From City of Chewelah
Draft January 2008 Meeting Minutes
By Tracy Ferrell
Feb 14, 2008, 15:36
City of Chewelah
Planning Commission Meeting
January 17, 2007
Call to Order / Roll Call
The regular monthly meeting of the City of Chewelah Planning Commission was called to order at 7:01 P.M. by Chairman Tom Bristol. In attendance were commissioners Irv Schick, Bill Davies, Kevin Herda, Alice Crowley, Tom Bristol, Daniel Voltz and Doug Sassman. Also in attendance were Curt Kelling, City Administrator and Tracy Ferrell, Executive Secretary.
Agenda Additions, Deletions and/or Changes
Mr. Bristol called for any changes, additions or deletions in this evening’s agenda. There were none.
Approval of Minutes
The minutes from the November 15, 2007 meeting were reviewed. Irv Schick made a motion to approve the minutes as submitted. Kevin Herda seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously.
Old Business
· Community Planning Assistance Team (CPAT) Application
Tracy Ferrell presented an application for participation with the Community Planning Assistance Team (CPAT). CPAT is comprised of a number of State employees from various departments that will work with communities on issues that they are facing. The team can be built to meet the specific needs of the city. There is no cost for this service, and the time requirement will be only one evening or one Saturday. That will be determined at a later date.
Curt Kelling added that many things have changed since the last plan (Chewelah Re-Generation) was approved. The city is currently under an order from the Growth Management Hearings Board for a lack of public participation. The original concepts for a transportation plan were included in the Chewelah Re-generation plan, but were never incorporated into the City’s Comp Plan. Due to this, it’s necessary to revisit the situation so that it can be included in the Comp Plan.
Another change happened in 1999. Two weeks following the acceptance of the original couplet route plan, Initiative 695 was passed which completely changed funding for building street/road infrastructure forever. Any funding available at that time, ceased to exist due to the passing of the initiative.
Finally, Chaz Bates has supplied the current Transportation Element of the Comprehensive Plan that includes the current goals. In updating of the Transportation Element, the city needs to adhere to these goals to prove consistency with the Hearings Board.
Mr. Kelling explained that due to the acceptance of the couplet plan the areas thought to be affected were re-zoned as commercial. This needs to be corrected once a new route is selected and the areas actually affected are re-zoned to be concurrent with the Transportation Element.
Mr. Kelling would like to include the restriction or elimination of commercial traffic in any conversations with CPAT. He hopes to extend the deadline for the Comp Plan completion to June, 2008. He will be holding a conference call with the hearings board on January 22, 2008 and will report back to the planning commission the outcome of this call. He noted that the comp plan preparation is going well. Parts of it are ready to start coming forward to the commission for review. The three elements that will need further work are the Transportation Element, the Land Use Element and the Capital Facilities element. These three elements are tied together and will be the last three pieces presented.
Mr. Bristol inquired if there was ever a goal for SR 395 mentioned in any of the plans. There was none included in the original comp plan. Something should be included. Also there should be something in regards to protecting existing neighborhoods and the creation of parks and trails in the city (pedestrian linkage). Mr. Bristol suggested that a goal in regards to the increase in traffic on SR 395 and a sub group on Flowery Trail traffic be included in the Comp Plan.
Mr. Bristol also asked if the City of Chewelah has any assurances that if they put together a cohesive plan with input from citizens and other groups and this concept is incorporated into the Comp Plan, will WSDOT be required to enforce it? Mr. Kelling replied that it would be difficult for WSDOT to do anything within Chewelah City limits in conflict of the City’s approved plan. WSDOT has indicated that they will be selective on funding, meaning that any plan will also be approved by WSDOT, if funding is anticipated. An example of this philosophy is with Section B of the Flowery Trail improvements. Constantly evolving personnel cause a shift in project preference. Jerry Lenzi, formerly the Eastern Washington Regional Administrator, has taken a position in Olympia. This may help with Eastern Washington projects. The new administrator for Eastern Washington has not been named.
Mr. Bristol asked what was actually approved in 1999. It was determined that the City Council approved the couplet (Second Street East) plan, but did not incorporate into the Comp Plan. It does need to go into the Comp Plan for necessary clout.
Mr. Bates added that in the information provided, there are two maps. The first map is a replication from the 1997 Comp Plan. The second map is a blank map for commissioners to doodle on. Mr. Kelling noted that there is another large arial map that will have projected routes put on it. This map will be used in meetings to discuss the various routes.
NEW BUSINESS
· Pinebrook Development Commercial Zoning Issue
Partial minutes, pertaining to the Pinebrook Development Commercial Zoning area, from the November and December 2003 meetings were presented. There were zoning issues dating back from1991. In 1993, Mark Bigham had requested a correction on land use maps that had the wrong area size of the commercial area listed. However, there was no formal application process done for this correction. Because of the confusion and length of time, Mr. Kelling proposed that a City-Sponsored amendment be done to correct this issue at this time. Mr. Kelling explained that he has spoken with a land-use attorney and the city can process a 2003 Land Use Amendment in 2008. Mr. Voltz asked Mr. Kelling why he had contacted an attorney. Mr. Kelling replied that there is an interest in marketing this property. Mr. Voltz asked if the owners would be applying for the amendment. Mr. Kelling replied that there was no applicant for the 2003 amendment change and ultimately, the Planning Commission would be the applicant. Mr. Voltz noted that it was his opinion that if no application was submitted previously, why would this situation be an issue? He commented that the ownership has changed, and if the situation had dropped into a black hole then it was due to the lack of interest by the previous owners. Mr. Kelling read aloud the motion from the November 2003 minutes where the planning commission took ownership of this situation. Mr. Herda asked if there were any amendments made to the comp plan in 2003. Mr. Bates replied that there was technically supposed to be a comp plan amendment, but it did not occur. Mr. Voltz asked if a motion could be made to table or stop any action on the amendment. Mr. Kelling advised that he would like to schedule a public hearing to discuss this further. He added that the situation should be brought forward in a formal process with a notification for the public hearing to be considered. Mr. Herda pointed out that only a part of the minutes had been provided. He asked that the entire minutes from November and December 2003 be provided.
Mr. Herda added there has been business regarding Pinebrook brought to the Planning Commission on five different occasions. Mr. Kelling explained that it appears that the Planning Commission was on track to complete the comp plan update in 2004. Bill Grimes assumed that since the Planning Commission was looking at completing the update, it would be necessary to make a comprehensive plan amendment in 2003. By mentioning this change, it would allow for the 2003 amendment to be made the first of 2004.
Mr. Herda asked if there were any other amendments done in 2003. Mr. Kelling replied that the only change was a rezone for Kalish’s, but this was tied to the amendment to change the acreage in the commercial zone at Pinebrook. Mr. Voltz asked about the McCoy zoning issue. Mr. Kelling answered that that situation had been corrected with the change in the City’s non-corming use code. It was asked if that correction should have been done as a Comp Plan Amendment. Mr. Kelling stated that it was fixed in a better way. Now, if there’s any questions in regards to the zoning by a financer or appraiser, a standard letter is sent stating the owners will have up to one year to replace any home lost due to fire or other catastrophic happening.
Mr. Herda pointed out that in 2003 it appears that the Planning Commission acknowledged a Pinebrook Comprehensive Amendment request that was never actually applied for, per the planner’s suggestion. Mr. Kelling confirmed this.
Mr. Kelling stated that the Planning Department would be writing up a request for a Comprehensive Plan Amendment that will be brought back to the planning commission.
Mr. Bates noted that he didn’t think that it was intended to do a 2003 amendment in 2004. Mr. Kelling added that he had located language that indicated that the amendment would be done in 2004. Mrs. Ferrell stated that she would send complete minutes and any other information pertaining to this situation in order to give the Planning Commission the ability to determine what has taken place.
Mr. Kelling supplied information that the previous owner is deceased and his daughters have expressed an interest in selling the property. He has no further information on the property, its owners or the intent.
Alice Crowly asked that the Planning Commission be provided with correct maps. She noted that when she tried to research this issue, there were several different maps. She wasn’t sure which was the correct map. She would like one that details the accurate measurements of the property.
Mr. Bristol inquired about the proposed park in that area. Mr. Kelling replied that the City is now the owner of the property where the park is proposed to be located.
Mr. Herda asked for confirmation on the 2003 Comp Plan Amendment. Mr. Kelling explained that the amendment was to change the land use map in order to change the two parcels, that add up to 11.61 show on the land use map zoned as commercial. Currently they show as approximately 3 acres.
Mr. Kelling gave an explanation of the methods used to approve the 2003 Comp Plan Amendment in 2008, as advised by the attorney he spoke with.
Mr. Voltz again questioned why this issue was coming to the Planning Commission again. He stated that the original request included some perceived underhandedness, as does the current request.
Mr. Kelling replied that there was ample documentation and correspondence including at least one letter in 2006 asking what had happened with the original request.
Mr. Kelling shared some of the planning projects that the Planning Department is working on. This includes an interest in the industrial site, an industrial development off of Victoria, and a proposed binding site plan on some property on south Highway 395. There is also a subdivision planned in west Chewelah.
Kevin Herda inquired if this proposal would be coming back to the Planning Commission next month, and if so could the Planning Commission be provided with as much information as possible in regards to this request. Mrs. Ferrell will do some research and get the information out as soon as possible. Mr. Herda also asked for more information from Bill Grimes on this situation.
Mr. Bristol commented that he felt that the decision that was made in 2003 was the final decision for the Planning Commission. Mr. Bates noted that at that time they were working on the Public Participation Policy.
Dale Abbott, 1001 Pinebrook Drive, Chewelah commented that he had attended most of the meetings and agreed with Tom Bristol, that there was incorrect acreage documented and this was to be corrected in time for the 2004 Comp Plan update.
There was further discussion on the cycle of the Comp Plan Amendment Schedule. Mr. Bristol suggested that a list of tentative items to be included in the Comp Plan update be created so that things will not be forgotten. Mr. Kelling noted that there has been no changes to the Comp Plan since 2001.
Mr. Herda asked if the Comp Plan update would be done in 2008. Mr. Kelling replied that he will HAVE to complete the updates in 2008. He will begin to provide the Planning Commission with updates that are ready to be reviewed for approval. Mr. Bates added that many of the workshops that have held addressed some of the elements. The transportation element will cause some changes to several elements so that they are consistent. Mr. Herda remarked that he was under the impression that the Comprehensive Plan updates was less of the Visioning that they have been doing over the last year and more of the “meat and potatoes” , such as the zoning maps, etc. There was further discussion on the Land Use Workshop. At the next meeting the Planning Commission will be provided with a Zoning Map as well as a proposed Land Use Map. Mr. Kelling would like to put the zoning map together, and create one ordinance that would approve all of the zoning. This would clean up the variety of maps that the city is currently using, and allow them to go forward with any changes.
Public Comment
Mr. Bristol asked for any public comment. Mrs. Dale Abbot asked if it was known who the former owner of the Pinebrook property being discussed was. It was unknown who the owner that is deceased was.
Mr. Herda made a comment that it seems to be that issues in regards to the Pinebrook Development always seem to be and Immediate Rush.
Reports
Chaz Bates reminded the Planning Commission that American Planning Association Conference will be in Spokane on October 14, 15, or 16. He will see if he can secure a good rate for any Planning Commission members that would like to attend.
Mr. Bates also noted that Doug Pineo should be sending out a letter for adoption of the Shoreline Master Program. This letter will go out to all those that signed up to receive the information in 2003.
Mrs. Ferrell added that she had attended a Planners’ Forum in Moses Lake on Wednesday, January 23 and the Washington State counties are just beginning the process of creating the Shore Line Master Programs, and it didn’t appear that any cities had started. Chewelah was used as a positive example of one of the only municipalities to go through the process at this time.
Mrs. Ferrell also commented that a representative from the Eastern Washington Hearings Board had commented at the meeting that everything looked very positive for approval of the Stevens County Comp Plan. This will open up Chewelah’s UGA’s for annexation.
Schedule
The next meeting is scheduled for February 21, 2008.
Adjournment
There being no further business, Doug Sassman made a motion to adjourn the meeting. Irv Schick seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously. The meeting was adjourned at 8:09 P.M.
Respectfully Submitted,
____________________________________ ____________________________________
Tracy Ferrell, Executive Secretary Tom Bristol, Chairman
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