City Council

City Hall City of Olympia 601 4th Avenue E Olympia, WA 98501 Information: 360.753.8447 Meeting Minutes City Council Tuesday, April 22, 2014 6:00 PM Council Chambers Special Study Session 1. ROLL CALL Present: 7 - Mayor Stephen H. Buxbaum, Mayor Pro Tem Nathaniel Jones, Councilmember Jim Cooper, Councilmember Julie Hankins, Councilmember Steve Langer, Councilmember Jeannine Roe and Councilmember Cheryl Selby OTHERS PRESENT CP&D Deputy Director Leonard Bauer Assistant City Manager Jay Burney City Manager Steve Hall Olympia Artspace Alliance (OAA) Chair Ron Hinton Public Works Director Rich Hoey Planning Commissioners (PC) Roger Horn and Jerome Parker Board Member Mort James Parks, Arts & Recreation Arts Program Manager Stephanie Johnson City Attorney Tom Morrill Deputy City Attorney Darren Nienaber Qvigstad & Associates, Inc. President/CEO Kari Qvigstad Transportation Director Mark Russell Community Planning & Development (CP&D) Director Keith Stahley Parks, Arts & Recreation Director Paul Simmons Senior Planner Sophie Stimpson OAA Vice-Chair Kris Tucker 2. SPECIAL STUDY SESSION TOPICS 2.A 14-0258 Artspace Market Survey Report Mr. Hinton discussed the vision and commitment to create affordable living and work space for artists and creative organizations in the downtown Olympia area. Ms. Tucker explained the meaning of the word "artspace" and presented images and descriptions of successful artspaces in Seattle, Washington DC, Santa Cruz, and Everett. A video entitled "Why Artspace Matters" was shown to highlight the experience of artists who live in this kind of environment. City of Olympia Page 1 City Council Meeting Minutes April 22, 2014 Ms. Qvigstad outlined the findings of the Olympia Artspace Alliance 2013 market survey. Ms. Tucker discussed fundraising and projected timelines for the project . She cited examples of similar projects with funding requirements. Mr. James spoke about contracting with Artspace Projects, Inc., and showed examples of some of their projects. He discussed how the board is exploring all options and emphasized the critical need for City cooperation for the project to succeed. Discussion: - Specifics about support and resources requested from the City - Request for examples of funding/resources provided by other cities - Financial scale of project - Consistency with 2015 downtown sub area plan - Demographics of survey responders - Economic development/benefits potential in other municipalities - The broad spectrum of ages and incomes in existing artspace The discussion was completed. 2.B 14-0279 Comprehensive Plan Policy Related to Street Connectivity Ms. Stimson gave an overview of street connectivity and outlined how the City plans for a modified grid creating greater connectivity. She evaluated the consequences since 1995 of making some connections while not making others. She outlined the differences between recommendations made by City staff and the Planning Commission (PC) to proposed policy PT 4.21, which replaces policy 3.20f. The PC recommends a review of every street connection, whereas staff recommends a policy to analyze a street connection only when the connection is anticipated to create exceptional impacts. Commissioner Parker spoke of the "overwhelming" public response to concerns about the Decatur Street and Kaiser Road connections. He addressed the concern of the PC about the role of neighborhoods and ensuring their participation. He believes that cost can be mitigated and should not be prohibitive. Commissioner Horn emphasized the importance of neighborhood participation and perspective. Discussion: - Consideration of environmental impacts and past problems when impacts have been disregarded - Updating the list to better reflect relevance and alternatives - Need for a different approach to engender a different outcome - Pedestrian connectivity unrelated to roadways City of Olympia Page 2 City Council Meeting Minutes April 22, 2014 - Criteria differences between new development and existing neighborhoods - Making the investment in analysis of old, new, and high volume streets - Clarifying the orientation and priorities in the Comprehensive Plan - Challenges of Olympia's topography and poor planning in the past - Establishing systemic thresholds for sustainable connectivity Staff is requested to rewrite the public hearing draft language using the discussion points to modify the draft with input from the PC. Retain this language: PT4.21 Pursue street connections because a well-connected street system improves the safety and efficiency for all modes of travel. If a street connection is anticipated to result in exceptional environmental, community or safety impacts, the proposed connection will be analyzed with quantitative measures that identify the effects of the connection on the greater street network. These quantitative measures will include, but are not limited to: Add this from PC recommendation: Involve the neighborhood and other stakeholders in the identification of potential mitigation measures for the new connection. The discussion was completed. 2.C 14-0380 Comprehensive Plan Policy Related to Safety of Newly Connected Streets Discussion on this item was included in item 2B. The discussion was completed. 2.D 14-0280 Comprehensive Plan Policy Related to the Proposed Park Drive Street Connection Ms. Stimson discussed the recommendations presented to the City Council on the proposed connection of Park Drive to Kaiser Road. Commissioner Parker addressed the financial reasons underlying full connectivity. Discussion: - Difficulty of understanding the specifics without visual models - Limiting through traffic to pedestrians, bicycles, and emergency vehicles - Ensuring concurrence with transportation response to development - Splitting the issue to leave Kaiser in and take Park out - Leaving in the option of an emergency exit It was agreed to keep the OPC language intact: “If at some future time, Kaiser Road is extended to Black Lake Boulevard, extension of Park Drive to Kaiser Road may be considered in order to provide access for bicycles, pedestrians, and emergency vehicles.” City of Olympia Page 3 City Council Meeting Minutes April 22, 2014 The discussion was completed. 3. ADJOURNMENT The meeting adjourned at 9:06 p.m. City of Olympia Page 4