Land Use & Environment Committee

City Hall Meeting Minutes 601 4th Avenue E Olympia, WA 98501 Land Use & Environment Committee Information: 360.753.8244 Thursday, August 18, 2016 5:30 PM Council Chambers 1. CALL TO ORDER Chair Hankins called the meeting to order at 5:30 p.m. 2. ROLL CALL Present: 3 - Chair Julie Hankins, Committee member Clark Gilman and Committee member Nathaniel Jones OTHERS PRESENT Planning Commissioner Carole Richmond Community Planning and Development Director Keith Stahley Deputy Director Leonard Bauer Senior Planner Amy Buckler Senior Planner Linda Bentley Urban Forestry Program Manager Shelly Bentley Associate Planner Michelle Sadlier Olympia Northeast Neighborhoods Alliance (ONNA) Chair Mike Dexel APPROVAL OF AGENDA The agenda was approved. 3. APPROVAL OF MINUTES 3.A 16-0910 Approval of July 21, 2016 Land Use and Environment Committee Meeting Minutes The minutes were approved. 4. COMMITTEE BUSINESS 4.A 16-0912 Downtown Strategy Update and Direction on Final Review Process Ms. Buckler presented an update on the Downtown Strategy (DTS) and provided proposed steps for Planning Commission and City Council review. Public process to form the strategy · Identify priorities - realistic & impactful actions to move our vision forward · Great community engagement City of Olympia Page 1 Land Use & Environment Meeting Minutes August 18, 2016 Committee · Over 3,500 people have participated at workshops and online Priorities identified by public · Parking - a parking strategy will be formed in 2016-2017 · Sea level rise - a sea level rise management plan will be formed in 2017 · Homelessness/street dependency - plans to address are in progress · Housing affordability and inclusiveness - housing strategy is being formed · Business (retail) advancement - business (retail) strategy is being formed · Cost of (re)development - tools to encourage private investment are being compiled Final review steps · Roles defined in DTS scope · October 29, 2016 - public open house to present final recommendations · November 22, 2016 - City Council study session · December 5, 2016 - Briefing for the Planning Commission · Early 2017 - Planning Commission public hearing and recommendation, City Council adoption of the DTS and move immediately to related code updates Committee and Staff Discussion: · SEPA exemption · Parking · Streetscapes · Tools for private investment · Mixed use buildings - Commercial Land Trust · Adaptive re-use of buildings · Combining previous years tools and current tools all in one tool box · Transit · Permit review process and public comment period Planning Commissioner Richmond asked staff about the plans for addressing site contamination in relation to the proposed SEPA exemptions. Staff explained that regulations related to site contamination are in other areas of law and apply even when projects are SEPA exempt. Also funds could be applied for through state and federal grants. Members of the public spoke: Roger Horn stated he feels the City’s plans on dealing with gentrification need to be expressed more clearly to the public. Kris Goddard thanked Staff and the Committee for their work so far on the Downtown Strategy. The Committee unanimously recommended staff move forward with the proposed steps for Planning Commission and City Council review of the Downtown Strategy. City of Olympia Page 2 Land Use & Environment Meeting Minutes August 18, 2016 Committee 4.B 16-0909 Olympia Northeast Neighborhoods Alliance (ONNA) Subarea Plan Ms. Bentley and Mr. Dexel provided a briefing on the Olympia Northeast Neighborhoods Alliance (ONNA) subarea plan. Ms. Bentley pointed out that the City Manager had requested additional language for the Goals, Objectives and Actions section specifying that the level of the City’s participation in any action steps is subject to available funding. That new language was added to page 7 and shows in track change. The ONNA planning committee is in agreement with the additional language, which will be included in the final plan presented to Council. The subarea plan is meeting Council’s expectations: · Consistent with the Comprehensive Plan · Includes subarea assets · Involvement of neighbors and associations · Community priorities and strategies (actions) · Progress updates to Council Continuing ONNA discussion items: · Engaging community members and businesses · Continuity of leadership and engagement · City/subarea implementation · Relationship amongst neighborhood associations, subarea plans, Coalition of Neighborhood Associations (CNA) The Committee unanimously recommended acceptance of the ONNA subarea plan with modifications and forwarded it to City Council for consideration. 4.C 16-0908 Urban Forestry Asset Management Plan Update Ms. Bentley provided an update on the status of the Urban Forestry Strategic Plan, Street Tree Inventory and implementation of initial recommendations of those reports toward improved asset management of the City’s urban forest. In 2015, the City completed an Urban Forestry Strategic Plan. A first step in the strategy was to form a cross-department urban forestry team, which we have done. The strategy charged the team with evaluating the next priority steps needed to better manage our urban forest. The team has defined the following tasks and timelines (assuming current level of resources): · Street Tree Inventory (2016) · Master Street Tree Plan Update (2017) · Urban Forestry Manual Update (2017) · Urban Forestry Management Plan (2018) It is important to do these steps in this order, as our current street tree inventory was outdated and we now have technology to be able to use and update the data as we manage our assets. The street tree inventory will provide information about the type, health and location of the City’s street trees in downtown and along our major roadways. We are currently completing the street tree inventory through a technical City of Olympia Page 3 Land Use & Environment Meeting Minutes August 18, 2016 Committee assistance grant from Department of Natural Resources/United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service. With this inventory information, the Master Street Tree Plan can be updated. This plan will: provide an overall plan for maintenance of our current street trees downtown and along our major arterials; help plan for appropriate future street tree planting and/or replacement and move us in the direction of establishing an asset management approach to our street trees. This base of information is necessary to support development of an Urban Forestry Program Management Plan in 2018. The Management Plan will include the City’s entire urban forest including parks, public open space, street trees and private forested property. It should address issues like development review, urban forestry related codes and policies, public outreach and education, hazard tree maintenance and future planting and replacement among other things. Urban Forestry next steps: · Street Tree Inventory - nearing completion 2016 · Urban Forestry Manual update (standards for new development) - 2016 · Street Tree Master Plan update (asset management for tree planting and maintenance) - to be determined (dependent on inventory results) 2017 · Urban Forestry Management Plan (“comp plan”) - to be determined 2018 · Urban Forestry Management Plan projects (maintenance, planting, education, etc.) to be determined 2019 and beyond The report was received. 5. REPORTS AND UPDATES Mr. Stahley reported the next Land Use and Environment Committee meeting will be on September 22, 2016. Mr. Bauer stated there will be a presentation from staff regarding the public participation plan for the sign code update at the next meeting. 6. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 7:55 p.m. City of Olympia Page 4