Design Review Board

City Hall Meeting Minutes 601 4th Avenue E Olympia, WA 98501 Design Review Board Contact: Catherine McCoy 360.570.3776 Saturday, November 16, 2019 10:00 AM The Olympia Center, RM 200 ANNUAL RETREAT 1. CALL TO ORDER Chair Heinricher called the meeting to order at 10:05 a.m. 1.A ROLL CALL Present: 7 - Chair Jami Heinricher, Boardmember/Architect Robert Findlay, Boardmember Ingrid Gulden, Boardmember Bassim Kreem, Boardmember Joseph S LaValle, Boardmember Angela Rush and Boardmember Virginia Sorrells Absent: 1 - Boardmember Duane Edwards OTHERS PRESENT Community Planning and Development Staff: Interim Director Leonard Bauer Planning and Engineering Manager Tim Smith Associate Planner Catherine McCoy 4. BUSINESS ITEMS 4.A 19-1077 Design Review Board Annual Retreat: Process Improvement Ms. McCoy handed out a draft document of the Rules of Procedure for the Design Review Board and the Joint Review Committee (1996). The existing document is out of date and no longer reflects how meetings are held, new requirements for the Open Public Meetings Act, the Appearance of Fairness Doctrine and is not aligned with City Committee Rules of Procedure. Boardmembers reviewed the draft, held discussion, and collectively made edits to the draft. Staff will circulate the document internally then forward to the Strategic Communications Director for review and approval by the General Government Committee. The discussion was completed. 4.B 19-1086 Design Review Board Annual Retreat: Expanding Incentives for Good Design Chair Heinricher facilitated a group discussion to identify specific projects the group City of Olympia Page 1 Design Review Board Meeting Minutes November 16, 2019 could work on together, focused and organized around a single small-scope that would educate and interest the community, project proponents, and aid in the process of design review. The Board discussed projects that might be doable given the Board’s project review schedule. Mr. Bauer suggested the Board attend a City Council Land Use and Environment Committee meeting to update the Committee on Board annual project review statistics and work plan items. The discussion was completed. 4.C 19-1088 Design Review Board Annual Retreat: Open Space Guidelines for Multi-family Residential Development Boardmembers Sorrells and Kreem presented a discussion about updating OMC 18.170.040, Usable Open Space. The problem, as offered, is that the language of the open space requirements is confusing, and the requirement does not go far enough in meeting the purpose of design review as written in OMC 18.100.040 Purpose. The team provided examples of multi-family open space ordinances from Lacey WA, Portland OR, Spokane WA, and discussed the City’s draft Downtown Olympia Design Review Criteria chapter. During discussion, Mr. Smith suggested staff take the Board’s ideas and input to the Current Planning Team for review; the Board could then circle back to the topic at another opportunity. For now, Mr. Smith said, staff and the Board will continue using the existing OMC open space requirement(s) for project review. The discussion was completed. 5. OTHER TOPICS - None 6. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 2:15 p.m. City of Olympia Page 2