Land Use & Environment Committee

City Hall Meeting Minutes 601 4th Avenue E Olympia, WA 98501 Land Use & Environment Committee Information: 360.753.8244 Thursday, February 26, 2015 5:30 PM Council Chambers 1. ROLL CALL Present: 2 - Chair Steve Langer and Committee member Julie Hankins Excused: 1 - Committee member Jeannine Roe OTHERS PRESENT City Manager Steve Hall Assistant City Manager Jay Burney Community Planning and Development (CP&D) Director Keith Stahley CP&D Principal Planner Todd Stamm CP&D Senior Planner Amy Buckler CP&D Associate Planner Michelle Sadlier Parks, Arts and Recreation Director Paul Simmons Parks Associate Planner Jonathan Turlove Public Works Director Richard Hoey CP&D Downtown Liaison Brian Wilson Planning Commissioners Roger Horn and Chair Max Brown 2. CALL TO ORDER Chair Langer called the meeting to order at 5:34 p.m. 3. APPROVAL OF MINUTES 3.A 15-0155 Approval of January 29, 2015 Land Use and Environment Committee Meeting Minutes The minutes were approved. 4. COMMITTEE BUSINESS 4.A 15-0162 Parks, Arts and Recreation Citizen Survey Mr. Turlove provided a draft of the proposed survey for review and discussion. He indicated next steps are to find and address gaps and issues, then finalize the survey. Discussion included: - Survey questions and priority-based answers. - The importance of strong surveys and a suggestion from Bob Jacobs to involve park City of Olympia Page 1 Land Use & Environment Meeting Minutes February 26, 2015 Committee volunteers in the survey process. - Concern about whether all options on the survey were really options for the City to follow through with. - Concern for the clarity of questions, specifically for ambiguity and potential to cause confusion. Elway Research representative Stuart Elway expressed appreciation for the transparency of this project between the City and the public. The report was received. 4.B 15-0167 Status Report - Potential Code Amendments to Implement Olympia’s Updated Comprehensive Plan Mr. Stamm presented an update to the Comprehensive Plan. He provided a list of key items to go before Council within the next twelve months and noted additional items are being worked on that are not being held within the twelve month deadline goal. Chair Langer cautioned some changes may preempt potential changes to environmental regulations in coming years and said he appreciated processing through the Design Review Board, Planning Commission, and Hearing Examiner. The report was received. 4.C 15-0172 Scope and Public Participation Recommendation for the Downtown Strategy Ms. Buckler gave a presentation on the Downtown Strategy and noted this topic is on the Council's March 17 agenda. She discussed opportunities for public involvement, advisory committee participation and regular updates to the City Council. At the end of May, an RFP/Q will be brought for the review of the Land Use and Environment Committee. Discussion included: - The importance of communication with the public and being consistent with language to ensure clarity. - The Downtown Strategey scope will be a multi-year implementation action plan. - The importance of maintaining unique and historical qualities of Olympia, enhancing what we have instead of changing to the style of the consultants that are brought in. - Suggestion to change the classification in the strategy to “no decision-making role.” Chair Langer requested the Downtown Strategy come back to the Land Use and Environment Committee after clarifying options to see if formally adopting it is what is desired for it to work, remain flexible and yet able to apply adaptive management principles. The desire is to maintain the ability to change and see what works, while still providing a strong framework. Chair Langer requested strong clarity and a decision at the next meeting of how the strategy can be put into framework. The discussion was completed. City of Olympia Page 2 Land Use & Environment Meeting Minutes February 26, 2015 Committee 4.D 15-0173 Review of Proposed Change to Historic Inventory Regulations Ms. Sadlier presented a proposed ordinance change to remove the regulatory language on the historic property “Inventory.” She explained the Inventory currently has an informal designation process, limited regulation, and operates separately from other areas of the Historic Register. With the proposed change, information in the Inventory would be maintained, but the focus would shift to getting people to use the Register instead. Discussion included: - There could still be non-regulatory processes, including staff outreach to owners. - Consider how historic parks might include historic elements, including plantings and old orchards. The discussion was completed. 4.E 15-0197 Artesian Commons Leadership Team - Council Liaison Mr. Simmons presented an update on the Artesian Commons Project. He reported the Artesian Leadership Committee has been approved and membership invitations sent out. Committee Member Hankins volunteered to serve as liaison to the Leadership Committee. The Land Use and Environment Committee agreed Liaison Hankins will have a relatively small role to provide the Leadership Committee with the chance to govern itself. The discussion was completed. 4.F 15-0191 Status Reports and Updates - Downtown Project and Related Topics Mr. Wilson gave a brief presentation on the Alcohol Impact Area (AIA). He reported the petition to amend the banned products list closes on March 22 and encouraged Council representation at a public hearing to be held March 25 at 10:00 a.m. on 300 Pacific. He reported the Ambassador Program is ready to go, and he is working with the Parking and Business Improvement Area (PBIA) and probation crew. The PBIA is promoting the area to visitors and the Artesian Commons is waiting for fence installation resolution. There has been strong youth participation seen at the park including clean-up sessions and basketball. The downtown welcome center will be discussed at the first Steering Committee meeting. The report was completed. 5. ADJOURNMENT The meeting adjourned at 7:53 p.m. City of Olympia Page 3