Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutCity Council Committees - Planning and Economic Development Committee - 03/12/2012 ECDC Minutes March 12, 2012 Page 1 of 3 ECONOMIC & COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE MINUTES March 12, 2012 Committee Members Committee Chair Jamie Perry, Deborah Ranniger, Bill Boyce. Perry called the meeting to order at 5:30 p.m. 1. Approval of Minutes Councilmember Ranniger Moved and Councilmember Boyce Seconded a Motion to approve the February 13, 2012 Minutes. Motion PASSED 3-0. 2. PUBLIC HEARING: ZCA-2011-3 Amendments to KCC 12.04.221 Planner Katie Graves stated that at the December 12, 2011 Economic & Community Development Committee (ECDC) meeting staff presented proposed changes to Chapter 12.04 of Kent City Code (KCC) as recommended by the Land Use and Planning Board (LUPB). Changes relate to pre- application conferences, long plat and short plat submittal requirements, clarificati on of major versus minor short plats, plat alterations, development standards for clustering in urban separators and plat expiration. Graves stated that the Committee directed staff to draft more options for the plat expiration portion of the amendments . Today’s hearing gives the public opportunity to discuss proposed changes not discussed at the LUPB public hearing. Planning Director Fred Satterstrom stated that staff looked at neighboring cities to see how they processed preliminary plats. Staff developed options for Council to consider in terms of the discretion involved to extend the validity of preliminary plats. He stated that State Legislature modified the validity period for preliminary plats from five to seven years in 2010. Satterstrom described three Options: Option A- is consistent with the LUPB’s recommendation to retain the current regulations and allow extensions beyond the 7-year validity period. Option B- does not allow any extensions beyond what is specified by the RCW 58.17.140. Option C.1- modifies the RCW limitations by allowing a one-year single extension granted by the Planning Director or Option C.2-allows for additional time extensions in rare or unique circumstances outside the applicant’s control. Satterstrom stated that staff’s recommendation of Option C.1 proposes following the Legislature’s 7-year plat extension limitation plus allowance of one single year extension to be granted based on conformance to the following added criteria: 1) The applicant has pursued final platting diligently, as evidenced by progress on final surveying, engineering, construction, or the financial security of improvements; 2) There is a reasonable likelihood of completing the required plat improvements and recording the final plat within the one year extension . Satterstrom stated that the Legislature recently passed a House Bill 92-0 and 46-0 in the Senate with no dissenting vote, modifying platting laws that extends the validity period to 9 yrs for preliminary plats approved prior to December 31, 2007. Staff believes this Bill will be signed by the governor and would affect 4 out of 34 preliminary plats within Kent. Based on changes in State Law, staff proposes amending their recommendation to add a single six-month extension to whatever the RCW’s validity period is that would conform to the two criteria. Economic and Community Development (ECD) Director Ben Wolters stated that it is justifiable to allow additional extensions in those rare cases where an applicant needs just a little more time in order to meet the city’s requirements. By not granting extensions, were the applicant required to start over, a tremendous amount of work, along with changes in codes and standards would have to be redone by staff and the applicant. The building industry has sought additional extensions because there are troubled projects out there that are still trying to be revived and there is a lot of investment that can be kept alive and moved forward. ECDC Minutes March 12, 2012 Page 2 of 3 Satterstrom stated that the essence of the legislature’s action is that anythi ng approved prior to December 31, 2007 as far back as 2003-2004 would have an expiration date of 2013 or beyond whatever that 9-years is. Satterstrom clarified that preliminary plats approved prior to December 2007 would operate under the 7 yr plan. After deliberations concluded Councilmember Perry opened the Public Hearing. Garrett Hoffman, Master Builders Association of King/Snohomish Counties, 335 116 th Ave SE, Bellevue, WA 98004 stated that there is a lot of money on the line that could potentially be lost if an applicant had to resubmit an application. He stated that the industry he represents has been successful in getting legislation to extend the expiration timelines from 5 to 7 years and now to 9 years with the hope that in two years legislation m ight look favorably at extending those time lines to 11 years. Hoffman stated that his industry supports Option C-2 with the Legislature’s extension of a 9-year validity period. Councilmember Ranniger MOVED and Councilmember Boyce SECONDED a Motion to close the Public Hearing. Motion passed 3-0. Council Members Perry and Ranniger spoke in support of Option B with Councilmember Boyce speaking in support of Option C-2. Councilmember Ranniger MOVED to recommend to the City Council approval of the attached Ordinance amending Title 12.04 of the Kent City Code as recommended by staff and the Land Use and Planning Board and further amending 12.04.221 to Option B. Perry SECONDED the Motion which PASSED 2-1 with Boyce Opposed. 3. Draft Economic Development Plan (EDP)- Phase I Wolters introduced Lisa Corrado with Community Attributes Inc (CAI) stating that she has been working with staff on the Draft EDP. Wolters stated that Corrado will report on Phase I and share preliminary findings which lays the foundation for the Phase II Action Plan. Corrado reported on the Economic Analysis stating that key findings resulting from an in-depth industrial and commercial assessment looked at employment, land use, and compared regional competitiveness of Kent’s Major Industrial Centers (MIC) to other MICs. A technical analysis indicates strong growth is projected regionally for industrial clustering opportunities. She reported on companies in Kent with a strong local, regional or global presence. CAI looked at commercial centers focusing on retail, demographics, commercial real estate, and employment . Corrado defined ‘covered’ employment as jobs that company employers are reporting whereas ‘uncovered’ employment are those jobs that go unreported. Wolters reported that Kent’s current employment base is in the neighborhood of about 66,000 to 70,000. Corrado stated that input from stakeholder interviews helped frame the themes, goals and activities for the October business forum comprised of Business leaders, school district representatives, the community college, Kent staff, Sound Transit, and community partners. Timelines were set for completing action items: short-term (within 2 years), mid-term (3-5 years), long-term (6 or more years), with those timelines integrated into the Draft EDP. Corrado stated that next steps involve further developing timelines, building on cluster strengths, delving into more detail, prioritization and ranking of action items, and engaging City Council and the ECDC members through interviews to evaluate their priorities for the City. Corrado stated that subcommittees will be formed to further develop details for Kent’s priorities which will be integrated into an implementation plan. Wolters stated that CAI and staff will continue to report back to the Committee with their findings and expects that these reports will inform the Council’s strategic objectives and goals. Informational Only 4. East Hill Community Forum Review & Next Steps Economic Development Specialist Josh Hall stated that over 70 people attended the Community Forum. 20-25 people signed up to be part of the steering group. Pomegranate Center will send ECDC Minutes March 12, 2012 Page 3 of 3 the minutes and notes from the meeting to everyone who attended. Staff will look at setting up a website that will direct people to East Hill resources and activities. Hall stated that the United Way/King County grant runs through June. Three stakeholder meetings will be facilitated by Pomegranate Center within that time period to evaluate information gathered from the initial forum meeting. The stakeholders will identify priorities; and develop objectives and key action items. Hall stated that the stakeholder’s group will generate a document to guide the direction for this revitalization project. Staff will use that document in hopes of attracting funding partners or foundations so that Phase 2 (developing a more detailed neighborhood revitalization strategy) and Phase 3 (Implementation) can be facilitated by the Pomegranate Center and the City can move towards revitalization of the East Hill Community. Informational Only 5. Economic Development & Permit Process Report Wolters reported that Permit Center Manager Kimberlee McArthur is reporting on the results of the customer service satisfaction survey. Four quarterly surveys were generated reaching 1500 people with approximately 250 responses received. Survey results are used to inform, manage, and improve the permitting process. McArthur stated that the surveys asked responders to identify themselves as; homeowners, first time customers, contractors or architects. Results of the survey indicated that: 83.4 % said city staff used their code knowledge to help; 85.5 % indicated that information provided was useful; 82.6 % indicated a positive permit experience; 86.3 indicated service was timely; 85.1 felt service was consistent; 90.1 thought that staff was friendly. Changes and improvements were made to the permit process from: permit intake, review, permit issuance through final inspection. One correction letter is required now rather than many and meetings are scheduled to clear up any misunderstandings to keep projects moving forward. Tenant improvement and sign permits are issued over the counter . Plans are redlined at the counter where possible reducing permit turn-around time. ECD staff is located in the permit center for customer access during business hours. Implementation of initial review meetings has reduced plan review time to within 4 weeks. Customer service hours have changed to coincide with the permit center’s hours to increase the window for acceptance of permit fee payments. Councilmember Perry stated that the same information customers received face to face needs to be made available on line. McArthur stated that Julie Pulliam is heading up a group to update web content and make it more useful. She stated that on -line permitting is restricted at this time due to budgetary issues but that a tech fee is now being charged which could be used towards funding an on-line permitting program. Informational Only Adjournment Committee Chair Perry adjourned the meeting at 7:07 p.m. __________________________________________ Pamela Mottram, Secretary Economic & Community Development Committee P:\Planning\ECDC\2012\Minutes\03-12-12_DraftMin.doc