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Home My WebLink AboutCity Council Committees - Planning and Economic Development Committee - 04/03/2000 CITY of Lu1 n!l S MARGIE PORTER PLANNING rNVICCA Jim White, Mayor PLANNING COMMITTEE AGENDA This is to inform you that the City Council Planning Committee will meet in Council Chambers East, Kent City Hall, 220 4' Ave, S., at 5:00 PM on Monday, April 3, 2000. Committee Members: Tom Brotherton, Chair Judy Woods Tim Clark Action Speaker Time 1. Approval of Minutes of March 6, 2000 2. Urban Separators NO Fred Satterstrom 30 minutes Attachment: Minutes of March 6, 2000 The Plarminp Committee meets the first Monday of each month at 5:00 PM in Chambers East, Kent City Hall, 220 4" Ave. South. For agenda information please call Jackie Bicknell at (253) 856-5712 ANY PERSON REQUIRING A DISABILITY ACCOMMODATION SHOULD CONTACT THE CITY CLERK'S OFFICE AT(253) 856-5725 IN ADVANCE. FOR TDD RELAY SERVICE CALL THE WASHINGTON TELECOMMUNICATIONS RELAY SERVICE AT 1-800-833-6388. • 220 4th AVE.SO., /KENT.WASHINGTON 98032-5895/TELEPHONE (253)856-5200 r U RSAN SEPARATORS m let w N F � CITY OF Jim White, Mayor �N V ICTA Planning Department (253) 856-5454/FAX(253) 856-6454 James P. Harris, Planning Director STAFF REPORT April 3, 2000 TO: TOM BROTHERTON, CHAIR AND PLANNING COMMITTEE MEMBERS FROM: FRED N. SATTERSTROM, PLANNING MANAGER RE: URBAN SEPARATORS The issue of"urban separators" was discussed at the Planning Committee of March 6, 2000. At that meeting, Committee members had questions and concerns about several aspects of the countywide planning policy related to urban separators. These issues were: • ■ What are the purposes of urban separators and what is the history behind their origins; ■ Where are these urban separators and what is the policy of other cities regarding their designation; and ■ Have other cities initiated discussions regarding urban separators with King County? Since the Committee's March 6`h meeting, staff has had discussions with King County officials regarding the urban separator policy, talked with other city planning departments where urban separators are designated, and researched the geographic distribution of urban separators in more detail. The following is a result of that research. Background: As a matter of introduction, all comprehensive plans of cities in King County are required to be consistent with the Countywide planning policies adopted by King County and ratified by the cities. By resolution (Resolution #1413), the City of Kent ratified the countywide planning policies in 1994. These policies were to provide a "county-wide framework from which local comprehensive plans were to be developed." One of the county wide planning policies called for both the County and the cities to implement a land use policy which would protect "urban separators." Although urban separators were not • designated on any maps adopted with or referenced in the county wide planning policies, by inference this designation referred to areas denoted on the King County Comprehensive Plan Map as "urban separator." 220 4th AVE.SO., /KENT.WASHLN-GTON 98032-5895/TELEPHONE (253)856-5200 Planning Committee April 3, 2000 • Urban Separators Page 2 The specific policy in the county wide planning policies that dealt with urban separators is LU- 27. This policy reads: Urban separators are low density areas or areas of little development within the Urban Growth Area. Urban separators shall be defined as permanent low-density lands, which protect adjacent resource lands, rural areas, and environmentally sensitive areas and create open space corridors within and between urban areas, which provide environmental, visual, recreational, and wildlife benefits. Designated urban separators shall not be re-designated in the future (within the 20 year planning cycle) to other uses or higher densities. The maintenance of these urban separators is a regional as well as a local concern. Therefore, no modification should be made to the development regulations governing these areas without King County review and concurrence. The Kent City Attorney's office conducted a legal analysis of the urban separator policy in a 12- page memorandum presented to the Planning Committee at its March 6`" meeting. The attorney's report concludes that a specific county-wide planning policy on urban separators cannot "provide substantive direction or restrict the City's land use power in proposing comprehensive plan amendments of newly annexed areas, so long as such comprehensive plan amendments are consistent with the goals and objectives of the City's adopted comprehensive plan and with the overall framework of the adopted county-wide planning policies." In other • words, the urban separator policy, LU-27, goes beyond being a framework policy and becomes, in effect, a development regulation. 1. What are the purposes of urban separators and what is the history behind their origins? The origins of the urban separator designation are rooted in the Community Plans, which King County used to prepare for subareas of the county prior to the Growth Management Act, according to King County planning staff. In the early 1990's, King County was involved with updating three community plans — Northshore, Sammamish, and Soos Creek — where the urban separator designation was utilized. At that time, urban separators were defined as "greenbelts or low density areas which provide a visual break from continuous development and separate one community from another." Two separators were established in the Soos Creek Community Plan: one separating Kent and Renton, the other separating Kent and Auburn. When the concept of urban separators was incorporated into the countywide planning policies, the purpose of the designation was expanded. The policy itself(i.e., LU-27) speaks to several purposes including protection of resource lands, rural areas, and environmentally sensitive areas, creation of open space corridors within and between urban areas, and provision of visual, recreational, and wildlife benefits. 2. Where are the urban separators and what is the policy of other cities regarding . their designation? It is difficult to produce a map of all urban separators in King County due to the amount of annexation and incorporation over the past 5-7 years. Even staff at King County admitted there was no such map; it would be cumbersome to produce since there was no single source. Also, Planning Committee April 3, 2000 • Urban Separators Page 3 since much of the area in the Northshore and Sammamish areas has been incorporated by new cities, the County no longer shows these areas on their comprehensive plan map. While it is difficult to map urban separators in other parts of King County, Kent planning staff has assembled a map of urban separators in the Kent area. It is attached to this report and is titled "Urban Separators within Kent City Limits and PAA." As one can see from the map, the urban separator designation is extensive in the Kent area. Within the potential annexation area (PAA), over 1200 acres —nearly 2 square miles — are designated as urban separator. Within the city limits of Kent, approximately 510 acres are designated, affecting about 230 parcels. The separators anticipated in the early Soos Creek Community Plan which serve to separate Kent from Renton and Kent from Auburn are clearly visible from the map. In addition, the separator has also been applied along the Soos Creek itself. Staff was able to contact other planning staff from certain cities affected by the urban separator designation. Of those contacted — i.e., Kirkland, Bellevue, and Auburn — all indicated that their city's land use policies restricted development to low density residential use. Also, according to King County staff, recent interlocal agreements with Issaquah, Renton, and Auburn required the urban separator designation to be implemented in local plans. 3. Have other cities initiated discussions regarding urban separators with King • County? At the time of writing this report, staff is not aware of any other jurisdiction which has initiated discussions with King County to change the urban separator county-wide planning policy. JPHIFNSIpm P:IADMINIurbansep.doe Enc: Map of Urban Separators King County Comp Plan Land Use Map 1998 cc: James P.Harris,Planning Director Fred N. Satterstrom,Planning Manager • 0, oil EMIL MINIM U M E 1—2 ........Rim YR. MIN gorlys son= W. AN _g l of wilul O'S 1:011 SO F_ IN TIN 52 S '� ill l., 1�•�.�'� �" 1� � (111/•" % �'�� Or- • . ........ nil MI *Yn RHM gm 0 sw- ■ Sq.I 11 ■No H it, g SIR AN Cam" ' ■1 - - �.1.11■�11 I' 1 h♦ •4r �G y,,. ..� NINE Evil mr, !1414 JP111' as J1 L .=11 I WIN WH�vSj a MI LE MA, CH Ll wspi sugegil Imp Bill ilmlk ......... MIN MIN:- i%g FFIF& Nam "E z Inman Is" Wm"ICTR • INN too 111,111 IN ERN oil IN..... • P.,ff 50 MI ,�1 !1431&1 IN .112 .1 .......... I Iffe... 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