Planning Commission

2/9/2023 - Minutes I. Call to Order Members Present: Mike O’Brien, Chair; Abby Bleything, Vice-Chair; Tommie Murray; Connor Daley City Staff Present: Eric Vorwald Guests Present: None Call to Order by: Mike O’Brien Meeting Start Time: 6:33 PM Minutes Recorded by: Eric Vorwald II. Changes to the Agenda None III. Public Comment None IV. Approve Previous Meeting Minutes Decision: 4 – 0 Motion by: Tommie Second: Abby Motion was made by Tommie to accept the minutes as presented. All were in favor. V. Updates on Legislative Activities Eric provided an update the Planning Commission on several bills or proposed legislation that has been introduced or drafted by various committees. He highlighted changes to open meeting laws related to the extension of remote only meetings, and discussed draft language included in the omnibus housing bill being discussed at the Senate Committee on Economic Development, Housing, and General Affairs. He highlighted several proposed elements that would impact the City’s land use regulations if adopted, but stressed that these measures were still under discussion and a formal bill had not yet been introduced. The Commissioners agreed that it was too early to review the existing land use regulations and would wait until formal legislation was in place. VI. Continued Discussion on Article IV – Section 4.12 Eric began the discussion by providing an overview of changes made based on comments during the discussion at the February meeting. He highlighted the change related to shared parking and the Planning Commission generally agreed with the new language. A few suggestions were offered for clarification, which Eric agreed to include in the next draft.  VI. Continued Discussion on Article IV – Section 4.12 Eric began the discussion by providing an overview of changes made based on comments during the discussion at the February meeting. He highlighted the change related to shared parking and the Planning Commission generally agreed with the new language. A few suggestions were offered for clarification, which Eric agreed to include in the next draft. After this discussion, Eric introduced the next section on incentives for reducing parking. He identified three options in the draft for reductions including perpetually affordable housing, underground parking, and electric vehicle charging. The Planning Commission raised concerns about further reducing parking below what is already being incentivized for affordable dwellings (as included in Section 5.14). With this, Eric indicated that he would look at possible options to bring back if there was a solution that may be more beneficial related to housing affordability. Next, the Planning Commission discussed the incentive for underground parking reductions. Specifically, this incentive would apply in the Gateway Zoning District. Several scenarios were reviewed and how the incentive would relate to other incentives and reductions. After some discussion, the Commissioners agreed to amend the overall reduction and have it apply to the residential portion of the required parking. They also had concerns about how other incentives may be combined with this incentive and create a situation where almost no parking was included with a development. Eric agreed to make several changes and bring back an updated draft. Finally, the Planning Commission reviewed the incentives related to electric vehicle charging. Abby indicated that she had conversations related to level one charging and suggested this be eliminated since it was such a low bar to achieve. The Planning Commission discussed adjusting the incentive based on the elimination of the level one charging option. Again, Eric agreed to make amendments to the language for the next draft. With time running short, Eric indicated that the next section on ADA parking would be a quick review. He stated that there are federal standards that need to be followed and it seemed more appropriate to eliminate the specific language and reference the federal standards. This would remove the need to update the City’s regulations if the federal standard changed. The Planning Commission agreed with this change. VII. City Updates Eric provided updates related to the Development Review Board meeting regarding the appeal of the demolition permit for St. Stephen Church, updated the Commissioners on the liaison from the Commission for Inclusion and Belonging, and provided a general update on the City’s budget meetings. Eric also talked about design review and how that could support efforts related to historic preservation but would be more of an incremental step towards a more specific and direct local historic preservation regulation. VIII. Other Business Eric provided information to the Planning Commission on a request for a rezoning of property at 188 West Canal Street. He reviewed the process for amending the land use regulations, and noted that several other requests had come forward as well. The Planning Commission agreed to include an item on a future agenda to specifically discuss the requested map amendments. Eric also reminded the Planning Commission that there was agreement to return to two meetings per month. With that, he noted that the next meeting would be on February 23 rd . IX. Adjourn Motion by: Connor Second: Abby Meeting End Time: 8:16 PM Motion by: Connor Second: Abby Meeting End Time: 8:16 PM