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HomeMy WebLinkAbout03-11-15 YPC MinutesCity of Yakima Planning Commission (YPC) City Hall Council Chambers Meeting Minutes of March 11, 2015 Call to Order Chairman Dave Fonfara called the meeting to order at 3:30 p.m. Roll Call YPC Members Present: Chairman Dave Fonfara, Vice -Chair Scott Clark, Al Rose, Patricia Byers, Ron Anderson YPC Members Absent: Bill Cook, Paul Stelzer Staff Present: Robbie Aaron, Assistant Planner; Valerie Smith, Senior Planner; Mark Kunkler, Senior Assistant City Attorney Others: Bev Luby Bartz, David Gaudette, Luz Gutierrez Staff Announcements Assistant Planner Robbie Aaron announced that the Planning Department has hired a permanent Department Assistant II. Audience Participation David Gaudette explained to the Commission that there are many people interested in community gardens in Yakima besides himself. David referred to a Facebook group, an online petition, and other items to show the public's interests in community gardens. In addition, Gaudette mentioned the issue of the public not being able to attend these meetings because of the inconvenient time. David reemphasized his interest in incorporating community gardens in neighborhoods into the Comprehensive Plan. Commissioner Al Rose asked what the benefit would be to include community gardens in the comprehensive plan since community gardens are already an acceptable land use in certain zones in the Yakima. Valerie explained that having supportive goals and policies in the comprehensive plan is beneficial to the planners when writing decisions for land use proposals. David expressed his desire in trying to make community gardens on public land an accepted use. Luz Gutierrez also spoke about her interest in community gardens. Luz expressed her support in community gardens but also spoke about the need to have a plan for the garden and someone in charge who will maintain it. Luz also asked when the public notice that included a map of the SCC zones in Yakima will be discussed. Dave Fonfara replied that discussion on what the public notice addresses is not on the agenda but that Luz may make a comment if desired. Senior Assistant City Attorney Mark Kunkler clarified for Luz that there is a public hearing with the Yakima Planning Commission that will take place on March 25, 2015 regarding Yakima Neighborhood Health Service's request to amend the code to allow for a "Community Resource Service Center" in the SCC zone. Mark explained that there is a separate hearing on April 2, 2015 with the Hearing Examiner regarding Yakima Neighborhood Health Service's request for an interpretation from the Hearing Examiner for a proposal for a mission type use in the SCC zone. -1-- Luz also asked if there are any vacancies in the Planning Commission. She added that a notice should be sent out informing people that there's a vacancy in the Planning Commission. Senior Planner Valerie Smith added that anyone interested in being considered to fill a seat in a committee can fill out an application in the City Clerk's office. Dave Fonfara reiterated that the Planning Commission members are uncertain of the status of the vacant position in the Planning Commission. City Clerk Sonya Claar-Tee clarified that notifications for this position have been sent out and the Nominating Committee has performed interviews for interested candidates recently. Sonya added that the Nominating Committee has made a decision which will be on City Council's next meeting agenda for a recommendation for Council to consider. MUM Al Rose suggested making one correction to the February 11, 2015 meeting minutes in the form of adding context to a statement made by Al Rose that referred to him not being sure if the airport will have adequate access in the future. Al Rose made a motion to approve the City of Yakima Planning Commission meeting minutes of January 14, 2015, January 28, 2015, and February 11, 2015 with the correction suggested by Al that the Commission agreed with on the February 11, 2015 minutes. Ron Anderson seconded the motion. The motion carried unanimously. Continue Review of the Public Participation Plan for the Comprehensive Plan Update Valerie Smith began the follow-up discussion on the Public Participation Plan for the Comprehensive Plan Update 2040. Valerie brought up a request that the Commission made at the last meeting for the staff to provide a list of parties the staff plans to send notification to about the Public Participation Plan for the Comprehensive Plan Update 2040. She added that there is already a list of stakeholders on page 3 of the draft of the Public Participation Plan for the Comprehensive Plan Update 2040 that was provided to the Commission at the last Planning Commission meeting. Valerie affirmed that the Downtown Association of Yakima was not on the stakeholder's list but will be added and that the staff and Commission can continue to add to this list. Dave Fonfara stated that it would be appropriate based on input received from the public to consider scheduling some of the meetings and workshops for this update to the plan after regular work hours. Valerie responded that there are many opportunities within the work plan to add that night meetings are preferred. Valerie also brought up a request that the Commission made at the last meeting for the staff to look into making materials related to the Comprehensive Plan Update 2040 in Spanish. She informed them that the City's website can translate into Spanish but attachments won't translate as easily as the other information on the website. She added that the notice about the upcoming Hearing Examiner's public hearing and Yakima Planning Commission public hearing was translated into Spanish but that the staff cannot translate every document they send out into Spanish. The Commission agreed to include in the Public Participation -2- document that the staff will do their best to make materials related to the process available in Spanish. Other Business Robbie Aaron provided the Commission an updated Airport Safety Overlay map and reminded the Commission that there is a special Planning Commission meeting on March 18, 2015 that is a joint study session regarding the Airport Safety Overlay. Robbie reported that Planning staff will confirm the time with the Commission and send them the materials they need for the meeting by e-mail. Robbie added that a few members from the Yakima County Planning Staff will be present at the joint study session as well as a staff member from Union Gap Planning. The Union Gap Planning Commission was invited but responded that they would like to have a study session of their own before they participate in a joint study session with the Yakima Planning Commission on this topic, opening an opportunity in the future for a joint study session exclusively with the Union Gap Planning Commission. Carter Timmerman from WSDOT and Airport Manager Rob Peterson will also be attending the meeting on March 18th. Commissioner Ron Anderson asked for clarification on the timeline for the completion of the Airport Safety Overlay. Robbie explained that the Airport Master Plan was adopted recently by City Council but the rest of the timeline is uncertain but may be discussed at the March 18th meeting. Ron added that the timing in this matter is important in consideration of property owners around the airport who may want to build on their property or change their property in some way, which may be slowed down because of the process of implementing the Airport Safety Overlay into the zoning code. Valerie Smith announced that a packet titled, "City Planning Commission Mission Use Study Session' has been provided to the Commission for their review before the public hearing on March 25, 2015. Dave Fonfara posed the question of what the process would be to create an appropriate definition and move forward if the Planning Commissions definition of mission that they come up with at the public hearing on March 25th and Hearing Examiner's definition of mission that he deems appropriate at the public hearing on April 2nd are in conflict. Mark Kunkler responded that ultimately the City Council will make the final decision. Adjourn A motion to adjourn to March 18, 2015 was passed with unanimous vote. This meeting adjourned at 4:19 p.m. S Chairman Dave �Fonnfaara Date This meeting was filmed by YPAC. Minutes for this meeting submitted by: Lisa Maxey, Department Assistant II -3-