08-10-10 CSDS Committee MinutesCommunity Services/Development Services Committee Meeting
August 10, 2010
Elected Officials Present:
Council Member Strom Peterson, Chair
Council Member Petso
The committee convened at 6:17 p.m.
Staff Present:
Rob Chave, Planning Manager
Brian McIntosh, Parks Director
Rob English, City Engineer
Stephen Clifton, CS/Econ Dev Director
Phil Williams, Public Works Director
A. Continued discussion regarding a proposed "Tree Board."
Barbara Tipton, Rich Senderoff, and Ann Heckman participated in the discussion, explaining that
the benefits and purpose of establishing a tree board are outlined in the draft ordinance. A major
purpose is to move the city toward obtaining the Tree City USA designation, since having a tree
board is a necessary requirement for obtaining that status. The ordinance does not introduce any
new regulations or requirements beyond what the city is already doing, but the designation would
enable the city to seek funding to help in researching and promoting the benefits of trees in the
community. The tree board could also serve as a resource the city could draw on.
The Committee also briefly discussed existing penalties for tree cutting, and agreed to discuss this
subject further at the September meeting.
ACTION: The Committee agreed to forward the draft ordinance to the City Attorney to put in final
form for consideration for adoption by the full Council.
B. Removing leashed dog restrictions in Hutt Park and the asphalt areas of Brackett's
Landing north and south of the ferry terminal.
Brian McIntosh explained that the proposal to extend provisions to allow dogs to be on -leash in Hutt
Park came about at the April 20, 2010 public hearing in regard to a similar discussion for five other
park areas in the City. Three of those parks were recommended to become on -leash (with
restrictions) and Council decided not to extend that recommendation to Brackett's Landing North &
South. As Hutt Park was not part of the public hearing, it was decided to take this to Council
Committee as the next step.
Council President Bernheim tonight spoke in favor of extending the on -leash areas to both
Brackett's Landing North & South Parks adjacent to the ferry terminal. Consensus of the Committee
was to move forward with the proposal for Hutt Park but deny the request to extend on -leash
provisions to the Brackett's Landing parks.
ACTION: As this action would result in a code change, the Committee agreed thet it should
be forwarded to full Council as a public hearing at a future date.
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August 10, 2010
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C. Discussion on possible 'green' initiatives and zoning clarifications for downtown business
zones.
Rob Chave introduced the discussion by explaining that there are several items staff wishes to
initiate to clean up in the existing downtown BD zones, such as the required depth of commercial
uses, the zoning requirements along the 4th Avenue Arts Corridor, and clarifying where the
commercial street frontages are outside of the BD1 zone. In addition, Stephen Clifton reported that
staff has been fielding inquiries from major private interests on zoning requirements related to
downtown; these interests range from individual property owners to developers of hotels and other
projects. In all cases, concern has been expressed about working within existing code requirements.
In light of the city's adoption of its sustainability element, staff considers it a good time to see
whether Council would be receptive to including incentives in the code that would promote features
such as green building projects (LEED Gold being an example), expanded open space and sidewalk
areas, or other amenities that would improve downtown streetscape and design. Additional height
was noted as being something developers have asked about, and that small, carefully situated
height bonuses implemented as part of a project -specific negotiated development agreement
approved by Council, could be something that staff and the Council could develop within the code.
Council Member Peterson noted that this could be something that fits well with the city's economic
development goals, as well as showing leadership in sustainability and green development. Council
Member Petso expressed support for including green development standards within the code as a
basic requirement, but said she did not support trading environmental benefits for any increases in
height or other incentives.
The Committee discussed the approach of asking the full Council to discuss the issue, or allow the
Economic Development Commission to work with the Climate Committee and/or Planning Board to
develop some ideas that could be brought back to the Committee for further discussion.
ACTION: The Committee agreed to forward the staff recommended minor BD zone updates
(review of the 4th Avenue Arts Corridor zoning and street frontage mapping) to the Planning
Board for review. The Committee also forwarded the commercial depth requirements to the
Planning Board, asking the Board to review the existing depth for the BD1 zone along with
the other BD zones; the Committee expressed doubt that the existing 30-foot depth in the
BD1 zone is adequate to encourage sustainable commercial use.
ACTION: The Committee agreed to forward the issue of code incentives and/or requirements
for sustainable development downtown to the EDC and Climate Committee to develop
further, with ideas brought back to the Committee for further review and discussion.
D. Proposed 8th Ave South pathway south of Alder Street.
Rob English (City Engineer) presented Mr. Adams' proposal to build a pathway between 802 and
724 Alder St. in the unimproved 8th Ave right of way. The pathway would begin at Alder St and
continue to the existing path on the south half of the 8th Ave right of way between Alder and Walnut
Streets. Mr. Adams has offered to hire and pay a contractor to construct the path. The conceptual
drawing submitted by Mr. Adams was shown to the committee.
The history on previous City Council action related to the possible vacation of 8th Ave and the
pathway between Alder and Walnut Streets was discussed. In November 2005, the City Council
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decided not to pursue the vacation of 8th Ave and in February 2006, the City Council directed staff
to build only the south half of the pathway between Alder and Walnut Streets.
The Committee recognized and asked for comments from Mr. and Mrs. Martin who own 724 Alder
St. The Martins explained their observations of how the path is used by citizens and how they
believe a new pathway is not necessary. They also expressed that Mr. Adams is one of four
property owners adjacent to the unopened 8th Ave right of way between Alder and Walnut Streets
and he is the only owner in favor of constructing the proposed pathway.
ACTION: The Committee voted to not proceed with Mr. Adams' request to construct the
proposed pathway.