City Council Special Meeting

CITY OF STAR CITY COUNCIL MINUTES April 12, 2006 A special meeting of the Star City Council was called to order by Mayor Nathan Mitchell at 6:00 pm at the Star Fire Station. Roll Call: Councilpersons Tammy McDaniel, Dustin Christopherson, Tom Erlebach and Chad Bell were all present. Mayor Mitchell asked Council members to introduce themselves. The Comprehensive Plan Review Committee (CPRC), Ryan Cleverley, Darrel Gazzola, Bob Lenigan, Jerome Mapp, Kari Rosti, Richard Tinsley, and Brenda Weaver, introduced themselves and gave some background information about themselves. The Mayor explained that this meeting was scheduled to explain the scope of the work this committee would be doing. Jerome Mapp explained there are two projects involved; to complete the updating of the Comprehensive Plan by December 2006 and to update and codify the Zoning and Subdivision Ordinances. The Comprehensive Plan is the guide plan for the City while the Zoning and Subdivision Ordinances are the action pieces. Mapp stated there are missing items in the Comp Plan such as, definitions, policies or goals, policy to form guidelines, the need to add graphics, and the housing section needs to better explain the different kinds of housing types. There are different definitions of streets in the Subdivision and Zoning Ordinances, and streets need to be better defined. He pointed out that the City has no jurisdiction on streets, ACHD does. There will need to be more discussion on private roads. There will need to be discussion regarding open space. In the Subdivision Ordinance, there is no discussion of where the numbers come from – there needs to be logic to them. Golf courses are not considered open space – usually they are. The location of sidewalks and dealing with storm water also needs to be addressed. Zoning and density will need to be reviewed. Mapp would like to see density information on the pages you are looking at and not have to flip back and forth to find it. Daycares not being allowed in residential zones needs to be looked at. The Mayor stated that he would have City Hall make copies of the Zoning and Subdivision ordinances for the CPRC members. Development agreements need to be better defined. The use of development agreements take a lot of staff time in verifying they are followed. The Mayor explained what development 1 agreements are – a contract between the property and the City. An agreement can designate certain uses allowed in a certain area. Better ordinances would mean less need for development agreements. Mapp pointed out that they will need to define the downtown area, set parameters, and strengthen them with the Zoning Ordinance. All three documents have different sets of definitions and will need to be made consistent between each other. Also, graphics need to be added to all three documents. Mapp stated he will explain the Comp Plan and all the different pieces of land use planning to the committee at the first meeting. The plan is to have the committee meet once a month and he will provide information to members roughly two weeks before the meeting to review and work on. He suggested they go to Idaho Planning Associations website (idahoplanningassoc.com) which explains the mandate for land use planning. It also has a link to State Statutes. He has been looking over the demographics in the Comp Plan and feels the COMPASS numbers are low. The Mayor explained the statistics are still for the original area of impact of four miles. The CPRC will need to develop new statistics. At the second meeting, Mapp stated he planned to review the elements of the Comp Plan and they will then review each element once a month. The CPRC will be growing the City and giving it direction for the future. Bell asked what the time frame is to get all this done. Mapp stated they are looking at June 2007 for everything. Bell stated he feels they will have to do all three documents at the same time to some degree. The Mayor explained that as they discuss items in the Comp Plan they will need to take them to the Zoning and Subdivision Ordinances. It would be better to put them into place then, instead of bringing them up again later. Bell stated that he realized the Council will not be sitting in on all the meetings, but there may be times when the Council will need to meet with the CPRC and look at the ordinances. Mapp explained they may be doing quarterly reports to the Council to keep them informed. They will have at least one open house for the public during the process. The Mayor explained that the CPRC will discuss issues and make decisions. The Council will be separate from this process. Once decisions are made, the CPRC will take these recommendations before the City Council for approval. The Mayor will only cast a vote in the case of a tie within the CPRC. 2 Mapp stated that he will have notebooks for everyone with information to review the pros and cons of issues. Idaho Code is different from anywhere else in the country – we can’t always do what is done in other states. Mapp will be reviewing decisions to make sure suggestions are legal. McDaniel asked if Mapp has done land use in other states. Mapp replied that he has only done it in Idaho. Erlebach asked if there were any guidelines to define the downtown area. Mapp stated that there was not, the best plan is to use logic with a variety of planning. The CPRC will need to define where downtown is; which may take years to build it out to the defined area. He recommends creating a downtown master plan and maybe getting a Community Development Block Grant to help create it. The Mayor stated they may need to assist with a Master Park Plan also. Weaver asked as things change during this process, how the Council will make decisions while they are making new decisions. The Mayor explained that as the CPRC makes decisions, the Council will see their direction and will use them in making decisions. They will share with applicants the information on the direction they want to go and they will usually work with us. Bell wanted to know how far into the process will they go before they will change the comp plan map, as most people look at the comp plan map and think it is the comp plan. Mapp explained they usually change the map at the end and then develop a zoning map. The Mayor assured the CPRC that they will be educated on what the documents are. If they see the Council going against what they are trying to do they need to point it out and slow them down. Mapp reiterated they will learn the terms and how land use is done. Mapp shared both of his e-mail addresses with the CPRC and everyone indicated they were okay communicating by e-mail. Christopherson asked if the Council will officially approve the updates as they go along. Mapp stated they will not be officially approved as they go along but the Council will see the sections as they are revised to work with. Lenigan asked if the town will review and approve the documents. The Mayor reiterated the Council will approve the documents not the citizens. Mapp pointed out the CPRC will be making recommendations to the Council to approve or modify. There will be an open house for the community to review the documents. The Mayor explained they will be showing what they are doing and you will be getting feed back. Mapp explained that at a public hearing they are usually there to complain, not to give suggestions. Public hearings are not the best way to get public input. 3 Weaver asked how the public will be giving them information. Also, is the CPRC allowed to share information with the public? Mapp explained the public will not be giving input at committee meetings. The Mayor explained communication is to go through City Hall. The CPCR is made up of a diverse group and they will get information from their contacts. There will be no official public hearing, but the CPRC is free to discuss issues with their contacts. All meetings will be open to the public, but not open for their discussion. Meetings will be run like a council meeting. Mapp pointed out that the group will work out the details and then present them at the open house. They have used comment sheets in the past to get public input. Bell stated that from their meeting at Cascade the Council knew they needed to update these documents. You will be recognizing where to put things, such as, schools, parks, etc. Mapp stated he will set a date in May, a Wednesday per group preference, for the next meeting. The Mayor indicated City Hall will e-mail the date and will print up copies of the Zoning and Subdivision Ordinances for members to pick up. Tonight’s meeting was just to give the group an idea of what is expected from them. This is their process and he asked them to let the Council know what they want and to let them know if they overstep boundaries. The Mayor asked if there were any questions from the CPRC; there were none. ADJOURNMENT: Christopherson moved to adjourn the meeting, McDaniel seconded the motion. All Aye: motion carried. The meeting was adjourned at 7:15 pm. Respectfully submitted: Approved: ____________________________ ____________________________ Kathleen Hutton, Deputy Clerk Nathan Mitchell, Mayor 4