Planning Commission

RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS OF THE PLANNING COMMISSION CITY OF BELLINGHAM, WASHINGTON THURSDAY PUBLIC HEARING 7:00 P.M. June 11, 2015 CITY COUNCIL CHAMBER5 Video-taped www.cob.org CALL TO ORDER: The meeting was called to order by Ali Taysi, Chairman of the Planning Commission. ROLL CALL: Tom Grinstad, Jeff Brown, Garrett O'Brien (VC), Ali Taysi (C), Phyllis McKee, Steve Crooks and Cerise Noah Present: Ali Taysi, Garrett O’Brien, Tom Grinstad, Jeff Brown, Phyllis McKee, Steve Crooks and Cerise Noah Absent: Staff Present: Rick Sepler, Planning Director; Greg Aucutt, Assistant Planning Director; Lisa Pool, Senior Planner; Chris Behee, GIS Specialist; Moshe Quinn, Planner II; Brent Baldwin, Development Manager; and Heather Aven, Recording Secretary. 15 MINUTE PUBLIC COMMENT PERIOD No testimony given. PUBLIC HEARING Continued discussion on the key issues relevant to the development of population and employment forecasts; and an Urban Growth Area (UGA) boundary recommendation. STAFF PRESENTATION Greg Aucutt provided a brief history of the process to date. He stated that staff prepared findings for both Alternative B and Alternative C and reviewed the pros and cons for each. Rick Sepler reviewed four key topics of concern that were mentioned in many of the public comments received to date.  UGAs with Existing Development  Population Projections  Public Participation  SEPA Determination Prior to the public hearing beginning the Commission and staff discussed the following topics:  The reasons the discussions on the employment and population projections is occurring prior to conversations being held on details of the Comprehensive Plan.  A partnership strategy for parties in the Urban Growth Areas that would like to annex to the City.  How realistic it is that the available land supply will accommodate the necessary growth given the history of Bellingham regarding not accepting growth in the neighborhoods.  Land in the UGA vs. land in the Urban Growth Area Reserve. Final Copy - 1   Reasons that staff has proposed the mid-range population and employment forecasts for consideration. PUBLIC HEARING OPENED Judy Collins would appreciate her property being included in the UGA. Bill Henshaw provided highlights from the written comment provided to the Commissioners. He suggested that Alternatives B, C and D should all be considered with as much land included in the UGA as possible. Linda Twitchell noted that the Growth Management Act directs that the City must try to predict what is going to happen and then plan for ways to accommodate that growth. She stated that the Building Industry Association of Whatcom County recommends that Alternative D be chosen in an effort to stop forcing people to look beyond the city limits for single-family homes. She commented on the importance of addressing the existing deficiencies throughout the City, as well as those that exist in the areas being considered for the UGA. She pointed out that Alternative D would provide opportunity and suggested staff consider allowing the infill toolkit in all residential areas, to help assist Bellingham in remaining the urban center. Mary Kay Robinson stated that although urban villages are one idea to accommodate growth, many people want a single-family home. She pointed out that with only 25% - 33% of Bellingham's developable land being zoned for single-family, people will be forced to look beyond the city limits for the housing they desire. She suggested the Commission recommend Alternative D to City Council. David Cunningham commented that although there are no right or wrong answers there are choices and consequences. He noted that it is easy to get bogged down in the details and encouraged the Commission to not make their recommendation based on what is likely to occur, but instead what the community would like to see occur. He stated he is not convinced the high number will accomplish this. Dick Skeers requested that the Commission recommend that the "reserve" status be removed from the property in the South Yew St. area. He commented on the number of sites he has constructed in this area and the improvements that came along with them. He noted that new homes in this area would help to pay for a new fire house that is needed to serve the existing homes within the city limits, adjacent to South Yew Street. Mary Anne Rangel read written comment she submitted to Commission related to the impact development has on the environment and natural resources. Joanne Rowe suggested that the City consider bringing the UGA boundary to Smith Rd. Wendy Harris stated that, in her opinion, the process to date has been inauthentic. She provided examples and pointed out that the only responsible thing to do at this time is adopt the lowest population forecast possible. She spoke to the current environmental conditions and listed documents that she felt should have been compiled for these discussions. She pointed out that local resiliency should be protected by protecting our biodiversity. Anne Mackie suggested that the low population forecast be recommended. She reflected on themes that she has heard throughout the previous meetings. She questioned why conversations have not been had about WWU's lack of housing for its students, forcing the students to seek housing in the adjacent neighborhoods and thereby displace working families from the City's core area. Final Copy - 2 Sandra Alfers expressed support for slowing down growth. She referenced the Bakerview / Mt. Baker annexation (pg. 10 & Exhibit F) and pointed out that this area is surrounded by four pipelines and contains many wetlands. She stated that the property owners in this area are not requesting the annexation, instead it is being driven by individuals that live elsewhere and are taking advantage of the "no protest" clause. She noted that given the constraints it likely will not yield the housing units indicated on Exhibit F. Jack Petree provided comments on the process and explained the duty of the Commission related to making a recommendation on the population and employment forecasts. He pointed out that the staff report ignores county-wide planning policies and shared some of them regarding affordable housing. He stated that Alternative D is the only option. Darcy Jones commented on the data that has been presented and pointed out where he feels there are deficits in the information. He stated that Alternative D represents the current comprehensive plan better than any of the other alternatives and mentioned the fiscal and social benefits that could be realized from expanding the UGA to include both the Caitac land and the South Yew Street property. Clayton Petree reminded the Commission of the population forecast that the City previously recommended the County assign to Bellingham and why that number was originally chosen. He pointed out that if the population allocation is reduced, it will force sprawl to occur. He stated that Alternative D is the best option and would preserve the character of the established neighborhoods. He spoke to the ways that the existing community, as well as any new development, in the South Yew Street area could assist in paying for the City's deficiencies. He also spoke to the water quality of Lake Padden and the Housing Mix graphs. Perry Eskridge spoke to fact that neighborhoods are opposed to additional density and the City is recommending against expanding the UGA boundary due to cost. He commented on the need for additional affordable housing and the type of community that Bellingham wants to be. He urged the Commission to recommend Alternative D. <BREAK - 10 mins> Roger Almskaar requested that a decision not be made this evening. He expressed support for the two letters submitted by the BIAWC. He commented on the delays, complexity and costs that occur as a result of over-regulation. He shared some statistics related to the housing median costs and the average weekly wages between Whatcom and Snohomish Counties. He would like to see reasonable, consise and clear regulations that accomplish something. Cal Leenstra spoke to the number of people wanting to live in a single-family home and stated that the housing mix of 75% multi-family and 25% single-family is backwards to what is actually desired by the community. He pointed out that the 87 acres in the South Yew Street area could accommodate approximately 435 - 500 units of the shortage indicated by staff. He urged the Commission to recommend Alternative D. Donna Macomber commented on the fact that the properties that live along Larson Rd do not want to be included in the UGA or the UGA reserve. Mimi Osterdahl spoke to the housing supply crisis Bellingham is facing. She stated that if land is not allocated to meet the needs of single-family housing at a variety of price points, in addition to the high- density opportunities urban villages offer, only the wealthy will be able to afford to own a home in Bellingham. Final Copy - 3 Larry Horowitz stated that the population forecast should be based on the actual OFM data. He referenced the available land in the Barkley area and stated that the lack of development is occurring because builders are not building it, not because the neighborhoods don't want it. He provided statistics that indicated between 2002-2014 the growth was actually 1,087 people, which was lower than our projected population growth forecast. He spoke to the cost of growth to the taxpayers. Pat Hammill spoke to the cost of housing and the lack of living wage jobs. She stated that the City should be concentrating on the community as it is now and not trying to grow it. Eric Scott noted there is not much of an economy in Bellingham and he does not agree with creating more housing for people who will need to find a job. He expressed support for preserving the neighborhoods and quality of life that currently exists in the City. Jenny Peters spoke to the reasons that she chose to live in Bellingham. She noted that the high population growth forecast will create crime and unsustainable living. Bob Carmichel spoke to the benefits Caitac brings to the community. He spoke to the length of time it takes to move through the development process. He spoke to the positive fiscal impacts that could be the result of a South Caitac and Kline / Kelly partnership for annexation. PUBLIC HEARING CLOSED Staff responded to public comments. COMMISSION QUESTIONS / DISCUSSION Phyllis McKee stated that, in her opinion, Alternative D would provide more options for development than infilling in existing neighborhoods. She pointed out that this would simply bring the land into the UGA, there would still be several more steps before annexation to the City could occur. Jeff Brown stated that he is in favor of talking about growth and what that means. He mentioned some of the consequences Bellingham has realized due to the constraining of growth over the past 10 years. He pointed out that this philosophy does not work and the growth that will occur needs to be planned for. Tom Grinstad expressed concern about not planning for growth based on historical growth patterns. MOTION: Garrett O'Brien / Phyllis McKee recommended that staff prepare findings that would support Alternative D, including both S. Caitac and S. Yew St. properties into the UGA, and retain the high population growth forecast. Garrett O'Brien stated that although he is against sprawl, the existing land capacity will not be able to provide the necessary housing without expanding the UGA. He noted that Bellingham is an attractive place to live and given that 75% of the population will not actually want to live in multi-family housing, additional land will be necessary to accommodate the demand for single-family units. He spoke to the lack of affordable housing and the fact that historically, as a community, Bellingham has resisted infill - both small and large scale. Jeff Brown suggested that the Commission consider three ideas: 1) implementing a cost threshold or trigger policy that would help to determine how the cost for annexing areas (in all of the UGAs) would be recovered or shared by the property owners coming into the City; 2) consider a need-based trigger that would help to determine when there is an actual need for the annexation, and lay out a plan for Final Copy - 4 developing on the vacant land within the existing city limits; 3) ensure the housing mix in the UGA is not biased and provides all different housing options that address the goals and policies in the comprehensive plan. Steve Crooks stated, in his opinion, the S. Yew St area should not be brought into the UGA. He noted that although it is solving some deficiencies, it does not provide many housing units. He stated that he agrees with both the cost trigger concept and the fact the community is not interested in building up, so the only option left is to go out. He pointed out the fact that the S. Caitac area will be bringing light- industrial land that can be utilized right away if it is tied to the Kelly / Kline annexation. Phyllis McKee noted that infill is not ripe at this time, and it could be something that is an option in the future. She stated that allowing for this land to be open to the possibility for annexation is better than forcing infill on the neighborhoods. Ali Taysi agreed with the thought of creating a policy to outline how land will be brought into the City from the UGA. He expressed concern with the fact that land in the UGA Reserves are not planned for and will only continue to get more and more expensive to annex, and therefore will support the high population forecast recommendation. Jeff Brown commented on the affordable housing issue and the importance of providing different housing type options. He would like to see a link between expansion, population projections and adequate housing types. FRIENDLY AMENDMENT: Ali Taysi / Jeff Brown moved that prior to any annexation proposal the proponents should provide an analysis of how the costs of annexation will be met and how the surrounding property owners will be participating in the absorption of the cost. VOTE: ALL AYES (Motion Passes 7-0) Jeff Brown commented on the environment and the fact that so many people have had to live outside of Bellingham because of the City's choices over the past 10+ years. Ali Taysi noted that staff's written recommendation for Alternative C, specifically recommendation 3B & 4, could be used as an outline to develop findings for Alternative D. VOTE: ALL AYES (Motion Passes 7-0) Staff was directed to prepare the findings and distribute them to the group. OLD / NEW BUSINESS Rick Sepler stated that staff will be scheduling additional comprehensive plan discussions. NEXT MEETING: ADJOURNED: 10:37 p.m. Minutes prepared by: _____________________________ Heather Aven, Recording Secretary Minutes edited by Planning Commission members and various Planning Staff. Final Copy - 5