoning district map, similar criteria is consistent with the comprehensive plan compatible with development of vicinity, won' t unduly burden the transportation system, circumstances have changed substantially, and will not adversely affect health, safety and general welfare. Anderson then outlined the staff and Board recommenda- tions for each amendment . Upon the Mayor' s question as to whether any thought has ever been given to raising the impact fees on multi- family housing and lowing on single family if indeed its our intent to discourage multi-family housing and to encourage single family dwelling, Anderson noted that the City does give exceptions to low income housing and 6 Kent City Council Minutes March 4, 2003 COMPREHENSIVE PLAN senior housing to facilitate that development and again it' s the calculations that really determine the fee. She noted for Yingling that the reason the Planning Board denied the Kent Capital Facilities Plan is that they were concerned that this material had not gone to the citizens for a vote. Anderson explained that the requirement says that the changes to the school district or the capital facilities plan of the school district need to be reviewed at the same time that there' s an update to the capital facili- ties element and that in most cases this occurs with annual amendments . Knipp No. 1 ORR MOVED to approve the Land Use and Planning Board recommendation of denial of the Knipp amendment #CPA-2002-2 (A) and #CPZ-2002-1 . Woods seconded. Orr commented that it doesn' t make sense to cut into two single family zoned properties and that extending that commercial zone that far up 132nd is not appropriate. White took with this particular proposal . He said he talked with the gentlemen that runs the business on the property on the lower in the southern end on 132nd, which is an automobile air conditioning repair and Freon recycling business . He pointed out that about a year ago this council passed an ordinance that forbade auto repair in a residential zone due to people who were repairing automobiles in typical residential neighborhoods, clog- ging the cul-de-sacs up with broken down vehicles, and basically not being good neighbors . He said this gentlemen has been in business for over five years and there are no complaints with his neighbors . He added that this particular property is certainly not residen- tial in nature, in fact, it abuts to the south commercial property. He expressed regret to see an action of the council that puts a business out of business and forces them to move potentially out of the 3urisdiction after being in business for five years . He asked whether it is possible to just approve that one with the existing 7 Kent City Council Minutes March 4 , 2003 COMPREHENSIVE PLAN business on because Orr' s concerns would not apply to that particular parcel if that' s the only one. Anderson explained that home repair operations and single family zones are listed as basically home occupa- tions, and that the ordinance that Councilmember White referred to actually has a sunset clause a year after the ordinance was effective or the expiration of a business license whichever is later. White said it' s his under- standing that the owner of that business has received notice that he must move. White reiterated that his question is whether it is possible to amend the proposal to include just that parcel . City Attorney Brubaker suggested tabling the issue to allow time for research. Orr agreed and moved to table until Mr. Brubaker has the information needed. Woods seconded and the motion carried. Later in the meeting, in regard to the Knipp amendment, Brubaker noted that it would be possible to restructure this rezone but only after having a second public hearing and considering all the details relevant to it, which would mean putting a halt to all of these amendments because under the Growth Management Act we have to con- sider all the affects of all the comprehensive plan amendments in concert before taking action. He said it' s not that we can' t do it but we couldn' t do it without forestalling this process for a period of some weeks . The Mayor asked Brubaker if there is a way to hold the abeyance of the business vacation on that property until such time as this comes back to the council, as there is concern about putting someone out of business . Brubaker clarified that under the current law in our state, to make an amendment to this first item would be allowable under certain conditions but only after having a hearing on the revised proposal . He noted that also under state law, all these amendments have to be con- sidered and acted upon at the same time, and said if Council wishes to vote on item one on the proposal as 8 Kent City Council Minutes March 4, 2003 COMPREHENSIVE PLAN presented, they have that authority now and can act tonight and direct the city attorney to prepare the necessary ordinance for these comprehensive plan zoning amendments . He said if they wish to go the other route with item 1, the appropriate thing to do would be to defer all action on all items until a new proposal were brought to a public hearing and conditions considered of this new proposal and public input received. He said it could come back along with all these other proposals in front of you now at that time, and that the net result of that would be a delay of 4 to e weeks. Yingling said he wouldn' t want to delay the whole bunch of these amendments for this one and asked if Council could direct staff to postpone asking this business person to cease operations and give him non-conforming use for a period of time to come back next year when this all happens again and come back with a proposal that would be more amenable to acceptance by Council . Brubaker said he' ll do everything he can to forestall action on this property for one year so they' ll have time to resubmit a comp plan amendment and Council will have time to perhaps reconsider the ordinance that passed a year ago. ORR MOVED to approve the Land Use and Planning Board recommendation of denial of Knipp amendment #CPA-2002-2 (A) & #CPZ-2002-1 . Woods seconded and the motion carried. Ruth ORR MOVED to modify the Land Use and Planning Board recommendation of denial of Ruth amendment #CPA-2002-2 (B) & #CPZ-2002-2 based on the new information provided by the applicant through the testimony of Tom Deming at Habitat Technologies that the subject site has the status of being prior converted cropland. The modification would approve the comprehensive plan amendment, but subject the zoning designation amendment 9 Kent City Council Minutes March 4 , 2003 COMPREHENSIVE PLAN to the following conditions being imposed prior to development of the property under SR-3 : 1 . The owner must provide the city with documentation from governing agencies confirming prior converted cropland status, 2 . Frager Road must have been closed by the city to through traffic; and 3 . The owner must provide a water drainage and storm drainage control plan that does not increase the amount of water flow from the subject property onto the parcels in Exhibit A to this motion, the owners must construct the system in accordance with the approved plan, and the owner must provide, at the Public Works Director' s discretion, either a written guarantee to the owners of the Exhibit A parcels that water flow will not be increased onto the Exhibit A parcels from development of the subject site, or the owner must post a bond benefiting the Exhibit A parcels to be used to alleviate problems or damage caused by the water drainage and storm drainage systems as constructed. Woods seconded. Orr stated that this documentation of prior converted croplands status can certainly be considered as new information and that it deserves to be addressed. She noted that closing Frager Road and making it truly a pedestrian friendly, bike friendly scenic way is some- thing which has been talked about for quite sometime, but that as development has occurred, more and more people are starting to use the road, and it' s no longer the kind of road that it really should be. She expressed concern about water run of and said this gives people the assurance that their properties will be protected. Brubaker noted that there' s a potential appearance of fairness issue on this single item and I have a brief statement to read for the Council before any further deliberation goes on. He read as follows : "The City is in the process of negotiating a real property purchase that' s conditioned in part on the availability of this subject site for re-sale or transfer. As a result, the 10 Kent City Council Minutes March 4, 2003 COMPREHENSIVE PLAN Council' s action tonight on this comprehensive plan and rezone proposal could favorably or unfavorably affect the city' s position in these property negotiations . As a result, each Councilmember' s vote on this one item could be sub]ect to a challenge under the State Appearance of Fairness doctrine and could result in disqualification of all councilmembers, leaving no councilmembers to vote on the item. In this situation, under the rule of neces- sity, RCW 42 . 36 . 090, Council can first disclose the Appearance of Fairness issue and then take action and vote on the item. By reading this statement, I'm provid- ing notice of this Appearance of Fairness issue for the entire city council . " Yingling asked if the other SR-3 designated parcel would come under the same restrictions . Orr said she agrees that other should be protected as well . Yingling asked if there is a legal problem with having rules for one property but not for other adjacent pro- perties that have the same zoning designation. Brubaker, I don' t see it as a problem to include this parcel or to leave the motion as it stands, since the conditions were drawn as a result of the public testimony provided in front of the Land Use and Planning Board and its an attempt to address their concerns . He explained that it would not be a separate unequal restriction, but rather an attempt to address the concerns provided by those property owners . Yingling said one of his concerns is that the parcel to the east could develop without Frager Road being closed, whereas another property could not be developed unless Frager Road were closed. Mayor White stated that Frager Road and Russell Road have been designated recreation corridors for many years, and assuming Council approves this, a plan will be developed to make sure there is access for public safety to get through there in a event of that need while keeping it open to recreation. 11 Kent City Council Minutes March 4, 2003 COMPREHENSIVE PLAN White expressed concern that the Frager Road must be closed before any application can be made as a condition, because it holds that property hostage to the Public Works Department . He said if there is going to be a separate voted issue on closing the road, there is no need to encumber this piece of property with this particular provision. Orr explained that this condition will add the pressure that' s needed to accomplish what we've been trying to accomplish for well over two years, and it will not hinder the applicant in developing. White asked if the council directed the Public Works Department to close the road, would it necessarily require additional pressure from a developer on this property to actually make it happen. Woods said it' s always nice to have extra pressure . The motion then carried. Pule ORR MOVED to accept the Land Use and Planning Board recommendation of denial of the Comprehensive Plan Land Use Map Amendment and approval of an Amendment of the Zoning District Map to SR-3 single family residential consistent with the Comprehensive Plan Land Use Designation #CPA-2002-2 (C) and #CPZ-2002-3 . Woods seconded. Orr said the property should stay residential as it is, although she is willing to agree that it should be zoned 3 units per acre since that' s what the comp plan amendment was . Councilmember White said that in reading through the minutes of the public hearing, Eric LeBrie, the Engineering Consultant for the applicant, made mention of the fact that they were requesting single family 8 in order to create a viable development and that it was not going to be cost effective to develop SR-3 because of all of the side improvements that would be required. He 12 Kent City Council Minutes March 4, 2003 COMPREHENSIVE PLAN noted that if Council does not give them what they' re requesting, there will be no development there and he would prefer to allow the property owner to be able to make use of his property. The motion then carried with White opposed. Later in the meeting Martin noted that three individuals who want to speak on the Pule amendment were missed. Paul Sear, with Barghausen Consulting, noted that what they proposed in their planned amendment was to go from the SF-3 to SF-8, and that they were willing to go with a compromise, which was discussed with the Planning Board and staff who were amenable to looking at that . He said what came out was the recommendation to an SR-3 which is what was acted on earlier this evening. Sear said what they have proposed is a conceptual site plan that pro- vides for approximately 21 homes or 21 lots on this property and preserving the sensitive land within this nine acre site, which is needed for this neighborhood to provide for a livable neighborhood and to protect against the crime that is presently occurring in this area. He spoke in support of an SR 6 designation. Richard Pule, 192nd St . , said he has overwhelming support for the project, and that the development of this pro- perty will result in a better more stable environment . He noted that in the last several years there have been two murders in a block that only has four houses, and expressed concern about the safety of six out of the eight homes have school children. He noted that Ron Harmon pointed out that the safety of the citizens comes first . Pule said he believes that with lighting and with people living there as a neighborhood, that crime would immediately stop. Harley Max, Barghausen Engineers, noted that they have been able to obtain new information in regards to the wetlands, which determines there' s approximately 5 . 7 acres of developable property on this site because it is a large site and most of the sensitive areas lie in the lower areas of the site and can be protected through buffers and set backs to the slopes in the wetlands . 13 Kent City Council Minutes March 4 , 2003 COMPREHENSIVE PLAN She said in order to do so, they need to allow for SR8 density so they can creatively develop and engineer the site to protect the sensitive areas and to have a pleasant development result . She said staff also expressed concern over significant storm water run off due to the topography and steep slopes of the site, and that they feel they can design a system that will provide for drainage control through best management practices and that off site drainage will be improved through the Washington State Department of Transportation culvert replacement project that is planned for June 15th. She noted that in September notice of this was sent out to the neighborhood through the City of Renton because they had a SEPA hearing on it . She said the washed out culvert replacement will improve the drainage on 192nd, and their development would improve the road. She explained that the site has adequate sanitary sewer lines from the City of Kent on the west side of the property as well as from Renton along 192nd, . that there' s a water main that comes down Talbot Road, and that the developer would extend that water main down west bound on 192nd to the site and would allow neighbors to hook up to that public water system if they wish to. She concluded that the neighborhood would benefit from the reduction in crime because there would be a watch dog affect of new homes in the area and some pride in ownership instead of having rental homes on this property in an isolated area now. When the Mayor asked if this information was presented to the Land Use and Planning Board, an audience member said a little bit more than we had a chance to say tonight was presented. Another said not all of it was presented to staff . Martin pointed out that the legally required public hearing was held by the Land Use and Planning Board and the comments just heard are heard as a courtesy. He said Council is not required to take any action because of them and if Council wishes to reconsider that part of ordinance or the amendment, someone 3ust needs to make that motion for reconsideration. 14 Kent City Council Minutes March 4, 2003 COMPREHENSIVE PLAN YINGLING MOVED that we reconsider that Comprehensive zone change . White seconded. Brubaker clarified that the motion before the Council now is a motion to reconsider item #3 of the Comprehensive Plan Amendments . Yingling said he thinks it' s appropriate to reconsider given the fact that they have this information, and some of the information that they didn' t have before in the materials whether its out of courtesy or not, it does put an extra burden on Council to utilize that information in an appropriate manner for the city. Mayor White reiterated that the motion is to reconsider. White said if Council were to reconsider this and allow for what they' re requesting, that would give them a choice . The Mayor reminded Council that the Land Use and Planning Board held a public hearing on this information and that Council has given the Land Use and Planning Board the directive to hold public hearings . Yingling said new information was presented and Council has a burden to process that information and make an appropriate decisions based on it . The motion to reconsider the motion on item 2 then failed for lack of a majority, with Epperly, White and Yingling in favor, and Clark, Orr and Woods opposed. Maple Vista ORR MOVED to modify the Land Use and Planning Board recommendation of denial of Maple Vista #CPA-2002-2 (D) and #CPZ-2002-4 as follows : Approve the comprehensive plan amendment of SF-6, and approve a zoning density increase to SR 4 . 5 units per acre on the condition that, prior to development to SR 4 . 5 the owner provides safety improvements to the NE corner of the sub3ect site as well as other traffic 15 Kent City Council Minutes March 4, 2003 COMPREHENSIVE PLAN mitigation measures the city determines to be necessary in order to accommodate the additional density. Woods seconded. ORR I felt that this was perhaps a good compromise between what' s existing there and what is being requested, and that it was appropriate to do some increase in the density there . Woods said certain portions of it that would not be under any circumstances developable . She said that this is the kind of property that in the future we'd like to consider doing some clustering on, because it would allow us to retain the fragile areas and have that dignity and integrity of the areas that we' re most concerned about but to at least give the owner of the property an opportunity to develop some degree of fulfillment on the acreage. Councilmember White noted that this particular owner has made multiple attempts to up zone this property because he' s not been able to do what needs to be done. He said you have to have an economically viable development and after talking with this gentlemen, it does not appear that he will be able to develop at any lesser than a six unit per acre density. He urged his colleagues to vote against Ms . Orr' s motion. Councilmember Orr noted that in addition to clustering, Council will be dealing with a proposal about Planned Unit Developments . She said this property would be ideal for either one of those possibilities . She said the zoning at 4 . 5 units per acres would give 36 to 40 units, and that anything past 30 was probably viable. She said she felt that this was a good compromise, and that by clustering or using a planned unit development, we are able to do more creative things and still get maximum density from the property. The motion then carried. 16 Kent City Council Minutes March 4, 2003 COMPREHENSIVE PLAN Kent School District ORR MOVED to deny the Land Use and Planning Board recommendation of denial of #CPA-2002-2 (E) the Kent School District Plan and approve the proposal as it was presented. Woods seconded. Orr noted that the school district every year submits their plan and the City checks to make sure that it does meet all the requirements, and that she supports passing their plans . Councilmember Epperly said she has noticed that the fees are constantly rising along with the cost of housing, and she can no longer support school impact fees. Councilmember Clark explained the Growth Management Act tried to deal with the impacts of growth and it dealt with the issue of concurrency which basically says that new growth should in fact contribute towards the burden that it brings to the infrastructure. He said that when you add housing, you add pupils into the school dis- tricts, and when you add enough of them then you start adding buildings and the problem becomes if you do not have the new growth contribute towards that you simply dump the burden of the additional increases for student housing onto the regular property owners, and so in effect it not only creates resistance for the growth but it is in fact simply unfair. He said the process then of coming forward with school impact fees is to create a formula that accurately reflects what that new housing actually generates in terms of its obligation onto the school district for the housing of the students, and that the last part is to recognize that since many of the new properties were advertising the high-quality of the Kent schools, which made it a boost to the housing per se. He said if we were to go backwards on this, the impact very clearly would be a deterioration in terms of the ability of the school district to become the great farms of portables around buildings that makes it less desirable and has all kinds of risk in terms of safety and a number of other issues. He said school impact fees add to the cost of affordable housing, but are a reflection of the reality of what occurs in the community. He opined that 17 Kent City Council Minutes March 4 , 2003 COMPREHENSIVE PLAN Council would be remiss in terms of trying protect our quality of life in our community if we didn' t support this . Councilmember White said he also has some issues with school impact fees, the main one being the effect on housing prices and affordable housing. He noted that the King County Association of Realtors says impact fees have the affect of raising the property taxes of other home owners in the same neighborhood, and that impact fees raise the price of a finished home by two to four times the amount of the fee. He said that when that happens, the higher price pulls up the value of all other homes in the neighborhood, and higher assessed values means higher property taxes. He said property values and property taxes have gone up over the last several years that impact fees have been in effect . He added that this does not include the impact fee for the sewer or the water that are added on. He said that since these fees pull up the value of existing properties the necessary bonds that are passed for the construction projects impact existing property owners more than they would otherwise simply because of the pull up affect that the impact fees have on existing housing. White said the city has the entire responsibility and authority to determine the amount of any impact fee and is responsible for defending the legality of amounts included in the fee calculation in the event of a challenge, but that no supporting information has been provided to him to justify the increase. Councilmember Yingling stated that a balance is needed between new home construction and those homes and those property owners that already exist, and this is one way to get a little bit of that balance. Clark said it is true that school impact fees can add to the cost of housing per se, but it is not true that that automatically, with increased valuations of the neighbor- hood, means that the tax bill is higher. He said the thing the drives property taxes is the millage rate and the millage rate is based upon the indebtedness that has been levied on a general area, so in this case, that 18 Kent City Council Minutes March 4, 2003 COMPREHENSIVE PLAN would be everybody in the Kent School District, and in effect it is the tax bill for the community. Orr reminded White that the City has the ability to approve fees by the ordinance which sets out the formula to use . She noted that staff does the review to ensure they have met those requirements . White stated that he has to take that on faith because he was not provided with any information that shows that the ordinance has been followed. He agreed with Clark that the property tax is based on the millage rate, but said the millage rate is a function of the assessed value of the home and when the cost of housing goes up in a neighborhood it necessarily increases the property value on which the millage rate is calculated. Epperly agreed with White on property taxes . Fred High, Executive Director of Finance for the Kent School District, noted that their initial goal in putting together the impact fee program almost a dozen years ago was to minimize property taxes for the capital con- struction needed to meet growth, and encouraging our voters to continue to vote for new capacity issues knowing that they didn' t have to go it alone. He noted that in the last 22 years, the Kent school district has built 20 new schools, doubled the population and provided adequate facilities during that period. He added that they are currently under construction on additions to three of our high schools to expand capacity at that level, that secondary schools happen to be the highest growth area right now, and that eight to ten thousand units district-wide are still in the pipeline. He explained that Kent' s student generation factor happens to be one of the highest in the metro Seattle area at lust under . 9 child per single family housing, and a corresponding figure for multi-family. He noted that even with an impact fee program that' s been in place with the County for nine years and the City for the past six, the Kent area is still one of the most affordable places to live from a housing standpoint and certainly to build a single family residence. 19 Kent City Council Minutes March 4, 2003 COMPREHENSIVE PLAN High noted that the Board of Directors deliberately choose not to raise the fee until all the court decisions on Initiative 697 requiring a vote on impact fees were made. He said 9 . 7% increase represents three years of CPI, and that' s all . He noted that when they entered the impact fee program all those years ago, they made a commitment to this Council, to the County Council, and to our public that they would keep the fees as reasonable as possible, and that if we were to run the numbers straight on the facts available right now, they would be asking for $900 more on that fee, but that all they're asking for is CPI because they feel they need to keep that commitment to keep fees reasonable. He added that this plan was carefully considered by the Board of Education, it' s been reviewed by the School Technical Review Committee at King County, and it' s on its way to being approved by the City of Covington. Dick Cook, parent and member of the Citizens Budget Review Committee for the School District, emphasized that the impact fees do represent a savings to the existing tax payers in Kent . He said since the impact fees have been implemented, they have collected $22 million district-wide, $9 million of which have come from development within the City of Kent . He said impact fees are critical to keeping the tax levy lower and to keeping tax bills lower, and that without impact fees local tax payers have to foot the bill for a much larger share of the infrastructure that is being caused by new development . Cathy Foster, parent of two children in the Kent School District and member of the Citizens Budget Review Committee, said impact fees are only used to increase the capacity of the new students brought into the district, such as for new school buildings, additional classrooms or portables. She urged the Council to vote for this in order to keep the Kent School District the strong school district that it is . Connie Baseman, taxpayer in the Kent School District, opined that this is not a huge affordability issue, and that buying a house in a viable school district is a worthwhile investment . On the fairness issue, she said 20 Kent City Council Minutes March 4, 2003 COMPREHENSIVE PLAN the needs of the existing tax payer, the new resident and the low income, are addressed and there is some balance . She said the fees pay only about 28% of a very under- estimated low end figure of the cost of providing for these students . Gary Young, Polygon Northwest Company, expressed ap- preciation to the Kent School District and the tremendous work that the district does. He said that as a builder, they' re very concerned about the affordability issue . He stated that the funding process in this state is a real challenge in terms of how the school districts are forced to operate in terms of how they fund. He added that it' s important that message continues to come from the local ]urisdictions and from the districts that continue to push this issue to the higher levels of the state so that proper legislation can be enacted. He said it' s important that the Council move ahead in supporting fees and that the school district will acknowledge the needs of the city. He noted that Cities, Districts, and builders are having difficulty in a recession, but if all work towards a better solution and in a cooperative way we' re going to get much better results . He concluded by saying the fee issue should be looked at and that they support the school district . Upon a roll call vote, the motion carried four to two, with Epperly and White opposed. Federal Way School District ORR MOVED to deny the Land Use and Planning Board recommendation of denial of number #CPA-2002-2 (E) , the Federal Way School District Plan and approve that proposal . Woods seconded. Orr noted that all of the previous requirements and reasons apply, so she supports approval of their plan. Sally McClain, Chief Financial Officer of the Federal Way School District, noted that the plan Council is con- templating this evening was approved by their Board on 21 Kent City Council Minutes March 4, 2003 COMPREHENSIVE PLAN July 23 , 2002 and then was submitted to the City of Federal Way, the King County School Technical Review Board and the City of Kent for their consideration and due process. She said that student generation rates for secondary schools are higher than they have been in the past, and that they have several projects in the works which are playing into that school impact fee at this point in time, such as a public academy, our fourth comprehensive high school and additions at all three of the existing high schools, and the Truman High School which opened last Monday. She noted that the Federal Way school board and City Council have also been very concerned about tax rates for the area. Upon a roll call vote, the motion carried four to two, with Epperly and White opposed. City of Kent Capital Facilities Element ORR MOVED to deny the Land Use and Planning Board recommendation of denial of 4CPA-2002-2 (F) , City of Kent Capital Facilities Element and approve the proposal . Woods seconded. Orr noted that this is the City' s Capital Plan, and that although it was turned down by the Land Use and Planning Board, it' s important that the Council approve it . The motion carried. ORR MOVED to direct the City Attorney to prepare the necessary ordinance that incorporates all the previous motions tonight . Woods seconded, and the motion carried. EPPERLY MOVED to direct city staff to take all acts necessary to restrict Frager Road South of 212th Street so that it will be closed to through traffic and to complete this process within one year. Orr seconded, and the motion carried. The Mayor reminded Mr. Wickstrom that this motion doesn' t let him off the hook for our three month directive from earlier. 22 Kent City Council Minutes March 4, 2003 COMPREHENSIVE PLAN Woods extended appreciation to staff for all the hard work they've done on the comp plan amendments, and also to the Land Use and Planning Board for their delibera- tions and all of the citizens who contributed during the public hearings . PARKS (CONSENT CALENDAR - ITEM 6C) (CFN-118) King County Youth Sports Facility Grant. Accept the youth sports facility grant, authorize the Mayor to enter into an agreement with King County and amend the Wilson Playfields budget by adding $50, 000 . 00 . Funds will be used for field equipment, dugout benches, and bleachers at Wilson Playfields (previously East Hill Youth Sports Complex) . It was clarified that this item is recommended by the Operations Committee . COUNCIL (CONSENT CALENDAR - ITEM 6D) - (CFN-198) Council Absence. Approval of a request for an excused absence from tonight' s meeting from Council member Peterson, who is unable to attend. POLICE (CONSENT CALENDAR - ITEM 6E) (CFN-122) (ADDED ITEM) Appointment to Drinking Driver Task Force. Confirma- tion of the Mayor' s appointment of Jim Edwards to serve as a member of the Kent Drinking Driver Task Force. Mr. Edwards manages the South Seattle Auto Auction as an employee of the Ford Motor Company and is a resident of Kent but grew up in the Federal Way area. Mr. Edwards will replace John Bond and his term will continue until 1/1/2006 . FINANCE (CONSENT CALENDAR - ITEM 6B) (CFN-104) Approval of Bills . Approval of payment of the bills received through February 15 and paid on February 15 after auditing by the Operations Committee on February 18, 2003 . 23 Kent City Council Minutes March 4, 2003 FINANCE Approval of checks issued for vouchers : Date Check Numbers Amount 2/15/03 Wire Transfers 1357-1365 $ 921, 551 . 69 2/15/03 Prepays & 544477 1, 330, 091 . 79 2/15/03 Regular 545042 909, 284 . 71 $3, 160, 928 . 19 Approval of checks issued for payroll for February 1 through February 15 and paid on February 20, 2003 : Date Check Numbers Amount 2/20/03 Checks 266594-266891 $ 238, 969 . 91 2/20/03 Advices 142226-142909 1, 192, 537 .41 $1 , 431 , 507 . 32 REPORTS Planning Committee. Orr noted that the Planning Committee will be meeting March 18 at 3 :00 p.m. She said she is very appreciative of staff, the Land Use and Planning Board, everyone that' s worked so hard, all the citizens, all the applicants that went into the Comp Plan Amendments . She also urged everyone to come out on Saturday for the opening of the pool . (CFN-198) Parks Committee. Woods announced that the Parks Committee will meet on Tuesday, March llth at 4 : 00 p.m. She mentioned the grand reopening of the pool on Saturday, March 8, 'at 1 : 00 p.m. and announced that the Clark Lake Master Plan meeting will be held next Wednesday, March 12 at 6 : 30 p.m. at Martin Sortun elementary school which is on 248th directly across from the park itself . She then added ended with the news that the City has received it' s 2003 Community Development Block Grant allocation in the amount of $973 , 000, which is nearly $400, 000 more than in 2002 . (CFN-198) Administrative Reports. Martin reminded Council that there are two items for executive session, and that Council may want to take action on one of those items. (CFN-198) 24 Kent City Council Minutes March 4, 2003 CONTINUED COMMUNICATION Kent Station. Bob O'Brien, 1131 Seattle Street, ex- pressed concern about arsenic poisoning and the former location of Northwest Metal Products . Mayor White responded that the area was cleaned up when the Regional Justice Center was built, that it has been taken care of, and there is a clean bill of health on this property. He said the Kent Station project is moving ahead and will be the finest thing to hit the downtown area of Kent in the last 100 years . He com- mented that a group of folks want to run for office and have been criticizing this Council and Administration, and said their challengers need to be using the same three minutes every week. He said the allegations of this group doesn' t hold water. (CFN-171) EXECUTIVE SESSION The meeting recessed to Executive Session at 9 :50 p .m. (CFN-198) AFTER EXECUTIVE SESSION The meeting reconvened at 9 : 55 p.m. WOODS MOVED to authorize the Mayor to execute the neces- sary documents associated with the sale of real property in the vicinity of 196th Street and 181st Street that was purchased for and is now surplus to the 196th Street Corridor project, subject to the City Attorney and Public Works Director' s concurrence with the final terms and conditions thereof. Orr seconded and the motion carried. (CFN-198) ADJOURNMENT WOODS THEN MOVED to adjourn. Orr seconded the meeting adjourned at 9 : 55 p.m. (CFN-198) Brenda Jacober, CMC City Clerk 25