City Council

City Hall City of Olympia 601 4th Avenue E Olympia, WA 98501 Information: 360.753.8447 Meeting Minutes City Council Friday, July 12, 2013 3:00 PM Room 112 Ad Hoc Community Renewal Area Committee 1. ROLL CALL Present: 2 - Mayor Stephen H. Buxbaum and Mayor Pro Tem Nathaniel Jones Excused: 1 - Councilmember Steve Langer OTHERS PRESENT City Manager Steve Hall Community Planning and Development Director Keith Stahley Associate Planner Amy Buckler 2. COMMITTEE BUSINESS 2.A 13-0563 Oral Report - Discussion of Next Steps in Working with the Citizens Advisory Committee Mayor Buxbaum reviewed various plans and regulations that are currently or will be in process including the Community Renewal Area Plan, Comprehensive Plan update, Shoreline Master Program, sub-area planning, Downtown Master Plan, development regulations, and design review regulations. It will be necessary that these regulations are coordinated. Mayor Buxbaum turned to potential next steps for the Citizens Advisory Committee (CAC). He felt there was still work to do around helping the CAC fully understand the potential applications of the CRA and to clarify the reasons for the CRA . They need to be able to provide input on questions about the CRA boundary and options for governance. He asked how the consultant team can help us accomplish that. Mayor Buxbaum suggested that rather than holding additional meetings of the entire CAC, he can meet with smaller groups - by interest group - using the brown bag lunch approach. Mayor Pro Tem Jones agreed there was additional work to do with the CAC. He felt the CAC needed help to get beyond the term "blight". Issues relating to blight, such as its effect on access to credit and the relationship with the master plan , need to be dealt with directly. He supported continuing brown bag luncheons in the smaller groups as suggested by Mayor Buxbaum. City of Olympia Page 1 City Council Meeting Minutes July 12, 2013 Mayor Buxbaum asked that the consultant team help sharpen the boundary and governance discussion. He recognized the inclusion of condemnation as a CRA power would be controversial; however, it could be determined at a later date. Mayor Buxbaum noted additional information about the presence of and impacts on downtown for sea level rise, liquefaction, and soil contamination may be helpful in defining an appropriate CRA boundary. We must think of the CRA as a tool and not a plan. The Committee discussed how best to use July 23 and asked if we are ready for recommendations. Mayor Buxbaum suggested the best approach may be to have the CAC hear recommendations first and then come forward to the full Council. He hoped to continue to build capacity with the CAC and have them ready to answer questions and support the process. The Committee agreed to ask ECONorthwest to come early on the 23rd to begin small group discussions with CAC members. Mayor Buxbaum also suggested it may be beneficial to have the law firm of Foster & Pepper at the next CAC meeting. Mr. Hall said he felt the CAC and the consultant team got too far into the weeds on Monday July 8. He recommended trying to keep the CAC at a higher level. Mayor Buxbaum turned the Committee’s attention to the upcoming discussion with the Olympia Planning Commission (OPC) leadership team. He suggested that this meeting focus on the relationship between the CRA and OPC planning efforts . He noted the City is pursuing a Comprehensive Plan update and a Shoreline Master Program update and these efforts must be understood in relationship to the CRA and the Downtown Master Plan. He said he hoped to convey a basic understanding of the CRA and the objectives of that process. Ms. Buckler spoke about scoping of the Downtown Master Plan. She also said it was important to get clarity around what the relationship between the Planning Commission’s March 18 recommended Comprehensive Plan and the addendum for the Comprehensive Plan approved on May 6. The discussion was completed. 2.B 13-0564 Oral Report - Meeting with the Olympia Planning Commission Leadership Team Regarding Connections and Sequencing of a Potential Downtown Master Plan and the Community Renewal Area Work The Joint Ad Hoc CRA Committee/Planning Commission leadership team meeting commenced at 4:00 p.m. Councilmember Langer arrived as well as Planning Commission Vice Chair Judy Bardin, Chair Jerry Parker, and Commissioners Carol Richmond, and Roger Horn. Planning Services Manager Todd Stamm also joined the meeting. City of Olympia Page 2 City Council Meeting Minutes July 12, 2013 Mayor Buxbaum set the agenda: 1. Work of CRA and Planning Commission 2. Scoping of work for the Downtown Master Plan 3. Urban Neighborhood Proposal 4. SMP - Commissioner Horn’s thoughts Mayor Buxbaum provided an overview of the relationship between the CRA and the Planning Commission’s work. He thanked Planning Commission members for their attendance at CAC meetings and brown bag luncheons. Chair Parker thanked Mayor Buxbaum for his overview and said his understanding was much clearer. Vic Chair Bardin noted the organization for the Downtown plan is not in place . She questioned what the outcomes, boundary, and blight are in relationship to the CRA. Mayor Buxbaum noted the CRA is a tool for the elimination of blight. It allows the City to carry out development projects to eliminate blight. If you want to purchase property, you must be specific and have a plan for redevelopment. The plan must also specify the activities and uses to be undertaken through the CRA. Vic Chair Bardin asked about land use conflicts, e.g. if the CRA said park and the plan said housing. How would inconsistencies be rectified? Mayor Buxbaum responded that the CRA does not establish land use and must be consistent with the Comprehensive Plan. Commissioner Richmond asked why we haven’t begun to talk about the Downtown Master Plan. Why not the CRA and the Master Plan at the same time? Director Stahley noted the timeline for the CRA consultant has them finishing their work by January, 2014 and the Downtown Master Plan will likely take much longer. Chair Parker noted Mr. Drebick had commented that development by the mall is far more likely and supportive of the City’s revenue. He wondered if the CRA had broader applications. Mayor Buxbaum responded that where to best use CRA as a tool was part of the consulting team’s work. While they are focused on Downtown, it is possible to do more than one CRA. Chair Parker recommended adding a summary of the relationship of liquefaction, contamination, and sea level rise to the web page. Commissioner Horn said the table included in the consultant’s report is helpful in explaining the powers of the CRA and the benefits to the City. City of Olympia Page 3 City Council Meeting Minutes July 12, 2013 Commissioner Richmond added that the public is going to pay attention to the Master Plan and will want to be more engaged in that process. Scoping the Downtown Master Plan Mayor Buxbaum noted there is a lot of work to do and said it is wise to start to scope the Downtown Master Plan and to develop a charter for that process. Ms. Buckler added that staff met yesterday with representatives of the Coalition of Neighborhood Associations (CNA) to discuss this process. A recommendation emerged from those discussions to form a task force to work with staff to develop the scope of the Master Plan. The task force should consist of a small group from representative interest groups including the CNA, Downtown Neighborhood Association, Olympia Downtown Association, Parking and Business Improvement Area Committee, the Land Use and Environment Committee, the Planning Commission, Oly 2020, and the Economic Development Council. The group agreed this approach had merit and deserved further discussion at the upcoming Land Use and Environment Committee meeting. Commissioner Richmond said the Downtown Plan should focus on redevelopment, identify targets for growth, consider how we accommodate it, and what kinds of projects should be developed. Urban Neighborhoods Ms. Buckler asked how the May 6 proposal should be addressed. Will Council consider it in their deliberations? She recommended the May 6 draft was more than a refinement to the March plan and that it needed further work by both staff and the Planning Commission before it would be ready for Council consideration. She said the effects of the May 6 plan need to be fully understood and the implications more fully explored. Commissioner Horn agreed that the Planning Commission needs to spend more time on the proposal. Chair Parker added that we need to work out the language and details; Consistency between nodes and the Thurston Regional Planning Council High Density Corridor proposal. Mayor Buxbaum said there is still some refinement that needs to take place and it should probably be a 2014 work plan item. Mayor Pro Tem Jones agreed and said he was interested in the Planning Commission's continuing to work on it and recognizes it will not likely be ready for inclusion in the 2013 update. Shoreline Master Program City of Olympia Page 4 City Council Meeting Minutes July 12, 2013 Commissioner Horn questioned how the SMP would be harmonized with the Comprehensive Plan update. Mr. Stamm responded it may be better to address that issue after we receive comments from the Department of Ecology (DOE) on the proposed SMP. Mayor Buxbaum added that we anticipate an iterative process to adjust and reflect DOE’s recommendations and changes and input from the Planning Commission to achieve conformance between the SMP and the Comprehensive Plan will be necessary at that time. The discussion was completed. 3. ADJOURNMENT The meeting adjourned at 5:00 p.m. City of Olympia Page 5