Special meeting
Chewelah Planning Commission
April 5, 2007
Call to Order
The special meeting of the Chewelah Planning Commission was called to order at 7:00 P.M. by Chairperson Tom Bristol.
Roll Call
Roll Call was taken with the following Planning Commissioners present: Tom Bristol, Bill Davies, Kevin Herda, Daniel Voltz and Doug Sassman. It was reported that Irv Schick and Alice Crowley had called in their absences.
Agenda Additions, Deletions, and/or Changes
Tom Bristol asked to have an update to the Shoreline Management Program. It will be added under Old Business.
Approval of March 1, 2007 Meeting Minutes
After review Doug Sassman made a motion to approve the minutes. Kevin Herda seconded the motion. The motion was approved unanimously.
Public Comments
There were no Public Comments at this time. Mr. Bristol noted that there would be another opportunity for Public Comment towards the end of the meeting and Public Comments are welcome throughout the meeting.
Communications and Announcements
Mr. Bristol reminded the Commissioners that Gaylea Norlander has retired. Pam McCart would be filling in at this evening’s meeting. Tracy Ferrell has been hired as Executive Secretary to replace Gaylea.
Reports from Members
There were no reports from Commission Members.
Report from City Administrator and Staff
Mr. Kelling Kelling provided an update of the Sub-Division Approval Process. He shared that he had been researching the history of the Planning Commission, from 1992. He noted that there are corrections needed in the current Sub-Division Process. There were two major changes noted. The Commission was informed that one change is the need for a quasi-judicial review process. The current city code points to a legislative review process, which is basically a code change. The legislative review is necessary for the code change, however the land use decision must go through the quasi-judicial review process.
The other issue is the method of holding Public Hearings in regards to the Sub-Division Process. Currently there are two public hearings held, although one is listed as a “public information meeting” at the Planning Commission level. This process was basically the same thing as a Public Hearing. A problem arises because the information from the “public information meeting” has been submitted to the City Council prior to their Public Hearing and the City Council is supposed to base their decision only on their official Public Hearing and not on information gathered from the Planning Commission meeting. The RCW that states the authority of the Planning Commission was provided. It was noted that the Planning Commission serves as a review body only. The purpose of the Planning Commission is to serve as an advisory committee to the City Council. However, the City Council has the ability to delegate authority on certain projects for any action to be taken, and at the last City Council meeting it was decided that the Planning Commission will be delegated with the job of handling the Public Hearing for the Subdivision Approval Process. There will not be a second Public Hearing. The City Council will base their decision on information received at the Planning Commission’s Public Hearing only.
Mr. Bristol asked if the public would be allowed further testimony at the City Council Meeting. Mr. Kelling replied that there would not be any further testimony. The City Council would base their decisions from the written information provided to them. Mr. Kelling clarified that a citizen may ask about information that is in the written information, but they will be unable to add any new information. Information would be limited to questions in regards to the Planning Commission’s Public Hearing or clarification of information provided. It was also noted that the written record from the Policy Board’s Public Hearing would serve as the closed record for appeals on any land use decision.
Mr. Kelling will be reviewing other processes to see if they could be tightened up as well. He also added that the Planning Commission needs to be more conscientious in regards to expressing personal opinions a Public Hearings. Their main function is to judge whether the application meets the code, especially in regards to the new method of handling Public Hearings. The City Council should not be subject to any personal opinions of the Planning Commission members. There will be more training in regards to Public Hearings provided in the future.
Mr. Kelling reported that he has changed the process from a Type 3 Review to a Type 2 Review, with steps added in order to meet RCW requirements so that the information from the public hearings can be forwarded to the City Council.
Mr. Bristol posed a question in regards to appeals? Mr. Kelling answered that any appeals will be referred to Superior Court on decisions that is made by the City Council. He also noted that if the City Council opts to make a decision that is different than what the Planning Commission has recommended with their set of conditions, the City Council will have to reissue their own set of findings and conditions. This is a rare occurrence. The only time this would happen is if something new had been brought forth in between the Public Hearing and the City Council meeting. We can anticipate Public Hearings in regards to the Subdivision Approval Process on the 19th of April along with the Shoreline Plan. It is anticipated that the information from this meeting will be presented at the first City Council Meeting in May in order to be adopted in June. It was clarified that the th only Public Hearings in question were those in regards to Sub-Divisions (Long Plats).
Mr. Kelling then addressed scheduling issues in regards to the Comp Plan. Chaz Bates and Mr. Kelling would like to schedule an “Open Mike Night” at the first Planning Commission meeting in May to further discuss the Transportation Element. Kevin Herda inquired why it would be necessary to review the Transportation Element if it has already been presented to the public and a decision made. Mr. Kelling replied that he would like to be sure that the plan that was submitted is feasible for the future. He noted that the decision that was made may remain as it is. However there are concerns in regards to whether the city has the ability to be able to make this decision work. There are concerns about facilities that would be affected as well as the affect on shoreline issues in regards to the creek. Mr. Kelling explained that there is free engineering offered for cities with populations under 5,000 through the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT). He has a meeting scheduled with engineers from the Eastern Region office of WSDOT on Friday, April 20, 2007. He will be providing them with a 10,000 foot view of the city and also review the couplet plans, plans for Flowery Trail and the highway plans. He believes that the engineers from WSDOT will provide an objective review of Chewelah’s future transportation issues and plans. Mr. Kelling has also been speaking with Gary Nussbam, the Supervisor of Chewelah’s Street Department about alternate routes for travel around Chewelah. Mr. Kelling will also be addressing speed limits, the turn lane into Meadow Creek and various other opportunities around Chewelah.
Old Business
Shoreline Master Plan: Chaz Bates presented a revised draft of the Shoreline Master Program and noted some of the changes. This draft will be reviewed and commented on at the April 19, 2007 Planning Commission’s Public Hearing. Mr. Bates noted that this document would not be incorporated into the current plan and regulations, but would be an individual document. The Department of Ecology is still reviewing this draft and should have comments before the meeting or at least at the meeting. The representative may attend both the Planning Commission’s meeting as well as the City Council meeting. Mr. Bristol asked the Commission to review the draft carefully and be prepared for the April 19, 2007 meeting. Mr. Herda asked if there were substantial changes. Mr. Bates replied that most changes were minor; mostly corrections of language, etc.
New Business
Comprehensive Land Use Plan – Population Allocation: Mr. Kelling presented the numbers that he has attained in regards to the Population Allocation for the Comp Plan. He explained that he used the current capacity of the waste water treatment plant, which is 3,297 (rounded to 3,300). He then added information from the Chewelah North Master Plan, which has a population of 509 units x 1.75 occupants (rounded to 900). This produced a projection of 4,200.
Chaz Bates explained that he used a ratio population projection by taking the Office of Financial Management’s population projections for Stevens County, calculating out the traditional percentage of population that Chewelah has had over time and used that with future projections. This provided a range of 3,500 to 5,400. It was noted that this may be where the previous population projection of 5,400 came from. Normally, the projection would fall in the mid range, which would be 4,200. He also presented a straight line projection based on population growth from 1970 to 2000 using Census information. This projection came to 3,200 (rounded). Mr. Bristol asked if the Straight Line projection included the information on housing from around the Golf Course. The answer was yes, however the number seems to be low based on calls received from people interested in moving to the area.
There was further discussion on the methods used to reach the projected population of Chewelah. Mr. Bristol added that it may help clarify the projected population information if data from North Chewelah was separated. Mr. Kelling noted that current Comp Plan information was written mainly for South Chewelah, and did not include North Chewelah. He did add that the Commission may be seeing more splitting of information, including the assessed evaluations. He reminded the Commission that the Comp plan will be reviewed on 5 year intervals.
There was a motion by Doug Sassman to accept the Population Projection of 4,200. Kevin Herda seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously.
Comprehensive Land Use Plan – Transportation Element: Mr. Kelling asked the Planning Commission to review the information that was in the previous plan so that the issues can be further discussed at the “Open Mike” meeting on May 3, 2007. Kevin Herda asked that Gary Nussbaum’s plan be put into writing and included with the information provided. There was discussion on some of the alternative plans that have been presented. Mr. Kelling also gave a brief explanation of the maps that were received from a grant-funded project through Stevens County. Dale Abbott inquired if WSDOT would be providing plans to review as well. Mr. Kelling replied he did not anticipate further information from WSDOT. He will be inviting WSDOT representatives to attend the Planning Commission meeting on May 3, 2007.
Public Comments
Timothy Schwantz, 904 S. Clay Street, Chewelah requested that the Planning Commission not “kill the town” referring to Chewelah South. He noted that there is growth in both areas and he hopes that there is a fair and equal opportunity for growth in both parts of the town – Chewelah North and Chewelah South.
Kevin Herda inquired if the final section of the Main Street Project had gone to bid. Mr. Kelling replied that it had. City employees will be working on reviewing utility hookups with Avista in the next couple of days. There was further discussion on Segment B. There was an issue with the road being paved that will prevent the City of Chewelah from asking for further funding until the road has worn down again.
Election of Officers: Chairperson – Kevin Herda made a motion to nominate Tom Bristol as Chairperson. Doug Sassman seconded the motion. Bill Davis moved to close the nominations. This was seconded by Doug Sassman. The vote was in favor of Tom Bristol remaining as Chairperson, with Tom abstaining from the vote.
Daniel Voltz motioned to nominate Kevin Herda to serve as Vice Chairperson. Doug Sassman seconded the motion. Kevin declined the nomination.
Mr. Voltz then nominated Irv Schick to serve as Vice Chairperson. This motion was seconded by Kevin Herda. The vote was taken and it was unanimous to elect Irv Schick as the Vice Chairperson.
There was a question in regards to filling the vacant Planning Commission position. It is a mayor-appointed position, and their have been no responses to the advertisement. Recruitment continues.
Adjournment
A motion was made by Doug Sassman to adjourn the meeting. Bill Davies seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously. Chairperson Tom Bristol adjourned the meeting at 7:55 P.M.
Respectfully Submitted,
_________________________________ __________________________________
Tracy Ferrell (Executive Secretary) Thomas Bristol (Chairperson)
