Land Use & Environment Committee

City Hall City of Olympia 601 4th Avenue E Olympia, WA 98501 Information: 360.753.8447 Meeting Minutes Land Use & Environment Committee Thursday, January 23, 2014 5:30 PM Council Chambers 1. ROLL CALL Present: 3 - Chair Steve Langer, Committee Member Jeannine Roe and Committee Member Julie Hankins 2. CALL TO ORDER Chair Langer called the meeting to order. 3. APPROVAL OF MINUTES 3.A 14-0063 Approval of November 21, 2013 Land Use & Environment Committee Meeting Minutes Committee Member Hankins moved, seconded by Committee Member Roe, to approve the minutes. The motion carried by the following vote: Aye: 3 - Chair Langer, Committee Member Roe and Committee Member Hankins 3.B 14-0064 Approval of December 5, 2013 Land Use & Environment Committee Meeting Minutes Committee Member Hankins moved, seconded by Committee Member Roe, to approve the minutes. The motion carried by the following vote: Aye: 3 - Chair Langer, Committee Member Roe and Committee Member Hankins 4. COMMITTEE BUSINESS 4.A 14-0050 Consideration of Climate Change Resolution Treasurer of the Thurston Climate Action Team (TCAT) Tom Crawford asked the Committee to accept the greenhouse gas report and approve the resolution. He stated that the City’s recommendation concurs with TCAT’s concept and supports the idea of collaborating regionally on greenhouse gas reduction. Discussion items and questions included the following: - It is important for the City to make a strong statement on reduction of greenhouse City of Olympia Page 1 Land Use & Environment Meeting Minutes January 23, 2014 Committee gasses. - This item should be brought to the full Council with a staff presentation on what the City is doing to reduce greenhouse gasses, such as using electric cars and the installation of electric charging stations. - It is a good idea to create a greenhouse gas emission baseline. - The Council adopted a resolution in 1990 which included goals on addressing climate change. - The Council will also consider this issue during the Comprehensive Plan discussion. - The TCAT data will benefit the City. - The TCAT will continue to work toward setting targets in a number of areas. - Is there a regional program to help insulate houses in terms of reducing greenhouse gasses? TCAC has established a program called Thurston Energy which focuses on that issue. They are working under the umbrella of the Thurston Economic Development Council. Chair Langer moved, seconded by Committee Member Hankins, to recommend approval of the resolution and forward it to the full Council. The motion carried by the following vote: Aye: 3 - Chair Langer, Committee Member Roe and Committee Member Hankins 4.B 14-0076 Oral Report: LID and Land Development Regulation Update and Scoping Public Works Director Rich Hoey reported that the City falls under the Western Washington municipal stormwater permit. The first permit was issued in 2007 and was a 5-year permit. In 2013, the second generation of permits was issued by the Department of Ecology. The permit includes water quality monitoring of streams. He said the City is already doing this, but will now need to participate in a regional monitoring process. Mr. Hoey said the City also now needs to use Low Impact Development (LID) techniques whenever feasible. This is an approach to land development to manage stormwater as close as possible to where it falls. Some techniques are rain gardens, green roofs, and porous pavements. By the end of 2016, the City will need to update City codes and standards to reflect LID permitting changes. This includes syncing the Community Planning and Development (CP&D) process updates with Public Works updates. CP&D is trying to complete its development regulation updates by the end of 2015. Public Works will try to accomplish this on the same schedule. Staff will return to the Land Use & Environment Committee in the spring to present the scoping and public process to date. Discussion and questions included the following: - What is the water quality standard based on? Lots of factors come into play including salmon, shellfish, etc. Drinkability is not a factor. There is no set water City of Olympia Page 2 Land Use & Environment Meeting Minutes January 23, 2014 Committee quality standard that needs to be met. This process is more of a prescription of different programs that must be in place. - How does this process fit in with total maximum daily load (TMDL) issues in Deschutes watershed and Henderson? Staff may establish an additional plan to ensure that specific areas must meet standards. The Department of Ecology will come up with a water quality improvement plan which would require the City to take action on certain issues. The big problem in Budd Inlet is that the dissolved oxygen levels are too low. This is a function of temperature and nutrient loading. The City expects there will be actions related to both issues. - Is there any way to take knowledge from TMDL and use that in our update of the development code? Yes. - Have other jurisdictins completed this process? Yes, but they are subject to a phase-one permit. Those cities must finish by the end of the year. Staff plans on learning from the experiences of those cities. - One goal of the permit is to establish best practices for stormwater management. - Will the Department of Ecology (DOE) determine if the City meets their requirements? DOE will have to approve our codes and there will be an ongoing oversight process to make sure the City is following its codes. - What is the public involvement process? Staff will bring the scope and public involvement process back to the Land Use & Environment Committee in April. - The Comprehensive Planning process will be a good avenue to set goals and standards. The report was received. 4.C 14-0057 2014 Land Use and Environment Committee Work Plan and Meeting Schedule Community Planning and Development Director Keith Stahley presented changes to the 2014 Land Use and Environment Committee work plan and meeting schedule. Chair Langer noted he will be absent March 27 but the scheduled meeting will still occur. The Committee made minor changes. The Committee agreed to forward the revised work plan to the full Council as a Consent Calendar item on February 4. 4.D 14-0079 Status Reports and Update City of Olympia Page 3 Land Use & Environment Meeting Minutes January 23, 2014 Committee Downtown Liaison Brian Wilson provided a status report and update on the following: The Alcohol Impact Area goes into effect February 15. He noted the Washington State Liquor Control Board is in charge of enforcement. The Artesian Commons area has been fenced off and the City is currently in the bidding process for construction. The Downtown Ambassador Clean Team will hire an additional Clean Team member which will exponentially increase service delivery. Chair Langer emphasized the importance of the Ambassadors addressing behavior in the Downtown Core and educating downtown users about what is and what is not allowed. The report was received. 5. ADJOURNMENT The meeting adjourned at 7:35 p.m. City of Olympia Page 4