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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCity Council Committees - Planning and Economic Development Committee - 03/17/1992 O CITY OF LW" MIT CITY COUNCIL PLANNING COMMITTEE MINUTES MARCH 17, 1992 4: 00 PM Committee Members Present Leona Orr, Chair Jim Bennett Jon Johnson Planning Staff OTHER CITY STAFF Lin Ball Roger Lubovich Sharon Clamp Alana McIalwain James Harris Carol Morris Margaret Porter Carol Proud OTHERS Fred Satterstrom Alice Shobe Linda Van Nest Grace Hiranaka Bill Doolittle GROWTH MANAGEMENT UPDATE - (F. SATTERSTROM) Planning Manager Fred Satterstrom reported that visioning meetings were conducted last week by Anton Nelessen, and staff feels that there was a valid representation of Kent citizens in attendance. It is hopeful that a workshop for the City Council with Mr. Nelessen can take place at a future date. Mr. Nelessen's interpretation of the Visual Preference Survey results is that the City of Kent is in the arterial road building business for no good reason, there is too much stand-alone multifamily versus mixed use, and Kent citizens want to see more passive and formal parks. Data entry from the public participation forums is currently being done, and a report to the City Council will be ready for the second meeting of April. BUSINESS LICENSE ORDINANCE (C. PROUD) Senior Planner Carol Proud stated that the new business license ordinance has the general concurrence of City planning and legal staff and representatives of the business community. She explained that the new ordinance places the formal administration of business licenses in the Planning Department and appeals will be heard before the Hearing Examiner. CITY COUNCIL PLANNING COMMITTEE MINUTES MARCH 17, 1992 PAGE 2 Ms. Proud stated at the request of Councilman White, also included in the packet are procedures for administration of business licenses, a revised application, general instructions, a development assistance brochure available to the general public, and an application for appeal. Based on a complete application, a business license will be issued within three working days. Staff recommends the ordinance be approved and sent to the City Council. Roger Lubovich distributed a draft resolution which establishes fees for business license applications, renewals and appeals before the hearing examiner. He explained it is City policy to be able to adopt fees by resolution rather than ordinance. The fees stated in the draft resolution are the current fees for application and renewal. The $100 Hearing Examiner appeal fee was set to cover a portion of the cost of an appeal. Tim Gates stated that the Kent Chamber of Commerce is in support of the current drafts. Roger Lubovich noted that a clarification should be made to Section 5.20. 340 (E) of the ordinance stating that hearing examiner fees will be established by City Council resolution. Jon Johnson MOVED and Jim Bennett SECONDED a motion to adopt the new business license ordinance with the recommended amendment. Motion Carried. Jon Johnson MOVED and Jim Bennett SECONDED a motion to approve the resolution establishing fees. Motion carried. HEARING EXAMINER ORDINANCE (C. PROUD) Carol Proud explained the Hearing Examiner ordinance is directly tied to the business license ordinance and was approved by the Planning Committee at the December 3, 1991 meeting. The ordinance also adds multifamily design review to the duties of the Hearing Examiner. Roger Lubovich explained that the new ordinance brings the City in compliance with state law requiring 10 days for an appeal rather than 14 days as our current ordinance states. Jon Johnson MOVED and Jim Bennett SECONDED a motion to approve the new Hearing Examiner ordinance. Motion carried. WHITE RIVER VALLEY HISTORICAL SOCIETY MUSEUM (L. VAN NEST) Linda Van Nest, President of the White River Valley Historical Society, distributed a list of 1992 officers and explained that the CITY COUNCIL PLANNING COMMITTEE MINUTES MARCH 17, 1992 PAGE 3 museum, although located in Auburn, is a regional facility that works with Kent, Auburn, Algona and Pacific. The museum serves 100, 000 people in the area including 35, 000 school children. She explained that the Society is a non-profit organization. The Society fully owns the museum building which houses more than 50% Kent items. They have a 99 year renewable lease (for another 99 years) with the City of Auburn. The worth of the museum and collections are presently appraised at over $1 million. Ms. Van Nest distributed a Society resume giving a chronological list of accomplishments and pointed out that the museum contains a very good library for research. Ms. Van Nest noted that for the last 30 years, the Society has been a volunteer group although they have not had the same commitment of volunteers as in the past. As a result, the City of Auburn has been providing a staff person since 1991. The City of Auburn is looking for a five year contractual agreement with the Society to provide a staff person and maintenance of the exterior of the building. The Society is concerned because Auburn's commitment totals $65, 000 while Kent has donated $5, 000, which is to be cut to $2, 500 for 1992 . Donations are down because people view the facility as an Auburn museum rather than a Valley museum. The Society is concerned and would like to know if there is any additional support available from Kent. Planning Director Jim Harris explained that Administration has been overseeing historical issues since the City's contact person, Senior Planner Lauri Anderson, resigned. He suggested researching what the Administration, Planning and Parks Departments are currently doing and what they see in the future for historic preservation. This information would be brought back to the Planning Committee. In response to Chair Orr's questions regarding the status of the log cabin museum proposal, Ms. Van Nest stated that it was her understanding that the City was not interested in pursuing the project. She indicated that the Society's Interim Museum Planning Commission met with Patrice Thorell, Nancy Woo and others and were told that the City could not manage the log cabin museum project. Ms. Van Nest believes that the Society's cause fits better with Planning rather than the event coordinators in Administration, and if a person were to be assigned to the Society, it should be from the Planning Department. Planning Manager Fred Satterstrom explained that the Planning Department has been given the responsibility of dealing with the historic preservation of buildings. The interlocal agreement between the City of Kent, Auburn, and the Society has historically CITY COUNCIL PLANNING COMMITTEE MINUTES MARCH 17, 1992 PAGE 4 been handled by Administration with Nancy Woo as the contact person. Alana Mclalwain stated that Nancy Woo has been attending White River Historical Society meetings as a liaison from Administration. She stated that the Administration Department has suffered the same consequences as other departments having lost a staff position. Ms. Mclalwain stated that Administration is not able to manage a lot of people power to the Society and has no objection to the Planning Department taking the lead if that would better serve the Society. Planning Director Harris feels the City Council should make the determination on which department should take the lead. Alana Mclalwain added that in regards to the log cabin project, it is her understanding that because of the cost involved in relocating the structure and the question on where it could be relocated that a reasonable alternative could not be reached. Council President Woods feels there is a fear that Auburn is maneuvering itself into a position of taking over the valley museum. The mayor has been appraised of the situation. Ms. Woods feels that more "in kind" contributions could be made to the Society until additional funds are available. Bill Doolittle is surprised that the museum is in the Planning Department and not the Parks Department because the museum is art. Mr. Doolittle also feels that a private company could be pursued to take on the log cabin museum project. Chair Orr suggested Jim Harris and Alana Mclalwain meet and reach an agreement on how this subject can best be handled. If they cannot come to an agreement, the subject can be brought back to the Planning Committee. Bill Doolittle suggested approaching the senior citizen advisory board for their participation. He feels there is a lot of talent, energy, and free time that Kent senior citizens could contribute. Jim Harris stated he will work with Alana Mclalwain and report back to the Planning Committee. SOOS CREEK PLAN (J. HARRIS) This item was deferred to the next meeting. SANDWICH BOARD SIGNS REPORT (F. SATTERSTROM) Fred Satterstrom stated that Don Rust, owner of Bagman Cafe, has asked that portable signs be addressed as a possible revision to CITY COUNCIL PLANNING COMMITTEE MINUTES MARCH 17, 1992 PAGE 5 the sign regulations section of the zoning code. Mr. Satterstrom talked with Mr. Rust and agreed that Mr. Rust and Russ Stringham, owner of the Hungry Bear, will look at the applicable City ordinances. Mr. Rust and Mr. Stringham will then meet with Jim Harris and Fred Satterstrom to discuss the issues. The process for resolution and airing those issues will be also be discussed. Mr. Satterstrom will report back to the Planning Committee on this issue in two weeks. ADDED ITEMS PROPOSED 1993 LOCAL CDBG PROGRAM POLICIES (A. SHOBE) Planner Alice Shobe explained that each year the City receives federal money managed through the King County Consortium. The City is required by the federal government to adopt local program policies stating our intent and guidelines on how the money will be spent. The City uses the policy for determining which applications will be funded for 1993 . The CDBG policies identify both local and regional needs. Although the policies stress local over regional needs, in the last two years there has become more emphasis on regional programming especially for issues such as homelessness. Staff recommends continued support of the consortium-wide housing pot which was created in 1991. The City of Kent allocated approximately $9, 000 in 1992 to the King County CDBG Consortium for housing programs. This regional pot of money addresses the fact that it is difficult to determine where homeless people are from. Ms. Shobe stated that the project categories and additional evaluation criteria are unchanged from the policy adopted for 1992 . She explained that it is unknown at this time how much block grant money the City will receive or the specific breakdowns. Hopefully this information will be available from the County in two weeks. Staff recommends approval of the policies as presented and forward to the City Council on April 7, 1992 . Planning Director Harris added that this item will need to be placed on the March 17 Council agenda as an added item to set the hearing for April 7 and he has handouts for the Council. Lin Ball stressed that the Council needs to be aware that this recommendation includes the approval of continued participation in the Corsortium-wide pot for the emergency shelter. Jon Johnson MOVED and Jim Bennett SECONDED a motion to approve the recommended proposed 1993 local CDBG program policies. Motion carried. CITY COUNCIL PLANNING COMMITTEE MINUTES MARCH 17, 1992 PAGE 6 MISCELLANEOUS Jim Bennett stated he has been presented with a petition from residents who will be affected by the proposed downtown zoning plan. Jim Harris advised Mr. Bennett that the proper place to bring up the petition is at the Council meeting when the downtown plan is presented to the Council. WEST HILL ANNEXATION Chair Orr stated that at their recent retreat, City Council members agreed they would like the City to proceed with the West Hill island annexation. Jim Harris reminded Ms. Orr that at a recent Planning Committee meeting Assistant City Attorney Tom Brubaker explained that this issue will come to the Council in June due to the timing of elections. Councilmember Johnson asked about the Del Mar annexation and Mr. Harris replied that the citizens in that area are currently circulating a petition. Chair Orr stated that there is confusion with the Council on the island annexation. Some councilmembers think that the City can annex the island without an election simply because the City surrounds it. Mr. Harris replied that we will have Tom Brubaker come to the next Planning Committee meeting to explain the issue again. ADJOURNMENT The meeting adjourned at 5: 10 p.m. PC0317 .92