City Council

Oroville Planning Commission Wednesday, March 4, 2015 The meeting was called to order at 4:35 by Chairman Luiz Perez. Present: Commissioners Luiz, Perez, Judy Dunston, Suzie Seger, Arnie Marchand, Marc Egerton and Alternate Commissioner Valorie Johnston. Absent: none Staff present: Chris Branch and Deanna Rowton. Approval of the minutes from the January 21st meeting. Motion by Arnie Marchand, second by Judy Dunston, motion carried. Public comment period / Planning Commission inquiries / Staff updates: *Questions were asked regarding the City’s plan for the bin lot that is being leased from Jim Prince and what kind of park it will be. Chris stated it hasn’t been completely decided but for sure it will have to be fenced and will be covered with grass. He also stated there will have to be a public hearing for a Conditional Use Permit due to zoning. *There were questions and discussion regarding the Bud Clark Memorial Ball Fields, the recent flooding of Tonasket Creek, and the clean up plans. *Chris advised the Commissioners of a workshop coming up that the Chamber of Commerce is sponsoring as a part of their “Discover Oroville” campaign. This workshop to be held April 17th will be in the format of a webinar with a professional facilitator giving a presentation to be followed by break- out groups and is for the purpose of brainstorming ideas, dreams, goals for the downtown area. At 5:00 there was a Public Hearing ~ Lot Coverage Flexibility Text Amendment ORO RA 15-1. Chris explained that the hearing is on a legislative, not quasi-judicial, action and the hearing protocol is different than it would be on a quasi-judicial hearing; explanation given on the difference including the fact that the text amendment applies to the entire C-2 district, and not just a particular property. The purpose of the hearing was stated per documents submitted into the record. Applicant representative Will Verner was present on behalf of Oroville Reman & Reload Inc. The Chairman asked if there were any challenges to the Planning Commission’s jurisdiction in this matter. There were none. The Chairman asked if any member of the Commission wished to excuse themselves for conflicts of interest or appearance of fairness issues, or disclose any pertinent facts. Marc Egerton disclosed that his wife works for the company making application. The Chairman asked if anyone wished to disclose any ex-parte communication, such that everyone will have the benefit of the information. There was none. Then he asked if any present wished to challenge any of the membership for conflicts of interest or appearance of fairness issues in conducting this hearing. There was none. Chris presented the Hearing Packet which included: the application, the Notice, the Staff Report and supplement, and the Draft Ordinance. Chris read the staff report which contained: the Proposal, Affected Land Use Designations, SEPA checklist, Findings of Fact, which included pointing out the text amendment in Zoning Code chapter 17.60 with emphasis on footnote 6. He finished the staff report with Conclusions and Recommendation. 1  Will Verner introduced himself and expressed gratitude for the opportunity and appreciated time spent by the Commissioners on this endeavor. He testified that his company had considered the limitation on lot coverage and asked the Community Development Dept what the lot coverage rule was intended to achieve. Understanding that stormwater management was the issue driving the regulations the company made application to amend the code so that there could be the opportunity for land owners in the zoning district to achieve the same objective by some other means, and to make it possible to utilize more of their land. He indicated that if the text amendment was successful that the company would make whatever necessary improvements required to manage stormwater. There was no other public present for testimony. The testimony portion of the hearing was closed. There was a motion by Arnie Marchand “to adopt by reference the Staff Finding of Facts and Conclusions and recommend to the City Council to approve the text amendments and pass an ordinance enacting the same.” Judy Dunston seconded the motion. It passed unanimously. Further discussion included more about the Discover Oroville campaign. Also, the previous night’s council meeting presentation by the Oroville Ambulance Association was discussed. It was stressed that the crisis of the ambulance department is about lack of EMT’s and not that the ambulance is “shutting down.” There was discussion about how many hours of training and how much time being an EMT involves. Those present at the council meeting stated that the presentation was well done and that there was a lot of expressions of gratitude for the volunteers that provide the service. It was generally acknowledged that it was necessary for the City to make whatever decision necessary to ensure dependable ambulance service. The meeting was adjourned at 6:15 pm. 2