Loading...
2023-05-24 Planning Board MinutesCITY OF EDMONDS PLANNING BOARD Minutes of Hybrid Meeting May 24, 2023 Vice Chair Tragus-Campbell called the hybrid meeting of the Edmonds Planning Board to order at 7:02 p.m. at Edmonds City Hall and on Zoom. LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT FOR INDIGENOUS PEOPLES The land acknowledgement was read by Board Member Golembiewski. Board Members Present Richard Kuehn (online) Lauren Golembiewski Jeremy Mitchell Susanna Martini Beth Tragus-Campbell, Vice Chair Nick Maxwell Lily Distelhorst (student rep) (online) Board Members Absent Judi Gladstone, Chair (excused) Staff Present David Levitan, Planning Manager Mike Clugston, Senior Planner Angie Feser, Parks, Recreation & Human Svcs. Director Shannon Burley, Parks, Rec. & Human Svcs. Deputy Director READING/APPROVAL OF MINUTES MOTION MADE BY BOARD MEMBER GOLEMBIEWSKI, SECONDED BY BOARD MEMBER MITCHELL, TO APPROVE THE MINUTES OF MAY 10, 2023 AS PRESENTED. MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY. ANNOUNCEMENT OF AGENDA THERE WAS UNANIMOUS CONSENT TO APPROVE THE AGENDA AS PRESENTED. AUDIENCE COMMENTS None ADMINISTRATIVE REPORTS None Planning Board Meeting Minutes May 24, 2023 Pagel of 5 PUBLIC HEARINGS None UNFINISHED BUSINESS None NEW BUSINESS A. Athletic Field Use & Reservation Policy Deputy Parks, Recreation & Human Services Director Shannon Burley reviewed the proposed Athletic Field Use & Reservation Policy. Fees have not been increased since 2009 and are the lowest in the area. Staff is recommending slight increases to rental and light fees. Additionally, 50% will now be due upon allocation approval; 50% will be due within 30 days of billing. In addition to fees, there will be updates to match current practices for scheduling priorities and refund policies. Other changes were made to improve transparency and clarity. These include an expanded Introduction and Purpose; new sections for Definitions and Damages; expanded insurance requirement language, and general field policies. From an efficiency and customer service perspective, the allocation process language was refined and there is a new online application process. This will be integrated with state and federal laws and have updated field descriptions. Next steps are to present to Council on June 13, 2023 and request approval on Consent on June 20, 2023. The policy could go into effect on July 1, 2023. Comments and Questions Board Member Golembiewski thought more clarity around the reservation window and the fact that it is not first come first served would be good. She also thought that more clarity was needed around scheduling windows for the fall/winter season. Deputy Director Burley explained how the condition of the fields and the need to protect the fields factors into this. Board Member Golembiewski also wondered if the fee structure should be the same for all uses (for example, a one-time use versus weekly use). Deputy Director Burley noted they had discussed different fees but opted to keep it simple. Board Member Golembiewski asked if it made sense to have different fee structures at different times of the year. Deputy Director Burley did not think so because the downtime is the winter, and they are pretty well booked with the other seasons. Sometimes there is heavier usage in the summer due to all the festivals. Because of the prioritization, city -sponsored festivals can displace youth sports which can be challenging. Vice Chair Tragus-Campbell commented that they are not trying to get 100% utilization currently because they need time for the fields to recover. Deputy Director Burley concurred. Board Member Martini asked if they had considered putting in turf. Deputy Director Burley reviewed some background on this matter. Director Feser explained that it is a very large investment, and the fees would not offset the cost. There was some discussion about the benefit of green fields holding water as opposed to the impacts of semi -permeable surfaces. Planning Board Meeting Minutes May 24, 2023 Page 2 of 5 Board Member Golembiewski also thought more clarity was needed around the consequences of lack of payment. She asked if there is a fee for using other city utilities such as electricity or water. Deputy Director Burley replied there is not but some coordination is needed to make sure everything is ready. Board Member Golembiewski asked if the indemnification agreement is for the individual signing it or if they are signing it on behalf of the organization. Deputy Director Burley explained she had asked the attorney to ensure that the definitions clarify the role of the organizer, the person filling out the application, as a representative of the entire organization and that the indemnification clause was representative of the entire organization and that the City was indemnified. Vice Chair Tragus-Campbell referred to the decision to not include the hours of operation because they are subject to change and requested that an explanation of that be included. Deputy Director Burley agreed. Vice Chair Tragus-Campbell summarized that staff would work on additional clarifications for when payment is due and the consequences of when payment is not received. She also suggested a line item in the introductory document that this is not for large special events; for large special events there is a separate process. Deputy Director Burley indicated she would also clarify about running events in November and parks closing. MOTION MADE BY BOARD MEMBER GOLEMBIEWSKI, SECONDED BY BOARD MEMBER KUEHN, TO SUPPORT THIS DOCUMENT WITH THE SUGGESTED CLARIFICATIONS AS DISCUSSED TONIGHT. MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY. B. Introduction to Critical Aquifer Recharge Area Code Amendment Senior Planner Mike Clugston explained that critical aquifer recharge areas (CARAs) are established to protect public groundwater drinking supplies from potential contamination and to ensure adequate groundwater availability. They are required by and treated as critical areas under the Growth Management Act (GMA). The current Edmonds code from 2016 states that there are no CARAs in the City. In 2022, the City learned there were two CARAs in Edmonds (Olympic View Water & Sewer District wellhead protection areas) that need to be regulated. Senior Planner Clugston reviewed maps showing the Olympic View Water & Sewer District service area and wellhead protection areas for Deer Creek Springs and the 228d' Street Wellfield. Regulations being considered would integrate with existing stormwater codes; prohibit land uses with the most potential for contamination (auto wrecking yards, dry cleaners using chlorinated solvents, cemeteries, underground hazardous material storage and pipelines); and regulate new and existing facilities handling and storing hazardous materials. Vice Chair Tragus-Campbell asked if there can be a plan to phase in changes to warehousing requirements for existing facilities. Senior Planner Clugston affirmed that there could be. He also noted that the goal is to make sure they are using best management practices, not to say that the materials can't be there. Senior Planner Clugston explained that the draft code is being reviewed by stormwater staff and Olympic View now. It could return to the Planning Board for an additional work session if desired or go to a public hearing. Vice Chair Tragus-Campbell recommended that the Board should see the draft code before it goes to a public hearing. Board Member Golembiewski asked about requiring pollution liability insurance for certain uses in these areas. Planning Manager Levitan and Senior Planner Clugston replied that they had not seen any jurisdictions do this Planning Board Meeting Minutes May 24, 2023 Page 3 of 5 but indicated they could look into it. Board Member Golembiewski replied that is where all the money for cleanup comes from these days. She also recommended that metal plating uses be added to the list of uses with potential for contamination. Board Member Maxwell asked clarification questions about the intention for regulations inside CARAs versus outside them. He asked if they expect to prohibit certain uses and how that would impact existing businesses. Planning Manager Levitan explained that still needs to be worked out. There are issues with uses that have long- term leases, displacement, economic disparities, etc. Staff will be getting feedback from the stormwater team and Olympic View about the draft code and will be welcoming feedback from the Planning Board as well. Vice Chair Tragus-Campbell commented that it looks like most of the impact is going to be with commercial uses in the CG zone. What kind of changes are they looking at for residential areas? Planning Manager Levitan explained that most of the language addresses the commercial uses but they will also be looking at impacts of various residential uses. They can look at what other cities have done with regard to residential uses. Board Member Martini asked if staff feels that ideally all commercial uses would be vacated in these areas. Planning Manager Levitan explained that they are balancing a lot of competing interests including economic development needs of the city as well. Some of these areas spill out onto Highway 99 which is an incredibly important commercial corridor. There are a lot of factors to consider. This is basically another layer to the critical areas inventory that is considered when regulating specific land uses. There are going to be uses that will be prohibited in those areas. Board Member Golembiewski asked if the code gets more prohibitive the closer you get to the well. Senior Planner Clugston replied that generally, in other codes, the closer you are the higher the level of regulations. Board Member Golembiewski noted that maps like these seem a little arbitrary because something might be allowed in one location and then a hundred feet away not be allowed. How do they intend to handle land use issues like that. Senior Planner Clugston explained that the intent is to have different regulations in different areas (10-year, 5-year, 1-year, 6-month, etc.). Vice Chair Tragus-Campbell asked how often the science gets updated to make these maps. Planning Manager Levitan replied that it would get updated periodically. He thought perhaps when the critical areas ordinance is being updated would be a good opportunity to look at updated science. Board Member Mitchell asked if other jurisdictions are required to adopt Edmonds' regulations when the areas on the map branch into adjacent jurisdictions. Senior Planner Clugston replied they are not; they have their own regulations. Board Member Mitchell asked if it would be worthwhile to look at what adjacent jurisdictions are doing to try to align the regulations. Senior Planner Clugston replied that the four different jurisdictions he looked at were wildly different in what they were looking at. The City of Issaquah's ordinance seemed like a reasonable place to start. Board Member Maxwell noted that if Olympic View had located the well further west, they could have avoided having the CARA overlap with the commercial district on Highway 99. He asked if the City had considered other locations that would be less likely to bump into businesses that would be disrupted. Planning Manager Levitan was not sure about the types of discussions there were and what kinds of interagency and interjurisdictional discussions they had. Board Member Maxwell said he just wanted to be explicit that the issue existed. He added that no matter what they do now the businesses that are currently on Highway 99 are going Planning Board Meeting Minutes May 24, 2023 Page 4 of 5 to pollute the water for the next ten years. Olympic View must have been okay with that when they selected that site. Vice Chair Tragus-Campbell did not think staff should spend their time looking into the question of the well selection process for this issue. She would prefer that staff s limited time be spent elsewhere. She suggested it would be reasonable for the City to express that if in the future Olympic View decides they want to put another well in that could potentially impact the City of Edmonds, the City should have a seat at the table to help with that placement. Planning Manager Levitan wasn't sure what the interlocal agreement with the water district related to this looks like, but he thought it would be fair to have some opportunity for commenting because it does impact Edmonds' land use regulatory framework. PLANNING BOARD EXTENDED AGENDA Mr. Levitan reviewed the extended agenda. Discussion followed. Vice Chair Tragus-Campbell asked staff to discuss the opportunity for an Economic Development Commission liaison. Planning Manager Levitan explained that in the past there was a Planning Board member who served as an ex oficio member. If someone is interested in serving in that role, the Board has the ability to appoint that position. Vice Chair Tragus-Campbell thought it would be great for the Board to be able to fill that role provided that somebody has the time to do so. There was no one available, but Vice Chair Tragus-Campbell recommended bringing it up again later to see if someone can handle it in the future. PLANNING BOARD MEMBER COMMENTS Board Member Maxwell requested the results of the tree survey and the vision survey. Planning Manager Levitan replied that staff could provide those. Vice Chair Tragus-Campbell expressed appreciation for everybody's thoughts and feedback. She thanked staff for their hard worked and commended Deputy Director Burley for her incredible work putting together the athletic field use and reservation policy. I\ 1 Lei I] -,]0 1 �1►Y W The meeting was adjourned at 8:52 p.m. Planning Board Meeting Minutes May 24, 2023 Page 5 of 5