City Chewelah
Planning Commission Regular Meeting
May 15, 2008
Call to Order
The regular meeting of the Chewelah Planning Commission was called to order at 7:01 P.M. on May 15, 2008 by Chairperson, Tom Bristol.
Roll Call
In attendance were Tom Bristol, Alice Crowley, Bill Davies, Kevin Herda, Doug Sassman, Irv Schick, and Daniel Voltz. Paul Sety had asked to be excused from this evening’s meeting. Staff members in attendance were Tracy Ferrell and Curt Kelling. Chaz Bates, planner on contract from Studio Cascade was also in attendance.
Approval of Minutes
The minutes from the April 17, 2008 meeting were reviewed. Doug Sassman made a motion to approve the minutes as presented. Irv Schick seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously.
Communications and Announcements
There were no communications to share.
Chaz Bates introduced Gideon Schrieber from Studio Cascade. He will be providing planning assistance to the City, along with Chaz.
Reports from Members
None
Staff Report
Curt Kelling restated that our application to the Community Planning Assistance Team (CPAT) had been denied. Curt has been holding conference calls every 60 days with the Eastern Washington Hearings Board in regards to our Comp Plan Update requirement. During the last call he informed the Hearings Board also, that the City had been denied by CPAT. Curt has determined that the City push forward with the completion of the Comprehensive Plan Updates. Chaz has been finishing up the Transportation Element, as is.
The City will be working with the Association of Washington Cities (Stan Finklestein) to help coordinate meetings in the fall regarding the transportation issues in Chewelah. After the Comp Plan Update is completed and approved, work will begin on the specific issues and decisions/changes will be submitted as Amendments to the Comp Plan. This process will assist with meeting the deadlines previously presented to the Hearings Board based on a schedule created by the former city administrator. There has been some commitment to help with the future transportation planning process from WSDOT - local and state agencies.
Tom Bristol inquired about Annexations. He asked that any new annexation requests and/or decisions be reported regularly to the Planning Commission. Curt stated that the Planning Commission would eventually see the annexations, as they are responsible for the zoning of the properties. Curt reported that there was one hearing on an annexation request (the Martin property) that was approved. Also a request to annex 6 acres has been presented to the city council for consideration. This request is still in the preliminary phase. The Harrison annexation request is still on the table, however the details on the request are still rather of “wishy-washy”.
There was also some conversation previously on the annexation of a property located on US 395, but nothing formally. It was noted that the City is still waiting for the Hearings Board paperwork with Stevens County in regards to their reversal on invalidity of UGAs. The paperwork is necessary in order to pass the ordinances to finalize the annexations.
Chaz Bates gave a summary of what a Binding Site Plan (BSP) is. He noted that it is a process used to divide (in this case) commercially/industrially zoned property. The approval process is much like what is used in a preliminary plat in that the BSP can be approved with conditions. The final approval is done by the City Administrator. Curt Kelling added that there is a difference between the BSP and a short plat. They require a similar process although. The Short Plat is for residential applications and the Binding Site Plan is for commercial applications. The larger difference is that short plats have a five year restriction where BSPs have no restriction, so can be modified whenever needed. Tom asked if “binding” means that the owner gets a bind on the process so that he is able to proceed with the work. Curt agreed with that definition. It was clarified that the amount of lots to be created must be defined. The restriction on number of lots depends on the original size of the lot and the restrictions per the building/zoning ordinances. Kevin Herda asked if the BSP was good for a year. Curt confirmed that. If nothing is done after one year, the original approval is lost. Extensions before the year expires are a possibility and can be approved by the City Administrator.
Chaz Bates asked if there were any Planning Commission members that were also members of the Washington State APA. There were none. Chaz will send notification of the annual meeting to Tracy so that she can forward them to Planning Commission members.
Public Hearing
Tom Bristol opened the Public Hearing to discuss conditional approval for Binding Site Plan 01-08, the 395 Business Park. He asked that any public comments be prefaced with announcement of the speakers name and address. He asked if any of the Planning Commissioners had an interest in this project that may be conceived as a conflict of the Appearance for Fairness requirements. There were none. He asked if there was anyone in the audience that objects to Tom’s participation as chairperson or any of the other Planning Commissioners participation in the hearing. There were none. He asked if any members of the Planning Commission had engaged in conversations in regards to this project outside of this evening’s hearing. There were none.
The Staff Report was presented by Chaz Bates from Studio Cascade, 117 W Pacific Avenue, Suite 200, Spokane, Washington 99201. He reported on Binding Site Plan Application No. 01-08. The request is to create four commercial lots from a 54,000 sq. foot parcel on SR 395 south of Main Street. The application was submitted on April 2, 2008 and deemed complete on April 7, 2008. Notice of Application (NOA) was issued and distributed to state agencies and department heads on April 7, 2008. The Determination of Non-Significance (DNS) was issued on April 24, 2008. There was no appeal received on the DNS. Notice of Public Hearing was also filed on April 24, 2008. The 120-decision date is August 25, 2008.
Chaz asked the Commissioners to refer to a Vicinity Map that was included in the Staff Report. The location of the property is directly off US 395, south of the 49er Motel. Property north of project is zoned commercial; property east is vacant and west is zoned light industrial/commercial.
Chaz asked the Commissioners to then refer to Exhibit No. 2 that showed the layout of the four lots: three in the front and one in the rear of the property. Exhibit No. 3 (2 on the form), the Land Use map was reviewed. Exhibit No. 4, the Zoning Map was reviewed as well.
Chaz went over the findings and conclusions, which stated that the proposal was in compliance with the Comprehensive Plan. The physical aspects of the property were considered as well as the site design which was all “straight forward”. The request was found to be consistent with RB-Retail Business regulations (lot width, lot area, setback requirements). Staff determined that BSP 01-08 could be made consistent with the conditions that have been set forth in the Staff Report. Staff recommends conditional approval according to the conditions identified in the staff report for BSP 01-08.
Bill Davies questioned the location of Lot #2. He expressed concern about access to the property without easements. It was pointed out that the Binding Site Plan Plat displays the easements that would allow for access as well as fire and utility easements. Chaz pointed out that the final approval would be provided by Curt Kelling, City Administrator when all the conditions have been met.
Tom Bristol asked for more information in regards to the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) Access Permit requirement. Chaz explained that the developers would be required to get the Access Permit prior to final approval of the BSP. Although they will be required to obtain the permit, they are not required to provide a turn lane. Curt added that there were several conversations with Mr. Harrison in regards to this requirement. Mr. Harrison felt that he had not altered the highway access. However, it was apparent that with the removal of the signage and landscaping he had greatly altered the access and the permit would be required. A representative from WSDOT reviewed the site, and determined that two accesses were necessary.
Tom Bristol inquired if the zoning would remain the same. It was affirmed that it would remain at RB – Retail Business. Tom also inquired about the legends that were present on a map. Chaz explained that he had minimized them to make the maps more legible. Tracy Ferrell provided the larger maps so that the legends were available. Kevin Herda inquired about an unrecorded easement on the 49er Motel Property. Curt responded that the City was currently working on sorting out easements and where the actual utilities lie on the project. The final plat will have all of the recorded easements listed. The sewer line is currently lost, and the city is trying to determine the exact location of it. The water line will be relocated. It was suggested that the developer contact R-Rate Plumbing in Colville for assistance in locating the sewer line. Curt affirmed that the conditions assure that adequate pipe sizes will be listed along with the easements on the final plat.
Tom Bristol asked if there were any other questions. There were none.
He asked if there were any other petitions or communications. There were none.
He asked if the applicant had any additional comments. The applicant or a representative was not present.
Tom asked if there were any comments from the Public. There were none.
He asked if the Planning Commission had any further questions or comments. There were none.
The Public Hearing was closed. Bill Davis made motion to approve BSP-01-08 with the conditions as recommended by staff. Doug Sassman seconded the motion. A roll call vote was taken as follows:
Tom Bristol – Yes Alice Crowley – Yes
Bill Davies – Yes Kevin Herda – Yes
Doug Sassman – Yes Irv Schick – Yes
Daniel Voltz – Yes
New Business
Comp Plan Amendments – Curt reported that Chaz has been working on the Comp Plan amendments and has submitted approximately 140 pages for him to review. Curt asked the commissioners what they thought of the format that was used on the two chapters that they had been given. Chaz explained that there was a problem with formatting when the document went to print. This can be easily remedied.
The best way to distribute the document was discussed. The commissioners asked that it not be electronically distributed. Kevin Herda also asked if the changes could be noted in some way. It was determined that the bulk of the draft Comp Plan Update would be presented by the end of June. The Planning Commission would have the entire document to review through July, with intentions of holding a Public Hearing with the City Council in September or October.
The next two elements and the introduction will be discussed at the June meeting.
Tom Bristol reported that he had spoke with a member of the Eastern Washington Hearings board and that person stated that Chewelah is actually doing well compared to other municipalities in the same position. Curt stated that his next phone conference with the Hearings Board will be in October. There was further discussion on the elements and how to present them.
Public Comment
None
Adjournment
There being no further business, Irv Schick made a motion to adjourn the meeting. Doug Sassman seconded the motion. The motion passed and Tom Bristol adjourned the meeting at 7:47 P.M.
Respectfully Submitted,
_____________________________________ ___________________________________
Tracy Ferrell, Executive Secretary Tom Bristol, Chairman
